2022 BMW M3 Competition revealed as Victoria Police Highway Patrol interceptor

Victoria Police have announced a new addition to its fleet – a 2022 BMW M3 Competition.

The M3 joins the BMW 530d, Mercedes-Benz E 400d, and Volkswagen Passat R-Line interceptors currently being used by the Highway Patrol department.

The high-performance BMW is powered by a 3.0-litre twin-turbo inline-six petrol engine, which sends 375kW and 650Nm to the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission.

It’s enough to propel the slicktop M3 to 100km/h from a standstill in just 3.9 seconds, on the way to an electronically-limited 250km/h top speed.

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While the retail price starts from $154,471 before on-road costs, taxpayers need not fret, with BMW Australia loaning the M3 to Victoria Police for a short period – as it has done in the past.

In 2019, BMW loaned the police an all-wheel-drive M5 Competition, spitting out 460kW and 750Nm from a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8, for a 0-100km/h time of 3.3 seconds – making it the most powerful car in the force’s history.

While Australian police are known to also use twin-turbo Kia Stingers and V8-powered Chrysler 300 SRTs, it’s not uncommon for carmakers to loan performance cars to Australian police. The NSW Police Force has used a Lexus RC-F and Honda Civic Type R in the past.

The Australian Federal Police were spotted using an unmarked previous-generation BMW M3 in late 2019, but unusually the vehicle was said to have been optioned with a manual transmission.

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One of the very last V8-powered Holden Commodore SS cars retired from service with VicPol only weeks ago, with the lovingly nicknamed ‘Thomas’ to be replaced by a BMW X5 in the Melton Highway Patrol fleet.

“I'm sure many will be sad to see it go and work will never quite be the same without the roar of the V8 either in the cabin, buzzing the tower, echoing through quiet streets or bleeding through the police radio when you hear your mates going after someone,” one officer wrote in an emotional Facebook post about the Holden in October.

Despite the two-week gap between the Holden finishing and the BMW starting, Victoria Police still have a number of models on duty packing a V8, thanks to the Toyota LandCruiser 200 Series and Ram 1500.

It’s believed Victoria Police has had some kind of V8 car in service since 1962, when the first powder blue Studebaker Larks were brought into the fold.