After seeing an M4 in the wild and comparing it to these pictures, I'd say that the race version wears that grille a little better.
I'm also in the camp of thinking that the new styling will look a little better after some time goes by.
BMW announced its new entry into GT3 racing, the BMW M4 GT3, replacing the M6 previously sold by BMW Motorsports–let's ignore the controversial nose for now.
Power comes from a P58 M TwinPower Turbo six-cylinder engine good for 503 horsepower and 479 lb.-ft. of torque, which is then sent through a six-speed sequential gearbox.
How much does all this cost? Only $530,000, excluding shipping. (To put that into perspective, that’s only $75,000 more than one of the most expensive models available in BMW’s portfolio: the Rolls-Royce Phantom.)
BMW will also gladly sell you a $55,000 Competition Package that includes “additional headlights, backlit door numbers, TPMS with 8 sensors, spring and brake pedal travel measurement systems, BOSCH CAS-M rear-view camera radar system, an additional set of rims, and one day of training on the BMW M Motorsport M4 GT3 simulator.”
BMW expects the M4 GT3 to compete in IMSA’s GT Daytona and GT Daytona Pro classes, as well as SRO’s GT class.
Eager to see it out on track? You won’t have to wait much longer, as M4 GT3’s racing debut is set for round four of the Nürburgring Endurance Series on June 26 of this year.
After seeing an M4 in the wild and comparing it to these pictures, I'd say that the race version wears that grille a little better.
I'm also in the camp of thinking that the new styling will look a little better after some time goes by.
Sorry, BMW has completely lost the plot. They've gone from the ultimate driving machine to the ultimate unthinking status symbol. The only thing that they make that a)isn't fugly beyond consideration and b) holds any interest these days for me say MINI on the back.
This thing looks absolutely stunning. The new grill looks right at home in race trim. I wish it had a 4 liter NA V8 with a 9,000rpm redline, but I would still take one.
350z247 said:This thing looks absolutely stunning. The new grill looks right at home in race trim.
Proof that there apparently is a lid for every pot.
Colin Wood said:
I'm also in the camp of thinking that the new styling will look a little better after some time goes by.
I... just don't see that coming true.
I mean, Edsels have come into their own identity and enjoy a kind of nerdy cool, but I don't think too many people actually think they look good.
In reply to Duke :
Good point about the Edsel. I like the way they look, but that might just be in a nerdy cool kind of way.
I can still be hopeful at least.
The Shnoz works best for me on the race car over the street cars and for the street cars it looks better on the M4 over the M3, it just gets worse the more normal the car is.
I think for me the somewhat hard angles of the grill along with the small indents above them in the hood just don't flow with the rest of the car. Everything else has nice flowing curves including the headlights and then the grill just doesn't seem to fit with the rest at all. Audi pulled off going from a standard grill to a large grill quite nicely with a bit of a retro vibe with the shape, BMW could have pulled off the same but didn't.
What they did do right was getting it out there early to give people time to adjust, I wanted to barf the first time I saw it but it has grown on me over time. A big part of it is running the M4 GT3 Prototype in a couple of BMW CCA iRacing leagues over the last 6 months so I have adjusted to the looks over time.
Having said all of that it would take some sort of miracle for me to have the sort of I don't give a E36 M3 money to even consider a BMW made in the past 15 years over other cars available so what does my opinion even matter.
It does look slightly better in race trim. I still don’t like it. And on the street car it’s just disgusting.
The good news is I haven’t been interested in most of what they make in the past ten years anyway, so the new grill just makes it that much easier to move on.
That nose looks bad on everything they put it on. I am astounded that design made it to production.
adam525i said:I think for me the somewhat hard angles of the grill along with the small indents above them in the hood just don't flow with the rest of the car. Everything else has nice flowing curves including the headlights and then the grill just doesn't seem to fit with the rest at all.
I think you nailed the issue I have with it. Seeing the front and then the back of the street car makes you think you are looking at two separate cars.
Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) said:Sorry, BMW has completely lost the plot. They've gone from the ultimate driving machine to the ultimate unthinking status symbol. The only thing that they make that a)isn't fugly beyond consideration and b) holds any interest these days for me say MINI on the back.
Some years ago a design analysis of BMWs design direction by an industrial designer who's name Im not remembering said that under all the marketing whoey BMW was betting on 'attitude' over beauty or elegance (or just not ugly). IMHO whoever that was nailed it. I personally cant stand any of the different riffs on this era of BMW 'up yours' attitude. I fully understand design evolves or it does not exist and BMW was trying to evolve out of a brilliant period which of course is hard to do.
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