BMW RLL Team driver and racing legend Bill Auberlen is selling his BMW M4 GTS. Part of the deal, the buyer will also get a private track day with Auberlen as personal instructors, along with a driver suit, gloves and shoes. The car is currently being listed at West Coast Exotic Cars, it’s new with delivery miles, in a stunning matte frozen dark grey metallic paint with black interior. This is also 1 of 300 cars produced for the U.S. market.
To make the BMW M4 GTS, the folks in Munich decided to take the standard M4 and crank it up to eleven. But it’s far more sophisticated than it sounds. BMW went through great lengths to make sure that the M4 GTS is faster and handles better than the standard car. Which is an incredible accomplishment, considering how good the standard M4 is.
The 3.0 liter twin-turbocharged engine in the standard M4 makes 425 hp. For GTS duty, BMW took that engine and added water injection and some forged internals, like the crankshaft. While that doesn’t sound all that significant, it makes a world of a difference. Water Injection, a world first on the GTS, significantly lowers combustion chamber temperature by spraying an extremely fine mist into it during combustion. This decrease in temperature, by up to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, increases both power and efficiency while also reducing engine knock. With this system, power bumps up from 425 to 493 for GTS duty. That added power helps the GTS get from 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds, down two tenths from the standard M4.
New, revised steering components and geometry give it sharper turn in and better feel. Forged aluminum control arms, mounted directly to the subframe without rubber bushings, help sharpen the handling even further. The aerodynamics have also, and obviously, been changed to give the M4 GTS much increased downforce as well as better looks. A racing spoiler is attached to the trunk lid by two CNC-milled aluminum supports, each consisting of an intricate strut arrangement that optimally combines high stiffness with very low weight. The rear wing can be adjusted through three positions – one for road driving and two others that can be selected according to individual preference on the track.
BMW M4 GTS is equipped with lightweight, optimized, ultra-high-performance M carbon ceramic brakes, which are designed for a further enhanced track capability and longer life.
The rear set area has been stripped of the regular seats and it is now trimmed in glass-fiber-reinforced plastic (GFRP), with a carbon sandwich bulkhead to the rear. Both of these elements are designed for reduced weight, a lower center of gravity and maximum stiffness.
The asking price is currently set at $179,000. What the high price tag will get you is BMW’s best street-legal racing car to date and one of the very few in the world.
