Move over Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon, there's a new Victoria Police Highway Patrol vehicle on the beat

The mighty BMW M3 has been enlisted by Victoria Police to serve in its Highway Patrol division, though only as an evaluation and assessment vehicle for now.

Wearing full police livery, complete with sirens and flashing lights, the on-duty BMW M3 looks like a Need for Speed car come to life, and will serve and protect in the state of Victoria.

Powered by a 3.0-litre twin-turbo inline six-cylinder petrol engine, the 2022 M3 punches out 375kW/650Nm to the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission.

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This is enough to accelerate the German sedan from zero to 100km/h in just 3.9 seconds, or quick enough to beat out most cars on the road to the triple-digit figure.

In addition to the potent performance, the M3 is also equipped with an array of standard safety features such as a surround-view camera, autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning and traffic sign recognition.

If the M3 passes the test, it won’t be the first BMW in the Victoria Police ranks, with 5 Series models having been enlisted back in 2018 to replace the ageing Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores.

In 2019, Victoria Police also assessed the M5 Competition for active duty, though that vehicle has since been returned to BMW.

It is likely this M3 Competition will serve the same fate, as each model wears a recommended retail price of $154,900 before on-road costs, making it much more expensive than the V8-powered Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons that proliferated across the force a decade ago.

In the ACT though, Police services have been spotted in an unmarked M3 Competition, though a previous-generation model, while other vehicles on active duty around the country include the Hyundai Santa Fe, Volkswagen Passat and Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

It’s not all high-performance and high pricetag models though, as NSW Police have enlisted the help of the Hyundai Kona Electric for duties, while Queensland Police have scored five Hyundai Nexo fuel-cell electric vehicles for general duties.