You can help the Forza Wiki by adding to this article."With the demise of their partnership with McLaren as the F1 GTR was reaching the end of its racing career, BMW decided to delve into open-cockpit prototypes. The first attempt, the V12 LM, was underdeveloped, but this subsequent LMR version fixes many of the issues with the earlier car. The chassis is provided by constructor WilliamsF1, and the engine is a derivation of the same 6-liter V12 found in the racing versions of the McLaren F1 GTR. A simple car in theory, the carbon fiber open monocoque is very lightweight, and with a proven engine the car was incredibly quick during its career, with this #15 car winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright in its first year of racing to provide BMW with their first win as a principal (rather than just as an engine supplier). Mission accomplished, the V12 LMRs went to compete in ALMS racing and BMW went into Formula 1 with WilliamsF1."—Official description[1]
The 1999 BMW #15 BMW Motorsport V12 LMR - abbreviated as "BMW #15 V12 LMR" and previously known as "BMW Motorsport #15 BMW V12 LMR" - is an LMP sports prototype by BMW.
It appears in Forza Motorsport (2005) and all subsequent Motorsport series titles except Forza Motorsport 5 and Forza Motorsport 6: Apex.
Synopsis[]
Replacing the short lived BMW V12 LM, the V12 LMR was a complete revamp of the former car due to its mechanical and aerodynamic issues during the 1998 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Once again using a Williams Racing designed chassis and the V12 engine from the LM, the LMR has completely different body work to allow for air ducts on top of the car instead of below and for a smaller roll hoop that was only behind the driver's seat instead of the whole cockpit. Four cars would be built, with the first race for two of them (the #43/#001 and #42/#002) being the 1999 12 Hours of Sebring in the inaugural American Le Mans Series (ALMS), where the #42 would win, while the #43 would end up with enough damage that the #001 chassis would never be used again.[2]
The #15 (#003) with a lineup of Yannick Dalmas, Pierluigi Martini, and Joachim Winkelhock, and the #16 (#004) were two of the three cars planned to race at the 1999 edition of Le Mans. While both cars, along with their sibling car the #17, would prequalify for the race, only the #15 and #17 would enter qualifying and therefor the race due to the #16 being withdrawn. The #15 would qualify 6th for the race, while the #17 (the newly renumbered #002) would qualify 3rd, only being beaten by two GT-Ones. The #17 would end up taking the lead part way through the race due to a flat tire for one Toyota and an accident for the other, however it would unfortunately have its own accident in the Porsche Curves, eventually handing the lead over to the #15. That car would end up holding off the remaining Toyota left in the field to give BMW their first ever win at Le Mans.[3][4]
BMW would then decide to run the rest of the ALMS season, with the #003 becoming the new #43 and the #004 becoming the new #42. The driving lineup for the two cars would be JJ Lehto and Steven Soper in the #42 and Bill Auberlen and Winkelhock in the #43, although Soper would join the #43 for Petit Le Mans, with Jörg Müller filling in for him in the #42. The #42 would continue the number's streak of never finishing off the podium, taking three wins and a second place and third place each. While the #43 wouldn't be as successful, it would never finish outside the top 5, with two 2nd place finishes and a 3rd place finish. The team would end up 2nd in the LMP team standings losing out on the title to the Panoz team by only two points.[5][6]
With BMW returning to Formula 1 as an engine supplier with Williams for 2000, it was decided that that was the main priority for the company instead of Le Mans. However, since they didn't want to see the LMP program go to waste, they decided to allow the cars to do a full season in the ALMS. The three chassis would end up rotating between the #42 and #43 numbers throughout the length of the season, with the #42 cars driven by Lehto and Müller, while the #43s would be driven by Jean-Marc Gounon and Auberlen, with Soper joining for that year's Sebring race. The best result for each chassis would be two wins for the #002 as the #42, a 3rd place for the #003 as the #43 in the car's last race at Las Vegas, and a 2nd place finish at Mosport for the #004 as the #42. The Art Car livery, which was meant to debut at the previous year's Le Mans on the #16, would finally make its racing debut on the #004/#42 at Petit Le Mans. The team would once again finish second in the LMP team standings, this time being beat by fellow German competitor Audi.[6][7]
After not traveling to Australia for the last round of the ALMS season in Adelaide, the LMR would be retired from racing to allow BMW to put all of its focus on F1.[2] BMW would not return to the top level of endurance racing until 2023 with the debut of the M Hybrid V8.
