BMW Releases Nail-Biting Footage Of Its Mid-Drift Refuelling Efforts

BMW hasn’t just broken the record for the world’s longest drift - nope, the Bavarian manufacturer has absolutely annihilated it. 89.55 miles was the distance to beat, and a 2018 M5 with a chap called Johan Schwartz at the wheel travelled a whopping 232.5 sideways miles.

However, the most interesting thing isn’t the record itself, rather the car-to-car refuelling system devised to keep the record car topped up with unleaded. Teased by BMW earlier this week, it looks like an incredibly neat system, but as revealed by this new video, using it sure as hell wasn’t easy.

There were concerns about fire, and worries that the operator of the refuelling rig - installed in a previous-generation M5 - could get crushed between the two tandem-drifting cars. The first test run was a failure, and during the record attempt the pair of M5s did actually collide at one point.

It all paid off in the end though, with five successful refuels giving Schwartz enough juice to drift for a solid eight hours.

The best part? Technically, BMW didn’t need to do any of this - apparently, the rules mandated by Guinness would allow for the car to stop and refuel. So, this was all about making it more interesting. Fair play, BMW.