Elias Hountondji gripped the wheel tighter than usual as he steered a BMW M2 through the massive halls of the Munich facility. This was no ordinary track. Hountondji, one half of the Red Bull Driftbrothers, had spent years perfecting slides on circuits and streets but here he drove a 1,100 horsepower beast through BMW’s birthplace.
The route passed by robotic arms that typically weld frames and stations where doors click into place. Grip was unpredictable; smooth concrete gave place to shiny epoxy flooring, forcing him to change power and steering in split seconds. In one area, he grazed a magnesium wall just enough to throw a shower of sparks across the concrete, as the car held its descent without incident. Drones captured the carnage up close, with one even flying through the cabin mid-slide, transforming the factory into a setting for controlled mayhem.
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The team meticulously planned the path, closing up portions of the factory to clear the way. Hountondji moved inches away from gigantic tool racks and half-assembled bodies, his tires squealing as smoke billowed thick enough to blur the edges of doorframes. During heavy pulls, flames erupted from the exhaust of the top-mounted quad arrangement, which vented just below the roofline. The M2 squeezed through openings that appeared too narrow for a grocery cart, let alone a competition-built coupe. By the end of the circuit, the air was thick with the stench of burnt rubber, which is more common on racetracks than in assembly bays.
In the midst of the commotion, there stood an unrecognizable BMW M2. Built in the Driftbrothers’ own 229performance facility, the car began with the G87 platform, a rear-wheel-drive coupe typically built in Mexico’s San Luis Potosi plant. However, the dual turbo 3.0 litre inline six, BMW’s S58 engine, had been overhauled from the inside out. Race-grade internals and cranked turbos increased output to 1,100 horsepower and 1,250 Nm of torque, all to the rear wheels alone.
Wider fenders wrapped snugly around fat tires designed to provide maximum grip and produce just as much smoke. A rear wing towered above a trunk spoiler, spraying air beneath the vehicle to keep it stuck to the road even when sliding around a turn for hours. The single-seat cockpit was stripped of all luxuries, leaving only the essentials: a steering wheel, pedals, and a harness to keep Hountondji securely fastened in. This M2 Drift Competition was all about one thing: the art of the perfect drift – and it was a far cry from its dealership counterparts, which have a maximum power output of 523 horsepower in the CS trim level.
Hountondji dubbed it the Ultimate Drift Machine, a cheeky play on BMW’s long-running Ultimate Driving Machine motto. That name summed it up perfectly. Whereas the ordinary M2 produces 473 horsepower and accelerates to 60 in under 4 seconds regardless of whether you’re rowing your own gears with a 6-speed manual or letting the car handle everything with an 8-speed automatic, this variant simply threw caution to the wind and went for broke.
