BMW M3 CRT

Just when you thought the M3 couldn't be more of a beast BMW comes through and says "fuck what you heard!", the 2012 M# CRT is constructed mainly with lightweight carbon fibre to reduce overall weihgt by 70kgs and not only that but the engine's been tweeked so there more power under the hood. More after the jump:


BMW has been so kind as to give us all a glimpse at the company's upcoming M3 CRT. The engineers behind the German automaker's M performance arm have taken pains to dip their standard M3 into a vat of delicious carbon fiber, and the result is a lightweight version of the menacing sedan. Designed to show off the manufacturer's new carbon fiber technologies, the M3 CRT wears a CF hood that's as strong as conventional steel but with a quarter of the weight. The same methods were applied to the vehicle's seats.

The old muffler has been scrapped for a titanium unit, and lightweight Y-spoke wheels and brake calipers are part of the recipe as well. In an effort to trim fat wherever possible, the M3 CRT even wears less sound deadening than the standard model. BMW also reworked the vehicle's suspension with a more rigid subframe and adjustable coilovers, which means there's plenty of stick on hand.

That's good given that a 450 horsepower version of the company's naturally-aspirated 4.4-liter V8 sits behind the headlights. The grunt gets channeled to the rear tires via a seven-speed dual-clutch cog box.

We hear the very-limited-edition CRT will cost a mint (on the order of 130,000 Euros including taxes – around $185k U.S.), so don't expect to see any examples at your stateside BMW dealer anytime soon. Even so, you can still hit the jump to check out the walk-around for yourself.

Check out the gallery here.



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