BMW have cooked up a storm for the 30th anniversary of the Need for Speed series, as they've brought one of gaming's most iconic cars to life.
Racing has been a fundamental part of gaming since almost the very beginning, with car-focused games often serving as the arbiters of technological evolution.
Part of the fun is getting to sit behind the wheel of some of the most powerful - and expensive - vehicles in the world, with many entirely unavailable to the consumer, yet sometimes the most famous in-game vehicles don't actually exist.
That is, until now, as BMW has revealed a real-life version of the iconic BMW E46 M3 GTR, complete with an identical livery in what the company itself determines to be "what might be the famous racing car in the world" for Need for Speed's 30th anniversary.
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Featured most prominently as the car of the main antagonist in 2005's Need for Speed Most Wanted, the cobalt blue and silver design has more than earned a place within gaming history, and now you can marvel at its excellence in real life too.
This particular vehicle was also the only BMW car in the Need for Speed series until ProStreet, and thus has a special place in the heart of the company and fans of the game.
This particular real-life version is based on the BMW M3 E46 that competed in the then American Le Mans Series, winning seven separate events. With only ten models of this original produced, it also makes it one of the rarest vehicles on the market.
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Unfortunately this Need for Speed homage is not for sale, regardless of how much most fans would love to buy it, but you can visit it in all its glory at the BMW Welt museum in Munich, Germany from November 27, 2024.
When asked why this particular vehicle has such a hold on the Need for Speed fanbase and racing lovers as a whole, people on social media had a wide range of responses.
Detailed in a post on the r/needforspeed subreddit, one user said that: "Apart from the good ol' nostaglia... this car was built with only one purpose: humiliate the all-powerful Porsche in their terrain - circuits. And they did it so hard that in Stuttgart [they] had to appeal to lawyers like little girls to ban it from racing."
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In short, another user points out that it's down to "nostalgia, simple coolness factor, and it is the mascot for the best selling (but far from first) game in the franchise."
One final comment sums it up nicely, while also personifying the Need for Speed series: "Nothing screams 'illegal street racing' more than using a literal racetrack-only car and it kicks ass."
It's a shame that the M3 will be chained to the confines of a museum, but hopefully one day it can take to the streets - and with a fleet of police cars rapidly on its tail like good old times.