The old Z4 GT3, as BMW hasn't released pictures of the new one yet.

BMW have been quite busy at work with their latest Z4 sports car and now, part of their customer racing programme, they made it possible for private teams to buy a new racing car from BMW: the GT3 Z4.

BMW are adamant that the new car “is an impressive addition to the BMW product range” and I do tend to believe them. The Z4 racing car uses the 4-litre V8 from the M3 but now producing a mighty horsepower figure of about 480. Of course, the car complies with FIA GT3 racing regulations so you can just buy it and compete in some of the following racing championships: the FIA GT3 European Championship, International GT Open and the ADAC GT Masters and 24-hour endurance races as well. The “brain” of the car is quite clever as all the electronics come from the already impressive M3 GT2, a racing car with a lot of potential. The power is sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed sequential transmission. However, the two most interesting features of this car are: racing ABS and air conditioning. Well, we’ve seen racing ABS before but the air conditioning is just strange. It is however needed in 24-hour races when the drivers need to stay cool for long stints.

So if you want to go racing and you haven’t bought a car yet, I recommend you the BMW Z4 for the GT3 class. It will be available from the second quarter of 2010 and it will cost about €300.000.

Source: BMW Motorsport