VIDEO: BMW M2 Comp Driver breaks engine shifting into wrong gear

Manual transmissions are easier than ever to drive, despite the fact that modern customers just don’t seem to want them. With easy clutches, automatic hill-hold and auto rev-matching, it’s almost effortless to drive a modern day manual. However, that doesn’t mean mistakes can’t be made if one isn’t careful. We get to see just how catastrophic one of those mistakes can be in this new video, as a driver roasts his BMW M2 Competition engine by shifting into the wrong gear. Whoops.

In this video, we see a pair of enthusiasts driving down the Autobahn in the aforementioned M2. While revving the nuts off it, the driver attempts a four-five upshift but instead jams the gear lever into third. This immediately over-revs the engine and the wail it makes almost hurts to listen to. If you have any sort of mechanical sympathy, this video is almost upsetting.

Immediately afterward, the passenger says “we’re fine”. They weren’t fine.

Now, exactly what happened is a bit interesting. According to the owner, the BMW M2 Comp was not stock. It was tuned to 585 hp and had some software tweaks to its engine ECU. One such tweak removed the 7,500 rev-limiter but didn’t remove the auto rev-match feature.

Because you can’t turn rev-matching off in modern BMWs without disabling stability control, the driver obviously still had it turned on, as he’d be insane to do an Autobahn run with it off. So when he accidentally shifted into third, according to the driver, the car auto-rev-matched to 9,400 rpm and toasted the engine.

Considering I have no experience with engine ECU tuning, nor engine building, I can’t say with any certainty whether or not that makes any sense. I don’t know if an engine can over rev-match itself just because it doesn’t have a rev-limiter. Considering it’s software that handles it, I assume anything is possible. But I can’t know for sure, so I’m just going to take the owner at his word for now.

According to whoever uploaded the video, the engine needed replacing, which isn’t cheap. The S55 3.0 liter twin-turbocharged I6 that powers the BMW M2 Comp is a pricey motor. It wasn’t covered under warranty, either, considering the fact that it was tuned, as well as damaged by user error.

Since, the owner replaced the engine and for more information, or to see the progress of the build check out @M2_Skyblue on Instagram.

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