BMW M4 GT4 Offered For Private Customer Racing in 2018 (updated with testing video)

[bradleyland]

Originally Posted by 5against8

Sorry if this is a dumb question but will these be street legal? Or track-only?

Originally Posted by Lups

This and...

Where will my dogs fit? And the kids and the wing is handy to keep my coffee mugs on but argh.

I can and I have ran an M4 as a daily for my family. Even in the eyes of a former ay owner, that's just sad. This isn't a super car. Sales should be boosted with better marketing than that shown above is.

This is a race car. It'll have a full roll cage and a stripped interior with no passenger seat. You might be able to register it for road use in states with very permissive registration rules, but BMW won't make it easy for you. Speaking of not making it easy for you, a full race roll-cage is about the last thing you want in a daily driver. Unless, of course, you're in to the Dukes of Hazard style ingress/egress through the window.

[bradleyland]

Originally Posted by Jono2112

Does it come with the Motorsport stripes? If so, I'm in love. I don't know why but those stripes really capture my heart and imagination!

These are intended for privateer racing teams (as opposed to factory cars), so they'll be done up in sponsor livery. They're usually delivered in white.

[bradleyland]

So, who's going to talk Will Turner in to fielding a Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge team?

I really cannot wait to see these show up in PWC and CTSCC! Honestly, the racing in CTSCC has been every bit as good as the WeatherTech series this year.

[KillrM3]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

If you have to ask...

Correct, but curious..

[MaynardZed]

Originally Posted by KillrM3

Correct, but curious..

I think the Z4M GT3 were something like $400K new. You can buy them used now for $200Kish I think. GT4 is a class down, but still guessing $250-$300K for a new one? Buying one of these cars is only the beginning. I can't imagine the costs to run and maintain of these cars, at least if you're doing it on a pro circuit. Now if you buy one and run it at your local club you could cut a lot of corners, but would still take some stupid money to do it.

[Jockey]

Umm, well, I can afford the poster. So I'll take that and put it in my garage instead.

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by bradleyland

This is a race car. It'll have a full roll cage and a stripped interior with no passenger seat. You might be able to register it for road use in states with very permissive registration rules, but BMW won't make it easy for you. Speaking of not making it easy for you, a full race roll-cage is about the last thing you want in a daily driver. Unless, of course, you're in to the Dukes of Hazard style ingress/egress through the window.

And prefer to wear a helmet on your way to work...

[Boss330]

Originally Posted by Lups

This and...

Where will my dogs fit? And the kids and the wing is handy to keep my coffee mugs on but argh.

I can and I have ran an M4 as a daily for my family. Even in the eyes of a former ay owner, that's just sad. This isn't a super car. Sales should be boosted with better marketing than that shown above is.

Race on Sunday, sell on Monday

But did you think that the M4 GT4 is a street legal model?? This is a racing car for race teams that compete in the GT4 category...

[Matski]

Originally Posted by MaynardZed

I think the Z4M GT3 were something like $400K new. You can buy them used now for $200Kish I think. GT4 is a class down, but still guessing $250-$300K for a new one?

The E92 M3 GT4 was €123,500 + tax. Now changing hands for less than €90k it seems.

[bradleyland]

Originally Posted by MaynardZed

I think the Z4M GT3 were something like $400K new. You can buy them used now for $200Kish I think. GT4 is a class down, but still guessing $250-$300K for a new one? Buying one of these cars is only the beginning. I can't imagine the costs to run and maintain of these cars, at least if you're doing it on a pro circuit. Now if you buy one and run it at your local club you could cut a lot of corners, but would still take some stupid money to do it.

Racing is crazy expensive. No doubt about that, but costs for the cars are actually coming down. Global racing series have consolidated their various classes to FIA/ACO GTE, GT3, and GT4 spec. All the European series run FIA/ACO GTE, GT3, and GT4 spec. In the US, IMSA uses GT3 for their GTD class in the WTSCC series, and will adopt GT4 for the GS class in their CTSCC series. The only hold out is GTLM, which still has differences from GTE. Pirelli World Challenge is also going GT4 spec for their GTS class, and already uses GT3 for the GTA class.

Jesus, I just read that paragraph, and it's no wonder there's so much confusion. The key takeaway is that racing classes are consolidating, which means that manufacturers can build a car to a global spec. That means more unit sales per configuration, and lower costs

[Jono2112]

Originally Posted by bradleyland

These are intended for privateer racing teams (as opposed to factory cars), so they'll be done up in sponsor livery. They're usually delivered in white.

So, whatever stripes the sponsors are willing to pay for.

[MaynardZed]

Originally Posted by bradleyland

Racing is crazy expensive. No doubt about that, but costs for the cars are actually coming down. Global racing series have consolidated their various classes to FIA/ACO GTE, GT3, and GT4 spec. All the European series run FIA/ACO GTE, GT3, and GT4 spec. In the US, IMSA uses GT3 for their GTD class in the WTSCC series, and will adopt GT4 for the GS class in their CTSCC series. The only hold out is GTLM, which still has differences from GTE. Pirelli World Challenge is also going GT4 spec for their GTS class, and already uses GT3 for the GTA class.

