Tuesday 1st December 2015

BMW M3 GTS: Spotted

Why this GTS isn't the rarest or most exciting V8 M3 currently in the PH classifieds

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The last time the M3 GTS was being discussed on PH, it was back in 2013 and the car looked jolly expensive at £95,000. Oh sure, it's a very rare special edition but the general consensus was that it looked rather too much money for what was being offered. There was some mention of a 911 quite a bit too...

Yes, you could have one of these...

Anyway, here we are two years later with another M3 GTS, this time one of the seven UK cars. How much is it now? Well, at £125,000 it's more than the £121,770 the new M4 GTS will cost you.

Now we could spend this story weighing up M3 versus M4 GTS, the merits of V8 versus straight-six and why BMW persists with orange. Or we could draw your attention to another V8 M3, one with the same 4.4-litre engine as the GTS that's even rarer, slightly cheaper and definitely cooler. There's also not a speck of orange anywhere.

This is an M3 CRT. A what? That's an M3 Carbon Racing Technology, an M3 saloon with less weight than a regular four-door thanks to a titanium exhaust and front seats and a bonnet made from carbon honeycomb. It's the same material used for the i3 and i8 in fact. BMW claimed a 70kg weight saving over a regular M3 saloon with the same standard equipment, though 1,580kg is hardly lithe.

But it did have the 450hp, 4.4-litre V8, uprated brakes and suspension and, as Dale found when he drove it, the same finely honed dynamics as the GTS. By which we mean it will cut huge angles at any opportunity. All this in - to many onlookers at least - a fairly ordinary looking 3 Series saloon. Some may clock it as an M3 but only the real enthusiasts will recognise it as a CRT. They will probably melt in feverish excitement too, given how special this car is.

Or the same engine in a saloon. Yes!

There were 135 M3 GTSs made but just 67 CRTs. Two were allocated as press cars and the remaining 65 were all left-hand drive. The price was around £115,000, with all the cars painted Frozen Polar Silver with Melbourne Red. It's a stunning car. And four-door, four-seat practical too!

While the CRT is cheaper than the aforementioned GTS - by £30K in fact - it is still £96,500. Given there are very nice V8 M3 saloons at £25K that looks a lot. But as the last naturally aspirated M car (correct us if we're wrong!), one that's incredibly rare to boot, it must be worth a look. As you might expect given how expensive it was new, this car has been meticulously well cared for with just 5,000km recorded and a flawless service record.

So from here the GTS versus CRT argument is a no brainer, the saloon one of the most exciting M cars nobody seems to have heard of. Question now is: can we have a CRT version of the new M3?

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BMW M3 GTS
Engine: 4,361cc V8
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 450@8,300rpm
Torque (lb ft): 325@3,750rpm
MPG: 22.2mpg (NEDC combined)
CO2: 295g/km
First registered: 2011
Recorded mileage: 6,350
Price new: 115,000 euros (exc VAT)
Yours for: £125,000

See the original advert here.

[MDMA .]

CRT for me please. much better than the 110k some people are asking for e30 sport evos

[Leins]

I absolutely love the CRT, and they look even better in the flesh than they do in pics

Not seen a B3 GT3 for sale for a while, but they looked like a bargain compared to the GTS

[cerb4.5lee]

I have seen the GTS up close and personal but haven't ever seen a CRT but I would like to as they seem very highly rated.

[Leins]

cerb4.5lee said:

I have seen the GTS up close and personal but haven't ever seen a CRT but I would like to as they seem very highly rated.

Looked around one down in Munich a couple years ago Lee, when it was sitting beside a GTS. The 4-dr looked a far more resolved package to me, as if more thought had been put into creating it despite being a bit more subtle-looking

A GTS being driven in anger is a wonderful sounding thing though

Edited by Leins on Tuesday 1st December 15:44

[cerb4.5lee]

Leins said:

cerb4.5lee said:

I have seen the GTS up close and personal but haven't ever seen a CRT but I would like to as they seem very highly rated.

Looked around one down in Munich a couple years ago Lee, when it was sitting beside a GTS. The 4-dr looked a far more resolved package to me, as if more thought had been put into creating it despite being a bit more subtle-looking

A GTS being driven in anger is a wonderful sounding thing though

Edited by Leins on Tuesday 1st December 15:44

That must have been a great experience buddy and I bet the noise of that GTS was brill too.

[Zammy]

CRT everytime...what a car!

