Straight Six Members Edition May 2019 by BMW Car Club GB

Straight Six MEMBERS EDITION

M AY 2 019 £5

Creating the ultimate E30 M3 Is Redux Leichtbau’s effort in creating the ‘Ultimate Driving Machine’ a smash hit or is it just a toy for wealthy boys? Read all about this amazing vehicle inside and you decide...

PLUS: MEGUIAR’S CLEANING GOODIES TO GIVE AWAY!

BMW CAR CLUB

INSURANCE DEVELOPED BY EXPERTS FOR BMW CAR CLUB MEMBERS

BMW CAR CLUB GB ARE THE ONLY CLUB ENDORSED BY BMW UK

Bespoke arrangements for your Motor, Home and Commercial insurance needs. COVER AVAILABLE CAN INCLUDE: Ÿ Classic and Modern Car Policies

Ÿ Multi-Vehicle policies

Ÿ Limited Mileage Discounts

Ÿ Trackday Cover

Ÿ Salvage Retention

Ÿ Like for Like Cover on

Ÿ Agreed Values

modiﬁcations

Breakdown Cover

www.BMWCARCLUBINSURANCE.co.uk Call the dedicated members line on 0330 123 0197 and speak to one of the team for all your Motor, Home, and Commercial Insurance needs. This agreement has been designed specifically for BMW Car Club GB, who have become an Introducer Appointed Representative (IAR) of A-Plan Holdings. A-Plan Holdings is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Registered office: 2 Des Roches Square, Witney, OX28 4LE. Registration number: 750484. To confirm our registration on the FCA website, go to www.fca.org.uk/firms/systems-reporting/register/ or by contacting the FCA on 0800 111 6768.

Formed in 1952 as The BMW Car Club of Great Britain, incorporated in1982 as THE BMW Car Club (Great Britain) Ltd. A non-profit making club owned and run by and for its members. Combined One-Make Car Club Assoociated Club of RAC Motor Sports Association Ltd. The views and statements made in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the BMW Car Club GB Founder The Late R.J.T Hewitt President John Safe Vice Presidents Chris Wadsley, Jeff Heywood, Len Oakshett National Committee Members Chairman: Jamal Blanc Regional Director: Dave Evans Technical Director: Tim Fathers Motorsports Director: Neil McDonald Retailer Liaison: Martyn Goodwin Club Office Club Manager: Alex Jones Club Assistant Manager: Michelle Evans Club Coordinator Jasmine Davies, Amy Evans BMW Car Club Insurance: Henry Francis Patron Mike Wilds, The late Barrie Williams

Editing Team Alex Jones - alex@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Jeff Heywood

inside this issue

Cover image: Drew Phillips Thank you to Redux CEO Simon Lord for kindly allowing us to reproduce the images.

Display Advertising Hine Marketing 01452 730 770 nick@hinemarketing.co.uk

Online classifieds - £4.95 bmwcarclubgb.uk

Published on behalf of BMW Car Club by Hine Marketing, Hill Farm Studios, Wainlodes Lane, Bishops Norton Glos, GL2 9LN. Tel: 01452 730770 sales@hinemarketing.co.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

Carb Rich Diet! BMW’s E9 CSL- Birth of a racing icon

Return of the Zed Bob Harper finds out whether the new Z4 was worth the wait…

Classifieds - £9.95 per issue

BMW Car Club (GB) Ltd, Unit 5h, Glan Yr Afon, Aberystwyth, SY23 3JQ Website: www.bmwcarclubgb.uk Email: office@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Tel: 01970 267989 Office Hours: 9:00am-5:00pm - Mon-Fri Late opening: 5.00pm - 6.00pm Mon-Tues

BMWCC takes on the NEC Resto… Take a look at our club stand at the NEC Restoration.

office@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Chasing Perfection UK based Redux Leichtbau and its ‘reimagined’ BMW E30 M3s…

Website advertising

Club Office 01970 267 989

Launch Night at Chandlers Steve Carter takes us behind the scenes at Chandlers’ launch night

Advertising

The Vibrator North East Chairman Nick Thomas takes us on a road trip…

CSL Success Story Jez Crabb brings out our inner child with his 1:43 BMW models

54 56 79

Following the OEM plus trend What a Champ! Silverstone Classic 2019

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Contents

from the editor

24 regulars 6 Chairmans Chat 8 Thoughts from the boardroom 10 Club News 13 BMW News 16 Motorsport News 19 Products

Welcome to May issue of Straight Six! Inside this issue, we go behind the scenes at the NEC Classic and restoration car show at the end of March, if you didn’t make it to the show, fear not, a full write up is featured on page 35! On page 28 this month, read about how UK based Redux Leichtbau is building a run of 30 ‘reimagined’ BMW E30 M3s. Regular, Dan Norris talks all things BMW and Steve Carter give us the low down on Chandlers BMW 3 series and Z4 launch. Not to be missed this month we take a look at the birth of a racing icon - BMW’s E9 CSL on page 38 and North East regional chair, Nick Thomas takes us on his travels in his E46 330Ci. We have a jam packed event list this month, we host our Annual AGM on May 11th at Bicester hotel golf and spa, register your attendance with club HQ to have your chance to discuss all things car club and finish off with a spot of golf! The Sharknose Collection head over to Holland on the 16th May, whilst BMWCCR zoom to Castle Combe on the 27th May we can’t wait to hear all about these events so please send us in a write up of your BMW adventures. Remember, a full list of our national events can be found on page 11 or if you are looking for something a bit closer to home, head down to page 82 where all regional meets are listed. BMWCCHQ attended the Southern Concours, M Power collection launch and general BMW meet at Sherborne Castle on the 14th April and what an event it was! The show had a great selection of BMWs on display including plenty of magnificent M’s! A full write up of this incredible show will be featured in June issue! We also visited Cadwell Park on the 23rd April for another well attended club trackday, BMWCCR kicked off the race season in style at Donington Park, keep your eyes peeled for more motorsport articles covering these events in future issues! We have our two largest national events coming up later on this year. First up on the weekend of 26th July is Silverstone Classic! Silverstone has increased in popularity over the last few years and is an event not to be missed! Why not display your Bavarian Beauty on our club stand at a discounted price? Visit silverstoneclassic.com and enter code: CCD0032019 - Hurry! Car club packages end 31st May! We then have our very own National Festival on Sunday 11th August, discounted advanced tickets are now on sale, more information available on page 72. We look forward to seeing you all at our events this year! Want to keep your car gleaming for event season? Send in a high resolution image of your BMW with a caption to alex@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk to be entered into our ‘Photo of the Month’ competition for your chance to win Meguiar’s goodies or why not try to crack our BMW themed crossword on page 57. As always, we are on the lookout for interesting articles for Straight Six, whether it is a restoration project, technical information, club event or simply why you love your ultimate driving machine! Please don’t keep your BMW adventures to yourself – we want to read about them! Straight Six is a magazine for members, written by members, and we hope it contains something you can all enjoy. Happy reading! Alex & Jeff Straight Six editorial team

22 Dan Norris 57 Crossword 58 Social Media

BMW Car Club Welsh Weekend 21-23rd June

59 Regions 72 National Festival

Contact 01597 823 700 to book your place!

73 Registers 80 Your Photos 82 Events

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

chairmanschat Pirelli P Zero . Custom-made performance since 1986. TM

For more than 30 years, P ZeroTM tyres have been the choice of the most prominent carmakers, for the best vehicles in the world. Today, based on this experience and on its cutting-edge technology, Pirelli launches the new P ZeroTM, the custom-made tyre for the next generation of cars, designed to draw out an even greater range of driving emotions. For custom-made performance, look no further than P ZeroTM. Discover more on Pirelli.com

The new P ZeroTM tyres are now available. The coloured limited edition version shown in the image will be available to order from September 2016, in selected sizes only.

