It's true that Forza Motorsport is a series well-known for classy limited editions, with the last generation featuring a slick black matte finish encasing the goods - like a fine cigar box.

This year will feature a similar styling, but a little more content then players are used to getting - provided, of course, that you pick up the game on day one. Forza Motorsport 4 has plenty of pre-order goodies, but it's nothing to compare to the now-revealed Limited Edition.

Turn 10 Studios has announced today that, while the Ferrari 458 Italia may be the car for the physical game, it's going to be the BMW M5 which adorns the Limited Edition. The car itself was only recently unveiled to the world this past weekend at the  Nürburgring 24 Hour Race in Germany - meaning that fans of the game will get a chance to drive the car before people in the real-world. During the release of the game, the BMW M5 Fan Pack will be available for download, featuring the BMW M5, M1, Z4 M Coupe, M3 E92, a BMW Theme Pack for the player's garage, and the full-features of Autovista Mode - which has Top Gear's own Jeremy Clarkson taking you on a virtual tour of the car. Autovista Mode was one of our most anticipated features, which we enjoyed during our earlier hands-on with the game.

If you're a fan of both BMWs and custom-painting your vehicles in the game, you'll be interested to know that there's a chance your design could feature in this upcoming DLC package. The Forza Motorsport 4 BMW Design Challenge is an open contest for all fans of the game, allowing you to paint a BMW M6 Coupe into a masterpiece (within the digital world, of course). Turn 10 will pick the winner, who'll be featured in the limited edition cars, with the other 4 having been custom-designed by the folks at BMW themselves. If you think you've got the gears to make the tournament, you can check it out at the official site.

Since BMW is partnering with Turn 10 to add some more content to the limited edition, we're now looking at a very complete bundle package. Aside of the 5 BMW Cars mentioned in the package, we've still got all all of these car packages and bonus content to work with:

  • The VIP Car Pack
    • 2011 Bugatti Veyron Super Sport
    • 2011 Ferrari 458 Challenge
    • 2011 Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera
    • 2010 Noble M600
    • 2011 RUF Rt 12 R
  • The limited quantity “Launch Bonus” car pack available for fans who order early
    • 1965 Ford Mustang GT Coupe
    • 2011 Koenigsegg Agera
    • 1997 Lexus SC300
    • 2011 RUF RGT-8
    • 2011 Tesla Roadster Sport
  • A 10-car add-on pack of American muscle cars (also available for purchase at launch on Xbox LIVE Marketplace)
  • VIP Membership status within the Forza community, including special recognition in new community features and leaderboards
  • An enclosed book entitled “Cars of Forza Motorsport 4 Presented by Top Gear,”  written by the Top Gear team themselves
  • A vinyl sticker set with the Forza Motorsport 4, Turn 10 and Top Gear logos

All things considered, the addition of 25 new vehicles to drive in-game is nothing to sneeze at. Fans of high-end cars, muscles cars, sport cars and BMWs will be pleased - which you have to imagine probably covers a large portion of motorsport enthusiasts who play the game. Remember that on top of this, depending on where you pre-order the game, you can nab an extra car or two - so be sure to check out where to maximize your vehicular earnings!

What do you think of the Limited Edition? Do you like the partnership idea with BMW?

Both regular and limited editions of Forza Motorsport 4 will grace store shelves on October 11th exclusively for Xbox 360.