BMW M3 GTS and CRT: They don’t get much rarer than these two

There were just seven examples of the very orange GTS in the UK – but it looks like a 'pile 'em high' car next to the CRT

The BMW M3 GTS: It’s rare and it’s very orange

You could buy a new M4 GTS for £121,755. But you’d need a bit more than that to get an older M-car. In this case, courtesy of Pistonheads, you could pay £125,000 for an M3 GTS.

It’s rare and it’s very orange. And it has a 4.4-litre V8 pumping out 450PS, meaning it can do the 0-100mph sprint in just 6.5 seconds.

There were just seven of these cars in the UK, so that makes this a real rarity. But it looks like a ‘pile ‘em high’ car next to another M3.

The GTS has a 4.4-litre V8 pumping out 450PS

This is the M3 CRT, also on sale through Pistonheads at the moment, also very low mileage. And lower weight.

BMW used the same carbon honeycomb material that they later went on to use in the i3 and i8 to make the bonnet and front seats and fitted a titanium exhaust. That’s good for a 70kg weight reduction right there, even though you’re still left with a car weighing 1580kg.

BMW only made 67 CRT models

The CRT stood for Carbon Racing Technology which certainly described what the car was about, but it sat at odds with how the car looked. From a distance it looks like a standard four-door M3 and it would be easy to miss the subtle signals. But this is still a car that was only 0.1sec slower to 60mph than the GTS, thanks to the same engine and output as the GTS.

The CRT is rarer than the GTS, but cheaper at ‘only’ £96,000

They made 135 examples of the GTS, but they only made 67 CRT models. All of the CRTs were painted in Frozen Polar Silver with Melbourne Red. Slightly more discreet than the orange of the GTS. Since the CRT is rarer than the already rare GTS, you’d expect it to cost more. Yet it is cheaper at ‘only’ £96,000. Exclusivity for less than the price of a new standard M4 GTS – worth a look.