BMW M2 Competition
The modifications continue with new seats and big weight savings
THE DRIVING POSITION IN THE M2 IS not ideal for taller drivers, and the standard seats, which do a good enough job on the road, aren’t great on track – especially on a car with a few handling upgrades.
After much research and talking to a few fellow lanky-framed trackday-goers, it seemed that Recaro Profi SPG XL buckets (c£900 each) were what I needed. To get them as low as possible I also chose some VAC floor mount adaptors (£239 per seat). Of course, bucket seats work best with harnesses, and harnesses need something secure to attach them to. Like a roll-cage. You can see where this is going…
Back in the workshop at Swift Performance we set to work by removing much of the M2’s interior: seats front and back, boot lining, steering wheel and column, the centre console and even the gearlever, which meant removing the exhaust and disconnecting the gear linkage. This allowed one of Swift’s own custom-built half cages (£1380) to be carefully squeezed in through the driver’s door – a three-man job. The fit was millimetre perfect and 14 substantial bolts secured it in place to existing mountings. Then some Schroth six-point harnesses could be installed, along with VAC mounting brackets beneath the seats for the anti-sub straps.
Next the steering column’s reach was extended by two inches using a spacer, and the minimum rake adjusted so the wheel can sit about an inch lower. To complement this, we fitted a PS Designs gearshifter and custom linkage (£471), which allowed me to get the perfect driving position with the new seats.
Removing the front seats, rear bench, belts, etc saved 82kg, but adding the buckets, various brackets and harnesses added 32kg. The cage was a further 18kg, resulting in an impressive net saving of 32kg. But it didn’t stop there. I also replaced the four Remus stainless steel exhaust tips with their titanium/carbon ones – another 2.5kg cut. But the most incredible saving came from replacing the standard 23kg battery with a Deadweight Industries lithium-ion item. They offer a 4kg version for track work, but I went with the 6kg option (£690) that matches the capacity of the OE battery but saves a ridiculous 17kg. So that took the total saving to 52kg!
How does it drive? No idea. As I write, the work has only just been finished, Defined Coding having remotely coded out the warnings for items like the rear seatbelts and side airbags. I’ll update you on the results next month.
Date acquired November 2019 Total mileage 9375 Mileage this month 125 Costs this month £7720 mpg this month 26.0