So, it's with tongue firmly in cheek that the folks at BMW have lifted the wraps off the most practical iteration that you're ever likely to come across. But before you envisage a scramble to your nearest BMW dealership courtesy of those wishing to become the world's fastest garden services firm, just look at your calendar…
A few weeks back, a series of spy shots depicting what appeared to be a heavily-disguised cut ‘n shut job M3 bakkie pootling around the Nürburgring had folks frothing at the mouth but now the German firm has unveiled the finished article…On April 1st…hmmm.
Under the nose of this targa-roofed workhorse sites the same rev-happy 4,0-litre V8 that powers the other models in the M3 line-up. It develops 309 kW and 400 N.m of torque. Power is sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox – obviously, who’d have a dual-clutch set-up in a bakkie?
BMW hasn’t divulged any performance figures, but it claims that the M3 pick-up is 50 kg lighter than the M3 Convertible and shed a further 20 kg when the targa roof is dispensed with. Among the this models concessions to practicality are a 450 kg payload rating, a tow hitch – something BMW points out is a first for any M-car – and a load bay lined with aluminium chequer-plate protection…Well, you wouldn’t want to 20 golf bags that BMW claims this beast can carry scuffing that nice paintwork, would you?
The cabin is pretty much standard M3 fare, with the exception of a carbon-fibre facia insert with special M3 pick-up decal…
If you missed the calendar references and are staring at the screen with the same level of incredulity being experienced by the bewildered BMW you’ve just phoned to enquire about this model, you’ll probably have realized that this is an April fool’s joke on the part of those chaps at BMW.
It’s a good one, but it also has a more serious side. This once-off product will be used as a workshop transport vehicle for BMW M GmbH and will reportedly star alongside a number of other quirkily-modified M-cars when the new M5 is officially unveiled.
Next up, the M3 frozen Edition minibus taxi and an M5 drop-side…