For further- information, contact z1register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk us at limitededition@pirelli.com BMW Car Club Chairman Jamalplease Blanc,

Progress report 12 months in, and my to-do list has grown longer than the combined length of both arms. Since my last report, and largely thanks to the cooperation and support of my colleagues, some key items are well on their way to being crossed off the list. Michelle Evans is halfway through her AAT accounting qualifications, Jasmine Davies has completed a Social Media Marketing and Blogging course, and Alex Jones is scheduled to attend Leadership skills training in July. The accounts system has been successfully migrated to a more cost effective cloud-based platform, under the watchful eye of Michelle Evans and our bookkeeper Sophie Ralphs. The office Wi-Fi solution has been upgraded to remediate a long standing reliability issue, and some internet ready mobile devices have been added to our inventory to facilitate agile working, remote connectivity, member signups and renewals, taking a step closer to going paperless by reducing printed material. One high priority project that is taking longer than anticipated is the delivery of our new web platform, enthusiastically introduced by our previous chairman Richard Baxter. Due to circumstances beyond our control, which left us exposed to considerable financial and operational risk, we made the difficult decision to go back to the drawing board and find an alternative vendor. Naturally its disappointing, as the technical team put a great deal of effort into this project, but with the benefit of lessons learnt, we are better equipped to ensure the same mistake is not repeated in delivering a solution that meets the requirements of the club and its members. In addition we have added more experience to the project team in the form of Neil Robinson and Richard Stern, who have a wealth of experience delivering technical solutions. Online sales have increased, with the introduction of winter jackets proving popular. Pirelli have approved the use of their logo on our clothing, so we expect to bring more variety to the catalogue of items available in the coming months. Membership for the month of April stands at 4398, up 8%. A surprise visit from John Castle at the London Classic Car Show led a very productive discussion on valuations, with more details to follow at the AGM. Hospitality To receive a compliment from the Chairman of Mercedes Owners Club, we must be doing something right, because eyebrows have certainly been raised in recent

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

years with our much-improved displays. The popup banners, clothing rack and collapsible chairs that have served us so well over the years, are being replaced by oil drum seating and modular display systems. These cleverly designed exhibition stands can be supplied in various sizes, are tool-less, and within 1 hour can be configured to suit different marketing applications. Whether needing a single advertising tower with storage space, or low-level sales layout for merchandise, it negates the need for separate pieces of equipment. The bespoke BMW Car Club graphics will be dyed onto a stretch fabric which is easy to fit, fold and wash when necessary, the entire system can be packed down into a single flight case, making it easy to store and carry. This new stand will compliment the oil barrel themed seating, sponsored by BMW UK. Motorsport 12 months ago in collaboration with 750Motorsport, the BMW Car Club Racing series was launched, and has exceeded expectations. As BMWCCR is not officially a championship there is no overall winner, but from the six rounds held between Croft in Yorkshire and Brands Hatch in the southeast, the standout performer is Lisa Heasman, who has gone above and beyond managing hospitality and catering for the series, and has been voted by the drivers as winner of the ‘Whizzo Award’, for team player of the year, an i mpressive cup in memory of our patron, Barry Williams. Trackdays are as popular as ever, in no small part to the continued efforts of the Motorsport team and loyalty of the Trackday faithful. With the introduction of a new ‘novice only’ session and a ‘buddysystem’, beginners can take to the track solo or have an experienced regular sit and walk them through the ropes. Change Since moving offices to Aberystwyth, we have benefitted from an abundance of talent in the area, recruiting several excellent members of staff. One such individual is Lucy Birch who has been with us since 2016, but has decided its time to relinquish her club coordinator role and seek other opportunities. With one less member of staff, please bear with us as we adjust to the shortage, and seek to recruit someone with the required skillsets. Richard Baxter wrote: “Much of the successful running of the club is down to the office team, the Club is made up of

many and variable facets which require energetic and creative mind’s to think on their feet and definitely out of the box! For those of you who have met Lucy at our shows or spoken to her by phone/email will have found someone who gets the unusual done, “can you find me an E46 M3 CS for a photo shoot two weeks from now in Lincolnshire?” The work done over the past 18 months to get The Sharknose Collection to the fore front has been a Lucy project... this adaptability will be sorely missed by the Club (as well as her naturally cheerful personality) and its members as we bid a cheery adieu.” Another change is that of Regions and Register Director George Champ, stepping down after 6 years in the role. Michelle Evans had this to say: “On behalf of us all I would like to say a big thank you to you for all your guidance and support over the years. The fantastic Centenary Relay in 2016 and the revival of the South East Region are among two of your many, many achievements whilst Regions & Registers director and their success is a credit to you and your hard work. Forever willing to roll your sleeves up and get stuck in to help whenever required and always with a smile and a joke or two....You were by far the snappiest dresser on the board and it has been an absolute pleasure to work alongside you. Thank you George.” AGM – May 11th The day starts at 10am and will be held at Bicester Golf Hotel and Spa, an opportunity to have a face-to-face with the board, get an in-depth look at what we have done over the past 12months and what we are planning to do in the future. Invited guests include Sophie Ralphs of Davies Lewis Baker, Chris Wadesley, Henry Francis and Next Step Heritage. The days ends on the driving range, with Henry Francis and Richard Baxter giving tips on stance and swing, in the hope of discovering the next Tiger Woods. Refreshments, golf-clubs and balls sponsored by BMW Car Club Insurance. Presentation Packs And finally, this, from new member Robert…..“I have recently joined the club and just received my membership presentation pack through, thank you. Firstly, this has provided my son with endless amazement on how the magic box works when you pull one side, the other comes out too!!! The detail is fantastic just with the box, let alone the badge and membership card.” www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

thoughts from the boardroom

Graeme Grieve, CEO BMW (UK) Ltd.

The first weekend of April felt a little like I was auditioning for a motorsport themed Back to the Future – back in time on Saturday to witness the sound and spectacle of a bygone era at the 77th Members Meeting at Goodwood, while on Sunday I headed for Brands Hatch to see what the coming years will hold for our brand new 330i M Sport BTCC challenger. Both were glorious days out. We were celebrating two anniversaries at Goodwood – 40 years of the BMW M1 Procar and 60 years of Mini – and both put on an amazing spectacle. Witnessing the M1 Procar demonstration was superb; the sight and sound of these hugely evocative machines tearing down the Lavant Straight will live with me for many a year. There were 60 Minis taking part in the Betty Richmond Trophy and the racing was typically frenetic with intense battles going on throughout the field. It’s a great event and well worth the trip to the historic Sussex circuit. Swapping counties and circuits on the Sunday to see our new 330i M Sport in the BTCC was no less exciting. I was delighted to discover that West Surrey Racing’s hard work with the new car had

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

paid off as the 330i M Sports placed first, second and third in the second practice session and were third, fourth and fifth on the grid after qualifying. Typically British April weather ensured it wasn’t plain sailing for any of the drivers and the first round was decided more by tyre choice than anything else – our 330is shod with wet weather tyres dropped back during the course of the race when a drying track favoured those cars running on slicks. Race two though was a masterclass from Andrew Jordan in the BMW Pirtek Racing 330i, who scythed his way through the field from 15th on the grid to win the race by over nine seconds – a country mile in BTCC these days. To win at its first race weekend was beyond expectation, and a testament to the car’s innate design and the brilliance of the team at West Surrey Racing who have developed the 330i M Sport into a race winner in a scant few months. It was also interesting to see that race three was initially led by independent driver Stephen Jelley in one of the older 125i M Sports we’ve campaigned for the last five seasons, and I was musing on the way home whether two entirely

different BMWs have led races at the same BTCC meeting before? One for the BTCC historians, methinks. Of course, there’s a new 1 Series in the pipeline and we recently revealed some information about the new model going through its final phase of testing at our test facility in Miramas. It’s an all-new design and will utilise our front-wheel drive platform with transversely mounted engines, which will allow for a significantly roomier interior and more luggage space. I can’t say too much about it at the moment but it does feature some fascinating technology including our new ARB stability system first seen on the i3 which promises to endow the 1 Series with an agile and dynamic character. While the full engine line up hasn’t been revealed, the rangetopping M135i xDrive will feature a 306hp 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine which should make it a real pocket rocket. The same engine will be available in the X2 M35i, and as that car has a 0-62mph time of 4.9 seconds I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions as to how potent the similarly engined 1 Series might be – it might even give our 330i M Sport BTCC machine a run for its money. I wonder whether we’ll still be heading to historic circuits in 40 years’ time to witness the 100th anniversary of the Mini, 80 years of M1 Procars and perhaps 40 years of the BTCC 330i M Sport? Perhaps I should fire up my DeLorean to go and find out! www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

The Ultimate Driving Machine

A STATEMENT OF STYLE. The iconic style of BMW extends well beyond our cars. From travel accessories to the latest fashion, ﬁnd what you need at your local BMW Retailer – or visit shop.bmw.co.uk

Feature

clubnews Anyone for Golf? This year’s AGM will be held at Bicester Hotel Golf and Spa, relatively central with easy access to the M40, two junctions from Gaydon, and only 10mins from the famous Bicester shopping village. The formalities should take no longer than 3 hours, followed by a spot of Golf on the driving range to finish the day. Please register your attendance by emailing Michelle@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

BMW Car Club (Great Britain) Limited. Notice of Annual General Meeting for the year ended 31st December 2018

Notice is hereby given that the 37th Annual General Meeting of the Company will be held on Saturday 11th May 2019 at the Bicester Hotel Golf & Spa, starting at 10:00am. NB. Members attending the meeting must ensure that they have current, valid BMW Car Club membership cards with them and register your attendance with the club office. VOTING WILL BE BY SHOW OF VALID CLUB MEMBERSHIP CARDS. It is intended that the following business will be conducted at the meeting: 1. To receive the National Committee’s Report. 2. To receive and consider the Directors’ report and the audited Accounts of the company for the year ended 31st December 2018, and the Report of the Auditors thereon. Copies of these will be available from the Club Office by request. 3. Directors a) To elect directors in place of those retiring by rotation- Tim Fathers b) To ratify the appointment of Club Members co-opted to the National Committee. c) To consider any proposals that have been received for election of any other person as director (21 days’ notice in writing is required for this should you wish to stand). 4. To consider the appointment of Auditors to the Company for the coming year. 5. To authorise the remuneration of the Auditors. 6. To transact any other ordinary business of the company. Copies of the Report of the 2018 AGM are available either by email or hard copy on request from the Club Office. They can also be found on our website (provided that you are logged in) under the Club/members area as a pdf document. To obtain full answers to any questions that you might have, please submit them by post or email giving full details at least 21 days prior to the AGM. They will be answered by the Board member in whose area of responsibility they fall. By order of the Board BMW Car Club GB Limited February 2019 Registered office: Unit 5H, Glan Yr Afon, Aberystwyth, SY23 3JQ

Silverstone Classic 26-28th July - Car Club Packages end 31st May!! Join us in 2019 for another Super Silverstone, a club favourite which isn’t to be missed! Visit www.silverstoneclassic.com/ buycarclubtickets to purchase your tickets. Please use the discount code: CCD0032019 for a discounted price and to get your BMW on the car club stand! * Car club packages will conclude on 31st May, after this date you will no longer be able to display your BMW on the club stand We have secured a limited number of rooms at the Holiday Inn Express, Northampton, at a discounted rate for BMW Car Club members for the weekend of Silverstone Classic. £105.00 per room, on the Friday, Saturday & Sunday. Guests can contact the hotel directly on 0871 902 1627 to make their own reservations quoting discount code BMW - and the date required.

