FM5 Car Importer for Forza Horizon 2 (PC)
Brings cars from Forza Motorsport 5 into Forza Horizon 2 running on PC through Azimuth. Pick the cars, answer a few questions, and they show up in the Autoshow: buyable, drivable, upgradable and paintable, with an engine sound, night lights and their wheels added to the wheel shop.
This package contains no game files. Everything is read from your own FM5 and FH2 installs and converted on your machine.
What you need
| | |
|---|---|
| Forza Horizon 2 | version 1.0.0.64 (Anthem_1.0.0.64_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe), running on Azimuth 0.9.10 (0.9.9 also works) |
| FH2 Extra Options | the build for your Azimuth: for 0.9.10, winmm.dll (with FH2_ExtraOptions.ini) beside azimuth.exe; for 0.9.9, 0.2.74 or later in data\bin. The importer turns on its [Files] EnableMediaOverrides=1 setting. |
| Forza Motorsport 5 | version 1.0.0.20 (Forza_1.0.0.20_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe), any folder (it isn't run, only read) |
| Windows | 10 or 11, with the built-in Windows PowerShell 5.1 |
| Internet | once, to download sqlite3.exe from sqlite.org (checked against its known hash) |
| Disk | about 20-80 MB per imported car, plus backups |
Quick start
1. Extract this zip anywhere (for example C:\FH2-Mods\fm5-car-importer). Keep the folders together.
2. Close Azimuth / the game.
3. Double-click `Import-Fm5Cars.cmd`.
4. Answer the questions (see below). Enter accepts the suggested answer.
5. Start the game through azimuth.exe. Your cars are in the Autoshow.
The first run asks where Azimuth, FH2 and FM5 are and remembers them. If Azimuth already knows your FH2 folder, that's suggested.
The questions, per car
| Question | What to answer |
|---|---|
| FM5 car to add | Type part of the name (transam, corvette 2002, mustang 1995) and pick a number from the matches. Only cars FH2 doesn't already have are offered. Add as many as you like; press Enter on an empty line when done. |
| Data donor | An FH2 car of the same kind (era, body style, drivetrain). It supplies the bits of car data FH2 has and FM5 doesn't. A same-make, nearest-year car is suggested. |
| Sound donor | An FH2 car whose engine sound the import uses (FM5's own engine sounds don't play in FH2). Pick a car with a similar engine: a V8 for a V8. |
| Autoshow group | Where the car is listed (Retro Muscle, Modern Muscle, Super GT, ...). Enter keeps the data donor's group. It also decides which wheel-shop category the car's wheels go in. |
| Light donor | An FH2 car with similar lamps whose night lights are fitted to the import (FM5 has no night, so its cars come without lighting data). Use a car with pop-up headlights for a pop-up car. Type none to skip. |
| Use whiter headlights? | Asked when the light donor has warm, orange-ish halogen headlights. Yes gives a whiter halogen. |
Then it shows the plan, asks to proceed, converts the cars (about a minute each) and installs them.
What it installs, and how to undo it
Each run is installed as a layer on top of whatever is already in your game, with its own backup folder in <FH2 folder>\mod-backups\:
•fm5-cars-<date-time> - the cars of that run (their car list is in cars.json)
•fm5-cars-lights-<date-time> - their night lights, if you picked light donors
To undo a layer, run the Uninstall.ps1 inside its backup folder (right-click > Run with PowerShell, or see the guide). Undo layers newest first: the uninstaller refuses to touch files that a later layer changed.
Imports stack: run the importer again any time to add more cars; the cars you already imported stay.
Same cars on another PC
1. On the PC with the cars: Import-Fm5Cars.cmd -ExportList cars.json writes every imported car with all its choices (donors, sound, group, lights).
2. Copy cars.json to the other PC, next to Import-Fm5Cars.cmd there.
3. On the other PC: Import-Fm5Cars.cmd -FromList cars.json imports them with the same choices. It needs its own FM5 and FH2. Cars that PC already has are skipped, so it's safe to run again.
Run these from a command prompt in the importer folder.
Known bugs
1. Dirt mapping needs work: dirt and grime don't build up on imported cars the way they do on FH2's own.
2. Lights may be slightly buggy: night lights are transplanted from the light donor and fitted to the car, so glows can sit a little off, some lens glass glows warmer than it should, and some cars' pop-up headlights don't rise (see the guide for the fix that worked for the 2002 Trans Am).
3. Car names need work: imported cars show a blank name in menus (FH2 has no text for them).
4. Autoshow thumbnails don't work, but the car's thumbnail does show in your garage.
Good to know
•The importer writes only to <FH2 folder>\Mount\mediapc, which Extra Options loads over the game's own media: the game database, car and wheel archives and zipmanifest.xml go there. The game's Mount\media, hash.manifest and azimuth.exe are never touched. Deleting Mount\mediapc removes every import at once.
•Upgrading from 1.x (Azimuth 0.9.7, which patched hash.manifest and azimuth.exe): undo your 1.x layers first with their Uninstall.ps1 (newest first), or restore the game folder from a clean copy, then re-import with 2.0. See the guide.
•Extra Options also unlocks DLC cars and adds stock rims for FH2's own cars, so the old dlc-unlock and stock-wheel-swap mods aren't needed. The importer still adds imported cars' wheels itself (Extra Options' rims cover FH2's own cars only).
•Engine sounds are borrowed from the sound donor.
•Keep this folder: you need it to add more cars later. Your settings are remembered in %LOCALAPPDATA%\fh2-mods\import-fm5-cars.json.
License
MIT (see LICENSE). Forza Horizon 2 and Forza Motorsport 5 are not included and belong to their owners; you need your own copies.
The full walkthrough, advanced options (tuning lights, adding wheels for older imports, command-line use) and troubleshooting are in [GUIDE.md](GUIDE.md).