It takes balls of steel to drift a rear-wheel-drive BMW with over 1,000 hp inside a multimillion-dollar factory
by Brad Anderson
2 hours ago
- A pro drifter powerslid an 1,100 hp M2 through the Munich factory floor.
- Car came inches from robots worth millions during the wild factory stunt.
- Custom M2 has 922 lb-ft of torque from a heavily reworked S58 engine.
Last month, VW marked the Polo’s legacy with a Gymkhana-style video that sent the WRC and RX1e Rallycross models drifting through one of its factories. Not to be outdone, BMW has now handed professional drifter Elias Hountondji the keys to an 1,100 hp M2 and let him carve black lines across its Munich production halls.
Hountondji, one half of the Red Bull-backed “Driftbrothers,” has spent years refining his technique behind the wheel of modified BMWs, balancing throttle, steering, and nerve in tight, high-speed slides that brush dangerously close to obstacles.
Even for him, however, drifting through BMW’s own factory was a high-stakes challenge. A single misjudged flick could have ended with a collision against machinery worth more than most race cars.
Read: New BMW M2 Turbo Tribute Comes With One Very Modern Problem
Most of the drifting action appears to have been done at relatively low speeds, helping reduce (but not totally eliminating) the risks. Hountondji can be seen sliding just feet away from one of the assembly lines, spinning up the rear wheels, and leaving thick black tire marks across the factory floor.
There’s a little too much focus on the background music for our liking, rather than the soundtrack of the car itself which we’d have prefered, but it’s still an entertaining clip well worth watching.
No Ordinary M2
The Driftbrothers are still in the process of perfecting their new M2 ahead of next year’s Drift Masters European Championship.
The flagship road-going version of the current M2, the CS, delivers an impressive 523 hp, but this drift car has more than double that. Additionally, it delivers a massive 922 lb-ft (1,250 Nm) of torque and is rear-wheel drive.
Like the road car, the drifter uses BMW’s S58 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged straight-six but now sports a modified block, larger turbochargers, and an improved cooling system. It also has exhausts exiting out from where the rear window would ordinarily sit.
