Watch The BMW M2 Competition Set Another Bizarre World Record

It’s certainly an unusual way to demonstrate a car’s agility.

BMW’s new marketing campaign for the M2 Competition is certainly unusual. To demonstrate the car’s agility and handling, the Bavarian automaker has set out to break several world records previously set by humans. In the last stunt, the M2 Competition successfully popped 79 balloons in under 60 seconds with a laser beam. This time, the M2 Competition was brought to Cape Town, South Africa, to try and beat a previous record by cutting more than 87 straw mats with a blade.

“This is a very tricky bit of driving, it is virtually impossible,” stunt coordinator Marc Higgins explained. “The demands on the BMW M2 Competition are immense. Every drift has to be performed with absolute precision; there is no room for error. A strong presence and agility naturally help a lot.” Director Oison Tymon confirmed the performance coupe shattered the previous record, successfully cutting 117 bamboo mats in under a minute.

The rolled-up bamboo mats were arranged in semi-circles so that they could be cut while drifting using a precision blade attached to the rear of the car. Apart from the addition of the blade, the M2 Competition was left completely stock to perform the stunt and features the same technology as the series-production vehicle including two selector switches that allow drivers to adjust the engine, steering and Drivelogic functions.

Power is provided by the same twin-turbo 3.0-liter straight-six engine used in the M3 and M4 tuned to deliver 405 hp and 406 lb-ft, enabling the performance coupe to hit 0-62 mph in four seconds.

Watch The BMW M2 Competition Set A Bizarre World Record Popping Balloons

That’s one way to demonstrate a car’s agility.

A few weeks ago, BMW released a mysterious teaser video suggesting the BMW M2 Competition had set a new world record. The full video has now been released, and it’s probably not what you were expecting. Rather than attempting a traditional speed record, BMW used the M2 Competition to break a balloon-popping record previously set by a human. The previous world record-holder popped 63 balloons in just 60 seconds. Using a laser attached to the grille, the M2 Competition beat this record by popping 79 balloons in just under a minute. Watching the performance car pop balloons while dancing around the illuminated purpose-built track shaped like an M badge creates a dazzling spectacle and is fun to watch, even if it’s hardly pushing the car’s 450-hp engine to its limit.

Of course, the publicity stunt was designed to demonstrate the M2 Competition’s astonishing agility. Despite the manual version weighing 3,600 pounds and the automatic weighing 3,655 lbs, the car can attack corners ferociously fast. The record stunt was performed in what looks like an old warehouse located close to Bedford in the UK. It’s owned by Cardington Studios and is “one of the largest and most impressive interior film and TV production spaces in Europe.”

In the US, the M2 Competition is currently on sale with a starting price of $58,900, which is only $4,000 more than the regular M2. For that price, you get an M4-sourced, twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six engine that sends 405 hp to the rear wheels, up from 365 hp in the standard M2. 0-62 mph takes just four seconds before the car tops out at an electronically limited 155 mph. Other enhancements include carbon high-precision struts, sharper steering, and larger twin kidney grilles to improve the airflow.

This isn’t the only world record BMW’s M division set this year. Back in January, the Bavarian automaker successfully drifted 232.5 miles without stopping in an M5 that had to be refueled five times.