Variants[]
It appears in the Forza series in two livery variants:
- 1999 BMW #15 BMW Motorsport V12 LMR (All Motorsport titles except Forza Motorsport 5 and Forza Motorsport 6: Apex)
- 1999 BMW #16 BMW Motorsport V12 LMR (Forza Motorsport 6 onwards, added into Forza Motorsport (2023) with Update 16)
Statistics[]
You can help the Forza Wiki by adding to this article.
You can help the Forza Wiki by adding to this article.
You can help the Forza Wiki by adding to this article.
|
Speed 7.5 Accel 9.3
Braking 9.0
Corner 9.0
Base Rarity 10.0
|
P1 |
|---|---|---|
Unlock Requirements
North America:
missing data
Rarity: 10.0
Europe:
missing data
Rarity: 10.0
Asia:
missing data
Rarity: 10.0 | ||
Performance
Value: ? CR
Speed:
Top Speed: missing data
Acceleration:
0-60 mph (0-97 km/h): missing data
0-100 mph (0-161 km/h): missing data
Braking:
60-0 mph (97-0 km/h): missing data 100-0 mph (161-0 km/h): missing data
Lateral Gs:
60 mph (97 km/h): missing data
120 mph (193 km/h): missing data | ||
|
Speed 6.6 Acceleration 9.0
Braking 9.9
Handling 9.6
Base Rarity 10.0
|
R1 |
|---|---|---|
Unlock Requirements
North America:
missing data
Rarity: ?
Europe:
missing data
Rarity: ?
Asia:
missing data
Rarity: ? | ||
Performance & Body Style
Body Style: missing data
Value: ? CR
Speed:
Top Speed: missing data
Acceleration:
0-60 mph (0-97 km/h): missing data
0-100 mph (0-161 km/h): missing data
Braking:
60-0 mph (97-0 km/h): missing data 100-0 mph (161-0 km/h): missing data
Lateral Gs:
60 mph (97 km/h): missing data
120 mph (193 km/h): missing data | ||
|
Speed 7.8 Handling 8.7
Acceleration 9.0
Launch 7.9
Braking 8.7
|
R1 934 |
|---|---|---|
Unlock Requirements
Car Dealer:
Purchase from the car dealer for 1,400,000 CR | ||
Performance & Body Style
Body Style: Prototype 1
Value: 1,400,000 CR
Speed:
Top Speed: missing data
Acceleration:
0-60 mph (0-97 km/h): missing data
0-100 mph (0-161 km/h): missing data
Braking:
60-0 mph (97-0 km/h): missing data 100-0 mph (161-0 km/h): missing data
Lateral Gs:
60 mph (97 km/h): missing data
120 mph (193 km/h): missing data | ||
|
Speed 9.1 Handling 9.9
Acceleration 9.8
Launch 8.6
Braking 9.8
|
R1 971 |
|---|---|---|
Unlock Requirements
Car Dealer:
Purchase from the car dealer for 2,200,000 CR | ||
Performance & Body Style
Body Style: Prototype 1
Value: 2,200,000 CR
Speed:
Top Speed: 208.4 mph (335.3 km/h)
Acceleration:
0-60 mph (0-97 km/h): 2.300 secs.
0-100 mph (0-161 km/h): 4.413 secs.