National Festival 2019- 11th AugustBritish Motor Museum, Gaydon

Tickets are now on sale for this year’s National Festival! Tickets can be purchased online: https://shop.bmwcarclubgb.uk/ shop/ or by calling club HQ on 01970 267989. Advanced tickets will end 2nd August **

Goodbye and Good luck!

Congratulations E9 Register captain Nick Hull was recently presented with the annual Automotive Technology Journalism Award by the Guild of Motoring Writers. Marked by a ceremony at the Royal Automobile Club in London’s Pall Mall, the annual awards recognise excellence in motoring journalism, photography and broadcasting. Nick is Associate Professor for automotive design at Coventry University and combines his work there with journalism and writing for a number of magazines, including Jaguar World, Interior Motives and Car Design News. He has also published books on Jaguar, Ford and Land Rover design. The £1000 award was for his series of articles in CDN on the principles of car design, entitled ‘Bones, Muscles and Graphics’. It looked at how car designers evaluate automotive design, and what they see that non-designers are missing.

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

Hull (left) receives the Award from GOMW’s Richard Gotch.

This month we will be saying another reluctant farewell to Amy who is leaving us to travel the world after being with the club for just over 12 months! On behalf of BMWCCHQ and the Board of Directors, we would like to thank Amy for all of her hard work throughout her time with us and wish her all of the best on her travels, her bubbly personality will certainly be missed in the club office! Thank you Amy and Good Luck! www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Feature

New Members CENTRAL

Nick Shapland Anthony Kemble Matt Ellis Jon Holiday

CENTRAL WEST Alastair Palmer Keith Waterhouse Philip Hopper Raj Dhokia Linda Eyles Michael Luck Marcus Brain John Windwood Brandon Dowell Stephen Hulme

CHESHIRE & STAFFS

Cyril Shuttleworth

COTSWOLD

William Harris Richard Law Scott Loughman

CUMBRIA

David Robert Lacey Lee Fallowfield

DEVON

Chris Durston

EAST ANGLIA

James Brigginshaw Michael McQueen Martin Thorogood Harry J Richards Mike Tunstill Gavin Claxton Kirsty Schwitzke Peter Langley Ray Mitchell Rick Patmore Neil Stafford Graham Sparrow Jonathan Crisp Clive Sambles Maciek Kowalski Neil Wells

EASTERN

Matthew Lee Paul Newton Keith Morley Keith Woodward Dean Wade

Mark Richardson Simon Haycocks Mark Linford Morgan Wright John Eddison Marcus Yap Noman Akbar David Griffiths Andrew German Tony Hodgson Peter Marston Sohail Bhatti Philip Wiehl Steven Cullabine

IRELAND

Patrick Hannon Claudio Fusco Adrian Jach

LONDON

Panayiotis Charilaou Bradley Dixon Rodney Buchanan Gurpal Judge Matthew Boulden John Rice Michael Kaye Nicholas Bourdeaux Glyn Evans Adam Dolinski Andrew Bogle Tomas Stasiulevicius Daniel Smith Irfan Zulfiqar Haroon Bashir Daniel Anbary Karl Simpson Kristian MartinDominguez Wojciech Dytlow Alex Singleton George Cheetham Simon Atkinson Robert Gurney Kirk Gould

NORTH EAST

David Smith Gary Lawless Mark Woods Sue Chapman

NORTH WEST

Steve Upsdell Simon Dunn Neil Higgins Kevin Wolstenholme

David Mills Paul Clare Mike Thoms Asaf Javid

SCOTLAND Ewen MacDonald-Allan Stuart Hendry Iain Logan Steven Blythe Modris Karklins Charles McAlpine Hamish Reid

SOUTH EAST Sin D’Rella Andy Joyce Amir Khan Benn Smith Philippa Weitz Matthew Radley

THAMES Richard Callow Dave Duncombe

WALES NORTH

National Show Calendar 2019 May 5: Sports cars in the park- Newby Hall (Contact northeast@ bmwcarclubgb.co.uk for more information) 11:

12: Petrolicious Drivers Meet - Bicester 16-19: Sharknose Meeting - Holland

June 7-10: Laon Historique and M Power Collection Meet 21-23: Welsh Weekend 22:

Sharknose Tour of the Cotswolds - contact e3register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk for more information

30:

BMs on the lawn

Nigel Blackwood

July

WALES - MID

26-28:

David Atkinson

WESTERN Mike Clements Alex Stanley Marianne Innocent Peter Guilfoyle Frank Seyedi WESSEX Artur Kondracki Brian Moore Gary Madgwick Richard Clarke Ron McQuisten Karl Helgesen Chris Baron Theunis G Scheepers Shanaka Clay Ian Cocks Richard Davis Stuart Robbins Mike Butterworth

BMWCC Annual AGM - register attendance with office

Silverstone Classic -code- CCD0032019 (CAR CLUB PACKAGES END 31st MAY)

August 11: National Festival - tickets purchased at bmwcarclubgb.uk If you would like an event added to the calendar, please email details to office@ bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Trackday Calendar 2019 July 12:

Castle Combe - £180

September 30:

Snetterton - £250

November BMWCCR CALENDAR

27th May- Castle Combe 22nd June- Silverstone National 7th July- Brands Hatch (Deutche Fest)

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

10th August- Silverstone National 14th September- Oulton Park 12th October- Snetterton 300 26th October- Silverstone GP

Oulton Park - £160

Novice sessions also available email Michelle@ bmwcarclubgb.co.uk for more information purchase online at https://shop.bmwcarclubgb.uk/ BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

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bmwnews BMW Group sales up 2.8% in March

March 2019 was the best-ever single sales month in the BMW Group’s history with a total of 263,319 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles delivered to customers, an increase of 2.8% on the same month last year. Sales of BMW brand vehicles increased by 3.7% in March, with a total of 221,631 delivered to customers worldwide. Total sales for the first quarter of the year reached 519,307 (+0.4%). As availability of the new BMW 3 Series saloon ramps up, sales increased by 10.8% in March, with a total of 30,204 sold around the world. MINI brand sales were lower in March than the same month last year, with 41,175 (-2.3%) delivered in the month. Year to date, 84,820 (-1.8%) MINIs have been delivered to customers around the world. Meanwhile at Rolls-Royce, after setting a new sales record in 2018, sales growth continued into the first quarter of 2019. A total of 1,206 Rolls-Royce motor cars were delivered to customers across the globe (+49.4%!) with growth being seen in every region worldwide.

As the new G20 3 Series becomes more readily available, worldwide sales hit 30k+ in March alone. BMW expect sales of the G20 to increase exponentially as more models are added to the line-up, with the new ‘halo model’ G20 M3 expected later this year or launched at Geneva in 2020…

BMW M1 Procars to race at Norisring

In what promises to be an amazing spectacle, the new DTM season will be spiced up by the appearance of 14 M1 Procars for a re-creation of a Procar Series race at the DTM Round at the Norisring on 5th-7th July. The M1 Procars are making a comeback thanks to BMW Group’s Classic division. The M1 Procars generated 470hp and the overall winner of the first Procar season was Niki Lauda. In the following year, Nelson Piquet took first place in the overall standings.

The spectacular M1 Procars, each equipped with a screaming 470hp straight-six, will race once again at the Norisring in July

BMW and ZF sign biggest deal in history ZF, the German gearbox manufacturer, announced the signing of its biggest contract yet with BMW in April. The exact numbers haven’t been disclosed but ZF did mention it was “a two digit billion Euro value”. ZF have pointed out that the order was for automatic gearboxes for internal combustion engines and electrified models. The German company said this transmission will be entering production in 2022 at the Saarbrucken plant but also at “further locations including the USA and China in the future.” “This business ‘win’ is the largest single order in the history of ZF,” said ZF’s CEO WolfHenning Scheider. “When it comes to the electrification of passenger cars, in addition to pure electric drives, it confirms our strategy to focus on plug-in hybrids as an everyday solution and to develop attractive products

in these areas. By utilising modular construction, the new generation of hybrid transmissions offers a flexible solution which is suitable for all passenger cars – both conventional as well as electric,” added Hankel. Once again, this fits perfectly with BMW’s modular platform that allows them to build all kinds of models on one assembly line, from versions fitted with internal combustion engines to hybrids and even pure EV alternatives.

