NB. The first 3 of each heat (Q) plus the 2 fastest times (q) qualified.
Heat 1
01 September 2011 – 12:30
| Position | Lane | Team | Country | Mark | React | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | United States (Greg Nixon; Jamaal Torrance; Michael Berry; LaShawn Merritt) |
 USA |
2:58.82 Q | (WL) | 0.155 |
| 2 | 7 | Jamaica (Allodin Fothergill; Riker Hylton; Lansford Spence; Leford Green) |
 JAM |
2:59.13 Q | (SB) | 0.185 |
| 3 | 1 | South Africa (Oscar Pistorius; Ofentse Mogawane; Willem de Beer; Shane Victor) |
 RSA |
2:59.21 Q | (NR) | 0.192 |
| 4 | 5 | Great Britain & N.I. (Richard Strachan; Nigel Levine; Christopher Clarke; Martyn Rooney) |
 GBR |
3:00.38 q | (SB) | 0.178 |
| 5 | 2 | Germany (Jonas Plass; Kamghe Gaba; Eric Krüger; Thomas Schneider) |
 GER |
3:00.68 q | (SB) | 0.176 |
| 6 | 8 | Trinidad and Tobago (Zwede Hewitt; Jarrin Solomon; Deon Lendore; Renny Quow) |
 TRI |
3:02.47 | 0.191 | |
| 7 | 3 | Japan (Kei Takase; Yuzo Kanemaru; Yusuke Ishitsuka; Hideyuki Hirose) |
 JPN |
3:02.64 | (SB) | 0.305 |
| 8 | 4 | Korea (Bonggo Park; Chanho Lim; Jun Lee; Hyeokje Seong) |
 KOR |
3:04.05 | (NR) | 0.198 |
Heat 2
01 September 2011 – 12:40
| Position | Lane | Team | Country | Mark | React | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Belgium (Antoine Gillet; Jonathan Borlée; Nils Duerinck; Kévin Borlée) |
 BEL |
3:00.71 Q | (SB) | 0.179 |
| 2 | 2 | Russia (Maksim Dyldin; Konstantin Svechkar; Pavel Trenikhin; Denis Alekseyev) |
 RUS |
3:00.81 Q | (SB) | 0.205 |
| 3 | 4 | Kenya (Vincent Kiplangat Kosgei; Anderson Mureta Mutegi; Vincent Mumo Kiilu; Mark Kiprotich Mutai) |
 KEN |
3:00.97 Q | (SB) | 0.458 |
| 4 | 8 | Bahamas (Ramon Miller; Avard Moncur; Andrae Williams; LaToy Williams) |
 BAH |
3:01.54 | 0.221 | |
| 5 | 6 | Australia (Ben Offereins; Tristan Thomas; Steven Solomon; Sean Wroe) |
 AUS |
3:01.56 | (SB) | 0.195 |
| 6 | 7 | Poland (Kacper Kozlowski; Piotr Wiaderek; Jakub Krzewina; Marcin Marciniszyn) |
 POL |
3:01.84 | (SB) | 0.161 |
| 7 | 5 | France (Nicolas Fillon; Teddy Venel; Mamoudou Hanne; Yoann Décimus) |
 FRA |
3:03.68 | 0.169 | |
| 8 | 3 | Saudi Arabia (Ismail M.H Alsabani; Yousef Ahmed Masrahi; Hamed Hamdan AlBishi; Mohammed Al-Salhi) |
 KSA |
3:05.65 | (SB) | 0.276 |
