25 Year Special M3 Frozen Edition (matte black) from BMW SA (w/ power bump)

[135iFreak]

Originally Posted by mdosu

I guess it is racist if your logic is South Africa = lots of black africans, lots of black africans = poor people, black africans = how can they afford special edition M3s?
If so, yes your thinking is racist in a way, but reflective of how the social structure of SA is and people's ignorance of the world other than their little neighborhood (IE People think the Republic of Georgia, is Georgia, like Atlanta Georgia). There's a large white population there that were decendents of the landowners and industrialists and believe me, they got money, they run the economy.


That said, you should probably brief yourself on the history of South Africa before making a comment like this. You'll find out that there's plenty of money in South Africa. Out of all the countries in Africa it's the biggest economy, there must be a reason why the World Cup was held there, don't you think?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_africa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...y_GDP_(nominal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...PP)_per_capita

Well put..hats off to you..

Back to topic..I was lucky enough to see one of these special editions today while having dinner at Melrose arch..Matt Black, red calipers and an exhaust the could kill a lion( We have plenty of these running on the streets here in South Africa!-sarcasm)..

The car is very sought after here regardless of the price tag, M3 sales seem to be doing well here as tere is a great following of enthusiasts and is greatly welcomed into the stables

Ciao

[BGM]

Originally Posted by kmarei

better than the orange peel we get

yeah is there any come back on the orange peel?

i was considering have a moan about it..

[1013mm]

amazing.

[James T. Kirk]

Hey, the more special editions, the merrier!

I'm actually more compelled by some of the styling mods
than by any hp output upgrades.

20 hp here. A few extra torques there. Who cares?
Any serious race nut is going to supercharge it anyway
for at least another 100 horses... but he'll never have RED STITCHING or a factory FROZEN paint job!

These special editions are gems!
.

[Eccentric]

Originally Posted by HuangYiChao

Sorry not trying to be racist but of all places South Africa?

the rest of us find your ignorance humourous.

[aajami]

Originally Posted by Levi

M3
M3 Edition
M3 GTS
M3 Competition
M3 U.S Edition
M3 25 Year Special Edition
and yet M3 GTS-R coming.

I am sure the M3 GTS-R will have ~500 HP from its 4.4l V8, and it will weight ~1500 kg compared to 1605 kg of M3 GTS.
I would like to see the engine bay of this M3 25 Year Spe......dition.

There is also maybe yet an M3 Clubsport coming. Maybe all M3 will get AC Schnitzer (bu M GmbH) power bump.

You forgot the Chinese Tiger Edition and the Japanese Fire Orange version.

Also, has anyone other than you ever speculated on the GTS-R / EVO? And what are the 25 Year Special Edition and the US Edition cars?

Edit: Ah, the 25 Year Special Edition is the car in this thread...

[Definitive]

Originally Posted by Levi

M3
M3 Edition
M3 GTS
M3 Competition
M3 U.S Edition
M3 25 Year Special Edition
and yet M3 GTS-R coming.

I am sure the M3 GTS-R will have ~500 HP from its 4.4l V8, and it will weight ~1500 kg compared to 1605 kg of M3 GTS.
I would like to see the engine bay of this M3 25 Year Spe......dition.

There is also maybe yet an M3 Clubsport coming. Maybe all M3 will get AC Schnitzer (bu M GmbH) power bump.

Don't forget the Tiger Edition for china!!!

D

[Tallest]

Originally Posted by Technic

Ummm... 443Hp and 310lbft from the current 4.0L, and done by BMW.

Either this is some joke or suddenly the 4.4L specs of the M3 GTS are the joke.

why? SO the engine is powerful, but the car retains stock weight. GTS is much more than powerful engine. It's like comparing a tuned engined M3 with M3 CSL - a dumb comparison at the end. Looks at the time difference of the E46 M3 CSL vs regular M3. day and night. GTS is in class of its own and some leather, fancy paint and extra 30hp won't change that.

[Robert]

vinyl wrap, painted caliper...

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by GeorgeSmooth

Guys I just realized something wrong with the pictures. The pictures are of a LHD version so I am not sure whats up with that. Either they do not have local pictures of the car or its one or other special edition planned for another market.

...its a photoshop for illustrative purposes

[hajohehe]

probably cant pass emission standard in any other place but Africa.

[Technic]

Originally Posted by research

why? SO the engine is powerful, but the car retains stock weight. GTS is much more than powerful engine. It's like comparing a tuned engined M3 with M3 CSL - a dumb comparison at the end. Looks at the time difference of the E46 M3 CSL vs regular M3. day and night. GTS is in class of its own and some leather, fancy paint and extra 30hp won't change that.

I don't think that we are talking about the same thing. I do think that your example is dumb, though. This is one tuned 4.0L engine having as much power and almost the same torque as the ultimate 4.4L version of the same engine 4.0L, both versions made by the exact same manufacturer, BMW. Since the announcement of the GTS engine specs I have not been impressed with the power output of that 4.4L for the kind of ultimate M3 edition BMW was trying to portray and the money that they were asking for it, but that is me. And this South African version further undermines those 4.4L specs a little more in my eyes.

Now if you tell me that perhaps the GTS engine is tuned at that power level for better power and torque curves of that particular 4.4L displacement for this specific GTS application then we could have a much better discussion than just a "dumb" one.

