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550 HP BMW 1M Coupe Turned Drift Car Gets It On at the Nurburgring

Ladies and gentlemen drifters, we're here to give you a BMW that might not pack extreme aerodynamic elements and yet serves as a huge opinion splitter.
550 HP BMW 1M Coupe with Carbon Fiber Parts Drifting at Nurburgring 4 photos
Photo: Youtube screenshot
550 HP BMW 1M Coupe with Carbon Fiber Parts Drifting at Nurburgring550 HP BMW 1M Coupe with Carbon Fiber Parts Drifting at Nurburgring550 HP BMW 1M Coupe with Carbon Fiber Parts Drifting at Nurburgring
Why? First of all, the 1M is a cult car - BMW only intended to build 2,700 units of the M-massaged 1er and even after massive demand convinced the carmaker to change its mind, production still stopped at a little over 6,300 units. And somebody grabbed one of these compact beasts, transforming it in a way that will offend purists (we'll get to the tech changes of the vehicle in a moment).

Secondly, the 1M has always been a bit too capricious to make an excellent drift car, which means M Division engineers wanted it to be that way. Well, the machine in the piece of footage at the bottom of the page disobeys that too, as it has been transformed into a sliding racecar.

This 1M Coupe has lost its turbocharged 3.0-liter straight-six, making room for an E60 M5's 5-liter V10. And thanks to a few mods, the naturally aspirated heart of the drift car now allows the driver to control 550 horses. And thanks to the straight pipe exhaust, this V10 can fully express its feelings and emotions.

The car has also been put on an extreme diet, with the list of scale-friendly mods including a carbon fiber hood and the obviously stripped interior. The result is impressive, with this 1M tipping the scales at 2,205 lbs (1,000 kg).

Having gone through the complex transformation mentioned above, the Bimmer is now used in the Nurburgring Drift Cup - we'll remind you the slip angle competition is held on the Mullenbachschleife, the bottom end of the Nurburgring GP course.

The video below allows us to get a good taste of the BMW's sliding action and if it seems like the steering angles are extreme, that's because, like any respectable drift car, this area of the BMW 1M Coupe has also been modified.

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About the author: Andrei Tutu
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In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist.
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