BMW’s deal with ZF ensures that future BMW models like the M8 Gran Coupe will feature gearboxes developed and manufactured by ZF

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

bmwnews bmwnews Unique LPG-powered BMW M1 goes to auction

Recently unearthed as a ‘barn-find’ from a garage in East London, this M1 has been ‘lost’ for nearly a quarter of a century and is coming to the market for the first time since 1993. This extraordinary BMW was used by racing driver Harald Ertl, in conjunction with British Petroleum Autogas, to break the world speed record for LPG powered cars on 17th October 1981. Ertl achieved a new speed record of 301.4Km/h (187.281mph) thanks to the fitment of twin turbochargers, twin fuel injectors and a significantly modified aerodynamic body in part designed by Walter Wolf. The M1 was appearing in the Coys auction at Techno Classica, Aachen on 13th April 2019. Interestingly, Coys never stated an auction price estimate for the M1 and neither confirmed if the car was offered with or without reserve… Also up for auction at Techno Classica in a huge sale conducted by RM Sotheby’s, was a pair of E24 Alpina B7 turbos, one of which was an absolute beauty in black with red leather, an E28 Alpina B7 turbo plus a nice pair of classic BMW M cars, a fetching Schwarz E28 M5, and an Alpine White E30 M3 as a number of collectors cashed in on their ‘youngtimer’ investments…

This rare gaspowered and record breaking ‘barn-find’ M1 went to auction in April at the Coys sale at Techno Classica

The most recalled cars in Europe

BMW have been suffering some bad press of late regarding the numerous recalls on their cars, but according to car-recalls.eu they aren’t alone and certainly not the worst. In fact, BMW were 10th in the recall league in 2018, with eight recalls affecting 10 models. Top of the league were Mercedes-Benz with 36 recalls covering 17 models. VW occupied second spot, with 25 recalls covering 18 models with Peugeot third (23/12), Opel fourth (20/11) and Citroen fifth (17/13). Interestingly, that paragon of reliability Toyota sat in sixth place in the list, with 14 recalls covering 16 models. We’re all guilty of thinking BMW’s reliability and quality levels aren’t what they once were, basically because that is what we are interested in and read most about, and maybe both reliability and quality levels have suffered as their model range has grown exponentially over the past decade or so, but in a perverse way I think it is kind of reassuring to hear that BMW isn’t the only automobile manufacturer who is suffering from a glut of recalls and issues with reliability, and certainly not the worst… For more info on this subject visit https://car-recalls.eu/

BMW’s X7 has only just reached the market but is already subject to a recall… to check for loose seat belt fixings…

AC Schnitzer ahead of the game with WLTP compliant performance upgrades AC Schnitzer are first to market with performance upgrades that already have a parts homologation certificate in accordance with the new Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) for vehicles with the Euro 6d-TEMP emission standard, meaning most of the latest BMW models with Otto particulate filters. AC Schnitzer provide WLTP compliant performance upgrades for nine current BMW models: M140i and M240i 340hp/500Nm to 400hp and 600Nm, M2 Competition 410hp/550Nm to 500hp and 650Nm, M4 and M4 Competition with and without Otto filter with 431hp or 450hp/550Nm to 510hp and 645Nm,

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

340i and 440i 326hp/450Nm to 380hp and 540Nm, F90 M5 with and without Otto filter with 600hp/750Nm to 700hp and 850Nm and the M5 Competition with and without Otto filter with 625hp/750Nm to 720hp and 850Nm. More will follow. AC Schnitzer provide a warranty on all performance upgrades, depending on your home country, for up to five years and up to 120,000kms, or 80,000km on M models. AC Schnitzer also have a full range of stainless steel sports exhaust silencers with a WLTP certificate for the M140i/M240i, M2C and the F90 M5 and M5C. For more info visit ac-schnitzer.co.uk or ac-schnitzer.de

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THE ORIGINAL AND THE BEST As the original equipment manufacturers to companies such as Rover, MG, Triumph, Jaguar and many others over the years, Tex has established an unsurpassed reputation for quality and service. Today that quality remains evident in our Classic range of products, over 95% of which are manufactured in our factory in Oxfordshire on the original tooling. Tex products range from wing and door mirrors, wiper arms and blades and accessories are all supplied as original accessories on most British cars in the 50s, 60s, 70s. Tex were ďŹ tted as original equipment to all British Leyland vehicles between 1974 to 1983.

Look for the original stamp when buying a product. We are the only manufacturers. BUY ON LINE AT

www.motoringclassics.co.uk OR PLACE YOUR ORDER BY PHONE ON 01993 707200

H IS T I BR 48 AT 9 E 1 E GR C A N SI

D N A R B

motorsportnews dannorris Roving reporter Jeff Heywood

Podium for BMW Team MTEK M8 GTE at Sebring In a busy (if slightly confusing) mid-March weekend, four of BMW Motorsport’s M8 GTEs competed in two races in separate championship races at the same venue – Sebring International Raceway – with two cars running in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and a further two M8 GTEs competing in the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship... like I said, confusing! On the Friday, two BMW Team MTEK M8 GTEs competed in the LM GTE Pro Class in the FIA WEC. After 226 laps and a dramatic finish in heavy rain, the #81 car, piloted by Martin Tomczyk, Nick Catsburg and Alexander Sims, crossed the line in second place. Their team-mates Augusto Farfus, António Félix da Costa and Bruno Spengler came seventh in the #82 M8 GTE. Class victory at Sebring was secured by the #91 Porsche 911. In an eventful first phase of the race, both BMW M8 GTEs were in the running for a podium finish. Farfus was leading the LM GTE Pro Class field at the end of his stint, after starting fourth on the grid.

Car #81 then took the lead for the first time with two hours to go. Unfortunately, a late pit stop in the rain dropped finalstint driver Catsburg to second place, which he held onto comfortably right to the chequered flag. Saturday dawned and it was the turn of the BMW Team RLL M8 GTEs, competing in the second round of the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship – the 12H of Sebring. While rain had caused a thrilling final hour during the WEC race, it was responsible

for a start behind the safety car on Saturday. After more than 40 minutes the Florida GT marathon went green in wet conditions. Both BMW M8 GTEs were quickly involved in the scrap for the GTLM class lead, and were involved in some close scraps with other cars. After 330 laps, car #24, driven by John Edwards, Jesse Krohn and Philipp Eng crossed the line fourth in the GTLM Class. The second #25 BMW M8 GTE, piloted by Connor De Phillippi, Tom Blomqvist and Colton Herta, finished seventh.

Alexander Sims, Martin Tomczyk and Nick Catsburg celebrate their 2nd place finish in the FIA WEC race at Sebring

The BMW Team MTEK #81 M8 GTE driven by Martin Tomczyk, Nick Catsburg and Alexander Sims on its way to a 2nd place finish in round two of the FIA WEC at Sebring

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

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FOR SALE

BMW 520i SE TOURING MANUAL

2,171cc petrol engine One owner from new Registered Sept 2001, Metallic green with black leather interior

BMW Main Agent Service History – Original BMW Handbooks, Service Book, unused First Aid kit, toolkit, spare wheel etc – 2 keys

All ‘SE’ extras: – wooden cappings on dash, steering wheel and gear knob – front and rear parking sensors (both working) – multi-spoke steering wheel – CD Sound system – Roof rails – Factory alarm

Good condition and barely showing its 18 years High motorway miles but BMW Replacement Engine fitted 70k miles ago MOT September 2019

All enquiries, please call 07860 906032

£1,450

Products Burton’s Hose End Caps and Clamps Proper racing braided hose ends tend to be expensive and require special tools to install. However, these stainless and rubber hose ends are affordable and do the job admirably on almost all road cars. Burton’s 8mm chrome end cap and clamp retails at just £6.00 each inc. VAT and provides secure fastening on all types of hoses; it is particularly useful on stainless steel braided lines as it protects the sharp braided ends and prevents fraying. The internal stainless worm drive clip is replaceable and the cap can be rotated to hide the worm drive for a neater installation. It can be used on 5/16” and 8mm O.D. hose. Order as part number SSH516CEC.

