An interesting BMW popped up for sale on duPont Registry yesterday and even this unabashed BMW enthusiast finds the asking price a bit perplexing. It’s a 2013 BMW M3 CRT, one of only 67 ever built and one of two in the United States. “CRT” stands for Carbon Racing Technology, a name which succinctly describes this car’s contribution to the future of BMW.
It was a technical exercise which debuted a more extensive use of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) in areas like the hood, seat backs, and air-channeling front apron for the first time in a production BMW road car. It also gave them a chance to experiment and perfect the manufacturing process for the material that ultimately allowed for an even greater use of CFRP in the i3, i8, and the new 7 Series. It wasn’t until the M4 GTS debuted four years later with a CFRP hood, seat backs, and aero elements that we saw a similar application of CFRP in an M car.
It was undoubtedly ahead of its time… but are we really doing ~$300,000 E9X M3s now? Really?

Low resolution images of a $300,000 M3 borrowed from duPont Registry

Yeah, I guess so.
It was an M3 ahead of its time made sweeter by the 450-horsepower 4.4-liter naturally-aspirated V8 that it borrowed from the M3 GTS. It also had matching suspension tuning and braking power so it was about as close as you could get to a four-door M3 GTS – it was even built (largely by hand) on the same assembly line as the M3 GTS.
The E90 M3 CRT was never sold in America, so this car (and presumably the other one) has been federalized for Show & Display use but this is the only one that was never registered. It’s about as special of an E90 M3 as you could possibly get, but does that all make it worth nearly $300,000? It’s awesome, important to BMW history, undeniably rare, and is surely a blast to drive (for up to 2,500 miles/year), but I can think of many other BMWs I’d rather buy with $300,000, but I also couldn’t blame anyone who pulls the trigger on this.
What say you? Here’s the listing on duPont Registry if you happen to be interested.
[Sources: duPont Registry, BMW]