The BMW M6 GT3 is a big-winged beast of a race car

For the Frankfurt motor show, BMW finally let us see what was under that swirly camouflage dressing gown in which we saw the M6 GT3 parading around a few weeks ago.

And holy mother of big wings, it was worth the wait.

As of today, the low, wide and bewinged M6 GT3 takes over from the ageing Z4 GT3 as BMW’s customer GT racer.

So if you’ve got really good at Forza 6 and want to go racing for real, all you need is £264,000, a crash helmet, and a significant stash of bravery.

Built from a steel chassis, the M6 GT3 gets a welded FIA-approved safety cell, and carbon fibre crash structures at the front and back, just in case it turns out you’re not as good at racing in reality as you thought.

It retains the 4.4-litre M TwinPower turbo version of the V8 founded in the M5 and M6, zinged up a bit and with power fed through a transaxle sequential six-speed 'box.

Regulations dictate the GT3 makes ‘only’ 577bhp in its most powerful state. So it’s slightly down on power when compared to a road-going ‘Competition’ packaged M6.

But what the racer has lost in power, it’s made up in aero and weight loss.

The wholesale stripping of non-essentials has led to a weight saving of 625kg from the road-going M5, the racer tipping the scales at 1,300kg.

Meanwhile, to improve airflow and make room under the arches for sticky race rubber, the car has swollen significantly. With a gaping mouth and wider cheeks, the M6’s familiar feline features look like they’ve stood too close to the whooshy end of a Dyson Airblade. And better for it. 

It’s also been slammed to the floor on race springs, and gained a big chin spoiler, a more central seating position for the driver, an endless array of slats, and the biggest and best Bavarian Motor Works wing they could find plonked on the back. 

And, like the C63 DTM car we showed you last week, BMW’s new top-tier customer tin-top has spawned a lovingly M-stripe stickered road-going variant for us mere mortals. However, it’s only for the American market.

Limited to just 100 cars, the $165,850 M6 Competition Edition is swathed in carbon fibre, and has received a power hike up to 600bhp and 516 lb-ft of torque.

So the question is, road or race?