BMW has set two new Guinness World Records for drifting with the new M5. In the hands of BMW driving instructor Johan Schwartz, the 592bhp, V8-engined executive saloon smashed the record for the longest drift in eight hours, as well as claiming the record for the longest water-assisted two-car drift with the help of its support car.

Schwartz obliterated the old record of 89.5 miles by drifting the M5 for a massive 232.5 miles at the BMW Performance Centre in Greer, South Carolina.

The eight-hour drift necessitated mid-drift refuelling, which was achieved by using a support car with a refuelling nozzle based on the air-to-air refuelling systems used in jet fighters.

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The support car, which was driven by the BMW Performance Center’s chief driving instructor, Matt Mullins, was an example of the outgoing M5 that carried the brave Matt Butts, who attached the refuelling nozzle to the record car by hanging out of the rear passenger window while Mullins and Schwartz drifted the two cars side-by-side.

In total, Mullins and Butts had to refuel Schwartz’s car five times in order for it to complete the eight-hour drift.

‘We knew going in that if we were going to recapture the world record for longest sustained drift and set the bar as high as possible, we would need to find a way to keep the M5 going without stopping to refuel,’ said Schwartz. ‘In the end, the refuelling system worked flawlessly and the M5 performed as expected. It was a big win all around.’

After claiming the longest drift record, the two cars and their drivers then continued to slide around the skid pad for a further hour, setting a new 49.25-mile record for the longest twin-vehicle drift (water assisted) in one hour.

The new M5 is set to arrive in showrooms in later this year, with prices starting at around £90,000. Watch the behind the scenes video below.

Gallery: BMW M5 drift record