Watch: diesel BMW sets world record with fastest side wheelie

A man in a helmet and an E92 BMW 330d has just set a new world record for the fastest ever 'side wheelie'. Now, 'side wheelie' sounds like a polite way of explaining to your partner that you've just binned the family car, but is in fact an official Guinness World Record. And said man in a helmet has broken it.

Which is significant, because this particular record hasn't been matched for 19 years. Stunt driver Vesa Kivimäki - who's been driving since the age of six and has wanted to crack the 'side wheelie' record for 15 years - achieved his feat on an airport runway in Seinäjoki, Finland, where he pitched the 330 onto two wheels and managed to hit 115.742mph. That's 186.269kmh. Which is fast when you've only got one wheel powering you.

The record attempt was done in conjunction with Nokian Tyres, so predictably, the BMW wore Nokians, while the speed was measured over a set distance of 328ft (100m).

Oh, about that 19-year record? Vesa's new speed is 3mph faster than the 1997 attempt by Göran Eliason who set a speed of 112.62mph way back in 1997. In a Volvo 850 Turbo. Good man, Göran.

Watch the video above - there's also a 360-degree onboard vid too so you can see some angle.