2001 | BMW M3 GTR (E46) Special Thanks For 1.3K

Few race cars enjoy the reversal of fortune that BMW’s M3 enjoyed over the past two seasons of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). In 2000, the M3 race car, which is known as the M3 GTR and races in the GT class, won only once and was trounced by its chief rival, the Porsche 911. But BMW roared back in 2001, winning six of the eight races and taking the manufacturers’ championship and the drivers’ crown for pilot Jörg Müller. It was an extraordinary feat considering Porsches outnumbered BMWs four to one at most races. What BMW did was replace the M3 GTR’s six-cylinder engine with a V-8, which spelled more low-end grunt. A little history explains why the engine swap was beneficial. By the end of the 2000 season, the 3.2-liter six had reached a horsepower plateau after six years. The problem was the rule-mandated intake restrictor plate with its 1.7-inch-diameter hole to reduce the amount of air that enters the engine. As an