Burtons also offer an alternative rubber end cap and clamp (part number SSH516REC) at just £2.75 inc. VAT each, that performs the same function, but with an external hose clamp. For further details contact Burton Power on 0208 554 2281 www.burtonpower.com

BG Racing – Wheel Dividers for B-G Single Tier Wheel/Tyre Trolley

Alloy wheels are particularly susceptible to damage when off the vehicle especially when being stored together on a rack. The faces can easily rub against each other causing rim damage. Thankfully, B-G Racing can now supply a divider set for use with its Single Tier Wheel and Tyre Trolley to restrain the wheels and tyres thus preventing them

M-Style - Remus Wolf Exhaust System with Valves for F87 M2 Competition

from moving around and rubbing against each other. Once fitted, the dividers are easily adjusted to suit the various wheel and tyre sizes. The trolley and dividers are ideal for workshops, tyre-fitting bays, garages, alloy wheel refurbishment companies, race pits and wheel & accessory dealers. In fact anywhere where wheels are removed from a vehicle and damage to the rim face must be prevented. The dividers are produced from a mild steel skeleton sleeved with protective foam tubing and are sold as a set of three. Price: £113.99 inc VAT. For more details contact Brown & Geeson Ltd. +44 (0) 1268 764411 or visit the website: www.bg-racing. co.uk

MStyle is now stocking the Remus Wolf Exhaust System for the BMW F87 Competition model with GPF. The system comes with integrated valve control system and fits inside the rear axle. There is a choice of exhaust tips; either stainless angled tips as standard or rolled chrome, carbon or brushed chrome/black with carbon inserts at additional cost. (Chrome with carbon inserts shown). Prices start from £2539 fitted depending on tips chosen, or opt for the full package of exhaust and remap for up to 500hp at the special offer price of £3099 inc VAT. For further details visit the M-Style website: www.mstyle.co.uk or call 0208 5989115 www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Aeroflow Performance Large Stubby Adjustable AN / Dash Fittings Wrench

Not every mechanic in Europe owns a full set of AN (DASH) sized wrenches; trying to make do with steel metric sizes invariably leads to damaged AN fittings. AN lines are also frequently routed through hard-to-reach areas where a large spanner just can’t reach. Aeroflow has solved both problems at once with the introduction of its Large Stubby Adjustable AN Wrench. The Large Stubby Adjustable Wrench features a 4.5” long ergonomic handle and fits sizes from -03AN up to -20AN. It is perfect for highly confined space. The aluminium jaws are specifically designed for alloy end fitting and won’t round or damage them. Price: £30.00 inc VAT. For more details contact Brown & Geeson Ltd. +44 (0) 1268 764411 or visit their website: www.b-gdirect.com

M-Style - DEPO Angel Eye Headlights for BMW Pre LCI F30 F31

MStyle has just added a new application to its wide range of upgraded headlights. This latest addition is a DEPO angel eye headlamps set for the BMW pre facelift F30 and F31 models that came with halogen headlamps. The DEPO angel eye headlamps set retails at £495 inc VAT and it can also be supplied and fitted for £615 inc VAT at MStyle’s fitting centre. For further details visit the M-Style website: www.mstyle. co.uk or call 0208 598 9115 BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

Products Webcon Tuner Drill Set

DEI Oil Rug

Spilt oil is messy, time consuming to clean up, a potential accident waiting to happen and a health hazard. Luckily DEI offers a way to keep a garage or work area clean and mess free. DEI’s new Oil Rug quickly absorbs oily spills and drips to keep a work area tidy and accident free. DEI’s Oil Rug can be used for any small engine repair and makes a great addition to the work bench of the occasional Do-It-Yourself-er, as well as a required safety product for auto care professionals. Applications include placement under motorcycles and cars when parked in the garage or bench top repairs for transmissions, small engines or any project that can cause an oily mess. The oil rug is designed with completely sealed and welded edges and will hold up to 450gms of oil without leaking before requiring disposal. A plastic disposal bag is included with each DEI Oil Rug. Oil Rug is available in three sizes:

Small - Part #010750 (12” x 18”), 30 x 45cms approx. Medium – Part #010751 (18” x 24”) 45 x 60cms approx. Large – Part #010752 (29” x 48”). 74 x 122cms approx. For more information about DEI’s full line of safety products, visit DesignEngineering.com. In the UK & Europe DEI Oil Rug may be ordered from DemonTweeks.com. To keep up with the very latest DEI product introductions and company news connect with DEI on Facebook or Twitter or subscribe to DEI’s You Tube channel.

Webcon is delighted to announce that its popular Jet Drill set has now been superseded by the new, more comprehensive and better value Tuner Drill Set. It features 5 of each of the following sized drills:0 .6mm 0.7mm 0.8mm 0.9mm 1.0mm 1.1mm 1.2mm 1.3mm 1.4mm 1.5mm 1.6mm 1.8mm 2.0mm 2.1mm 2.2mm 2.3mm 2.4mm 2.5mm 2.6mm 2.8mm 3.0mm 3.2mm along with a new style, double ended pin vice, the new kit is supplied in a handy, double latched case and will be an essential purchase for the DIY enthusiast and professional tuner alike. Part number 9802405000 is priced at £37.95 plus VAT. Available directly from Webcon and from appointed Webcon dealers around the world. For further details contact Webcon UK on +44 (0)1932 787100 or visit www.webcon.co.uk

DISCOUNTED INSURANCE FOR BMW CLUB MEMBERS

Agreed Value BMW Car Club Member Discount Limited Mileage Discounts Free Club Organised Track Day Cover

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BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

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DAMAGE REPAIRS

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MStyle Custom Stainless Exhaust Conversion WAS £595 NOW £395 Available for 1/2/3/4/5 F Series Models with 40i Style or Quad Exhaust tips.

PERFORMANCE

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PAINTING

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UNIT 1 NORTHGATE PARK | COLLIER ROW ROAD | ROMFORD | RM5 2BG

dannorris My Generation…What are we d.d.d.d.d.doing? It’s probably the perfect representation of universal teenaged angst, summed up by The Who in one sentence. I hope I die before I get old. Whilst we might not have really wanted to actually, like, die, let’s be honest: who - at some point in those difficult years - didn’t look with despair at the older generation and raise their eyes? We would do things differently. We would get it right. We’ll never be like them. And now my generation are the generation of rule makers, of the government - we’re the ones in charge. Its not just policemen who look younger any more. President Macron is five years my junior. And what have my generation decided to do? Not content with turning our kids into phone-zombies and banning any humour that makes fun of anybody (i.e. ‘humour’) – or letting people give sex-change drugs to children under five – we’ve decided that in the future you’ll have to buy a car that stops you from exceeding the speed limit, by stopping you from having control of your own vehicle. The machine will take over. You won’t have a say. The freedom of the open road? Gone forever. You can be in, quite literally, the middle of nowhere, miles and miles from the nearest dwelling or human presence, on a road with full visibility stretching to the horizon. Perfect driving conditions, no danger. And you’ll be doing 25 mph if that’s what the sign says. In fact, they won’t even need a sign. Machines in space will transmit the instructions to your car – why bother informing the driver? And you won’t be able to use purchasing power to show your discontent. Because even a Bugatti Chiron will have this technology, by law, come 2022. I wonder what that will do to the sales figures? Oh, I’m making a fuss about nothing. Worse, I’m just a hooligan, proud of endangering lives with my thoughtless behaviour and clinging on to outdated principles that have no place in the modern world. Or am I? As a younger man, I was a keen student of 20th century history. I had questions. Where did we come from? What has made the present what it is? Wasn’t the past partly a huge receptacle of warnings for the future, sign posts for the human race – lessons to be learned? One of the books I read was written by ‘Hitler’s architect’, a man called Albert Speer. Inside the Third Reich was written

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

during his post-war incarceration, a sort of mea-culpa combined with a healthy dose of airbrushing – an attempt to excuse or avoid responsibility for his part in the most murderous, sinister, evil and efficient regime the world has ever seen. Apart from Speer’s odious hypocrisy, the thing that stuck with me more than anything else was in the afterword – the summing up of his thoughts on the past. In this section Speer explains how close the Nazis came to success, and the reasons for their ‘failure’. Speer suggests that far from the regime being too hard, too controlling – it simply wasn’t ruthless enough. Why? They didn’t have the technology. Speer asserts that given more tech, the iron grip could have been tightened to such an extent that all resistance would have been utterly futile. They simply lacked that last part of the jigsaw – the technology to exercise total control over their fellow man. Some of you may now be wriggling uncomfortably in your seats. Where is he going with this? Is he really suggesting a link between car legislation and the Nazis? Well, I suppose I am. Not directly, of course. What if we’re quite comfortable with modern technology, actually? This stuff saves lives. CCTV on every corner – even outside your home – keeps us safe. GPS tracking in your car and in your pocket helps you find the nearest off-license. Tracking of your IP address and monitoring every key stroke helps bring you the latest offers and more of the products you love – direct to your desk top. Smart motorways, start-stop technology, speed restricting software – all this makes the roads safer and reduces fatalities, and who dares argue with that. Modern teenagers can once again afford to insure their Renault Clios thanks to the

little black boxes – measuring everything from straight line speed to G-force in the bends, and that all-important curfew monitor, making sure our young aren’t out late being silly behind the wheel – suggested by the insurance companies, to watch over their risk. The reason this is all fine is because, lets face it, our governments are relatively benign. You might not like their politics, but they could be worse. And that’s my point. What if that changes? What if it does get worse? We may just be sleep walking, step by step, into a world that makes Orwell’s 1984 look like a village fete. What if - as happened less than eighty years ago in Europe – the wrong people get their hands on the organs of control? Our inability to buy a BMW M5 and take it for a blast down to Wales will be the least of our worries. Every aspect of our existence will be almost infinitely controllable. But we’ll be able to vote ‘them’ out, right? For most people, ‘I hope I die before I get old’ at some point changes to ‘I hope I get old before I die’. Maybe it’s when we find someone to love, or maybe it’s when we have kids of our own. I’m not going to say ‘I hope I die before 2022’ because, tempting as it is to go with the title of this article and even though that was my first reaction to the news, of course I don’t. But I do desperately hope that at some point soon – before it’s too late – we wake up from this strange hypnotised state and start to fight back against this creeping erosion of our freedom. And I won’t be the only person worrying about the future of cars. The future of the hobby we love. You buy a BMW for many reasons, and, be honest, speed is probably amongst them. 2022 is only three years away. That gives us just a little time to make our voices heard .To stand up and question what right ‘they’ have to take away our freedom. And, yes. I’m talkin’ about My Generation.

