In February 1982, Richards was hired by Frank Gardner, team manager of the new JPS Team BMW, as the team's lead driver to drive the BMW 635 CSi. The team knew results under the locally developed Group C regulations would be very hard against the local Holdens and Fords, and never won a race from 1982 to 1984. Plans to switch to the more competitive M535is, with its far better power-to-weight ratio, were stymied because insufficient numbers had been manufactured by the company.