BMW reveals Frozen Silver M3 Competition Edition

Earlier this year BMW released the limited-run Frozen Black Edition M3, and now the Bavarian manufacturer has followed up with an M3 Competition Edition coated in equally striking Frozen Silver paintwork.

Just 40 examples of the low-volume M3 will be pitched at the US market to chalk up 40 years of BMW’s M Division and celebrate BMW’s racing heritage in North America.

As evident from the accompanying pics, the Frozen Silver Metallic paintwork is complemented by black bonnet intakes and dark chrome exterior trim, including the kidney grilles, the M side gills and the exhaust tips.

The paint itself is the car’s real USP though and, in BMW’s words: “Compared to conventional exterior colours with gloss finish, the sculpture-like character of the Frozen Silver paint highlights the athletic contours of the M3.”

The lustrous finish is achieved by applying a special BMW-developed silk matte clear coat over the Silver Metallic base coat. The company also provides owners with special care guidelines to prevent the finish from becoming glossy.

According to BMW, the Frozen paints meet or exceed all company standards for durability and longevity, and are backed by a full factory warranty.

The special edition M3 also gains a revised interior with black Extended Novillo Leather trim that contrasts with palladium silver accents and palladium silver-contrast stitching on the front seats, headrests, door trim panels/handles, centre console, and centre armrest.

Further enhancing the cabin’s ambience, facing the driver is an Alcantara-covered multi-function M steering wheel with M3 chequered flag logo inlay. The same logo is repeated on the door sill finishers to ram home the car’s motorsport link, while the handbrake lever sports an embroidered M Power logo. As a final touch, there’s carbonfibre trim on the dash and centre console.

The standard drivetrain is left untouched, but there’s no real need to tamper with a free-spinning 4.0-litre V8 that kicks out 309kW/400Nm to the back wheels via a slick-shifting M Double Clutch Transmission (M DCT).

That said, the car’s Competition Package drops ride height by 10mm and includes M3 GTS 19-inch wheels (in black for this Edition) with wider offset for enhanced stability. There’s also standard Electronic Damping Control with enhanced programming, and higher-threshold programming for the M Dynamic Mode.

And if you thought you’d never want to go and live in the States, you will when you learn the Frozen Silver M3 Competition Edition will be offered there for a retail price of just $US81,060 – including destination and handling. In Australia, however, this exact specification is a little harder to come by.

"Although Frozen Silver M3 Competition Edition is specifcally for the US market, and only available in left-hand drive, it's theoretically faesible to specify an M3 in the Frozen Silver theme," explained BMW Australia head of corporate communications, Piers Scott. 

"The BMW Individual program offers a number of matte and gloss finishes meaning that if a customer wanted to build an M3, we could do it. In fact, we've already delivered an M3 in Frozen Silver to a customer in NSW and there's at least one more on the way!"

Scott went on to say that matte finishes are proving especially popular, and that the Frozen Black Edition M3 announced earlier in the year was an instant success.

"We were able to source 12 examples of the Frozen Black Edition M3 and they're all but spoken for," Scott said.

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