M5 from 2022… Will there be any point?!

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW E46, 320Ci M-Sport Convertible Rare 5-Speed Manual. 1st registered March 2004 Immaculate pristine black paintwork with full M-Sport body trim. Unmarked black power hood with full black rufﬂed leather interior & overmats. M-Sport spec includes: • M-badged Multi-function leather steering wheel • M-badged sills • 18” M-badged ten spoke wheels • Carbon-ﬁbre trim • Sports Suspension front & side skirts • Electric Memory seats Lots of extras including: Hands free Parrot phone kit, Rear parking sensors. Electric windows, mirrors. A/c BMW Radio Cassette and 6-stack CD, Cruise Control and Alarm Original Owner’s Service Book showing detailed service history. Recent replacement front & rear discs and pads. 2-keys. Current MOT with no advisories. 109,000 miles.

£3,950 ono

All enquiries, please call or text 07889 916777 (lady owner)

Feature

LAUNCH NIGHT AT

CHANDLERS Words by Steve Carter Photographs by Steve Carter and Dean Grossmith

eing a member of the Car Club has brought a whole range of experiences that I couldn’t have envisaged when I first joined the Club several years ago. If I’m honest, although I had been a BMW fan and owner for some time, my main reason for initially joining was to develop a knowledgeable network about my then recently acquired

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

8 Series and not a lot else. I have to say though, over the years it’s been a real adventure and a lot of fun getting involved in a number of Club activities, be it writing for Straight Six, attending various events, performing Club valuations for the 8 Series Register, to having close engagements with my local BMW dealer network here in Brighton, Chandlers.

It was a couple of years ago now that George Champ started to drive the revitalisation of the South East Region, and with Ian Bryant quickly taking the role as Regional Chairman, our activities as a Region have quickly grown exponentially. Throughout this time, a combination of our local dealership engagement and efforts at Baron’s group level by George have really begun to show mutual benefits for the

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Feature

Club and the dealerships, whether that’s discount on parts for us as members, or having coverage and promotion within Straight Six for the dealers. This co-operation was no better demonstrated than during the recent launch night for the new BMW 3 Series and Z4 launch. Several dealerships within the Baron’s group including Chandlers Brighton, Chandlers Hailsham and Baron’s Farnborough had reached out to the Car Club to ask to borrow vehicles. With the unwavering support from Lucy at the BMWCC office, we were able to support the dealers with a range of cars reflecting the back catalogue of the 3 Series and Z cars. And let’s face it, leaving your pride and joy with somebody else does take

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

a lot of nerve, so kudos to those Club members including Ian, Dean, Tahmid and Stuart that were brave enough to do so. Having recently loaned Chandlers Brighton my 850CSi, it was my E90 M3 that was required this time around, but on this occasion it was the Chandlers folks down the coast in Hailsham that had made the request, this time via Ian. The upside for lending my daily driver was the loan of a Barcelona Blue 840d for the week. Being a car I had already reviewed in Straight Six back in January, it took absolutely zero twisting of my middle-aged arm to accept that offer; it’s a really cracking machine. With all of the BMWCC cars delivered to the dealers and the showrooms set

up, launch night was quickly upon us. I headed along the coast to Hailsham on the evening of 7th March and met up with Ian who loaned his Zs for the event. And blimey what an event it was. I have to say that the folks at Hailsham to a guy and girl did an awesome job. The Oscar-esque sound and light show kicked in with both the new 3 Series and Z4 under wraps, only their LED lights piercing menacingly through black car covers. Mark Bridgland, Hailsham’s Head of Business, kicked off the event by reflecting on the history of both vehicles. Starting with the 3 series, Mark provided a reminder to his invited guests of just how important the 3 series has been and continues to be for BMW: “… when the first BMW 3 Series was launched in 1975, it revolutionised the premium midsize segment, becoming BMW’s most successful model. The saloon is the core of BMW 3 Series range, which is why more than 15 million units have now been sold worldwide and how it is widely regarded as the heartbeat of the BMW brand.” It’s hard to believe that the 3 series has now been with us in all its forms for more than 40 years, with this latest G20 model being the seventh generation. I have to say, I think BMW have pulled the design of this latest 3 out of the bag. It’s a brave thing to give their core model anything other than ‘acceptable’ looks considering the multitude of markets it has to satisfy, but the folks back in Munich HAVE been brave and blessed it with attitude. It just looks more purposeful compared to the previous generation, which to my eye looked a little jelly moulded in its more BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

Feature basic specification offerings. Certainly, the G20 330i MSport Saloon revealed by Mark in its stunning and newly created Portimao Blue paint (might be my new favourite blue), full MSport package, huge snowflake alloys, obligatory Hofmeister kink and blacked out grille really impressed. That grille is central to the new BMW design language, and in chrome I am sure it might be a little too ‘front and centre’ for some tastes, but in black it rocks. The next part of the evening was a stroke of genius and also, I have to say, quite bold. The Hailsham team had rigged a live demonstration of some of the new technology features within the 3 Series. With cameras and microphones in the cockpit, we guests were hooked in via the large TV screens and PA system ready to experience the new standard infotainment system called BMW Live Cockpit Plus, which includes an 8.8” control display with touch functionality and BMW Navigation. Now whilst this all seemed to be risking a ‘when Blue Peter went wrong’ moment, Charles Cox, Hailsham’s General Sales Manager, and Matt Quarrington, Product Genius, gave what can only be described as a really professional and faultless demonstration. Oh, and the technology was awesome too. The slick ‘Hey BMW’ voice control was, I have to admit, really impressive. Last, but certainly not least, the crowd were treated to the unveiling of the Z4. Mark really captured what everyone was thinking when he said: “So what can I say about the new BMW Z4, to be honest, I absolutely love this car. Clearly the styling is the first thing that strikes you, but what has surprised me most is the way it drives. I cannot remember a car that has put such a smile on my face”. BMW certainly have taken their time in releasing this model and I am sure it’s because it had to be 100% spot on. Personally, I think it looks really great and of our time. It cohesively embraces the new BMW design language and offers an aggressive stance whilst staying fairly close to the original Z Concept we saw back in 2017. That’s a good thing. All in all, a cracking evening at Hailsham hosted by Mark Bridgland and his team who as I have said, really did a great job. As Club members, it really is a privilege to be involved in the activities with the dealerships and the fun, and rewards, such engagement can bring. So, next time you see that email from the BMWCC in your inbox and asking for your support, don’t delete it. Give it your time, and if you can help out, then please do respond. You never know, it could be you driving around in a brand new 8 Series for a week next time.

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

LUXURY WITHOUT LIMITS.

THE NEW BMW 8 SERIES AND BMW X7.

Available to explore at Chandlers Brighton from April 2019, exciting new luxury models make their entrance at the pinnacle of the BMW range. The BMW 8 Series CoupĂŠ and BMW 8 Series Convertible are BMWâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new luxury sports cars: the perfect blend of driver experience and refined performance. Refinement is redefined by the new BMW X7. Effortlessly sumptuous, its interior space brings new meaning to first class, while the exterior combines scale with beauty. Welcome to luxury without limits. To book your extended test drive* visit www.chandlersbrightonbmw.co.uk or call us on 01273 423312. *Test drive subject to applicant status and availability.

