M4 DTM Makes US Debut at Homestead-Miami Speedway

It’s rare to see a BMW M4 DTM anywhere, let alone here in the US. We’re not talking about the M4 GT3s that have raced in the DTM championship the last few years, but rather the super high-tech Class 1 cars that were run through the 2020 season before the series switched to GT3-spec machinery to reduce costs and get more manufacturer involvement. You wouldn’t be far off if you think of the Class 1 DTM cars as Formula 1 cars with a body around them.

The car you see here is the only Class 1 DTM car in the US. Acquired by Rooster Hall Racing team owner and BMW CCA Club Racing competitor Todd Brown, this was the car former BMW M Motorsport factory driver Timo Glock drove in the DTM championship from 2014 through 2017 with a V8 under the hood, and then again in 2019 and 2020 after the series transitioned to turbocharged 4-cylinder engines, which turned to be faster than the V8-powered cars.

Timo Glock last drove this M4 DTM in the 2020 season. (BMW Photo)

Brown was looking for an E30 M3 DTM car when the opportunity came to own this car, which is one of only a handful of Class 1 cars that exists in the world. This car is nothing like the M4 GT3 that races in DTM today. It’s much lighter, has much more downforce, and requires a team of engineers to run, just like a Formula 1 car. Brown drove the car for the first time at Brian Redman’s Targa 66 event at Homestead-Miami Speedway in mid-February and had to fly over crew from Bonetsmüller Racing to support him at Homestead. Bonetsmüller Racing is a group approved by BMW M Motorsport to run these cars and has some ex-BMW M Motorsport engineers on their team.

Getting the M4 DTM started is a whole process, as you have to bring the engine and fluids up to around 160 degrees before running it, and you need a computer to assist with the starting procedure. The Bonetsmüller engineers also downloaded data from the car after each session, and the car had to be cooled down properly before shutting the engine off. Brown’s Rooster Hall Racing team is adept at running GT4-spec cars, but this is on a whole other level from an M4 GT4 or even an M4 GT3. It’s very high-tech.

The turbocharged 2-liter 4-cylinder puts out over 600hp.

Brown had some idea of what to expect before he went into the M4 DTM at Homestead, as he has tested LMP3 prototypes before, which also produced a lot of downforce, but there were still some surprises. “During testing of the LMP3 car, I had spun the car in slow corners,” he says. “It takes some time to get your brain to understand that it sticks better at higher speeds, and I think the DTM car actually has more downforce than an LMP3 car. What I wasn’t ready for was the instant torque and instant speed. It’s got a big turbo on it, but interestingly, there’s no turbo lag. I don’t know how they do it. This car was faster than the V8 DTM cars they had.”

Even with all its tech, which includes a DRS (Drag Reduction System) as in Formula 1, these cars don’t have ABS or traction control, which puts more of the responsibility for a fast lap on the driver. “There’s no ABS and no traction control on these cars, and it goes through the gears so quickly,” says Brown. “When you come out of a corner, you can’t mash on the throttle. You have to pretend there’s an eggshell between your foot and the throttle – you have to be smooth. Once you get up to speed, the downforce starts to kick in, and then you can nail it, and the car is just phenomenal.”

Brown was still getting used to the car after a few days at Homestead and being very careful with it, but he was running lap times that were 11 seconds faster than the G82 M4 GT4 that he’s driven here and around 5-6 seconds faster than Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars that were at the event. “It’s very powerful and very light,” says Brown. “We were running around 570hp at the rear wheels, so it’s probably around 630 at the crank, and you could really feel that power. The car was very compliant – more so than I thought it would be. It was also very predictable if the back end stepped out. It’s rather easy to drive at a good amount of speed, but it’s not easy to drive slowly because there’s no aero.”

Todd Brown (right) with BMW ace Bill Auberlen, who also drove the car at Homestead.

The braking also took some getting used to, as it works better with more downforce. “Braking is not too dissimilar from the M4 GT4 in that you have to use a lot of leg,” he said. “With so much downforce, you can stand on the brakes as hard as you can going into the braking zone and then let off. The slower you go, the more downforce you’ll lose, and it will lock up. I had to learn to hit the brakes super hard and then let off. It’s a bit of an art, but once you get it, it’s amazing.”

The M4 DTM is beautifully made and constructed, and visitors to the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles will be able to see this car in person. It’s heading there in June for an extended stay that could be as long as twelve months, so make sure and get there to see it if you have the chance.

Once Brown gets it back, he’s hoping to possibly drive it at Laguna Seca, the Circuit of the Americas, and maybe even VIR, which is his home track, but he wants to be astute about where the car runs and the other cars it’s on the track with. “It’s an amazing piece of machinery,” he says. “I’m the temporary purveyor of the car, so I want to keep it perfect. I’ll never drive anything like this in my life again.”