[R44 Performance]

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The BMW G87 M2 xDrive project is officially underway! For those of you who are unaware, we’ve teamed up with Tom Wrigley Performance to turn our Papaya Orange BMW G87 M2 into a 1400 whp+ xDrive-converted monster to take to Texas 2K25 and be competitive amongst some of the fastest BMWs in the world. There’s a lot of work to be done between now and next April including a complete OEM xDrive swap, complete engine & gearbox build with our single-turbo kit and potentially even some custom bodywork and interior modifications.

This week, the talented technicians at Tom Wrigley Performance remove the engine and drivetrain so we can assess exactly what parts will be needed and what alterations we need to make to convert the G87 M2 to xDrive.

The way I just said “removed the engine and drivetrain” made it sound like a pretty simple task. It’s a very systemised and routine job for the guys at Tom Wrigley Performance. However, it's no easy feat for the average mechanic who doesn’t have years of BMW main dealer knowledge and experience.





WHY XDRIVE SWAP THE M2?

But, before we get into the teardown, you may be wondering why we are xDrive-swapping an M2 in the first place. Besides, BMW made the G87 to be the smaller, more nimble and engaging driver’s car. Isn’t rear wheel drive the perfect setup?

The answer, simply, is traction. If we’re aiming to make this one of the fastest BMWs in the world with upwards of 1400+ bhp, a rear wheel drive layout just couldn’t transfer all that power to the road, especially from a dig in the quarter mile. Rear wheel drive may be okay for 100-200kph/60-130mph times but not drag racing at this level of power.

You may have seen the fastest BMW from Texas 2K24 earlier this year was a 1500 bhp G42 M240i with a quarter mile time of 7.9 seconds with the xDrive setup and drag tires playing a major role in achieving those ridiculous times - Built by Shop CT.


1500HP AWD G42 M240i - 7.9 1/4

I can already sense many of you thinking “then, why not just start with a G82 M4 xDrive or G42 M240i”?

There are a few reasons for this…

Number one is the fact that the G87 is slightly lighter than the G82. Only circa 30-50kg (spec-dependent) but every little helps. Secondly, there will be no other M2 like it. As a company and as enthusiasts, we just want to create something unique. We’re unlikely to find enough people crazy enough to start retailing G87 M2 xDrive packages. This is a challenge to show what ourselves and Tom Wrigley Performance can achieve.



Anyway, back to the build.

After first getting the car up on the ramp, the underside and drivetrain all looked relatively similar to the other G8X vehicles. Something we noticed immediately was that the propshaft would need to be a fair bit shorter than the one you’d find on a G82. The drive flange on the back of the transmission also appeared to be a different design which would be a hurdle to overcome. The only way to tell for sure was to drop the engine and gearbox out of the car to have a closer look.




Rob, ex-BMW main dealer tech & general BMW wizard, jumped on the computer to make a shopping list of new bits we’d need as well as items that already cross over from rear wheel drive to xDrive cars.



Something interesting Rob pointed out from the get-go: the front anti-roll bar is the same on the rear wheel drive M2 and the G82 M4 xDrive. This either means BMW is cost-saving by having only one part number OR this could be a clue that BMW plans on releasing an xDrive version of the M2 in the future, likely the M2 CS. The latter wouldn’t be great for us so we better get cracking and beat BMW to it.



Parts that we needed for the xDrive swap include new front hubs, shocks, suspension arms, drive shafts, a front prop shaft, an xDrive steering rack + arms + track rod ends, steering column, backing plate, front differential, new arch liners with space for the new front driveshafts as well as various sensors and hardware.

In addition to that, we needed a new ZF HP76 gearbox and of course the transfer case for xDrive. We were hoping that we could attach the transfer case to our existing rear wheel drive gearbox as xDrive cars use the same 8-speed ZF HP76 unit. Unfortunately, the design of the drive flange is different on the rear-wheel drive HP76, meaning you’d either have to modify it or swap the transmission completely. We opted to swap it completely as we already had a complete donor drivetrain from a G82 M4 xDrive. We would then keep the existing mechatronics unit already coded to our G87 and put that into the new gearbox.




To put it simply, we’d be taking the brain (mechatronics unit) from our original rear wheel drive gearbox and putting it in the new xDrive gearbox. The mechatronics is already pre-coded to our car so there’s nothing to worry about on that front. What we will need to code, however, is the transfer case but we’ll cross that bridge at a later date.



In around 90 minutes, the guys at Tom Wrigley Performance had the engine and drivetrain out of the car. They prefer to drop the whole thing out as one unit to make things easier for them.



WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS?

With the engine and gearbox now out of the car (yes, we found it quite painful to see our 1-year-old G87 M2 in this state), the guys began the xDrive swap along with installing the new front suspension components and giving a few other components a refresh with brand new OEM parts.

The next step is to get the new xDrive running gear and engine back in the car and see how many wheels decide to turn. Undoubtedly there will be some sort of serious issue as the conversion has gone too smoothly for us so far.

I know many of you will be eager to know whether our efforts were a success or a massive waste of time but you’ll have to wait until the next episode of the series. A couple of big ‘unknowns’ for us still are the front prop shaft and coding the transfer case which will likely require some specialist help.

It’s important to note that we don’t know anyone who has successfully xDrive-converted a G87, meaning we’re figuring everything out as we go along. We’ve seen many people on forums saying it isn’t even possible.

If you want to see a different angle of the build, feel free to check out EP.1 and 2 of our newest docu-series on YouTube.

EP.1 Where it all Started?

EP.2 How to build an xDrive G87 M2 https://youtu.be/UCmp8qlaRmU

[Msondeck]

Interesting...

For anyone wondering that m240 is from The Shop CT

[Tag]

Wow, this build is going to be next level. Can't wait to see you guys pull this off.

[JWdrives]

That is sick! looking forward to following you guys along on this journey!

[Lappy]

I'm beyond confused by the front sway bar comment. G87 m2 guys are using the m4 csl bars and its a direct swap. Arn't the x version front sway bars a completely different shape?

[DrewNewM2]

Do a 6MT!