There has been much talk of late about BMW's imminent return to German touring cars; now Munich has finally unveiled the car on which its hopes of DTM glory rest.
Looking pretty darn mean in matt black paint covering carbon fibre bodywork, the M3 coupe is powered by a 480hp V8. It's still not the final form of the new racer, however; BMW's engineers will be working on aero, engine and chassis development for some months yet.
It's been a while since BMW has been in the DTM - it hasn't been present in the series for two decades - and the company's return coincides with all-new technical regulations aimed at keeping costs down.
Pedalling some of BMW's machines in 2012 will be experienced BMW touring car hands Brit Andy Priaulx and Augustus Farfus. That's a pretty strong start - Priaulx in particular has three World Touring Car titles and one European Touring Car crown under his belt.
BMW is the first manufacturer to take the wraps off its 2012 DTM challenger; Audi has announced that it will campaign an A5 coupe in the series, but has not yet revealed the car itself, while Mercedes hasn't even got that far yet - though you can reasonably expect it to use the C-class coupe as its basis.
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