BMW M3 Competition Reporting For Highway Patrol Duties In Australia

The Victoria Police Highway Patrol in Australia has just added a brand new BMW M3 Competition to its fleet, at least for temporarily as part of the vehicle’s evaluation and assessment process.

The M3 Competition sports a white exterior with yellow and blue Highway Patrol graphics, and inverted Police lettering on the bonnet. The special livery and the blue/red lights distinguish it from civilian M3s.

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Under the bonnet, there is the stock twin-turbo 3.0-liter six-cylinder engine producing 503 hp (375 kW / 510 PS) and 479 lb-ft (650 Nm) of torque in Competition guise, mated to an eight-speed M Steptronic automatic gearbox. This kind of power sounds more than enough for a highway patrol car, although the 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) sprint in 3.9 seconds of the RWD model is slightly slower than the AWD variant equipped with the M xDrive system.

In any case, we are sure that the double-coffin grille of the M3 is not something Aussie drivers would like to see on their rear-view mirror, especially if they’re caught speeding. According to the Victoria Police Highway Patrol, the car is already performing “specialist duties” in the hands of officers across the Victoria state.

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Naturally, this is not the first performance sedan serving as a police car in Australia. In fact, the Victoria Police Highway Patrol has used the BMW M5 Competition in 2019, and the Mercedes-AMG E43 in 2018. Aussie police officers are not limited to ICE-powered sedans, as back in 2019 they used a Tesla Model X electric SUV, again for highway patrol duties.