The Fanatec Podium BMW M4 GT3 is already one of the coolest sim racing wheels ever made on the surface alone. It looks incredible, it feels incredibly premium, and if you know the backstory behind it, it carries a level of authenticity that very few other sim racing products can match. But beyond the obvious stuff, there are also quite a few smaller details that make this wheel even more interesting.
So rather than turning this into a full review all over again, I wanted to highlight five genuinely cool things about the BMW M4 GT3 wheel that a lot of people may not know. Some of them are clever little design details, and some of them say a lot about just how serious this product really is. Either way, this wheel has a lot more going on than most people realize.
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At first glance, the BMW roundel sitting in the center of the wheel looks like exactly what you would expect it to be. It looks like a badge, a design piece, and a way of making the wheel feel even more connected to the real car. But it is actually functional too. Fanatec built it so the logo works as a four-way D-pad, which means it is not there purely for looks.
That is a very cool little detail, and one that fits this wheel perfectly. On the BMW M4 GT3 wheel, the logo can be used to navigate menus and adjust tuning settings, which gives the center of the wheel a lot more purpose than most people would expect. It is one of those features that sounds small until you actually think about how clever it is. Something that could have easily been left as a visual centerpiece ends up becoming a usable control as well.
And honestly, that kind of detail says a lot about the whole product. This wheel was clearly not designed to be flashy first and functional second. Even the parts that seem decorative have a role to play, which adds a lot to the overall feel of the thing when you are actually using it.
One of the coolest little Easter eggs on this wheel is something many people will not even notice unless they take it off the base and really look around the back. Tucked away on the rear side is a small BMW Sim Technology logo, and it adds an extra layer of character to a product that already feels special enough.
I would not treat that badge as some formal confirmation of a huge standalone BMW sim division or anything like that, but it does reinforce the point that this wheel was taken seriously from both a motorsport and sim racing perspective. Fanatec and BMW M Motorsport did not make this as a gimmick. They clearly wanted it to feel like a real crossover product, and details like that small rear logo help sell the idea even further.
It is the kind of thing that probably means more to enthusiasts than it would to most casual buyers. But for the people who care about the story behind sim racing hardware, and especially behind a wheel like this, it is a very neat little touch. Wheels at this price should feel special, and this one definitely does.
The golden QR2 Pro quick release on the BMW M4 GT3 wheel is one of the first things people notice. It looks fantastic, and it gives the wheel a very motorsport-grade appearance straight away. But the important part is that this is not some cosmetic upgrade meant to look fancy on a simulator. Fanatec states that the QR2 Pro meets FIA standards, which is a big part of why this wheel has the credibility it does.
That matters because it shows the whole concept behind this wheel was serious from day one. This is not a road-car-inspired or racecar-inspired product trying to imitate the feel of something higher end. It was engineered around actual real-world use, and the quick release is a big part of that. When you see the gold finish, it is easy to focus on how cool it looks, but there is real substance behind it as well.
It also helps explain why this wheel continues to stand apart from most of the market even years after launch. Plenty of wheels look premium. Far fewer are built with the kind of real-world compatibility and standards compliance that this one was designed around.
This is the big one, and it is still probably the wildest thing about the whole product. The Fanatec Podium BMW M4 GT3 is not a replica. It is not a sim-only interpretation of the real thing. Fanatec officially describes it as the actual wheel made for the 2022 BMW M4 GT3 race car, developed together with BMW M Motorsport.
That is what gives this wheel such a different feel compared with almost everything else in sim racing. Most products, even very good ones, are still ultimately sim racing products that borrow from real motorsport. This one comes from the other direction. It belongs to both worlds. If you owned the actual race car, this is the wheel you would use there too. That is a ridiculous thing to be able to say about a sim racing steering wheel, and it is still a huge part of why people remain fascinated by it.
It also changes the way you look at the price. This is still an expensive wheel, obviously, but when you remember what it actually is, the whole thing starts to make a lot more sense. It sits in a category of its own, and that has been true since the day it launched.
Another very cool feature that people sometimes overlook is the shifter design. The carbon fibre magnetic paddles on the back are not only there to be pulled in the normal way. They also support push-pull functionality, meaning you can upshift and downshift using the same side. Fanatec says the push function can handle both directions with one hand or be assigned separately depending on how you want to configure it.
That gives the wheel a slightly quirky but very functional trick up its sleeve. In certain situations, especially when one hand is busy or your grip changes mid-corner, having that extra flexibility can actually be useful. It is also just one of those features that makes the whole product feel a bit more interesting than the average high-end wheel. There is a lot of thought in the rear layout here, not only in terms of feel, but in terms of what the paddles can actually do.
And because this is still a motorsport-grade product, the paddles themselves feel excellent too. Large, firm, and very clear in use, with that crisp action you would hope for on something of this level. The push-pull feature is the icing on top.
The Fanatec BMW M4 GT3 wheel is already special before you even start digging into the smaller details. But once you do, it becomes even easier to understand why this thing made such a huge impact when it launched and why it still gets talked about now. The hidden D-pad, the BMW Sim Technology badge, the FIA-grade quick release, the fact that it is literally the real wheel, and the push-pull carbon paddles all help paint the same picture.
This is a genuinely unique piece of sim racing hardware. It is one of those products where the more you learn about it, the cooler it gets. And in a hobby full of wheels trying to feel more authentic, this one still sits near the very top simply because it never had to pretend in the first place. If you want to know more, please check out my full review here on the website.
