and it’s the #42 BMW E46 M3 GTR that was raced by Jörg Müller and J.J. Lehto in 2001. Not only is this a legitimate M3 GTR, ...
The E46 M3 GTR was an exception to that rule. See, BMW made a mighty V8 to compete in ALMS GT series racing. But to qualify for the class BMW wanted to race in, a street-legal variant needed to exist.
In the case of the E46 and E92 generations you could even hedge your bets and have one of each… The E46 M3 arrived in 2000 and was a return to form for BMW M after ... is very GT-esque and ...