Feature

CHASING PERFECTION…

UK based Redux Leichtbau is building a run of 30 ‘reimagined’ BMW E30 M3s, restored and uprated to another level entirely, a level where the Redux inspired BMW E30 M3 can unashamedly carry the moniker ‘The Ultimate Driving Machine’ with pride and justification… Words Jeff Heywood – Photos Drew Phillips for Redux Leichtbau

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

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Feature

The restored and reimagined E30 M3 by Redux is both a thing of beauty and a scalpel sharp driving tool…

n the automotive world, Singer Vehicle Design (SVD) is one of the leading and most respected ‘restomodding’ companies on the planet; they ‘reimagine’ Porsche 911s to an extremely high standard for their customers. Restomod is the name given to this new avenue of restoration and the word could have been invented to describe exactly what SVD do. Their projects sell for a pretty penny and have set a sky-high standard for the rest of the automotive ‘restomodders’. For a few years now, the BMW community has been craving for a similar type of company to SVD to work their magic on one of BMW’s iconic Ultimate Driving Machines; now their prayers have been answered. A UK company called Redux Leichtbau has set about creating the ultimate E30 M3 using lots of carbon fibre, Alcantara/leather, and a reworked S14 four-cylinder naturally aspirated or turbocharged engine – the choice is yours. Both SVD and Redux start from a similar point: you provide a 911 Porsche donor car which is (usually) a 964-type 911 from ’89-94 in SVD’s case, or an E30 M3 if you go down the Redux route, and both companies meticulously strip, rebuild and modify the donor car to another level. After speaking with Redux CEO Simon Lord* though, I think that their Restomod conversion of the M3 actually takes it on a different path to what Singer are doing with their reimagined 911s, which is applying a mix of quality bespoke componentry that adds a mix of ‘modern classic’, to create a 911 that has the underpinnings from the 964 with the retro-styled looks of a ‘70s 911/RS; whereas Redux’s approach is far more modern, again applying a heady mix of quality components and craftsmanship www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

Feature to the E30 M3 to transform it into a much more modern and advanced version of what the car would be like if BMW built a ‘money no object E30 M3’ today, a sort of Sport Evo++. A direction very similar to the approach taken by Eugenio Amos with the Lancia Delta Futurista project… The E30 M3 was the obvious choice for this project. It is widely acclaimed as BMW Motorsport’s finest creation. Touring car legends Roberto Ravaglia, Johnny Cecotto, Steve Soper, Jim Richards, Eric van der Poele, Frank Sytner and Will Hoy (amongst many more) won a total of 12 championships for BMW in five years – a truly remarkable record (not including its hill climb and rally championship titles plus many 24H race wins and other endurance successes), making BMW’s E30 M3 the most successful touring car racer of all time. The BMW E30 M3 by Redux began as a pet project of their CEO Simon Lord, who wanted to build the ultimate E30 M3 – enhance and evolve is the company mantra. Limited to only 30 units, the E30 M3 seen here in the photos is the first (1/30) car delivered to Southern California from Redux Leichtbau’s HQ in the UK. Production of the car takes place in the UK and starts with a standard E30 M3 which is fully stripped down to a bare shell, which is then meticulously inspected, repairing any imperfections found before any rebuild work commences. The chassis is then jigged to ensure the frame is perfectly straight, before being reinforced with additional welding to stiffen the floor pan, followed by the preparation for a half or full rollcage or none at all – the choice is down to the customer – in this case the customer required the fitment of a full roll cage. Again Simon reiterates that he expects

The E30 M3’s interior has been suitably and subtly reworked by Redux to a high level where quality abounds – the MoTeC C127 digidash and Recaro SPG seats were a customer request

most of the UK based cars will probably be built without roll cages, retaining the rear seat, seat belts etc. On the 1 of 30 M3, the A-pillars were hand made to hide the front section of the roll cage; they are now the size of an E46 airbag equipped A-pillar. Likewise, the B-pillars were modified to fit around the lower hoop of the cage and rear bench; they also pivot to allow the bench to be removed. Following the fabrication work, the shell is blasted again to ensure it is scrupulously clean. A hot zinc coating is then applied to the underside to act as corrosion protection. That’s immediately followed by a coat of epoxy primer, which acts as the foundation and prevents any surface corrosion. The underside, interior and engine bay is then seam sealed, then it’s on to the filler work. Redux aim to keep this to the minimum – i.e. less than 1mm – but it’s needed to ensure all panels are even for a perfect finish. All surfaces are then block sanded before a polyester coating is applied, followed by a guide coat. A urethane coating seals

everything in to prevent any moisture getting absorbed by the porous filler. The panels – doors, boot, bonnet – are then refitted for further block sanding across the panels to ensure a perfect fit and finish after paint. 320 grit dry sanding is followed by a second coating of epoxy primer, finished off with 800 grit wet sanding in preparation for paint. Once the paint is applied, baked and cured, it’s wet sanded by hand – to avoid machine ‘pig tails’ – then machine buffed to ensure there’s no orange peel or other surface imperfections for that perfect glass-like shine. On the suspension side of things, Redux turned to EXE-TC Competition Suspension, known for their WRC setups, to supply them with a bespoke three-way damper system for the E30 M3. Never heard of them? EXE-TC helped Sebastian Loeb rack up multiple WRC titles; ’nuff said! Redux fits its own custom front control arms, front uprights, anti-roll bars, front and rear cross members and trailing arms, always being

The E30 M3 by Redux looks mightily fine from any angle, the 18” Cinel Monobloc wheels suit the M3 perfectly…

BMW Car Club Magazine Magazine MAY MAY2019 2019

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Feature The E30 has always had a wonderfully balanced profile, and in M3 form it is enhanced, the traditional 3-box design functional and elegant. The 18” Cinel wheels certainly add to the overall composition

careful not to upset the fine ride/handling balance and nimble feeling the original E30 M3 enjoyed; indeed, former F1 driver Jean Alesi described the E30 M3 as “the sweetest-handling machine” he could think of – high praise indeed... Braking is taken care of by an AP Racing kit, with six-piston fronts and fours for the rears, with discs sized at 330mm and 304mm respectively. A carbon ceramic SICOM setup is an option for those who feel the need. Lightweight is the name of the game, so customers with even deeper pockets can choose a carbon fibre roof along with carbon panels to replace the front bumper, front wings, side skirts and rear bumper. I can well imagine that a wealthy individual will take this option and have the panels clear coated so you can see the carbon weave like one sees on some of the current hypercars… Inside, a mix of Alcantara and leather covers the headlining, door cards, dash, A-, B- and C-pillars, rear bench, and the classy and classic Italvolanti steering wheel. A full set of luxury but lightweight wool carpets is installed. A BMW Motorsport golf ball gear knob is also included, along with an AP Racing floor-mounted pedal box. Because the 1 of 30 car required the fitment of a roll cage, the rear seat was deleted and in its place a ‘bench’ was fabricated and carpeted to match the rest of the interior. The bench houses the subwoofer and audio head unit chassis. A sectioned off custom built area in the boot is home to the battery, rear Power Distribution Module (PDM), FEV fire extinguisher system, fuel swirl pot, fuel pump and diff pump, hidden by an Alcantara covered removable panel. The PDM for the front wiring loom is www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Redux deserve maximum credit for their work in the engine bay which looks as neat as an OEM installation; at a glance you wouldn’t know the 2.5 S14 engine was turbocharged…

hidden in the front passenger footwell area, and both PDMs are by MoTeC – quality again… The final interior touch on this particular M3? A customer requested digital dash for track use; this is a modern MoTeC C127 example rather than the older type of STACK digidash that the race cars used in period. The customer basically requested the digi-dash because it can relay literally scores of warning messages right in your eyeline that would normally be scattered across a plethora of analogue gauges, perfect for track driving. Simon expects most if not all of the future road car builds to be running the standard analogue instruments… Let’s not forget that the interior in the car featured is 100% the choice of the customer who purchased the No1

car. When it comes to interior trim, the world’s your oyster. Redux has some suggestions, though. If the M3 is set to be a regular road car, they will re-trim the standard Recaro seats and leave the back seats in place. If you’re a track day addict, there’s the option of either a half or full roll cage plus the ditching of the rear seats, which is what the owner of the No1 M3 has chosen. There’s a choice of steering wheels, gear shifters, door pulls, headliners and carpets. Multiple colours are available for all of the above, and you can have a modern audio system fitted if required. This is what the Redux modded BMW M3 is all about. It is totally custom, and nothing, within reason, is off the table as far as customer requests go. The donor S14 2.3-litre four-pot is stripped down and bored out to 2.5-litres BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

Feature

The 18” forged Cinel wheels are top quality; one can just see the imposing AP Racing calipers through the Cinel’s spokes. The interior of the 1 of 30 E30 M3 is covered in dark tan leather and acres of grey Alcantara. Neat touches abound, like the Redux steering wheel, and the centre console is swathed in Alcantara…check out the immaculate double stitching close up. The door cards have been re-worked by Redux, adding strength, new handles and door pulls all swathed in Alcantara. The door pulls are a definite nod to an RS/Singer Porsche 911! The plaque says it all – 1 of 30 built/reimagined by Redux…

and fitted with custom rods, pistons, carbon airbox and a BMW Motorsport crankshaft. If it’s a turbo-motor that a customer requests then only the original block and valve cover remains, everything is new and seriously uprated to cope with the extra power. The turbo is a BorgWarner unit and Redux also fits a MoTeC (read expensive!) M150 ECU ‘brain’, a larger radiator, a bespoke Raychem engine loom and Autosport connectors and a custom intercooler. Final output? An impressive 390hp and 529Nm of torque from the turbocharged S14 running just 1.0 bar of boost, although the turbo motor can be mapped to give huge amounts of power – it’s all down to how deep those pockets are again and how far a customer wants to go. The turbo-engine is conservatively mapped with knock sensors to help manage the lower grade fuel in California – when the M3 isn’t pounding around the track it is required to run on US 98 RON, which equates to approx. 95RON in the UK... Build time for the S14 turbo engine is three to four months. The turbo’d No1 car runs a hand-built 3” exhaust system, featuring twin rear silencers and a removable straight section on v-bands to fit two CARB-compliant catalytic converters, needed to comply with California’s smog testing, but never to be used on track! UK road spec cars will not have a 3” straight pipe! The turbo’d S14 is mated up to a GS6-53BZ 6-speed gearbox, sourced direct from BMW and chosen for its torque rating. Surprisingly, no additional fabrication was needed in the transmission tunnel, it

