If This BMW M3 on BaT Was Good Enough for an IndyCar Racer, It's Good Enough for You

The Story

The 2006 M3 that Here’s what’s happening:

The 2006 M3 that’s up for auction has the Dinan S Competition package and was purchased new by two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon.

In other words, bring a TrailerHere’s one of the best generations of BMW M3 in perfect spec.With mild upgrades from Dinan and a great color combo, it’s subtle perfection.Plus, its first owner was a two-time Indy 500 winner.In 2005, racer Dan Wheldon was having a very good year. He’d won the Indy 500, drunk the milk in Victory Lane, and…

That is — wheldon’s gift to himself just turned up on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos), and it reveals him to be not just a charismatic race winner, but also a man of impeccable taste. It’s a 2006 BMW M3 with the desirable combination of the Competition package and a six-speed manual transmission,…

To put it simply, all by itself, the E46 M3 is held up as a highlight of the breed. The first-generation car was a gloriously buzzy DTM racer for the road; the second-gen was slightly watered down in U.S. spec; while the V-8-powered model that followed was a much bigger beast.

Breaking this down, under the hood is what you really want to find from a car company with the middle name of Motor: a smooth and revvy inline-six. No forced induction, just 3.2 liters of displacement and a redline of 8000 rpm once the oil’s warmed up. Thanks to the bump from BMW tuning specialist Dinan, power here is up to 355…

Now, m3s of this vintage came with two transmission options: a traditional three-pedal manual or a sequential manual gearbox. This last was better than most people remember, but when dual-clutch transmissions came along, it seemed pretty clunky. Happily, this example has been turned into a proper, old-fashioned stick shift.

Why It Matters

This story resonates because it puts BMW squarely in the conversation. Industry watchers often read such moves as signals — for BMW this could mean re-engagement with a strategic recalibration.

CarMotion Daily’s Take

Our read: If This BMW M3 on BaT Was Good Enough for an IndyCar Racer, It’s Good Enough … is more than a headline — it indicates a deliberate move from BMW’s playbook. Watch the next 60 days for follow-through.