1100-Horsepower BMW M2 Drifts Through the Factory Where Legends Were Born
To prove that its racing spirit is still very much alive, BMW’s M division temporarily turned a factory floor into a drift circuit. Inside the company’s historic Munich plant, a 1,100-horsepower BMW M2 slid sideways through the production halls with Red Bull Driftbrothers driver Elias Hountondji at the wheel. The result is a pulse-raising video that feels more like a lost chapter of Ken Block’s Gymkhana series than a corporate promo.
The car began life as a standard M2 with BMW’s three-litre straight-six engine but was tuned to deliver nearly double its stock output — 1,100 horsepower and 1,250 newton metres of torque. While the engine block remained the same, the drivetrain and cooling systems were completely re-engineered to withstand prolonged drifting. The video was filmed at BMW’s historic Munich factory, once the birthplace of the brand’s combustion engines.
Symbolism in smoke
Curiously, the production M2 isn’t even built there. It rolls out of BMW’s San Luis Potosí plant in Mexico. Munich was chosen for symbolic reasons, as it represents the spiritual home of the M division. Hountondji later admitted that the shoot was as nerve-racking as it was thrilling — one wrong move could have caused damage worth millions.
Driftbrothers’ new weapon
The modified M2 will compete in the Drift Masters European Championship, where it will evolve into a fully fledged competition car. The partially stripped body seen in the video was likely a precaution for filming, while the final race version will receive lightweight carbon panels and full competition hardware.
Farewell to fire and noise
Ironically, the tyre-smoking spectacle took place in a plant that will end internal combustion engine production by 2027. The Munich site is being transformed into one of BMW’s key hubs for electric mobility. In that sense, the 1,100-horsepower drift served as a symbolic farewell to an era when M engines burned petrol rather than electrons.
BMW’s video makes one thing clear: even on the brink of full electrification, the M badge has no intention of going quiet. It’s a masterstroke of marketing and nostalgia, reminding enthusiasts that before everything turns silent and digital, there’s still time to savour the glorious chaos of a combustion engine at full roar.
