[Jason]

BIMMERPOST NEWS

M6 GT3 to Get Throw Back E30 M3 Livery for Nurburgring 24 Hours

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BMW Team Schnitzer can look back on an impressive history at the Nürburgring 24 Hours (GER). Team principal Charly Lamm’s (GER) crew has won the endurance classic in the Eifel Mountains five times in the past. To mark the team’s return to the “Green Hell” this season, the number 43 BMW M6 GT3 will sport a special, historic design.

BMW Team Schnitzer wrote the first chapter of its glorious history at the Nürburgring 24 Hours back in 1989. The team from Freilassing (GER) claimed its first overall victory at the endurance classic on the Nordschleife in the same year as it won its maiden DTM title. After 143 laps of racing, eventual DTM champion Roberto Ravaglia, Emanuele Pirro (both ITA) and Fabien Giroix (FRA) crossed the finish line first in the iconic BMW M3 E30. In memory of this success BMW Team Schnitzer will return to the Eifel track in 2017 with one of the two BMW M6 GT3s sporting the same historic design as the winning car from 1989.

This is a particularly special honour for Charly Lamm, who was team principal when BMW Team Schnitzer claimed its first major Nordschleife success – a role he still occupies today: “BMW Motorsport has a big tradition in motor racing, and we have been fortunate to work together for many decades. The historic livery on the BMW M6 GT3 is a nice throw-back to our first victory – one we are very proud of. The stripes in the classic BMW Motorsport colours, in particular, evoke a lot of memories among the many BMW fans in the Eifel region and give us extra motivation to do everything in our power to get a good result on our return to the Nordschleife.”

Lamm still has fond memories of that first victory in 1989: “We were competing in both the DTM and the 24-hour race on the same weekend. Our drivers did a perfect job, as did the entire team. It was a fantastic race and a really emotional experience for the whole team.”

Just two years later, BMW Team Schnitzer added a second success. In 1991, Armin Hahne, Joachim Winkelhock (both GER) and Kris Nissen (DEN) were victorious – again at the wheel of the BMW M3 E30, which took overall victory in the four consecutive years from 1989 to 1992. The car remains by far the most successful touring car ever fielded by BMW Motorsport. It made its DTM debut in 1987 and propelled Eric van de Poele (BEL) to the title at the first attempt. Ravaglia was also crowned world touring car champion with the BMW M3 E30 in the same year. In total, the car has 41 DTM race wins to its name.

BMW Team Schnitzer claimed overall victory at the Nürburgring 24 Hours on a further three occasions: in 2004 and 2005 with the BMW M3 GTR and most recently with the BMW M3 GT2 in 2010. In 2017, the team lines up with two BMW M6 GT3s and top-class drivers. Reigning DTM champion Marco Wittmann (GER) will be joined by fellow DTM drivers Augusto Farfus (BRA) and Tom Blomqvist (GBR). Also in action will be BMW works drivers Martin Tomczyk (GER) and António Félix da Costa (POR), as well as two newcomers to the BMW fold, Timo Scheider (GER) and Alex Lynn (GBR).

Farfus, Félix da Costa, Scheider and Lynn will share the driving duties in the car with the historic livery. Fans will get their first glimpse of this very special BMW M6 GT3 in action this weekend, at the qualifying race for the Nürburgring 24 Hours. The 45th staging of the classic endurance race will take place on 27th and 28th May 2017.

[Ric in RVA]

That 6 is GINORMOUS!!!!! But both look incredibly good in the Warsteiner livery.

[GOLFFRR]

that is really cool. two amazing beast! Agree with above, 6 look big!

[Eau_Rouge111]

Looks fantastic...the e30 I mean

[7iM3less]

Love them both, two completely different looks from two completely different generations. They are incredible for different reasons!

[M3 Adjuster]

can I get a Throwback E30 M3 please... Just give it a manual and call it an M2 CSL..

[Nar]

This livery just makes the most recent M6 GT3 Art Car look like trash.

[evolution80]

i want an e30 M3

just awesome!!

[Eau_Rouge111]

I don't get why BMW even races the M6...deep down its a great touring car...not a race car...I don't get why they just don't race the M2 or M4...publicity would drive more sales from these two more affordable M cars.

[davem3fan]

BMW: Stop racing your biggest, dumbest cars please.

[Pr0metheus]

Originally Posted by Eau_Rouge111

I don't get why BMW even races the M6...deep down its a great touring car...not a race car...I don't get why they just don't race the M2 or M4...publicity would drive more sales from these two more affordable M cars.

I think in order to meet the homologation rules (rules that state all parts of a car, think of it as an "as-built" bill of materials + sometimes production requirements to be allowed to compete) for FiA and such, they needed a production chassis that housed a v8 from the factory.

I believe that's why they switched to the Z4 GT3 race car after E90 M3 V8 (before E90 was E46 GTR v8) Homologation rules change, but I think they may have been just planning on this. M3/4 are street cars and euro emissions + USA (until the EPA is dead) make v8 street cars a bad idea, so they went for boosted 6-bangers to get the power & maintain fuel economy.

M6 is in a different category (giant beautiful grant touring) and gets v8 from the factory so it's easy(er) to slap some better guts the engine, add a roll cage in and a turbo on, etc and you got yourself a homologated chassis compliant for racing in a variety of series across the globe. You can also probably slap some factory BMW race engines in to speed it up if you don't get to start your GT3 design and build from blank paper.