[Leins]

cerb4.5lee said:

That must have been a great experience buddy and I bet the noise of that GTS was brill too.

Terrible pic, but that's the CRT down the end. I'll let you guess from the camera angle which was my favourite of these particular four though

[cerb4.5lee]

Leins said:

cerb4.5lee said:

That must have been a great experience buddy and I bet the noise of that GTS was brill too.

Terrible pic, but that's the CRT down the end. I'll let you guess from the camera angle which was my favourite of these particular four though

Love it! cheers for sharing

[Guvernator]

Both the previous and current GTS are a bit of a disappointment IMO, especially after the brilliant CSL before them. The GTS isn't that light, nor that more powerful and what's worse, they've ripped out the rear seats so thrown any practicality out the window while putting the car in a much tougher 2 seater crowd as a result.

The CRT on the other hand is much more CSL like in execution I think and all the better for it. I just wish they'd done a proper run of them rather than making them ultra limited as it might have meant they'd depreciate to a reasonable price level rather than staying in the preserve of collector\investment material.

[soad]

Not at that price.

[Itsallicanafford]

You need to zoom out a bit to see the real star

[Avus Blue]

Itsallicanafford said:

You need to zoom out a bit to see the real star

Pretty much my dream garage there, just missing an 02 Turbo! The E36 looks like a special bit of kit, is it an R or a lightweight? Can't make it out on my phone.

I've never seen a CRT in the metal but did manage to blag a sit in the GTS that BMW had at autosport a few years back. Awesome bit of kit. The powerdome dominates the view in my E92 but sitting so low in the GTS it's pretty much all you can see!

[Leins]

Itsallicanafford said:

You need to zoom out a bit to see the real star

Avus Blue said:

Pretty much my dream garage there, just missing an 02 Turbo! The E36 looks like a special bit of kit, is it an R or a lightweight? Can't make it out on my phone.

It was a lightweight, and down the back on the other side was an E46 M3 Touring

[MDMA .]

E36 GTR by the looks of it. Could be the road version of the race car. Doesnt seem to have the wide arches.

[Itsallicanafford]

close up of the E36...it said M3 GTR on the plate?

[MrOnTheRopes]

Guvernator said:

Both the previous and current GTS are a bit of a disappointment IMO, especially after the brilliant CSL before them. The GTS isn't that light, nor that more powerful and what's worse, they've ripped out the rear seats so thrown any practicality out the window while putting the car in a much tougher 2 seater crowd as a result.

The CRT on the other hand is much more CSL like in execution I think and all the better for it. I just wish they'd done a proper run of them rather than making them ultra limited as it might have meant they'd depreciate to a reasonable price level rather than staying in the preserve of collector\investment material.

I didn't find the E92 GTS a disappointment after the (standard) V8 E92 or the M3 CSL (owned 7 years from new). The E92 GTS was F*£$£&$*£&$* EPIC fun actually!
Orangey goodness to stand out, felt light (felt very much like the CSL actually, even if it wasn't) and sounded incredible.
I'd have another in a heart-beat if I had some money again.

[Leins]

MDMA . said:

E36 GTR by the looks of it. Could be the road version of the race car. Doesnt seem to have the wide arches.

I can't actually remember if it was a widebody but seem to recall thinking it was a Lightweight at the time. I could be (and probably am) very much mistaken

Edit: Aha, conclusive proof above, apologies!

Edited by Leins on Tuesday 1st December 19:39

[s m]

MDMA . said:

E36 GTR by the looks of it. Could be the road version of the race car. Doesnt seem to have the wide arches.

Yes, GTR rather than CSL/LTW - you can see the wide arches on the rear

[Guvernator]

MrOnTheRopes said:

I didn't find the E92 GTS a disappointment after the (standard) V8 E92 or the M3 CSL (owned 7 years from new). The E92 GTS was F*£$£&$*£&$* EPIC fun actually!
Orangey goodness to stand out, felt light (felt very much like the CSL actually, even if it wasn't) and sounded incredible.
I'd have another in a heart-beat if I had some money again.

Fair enough, to be fair I haven't driven one and I know it had a lot of bespoke parts, it just didn't grab my attention like the CSL or even CRT, my main bugbear is them ripping out the rear seats out of a 4 seater. I never think this is a good move and it's a bit of a cheap way of loosing weight. The CSL lost loads without having to do that so it's a better solution in my mind.

Edited by Guvernator on Tuesday 1st December 22:30

[LP670]

GTS for me, think id have one over an E46 CSL as well for that matter.