Jesus, I just read that paragraph, and it's no wonder there's so much confusion. The key takeaway is that racing classes are consolidating, which means that manufacturers can build a car to a global spec. That means more unit sales per configuration, and lower costs

Thanks for clearing that up.

http://oppositelock.kinja.com/a-guid...ses-1529849729

It does seem they are really trying to cut down on the costs for this GT4 class as compared to GT3. Doesn't look like GT4 runs the same big events like GT3 does which should help. Still seeing something like $200K+ for a new GT4 car, but could probably find something used in the $125K range? Sure is fun to dream isn't it though. Maybe privateers could start a GT4 race team with a shoestring budget around $500k-$1M?

Some teams looking for drivers, who's putting in their resumes?

http://gt4series.com/drivers-market/

[Joop!]

I wonder where it will differ from the M4 GT4 developed by MDM Motorsport and the motorsport department of BMW dealer Ekris (both from The Netherlands).

http://gt4series.com/cars/ekris-m4-gt4/

[adc]

Very very nice but... Why so damn late?

[bradleyland]

Originally Posted by adc

Very very nice but... Why so damn late?

I would say it's probably a matter of lack of demand. GT4 interest has picked back up recently with series like PWC and IMSA CTSCC drawing more attention.

Speaking from a US perspective, anyway. It's hard for me to offer an opinion on the European markets, because it's so hard to follow European racing series from the US. Well, it's not that hard, but I only have so much time for watching racing, and the media producers don't make it easy

[OutlawX3M]

Isn't the M4 GTS the "street-legal" version of any M4 GTx class racer?

I can't understand why anyone would want to drive a GT-class race car on the street. Please don't say for the performance b/c that is just plain dangerous and I think that anyone who has driven on of these cars would echo that sentiment.

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by Outlaw M3

I can't understand why anyone would want to drive a GT-class race car on the street.

It's a race car for the track only.

Maybe you were addressing a specific comment above (somewhere) about the prospects for making the car street legal?

[OutlawX3M]

Originally Posted by mkoesel

It's a race car for the track only.

Maybe you were addressing a specific comment above (somewhere) about the prospects for making the car street legal?

Yes, sorry for not quoting from the post I was commenting on or perhaps I'm just reading into posts a bit.

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by Outlaw M3

Yes, sorry for not quoting from the post I was commenting on or perhaps I'm just reading into posts a bit.

Scanned the thread before my post and didn't see anything - feel free to add quote if you find it.

Agree that this is definitely not the answer for those looking for a fast street car. But on the flipside we've seen some cases of extreme modification where the car ends up a Frankenstein mash-up of its original self, and probably handles considerably worse than stock. At least starting with a GT4 would eliminate that particular issue.

[OutlawX3M]

Originally Posted by mkoesel

Scanned the thread before my post and didn't see anything - feel free to add quote if you find it.

Agree that this is definitely not the answer for those looking for a fast street car. But on the flipside we've seen some cases of extreme modification where the car ends up a Frankenstein mash-up of its original self, and probably handles considerably worse than stock. At least starting with a GT4 would eliminate that particular issue.

And there's your quote.

And yes, from a performance standpoint wouldn't it be great to start with a vehicle that's already "setup" from the factory to the Nth degree?! From a purely selfish, car enthusiast viewpoint I would. So I'm with you on that - the GT4 would be a better starting point than a "frankenstein build".

My point is you're trading one problem (the frankenstein build) for a bigger one (being street legal).

Perhaps the GT4 will be different. I'd love to see the detailed checklist to make this vehicle street-legal in the US. Here's "the book" on doing that in the US and it's not pretty. If you need a reference, ask Lotus

In other countries, this effort is probably less since they follow different standards like UNECE.

In the end, my point is you're trading one problem for another and don't assume the situation is better.

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by Outlaw M3

And there's your quote.

Ok, and good post, but to perfectly clear, my comment was purely tongue-in-cheek.

[bradleyland]

Originally Posted by mkoesel

It's a race car for the track only.

Maybe you addressing a specific comment above (somewhere) about the prospects for making the car street legal?

Originally Posted by mkoesel

Scanned the thread before my post and didn't see anything - feel free to add quote if you find it.

He's probably addressing these:

Originally Posted by 5against8

Sorry if this is a dumb question but will these be street legal? Or track-only?

Originally Posted by Lups

This and...

Where will my dogs fit? And the kids and the wing is handy to keep my coffee mugs on but argh.

I can and I have ran an M4 as a daily for my family. Even in the eyes of a former ay owner, that's just sad. This isn't a super car. Sales should be boosted with better marketing than that shown above is.