Braking:
60-0 mph (97-0 km/h): 85.6 ft (26.1 m) 100-0 mph (161-0 km/h): 204.8 ft (62.4 m)
Lateral Gs:
60 mph (97 km/h): 1.42 g
120 mph (193 km/h): 2.00 g | ||
|
Speed 7.4 Handling 8.8
Acceleration 9.6
Braking 8.7
|
P 973 |
|---|---|---|
Unlock Requirements
Car Dealer:
Purchase from the car dealer for 1,100,000 CR | ||
Performance & Division
Division: Endurance Prototypes
Value: 1,100,000 CR
Speed:
Top Speed: 200.3 mph (322.3 km/h)
Acceleration:
0-60 mph (0-97 km/h): 2.300 secs.
0-100 mph (0-161 km/h): 4.400 secs.
Braking:
60-0 mph (97-0 km/h): 80.9 ft (24.7 m) 100-0 mph (161-0 km/h): 186.4 ft (56.8 m)
Lateral Gs:
60 mph (97 km/h): 1.70 g
120 mph (193 km/h): 2.37 g | ||
|
Speed 7.4 Handling 8.8
Acceleration 9.6
Braking 8.7
Legendary
|
P 973 |
|---|---|---|
Unlock Requirements
Unlock:
Purchase from the car dealer for 700,000 CR | ||
Performance & Division
Division: Early Prototype Racers
Value: 700,000 CR
Collection Tier:
Tier 5 - Legendary (+1,250)
Speed:
Top Speed: 200.3 mph (322.3 km/h)
1/4 Mile: 9.300 secs.
Acceleration:
0-60 mph (0-97 km/h): 2.313 secs.
0-100 mph (0-161 km/h): 4.400 secs.
Braking:
60-0 mph (97-0 km/h): 94.0 ft (28.7 m) 100-0 mph (161-0 km/h): 208.7 ft (63.6 m)
Lateral Gs:
60 mph (97 km/h): 1.70 g
120 mph (193 km/h): 2.37 g | ||
|
Speed 6.5 Braking 10
Handling 10
Acceleration 8.2
|
P 953 |
|---|---|---|
Unlock Requirements
Car Dealer:
Can be purchased from the Car Dealer for 366,000 CR | ||
Performance & Division
Division: Early LMP
Value: 366,000 CR
Speed:
Top Speed: 205.5 mph (330.6 km/h)
1/4 Mile: 9.300 secs.
Acceleration:
0-60 mph (0-97 km/h): 2.300 secs.
0-100 mph (0-161 km/h): 4.400 secs.
Braking:
60-0 mph (97-0 km/h): 74.9 ft (22.8 m) 100-0 mph (161-0 km/h): 182.6 ft (55.7 m)
Lateral Gs:
60 mph (97 km/h): 1.68 g
120 mph (193 km/h): 2.31 g | ||
Conversions[]
- No conversions available.
Trivia[]
- Its engine can be swapped into various BMW cars in Forza Motorsport 4.
- In Forza Motorsport (2023), it was on sale for 309,400 CR from January 29, 2025 to February 5, 2025 for VIP Membership owners.
- In Forza Motorsport (2023), the car audio was changed in Update 16.
- In Forza Motorsport (2023), prior to Update 21, it was valued at 364,000 CR.
Gallery[]
(Front)
(Rear)
Thumbnail
Promotional[]
BMW Cars
References[]
- ↑ "Forza Motorsport 6 - Cars" . forzamotorsport.net . Retrieved 08-17-2018.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "BMW V12 LMR" . wikipedia.org . Retrieved 07-17-2025.
- ↑ "1999 24 Hours of Le Mans" . wikipedia.org . Retrieved 07-17-2025.
- ↑ "BMW of North America’s Vintage Collection: The BMW V12 LMR" . stanceworks.com . Retrieved 07-17-2025.
- ↑ "1999 American Le Mans Series" . wikipedia.org . Retrieved 07-17-2025.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "BMW V12 LMR Results" . racingsportscars.com . Retrieved 07-17-2025.
- ↑ "2000 American Le Mans Series" . wikipedia.org . Retrieved 07-17-2025.