Am I correct in thinking that the 325i and M3 were identical and that the differences lay under the bonnet and with the suspension?
From this thread in the Chassis History section
http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=98823 I gather that all the M3s were built to a point by BMW and then sold to the teams who completed the build and numbered M3/1-001, M31/002 etc. Presumably the JPS cars were included in this.
I guess it would be logical to try and capture the history of the 2.5 litre M3s here. Two Schnitzer cars were raced in New Zealand by Emanuele Pirro & Johhny Cecotto and Steve Soper & Joachim Winkelhock at the end of 1990 after which the Benson & Hedges team took delivery.
These were used as the B&H racecars throughout 1991, with a 3rd car purchased from the Bigazzi team in Italy. This was painted in a white livery for the BMW Advanced Training Centre, it was used as the T car at Bathurst. One of the Schnitzer cars was badly damaged in Wellington at the end of the year, although I believe repaired.
For the 1992 ATCC there 3 cars, 2 in B&H livery for Jones and Longhurst and the ex Bigazzi car for Paul Morris in the white livery it had appeared in 1991. For Bathurst 1992 there was a new car, I think this was the last ever M3 E30 built.
For 1993 the team entered 4 cars, Longhurst and John Blanchard in B&H livery and Morris and Geoff Full in Diet Coke livery, presumably being the new car, the 2 Schnitzer cars delivered at the end of 1990 and the Bigazzi car.
The last built car was sold to Cameron McLean who used it to win the 1995 Australian Sports Sedan Championship, Blanchard raced one in the 2 litre series in 1994, while one was sold to Asia.