[Law]

Originally Posted by Pr0metheus

I think in order to meet the homologation rules (rules that state all parts of a car, think of it as an "as-built" bill of materials + sometimes production requirements to be allowed to compete) for FiA and such, they needed a production chassis that housed a v8 from the factory.

I believe that's why they switched to the Z4 GT3 race car after E90 M3 V8 (before E90 was E46 GTR v8) Homologation rules change, but I think they may have been just planning on this. M3/4 are street cars and euro emissions + USA (until the EPA is dead) make v8 street cars a bad idea, so they went for boosted 6-bangers to get the power & maintain fuel economy.

M6 is in a different category (giant beautiful grant touring) and gets v8 from the factory so it's easy(er) to slap some better guts the engine, add a roll cage in and a turbo on, etc and you got yourself a homologated chassis compliant for racing in a variety of series across the globe. You can also probably slap some factory BMW race engines in to speed it up if you don't get to start your GT3 design and build from blank paper.

Pretty much this. I've explained in detail in the past here but i'll break it down again.


BMW hasn't raced with inline-sixes for almost two decades.

Beginning with the E46 era, the S54 (P54) just wasn't competitive in racing against the likes of Porsche.
BMW realized they could no longer be racing inline-sixes and expect to win so a V8 configuration was the only way they could stay competitive in GT category motorsports. This spawned the E46 GTR.

During the E9x generation, the fact that the "street" M3 was equipped with a V8 engine made it a no-brainer for homologation for motorsports. Remember, the E46 GTR was eventually "banned" from racing because the "street" E46 M3 wasn't sold with a V8, so this time, the E9x was conveniently equipped with a V8 in street form.
BMW homologated the M3 GT & GT2 and was later able to use a "loophole" that allowed the E89 Z4 to run a homologated version of the S65 (P65) engine in the GT category, even though no such Z4 was sold with an S65 engine (hence "loophole").

This time around, BMW has no more strings to pull. It is unlikely that BMW would be able to get away with homologating the S63 (P63) engine into a chassis like the F87 M2. On the other hand, homologating an N55 or S55 to race an M2 or M4 would be suicide.

Hence, the M6.
A longer wheelbase is a small price to pay for a [race]car that is already equipped with an engine that can be competitive given the company.

[Brake_Late]

Originally Posted by Eau_Rouge111

Looks fantastic...the e30 I mean

#respectyaroots #iheartdtm #iheartdhl #madeinmunich

[Brake_Late]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

can I get a Throwback E30 M3 please... Just give it a manual and call it an M2 CSL..

Take mine

[JaredG_F30]

Originally Posted by Brake_Late

Take mine

BEAUTIFUL!! How much?!?!

[Brake_Late]

Originally Posted by JaredG_F30

BEAUTIFUL!! How much?!?!

Thanks. Sold it already. Sorry.
Wish I hadn't sold any of my e30 m3s.
I'll dig up more pics and post under a new thread when I can.

[9krpmrx8]

I would be surprised if the M6 was lighter to be honest. I bet it's close.

[clbmw]

Originally Posted by Law

Pretty much this. I've explained in detail in the past here but i'll break it down again.


BMW hasn't raced with inline-sixes for almost two decades.

Beginning with the E46 era, the S54 (P54) just wasn't competitive in racing against the likes of Porsche.
BMW realized they could no longer be racing inline-sixes and expect to win so a V8 configuration was the only way they could stay competitive in GT category motorsports. This spawned the E46 GTR.

During the E9x generation, the fact that the "street" M3 was equipped with a V8 engine made it a no-brainer for homologation for motorsports. Remember, the E46 GTR was eventually "banned" from racing because the "street" E46 M3 wasn't sold with a V8, so this time, the E9x was conveniently equipped with a V8 in street form.
BMW homologated the M3 GT & GT2 and was later able to use a "loophole" that allowed the E89 Z4 to run a homologated version of the S65 (P65) engine in the GT category, even though no such Z4 was sold with an S65 engine (hence "loophole").

This time around, BMW has no more strings to pull. It is unlikely that BMW would be able to get away with homologating the S63 (P63) engine into a chassis like the F87 M2. On the other hand, homologating an N55 or S55 to race an M2 or M4 would be suicide.

Hence, the M6.
A longer wheelbase is a small price to pay for a [race]car that is already equipped with an engine that can be competitive given the company.

Well I'm sure I'm not the only one that would like to see BMW put the V8 into something lighter in factory in the first instance.

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by Brake_Late

Thanks. Sold it already. Sorry.
Wish I hadn't sold any of my e30 m3s.
I'll dig up more pics and post under a new thread when I can.

I wish I hadn't sold my '88 track rat but it's what I sold to flip to my 1M.

My 91 street car was awesome as well.

[Brake_Late]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

I wish I hadn't sold my '88 track rat but it's what I sold to flip to my 1M.

My 91 street car was awesome as well.

ITBs

[Brake_Late]

Originally Posted by JaredG_F30

BEAUTIFUL!! How much?!?!

Found a couple more on phone.
Gotta get the really good ones off my hard drive

[MSCD]

Love the E30 and this livery. Interesting how the M stripes have changed colour.... the middle stipe on the E30 is more purple, the light blue is very different ... I guess the panatone mixture is different?

Let's hope it brings the M6 some much needed luck!