[Forcefed3]

Originally Posted by HuangYiChao

Sorry not trying to be racist but of all places South Africa?

Hahaha. Really

[J BONE]

Seats are sick IMO. I would have loved to get those

[Forcefed3]

Originally Posted by mdosu

I guess it is racist if your logic is South Africa = lots of black africans, lots of black africans = poor people, black africans = how can they afford special edition M3s?
If so, yes your thinking is racist in a way, but reflective of how the social structure of SA is and people's ignorance of the world other than their little neighborhood (IE People think the Republic of Georgia, is Georgia, like Atlanta Georgia). There's a large white population there that were decendents of the landowners and industrialists and believe me, they got money, they run the economy.


That said, you should probably brief yourself on the history of South Africa before making a comment like this. You'll find out that there's plenty of money in South Africa. Out of all the countries in Africa it's the biggest economy, there must be a reason why the World Cup was held there, don't you think?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_africa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...y_GDP_(nominal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...PP)_per_capita

You're making a big deal put of something small.

[NYCMCBM3]

Sooo sick!!!!!!

[onefastman]

Cool but w/o the ACS exhaust imo

[Mu Mu]

Originally Posted by 135iFreak

Well put..hats off to you..

Back to topic..I was lucky enough to see one of these special editions today while having dinner at Melrose arch..Matt Black, red calipers and an exhaust the could kill a lion( We have plenty of these running on the streets here in South Africa!-sarcasm)..

The car is very sought after here regardless of the price tag, M3 sales seem to be doing well here as tere is a great following of enthusiasts and is greatly welcomed into the stables

Ciao

Originally Posted by Eccentric

the rest of us find your ignorance humourous.

Has he responded since?

[Small Yellow]

Lol wow... I didnt know something I wrote and never looked back would semi-explode like this. To be clear I only wrote that because last time I wrote something someone called me racist which I wasn't trying to be. Other than that I guess you can call me ignorant for not knowing that BMW had plants in SA. I had been hearing/reading of people complaining about how BMW would not bring special edition M3s to the states nor was I aware that those modifications were done by the plants in SA not Germany. So my initial thoughts were, BMW would retool to sell in SA but not North America where majority of the market supposedly is as stated by a forum member. Sorry I don't know BMW as a global company as some of you and yes, I am aware of SA's economy, I am studying that in college.

Back on topic, new pictures do look great.

[Giles]

Originally Posted by GeorgeSmooth

BMW South Africa has always been releasing special cars, read the following:

"The first M3 to come here was the six-cylinder E36 M3 Coupe of the early 1990’s but, to meet demand for a sport BMW 3 Series in the late 1980’s, BMW SA’s plant at Rosslyn, near Pretoria, produced two very special BMW 3 Series just for South Africa.

The first was an Alpina-based BMW 333i that squeezed a 145kW, 3.2-litre straight six into the two-door BMW 3 Series sedan in 1985. Then, in the late 1980’s, the same plant created the BMW 325iS - though it was only a two-door 325i sedan with a body kit and a close-ratio gearbox that improved acceleration at the expense of top speed and fuel economy.

Further changes made the car competitive in South African saloon-car racing; the tweaking terminated with the 325iS Evo II of late 1991 which had a number of aluminium body panels and a 2.7-litre engine that made 155kW and could haul the car to 100km/h kin 7.5sec."

I think the 333i that was produced exclusively in SA from 1986 came out marginally before the first M3 and was more powerful. See below from Wikipedia - I stand to be corrected on the power.

BMW South Africa's Motorsport division created the 333i in 1986 by fitting the 3210 ccm M30 "big six" ("M30B32" of the 733i E23/ 533i E12/ 533i E28/ 633CSi E24) engine to a 2-door E30. The resulting 333i was a major success in saloon car racing in that country and is now a collectors item. These cars, built with help from Alpina in Buchloe, Bavaria, Germany, featured some interesting compromises like forcing the buyer to choose between air conditioning (vital in South Africa) or power steering (because of lack of space due to the large M30 engine). They were only built in small numbers in 1986. BMW South Africa provided the following specifications for the 333i: Powerplant - M30B32 6 Cylinder 3210 cc 145 kW (197 PS; 194 hp) at 5500 rpm. 285 N·m (210 lb·ft) torque at 4300 rpm. The cars were fitted with a 5 speed manual gearbox and limited slip differential. Braking was enhanced by 296 mm (11.7 in) Alpina dual ventilated grooved front disc brakes. ABS was optional. The cars were fitted with J7x16 Alpina wheels and Pirelli P7 (195x50VR16)tyres. BMW provided performance figures were impressive, with a top speed of 228 km/h (142 mph). 0–100 km/h in 7.4 seconds, and a standing kilometer in 27.7 seconds at sea level. Approximately 210 of these cars were produced. The 333i was an all round "Pocket Rocket."

[Giles]

The 333i actually came out in 1984 and inspired the first M3 which was only released in 1986

[V1.47fan]

Originally Posted by HuangYiChao

Sorry not trying to be racist but of all places South Africa?

+1

BMW sold around 240,000 cars in the US in 2009 vs 18,000 in SA. It's even a wider divide with the M3.

Even if they command a premium there,the SA M3 market is so miniscule to even affect BMW's bottom line,yet they get rewarded with the coolest M cars.