BMW V12 LM

The BMW V12 LM was a racing car built for sports car racing in 1998, using a combination of Williams Racing chassis engineering and construction and a BMW powerplant, and it was the predecessor of the V12 LMR that debuted in 1999. McLaren had entered sports car racing in 1995 with the McLaren F1 GTR, powered by an S70 V12, and McLaren and BMW signed an agreement to develop their racing teams with the help of BMW Motorsport; the combination won the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans. By 1997 the F1 GTRs were no longer competitive against newer homologated supercars from Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, and McLaren pulled out of GT racing at the end of 1997. Unwilling to give up, BMW Motorsport decided to move from grand tourers to Le Mans prototypes, open cockpit racing cars built specifically for racing.