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

just fits. The next road cars will retain the original 5-speed gearbox casing and be fully rebuilt with new, close ratio gears. UK and Euro cars will remain dogleg; US spec are standard H pattern. The engine can also be rebuilt as a naturally aspirated unit, and this is the route Simon Lord thinks the majority of customers will go down. In n/a format, the rebuilt S14 produces an ultra-reliable 250275hp for regular road use, with a sensible servicing/maintenance routine. 300+hp is achievable but requires additional maintenance, plus the engine needs to run different cam profiles, and is not recommended for regular road use – but the choice is entirely yours. The decision to offer a turbocharged S14 was not taken lightly by Redux. Whilst delivering a significant increase in both horsepower and torque, equal consideration was given to improving reliability and efficiency. Working on the theory of this being a development car for future generations of the M3, this option corresponds with BMW’s current usage of turbocharged engines whilst also paying homage to the infamous F1 World Championship winning 1.5l 4-cylinder M12/13 ‘Megatron’ turbo engine... The rear end is modified to take the extra grunt, with uprated half-shafts and a new larger-diameter driveshaft connected to the rebuilt diff. Finally, the car is then meticulously painted. The whole shell is primed and block sanded, followed by the application of a water-based ‘Glasurit 90’ paint scheme. The car is wet sanded to remove any imperfections before the

paintwork is polished to a mirror like finish. To bring a finishing touch to this amazing build, a set of 18” DTM-style forged monoblock alloy wheels by Cinel were fitted to this car, sized at 8x18” front and 8.5x18 at the rear, although other options are available including centrelocking jobbies. Redux recommend Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres for the road use, although again tyre choice is down to the customer… As mentioned previously, just 30 examples are planned to be built, comprising 27 limited editions and three special versions. With No1 complete and with its (well satisfied) owner in California, that leaves 29 to go, although Redux are in advanced negotiations with a number of clients looking to place an order. Redux says that it takes between 18 to 24 months for each car to be ‘built’, but judging by these photos, the wait might just be worth it. Price? If you have to ask, you probably can’t afford it… and to be fair to Redux, asking ‘how much?’ for a car of this magnitude is like asking someone the length of a piece of string. There are so many optional add-ons and variables that it becomes almost impossible to nail down a quotable price. If you are deadly serious, you can contact Redux via their website – reduxleichtbau.com *A huge thank you goes to Redux CEO Simon Lord for his patience providing me with a long list of info on the car plus inc parts used in the build etc, and for allowing access to the wonderful high res images used in this article. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Expert Repair & Restoration of All Vehicles

We Aim For Perfection Every Time

Body Motorworks have over 23 years experience, 14 years of which were spent in a BMW Approved Bodyshop.

During the time in the BMW Approved Bodyshop, all available training was taken including: • Paint Expert • Paint Technician • BMW ATA With that in mind, we feel we are in a strong position to deliver the high service that you require. Whether that be a simple SMART repair to remove the scuff on the front bumper or a full restoration project, removing all components, we aim to give 100% to ensure the highest quality workmanship can be achieved.

With our unit based in Chesterfield, we have full facilities to conduct a high-quality, professional job including that of a spray bake to enable paint to cure as quickly as possible. This means that the high-quality work you have just paid for, is guaranteed to last by the Body Motorworks’ unique Lifetime Guarantee.

Request more information or book one of our services by calling 01246 864803 1D Upper Mantle Close, Off Bridge Street, Clay Cross, Chesterfield S45 9NU

Tel: 01246 864803

www.bodymotorworks.com

d:class

Unit 6,6, Studley Unit StudleyCourt, Court,Guildford GuildfordRoad, Road,Chobham, Chobham,Surrey Surrey GU24 8EB Tel:01483 01483722 722923 923 •• web: web:www.dclass.co.uk www.dclass.co.uk Tel: email: email: dclassautomotive@hotmail.co.uk info@dclass.co.uk D:class automotive @dclassauto @dclassauto Full classic interior restoration

d:class automotive specialises in full interior management and restoration of all BMW models. We are able to offer original colours and finishes, including correct perforations, in cloth, velour, vinyl and leather, also for a supply only basis. We also offer period interior/boot carpet linings. The fundamental part of any restoration is being able to sympathetically complete the job to as true to when the car left the factory. We have a large knowledge and have completed many BMW interiors. All of our work is completed in-house by trained trimmers with vast experience and comes complete with full workmanship guarantee. d:class have completed work for customers as far afield as Australia, a testament to d:class’ craftsmanship and attention to detail. Our quality of work speaks for itself.

Interior repairs

We are able to repair single damaged areas only without having to go to the expense of replacing a whole cover. The common problem of worn bolsters can be repaired within a couple of hours work, replacing the worn cloth, velour, vinyl or leather panel. Other common faults are split stitching, often seen on the E46 model and cracking vinyl on the 1 Series. This again can be repaired as a while-you-wait service. Connolising and small burn repairs are also a speciality and can, within the Surrey area, be offered as a mobile service.

Cloth to leather and full custom interiors

d:class can offer for all models, a full upgrade from cloth to leather. This will be done to O.E.M. spec ensuring that it is finished using original patterns, perforations, styles and colours. We only use high grade leather with exact grains and from original suppliers. All work is done in-house and not a kit. Our cloth to leather service carries a full 2 year guarantee. Or if you prefer, you can overhaul your interior with a completely new and unique finish. We can trim your car in non-BMW colours, again in a high grade leather. Many unique and award winning interiors have been produced and restored by d:class and once they have rolled out of our workshops can be seen not only nationwide, but featured widely on the continent.

Hood fitting and rear screen repairs

We offer a fitting of new hoods and rear plastic window repairs

d:class staff are enthusiastic and most of all understanding. We will not compromise quality or authenticity for fast turn around. Our clients and their vehicles are foremost in our minds, you would struggle to find a more personal, friendly or knowledgeable workforce, who believe in quality over quantity.

For a professional and friendly service to BMW owners, club member owners, traders and BMW main dealerships visit www.dclass.co.uk or phone 01483 722923 We are located in Surrey, 15 minutes from Junction 10 or 11 of the M25 and from the M3. Collection can be arranged depending on distance.

Unit 6, Studley Court, Guildford Road, Chobham, Surrey GU24 8EB

Feature

fter many months of planning and a few alterations to the collection of vehicles that were to be on display, set up day arrived, which all went well and mostly to plan. The theme of the display this year was early post war through to the 1980s. The earliest car on display was a super little 1960 Isetta owned by Chris Skepper from Cambridge, who was available every day to answer peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s questions and allow them to fulfil their desire to climb aboard and experience the feel of the 60s.

The next in the line-up was a 1964 700 Luxus with its rear engine boxer twin 30hp engine, which at the time was a massive leap towards comfortable family motoring, and not forgetting a major contribution to saving BMW as a company from collapse. 1966 Neue Klasse 1800ti (South African recreation) Historic Racer supplied by Nigel and Tom of Retro Engineering, a local Redditch based company specialising in the preparation and rebuilding of a wide range of historic and classic race cars.

1971 2002tii very kindly driven all the way from Northern Ireland by Chris Wolsey and his father. The car had just completed a full restoration and has recently featured in one Irelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest classics magazine, Retro Classics. 1982 E21 owned by Richard Payne of Pershore, a lovely well restored classic now becoming rather rare and sought after. 1980s E30 Cabriolet nearing completion of its restoration by Neil McDonald, our E30 Register captain and Club motorsport coordinator.

BMWCC TAKES ON THE

NEC RESTORATION CLASSIC CAR SHOW Images by George Cheetham and Jasmine Davies

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

Feature To add a little variety we also had two motorcycles on display. 1974 R90s – the iconic boxer twin BMW. 1998 K1200rs sports grand tourer. The Club stand was staffed by several members of Central West Region and the girls from the Club office, and some of the car owners were also there to answer the many questions from the public. There were free refreshments

supplied from our portable café bar and a seating area set aside for visitors to take a break and chat. Club merchandise was also available with a few new items having being recently added to the collection. All in all the weekend was a great success with many positive comments regarding the variety of the vehicles on display. Overall the show was well

attended with quite a few TV celebrities partaking in the live shows. There was also a live classic car auction containing many desirable BMWs and three halls containing lots of familiar car clubs mainly representing past British manufacturers interspersed with many trade stands and dealers. Words by Dave Evans and Jan Owen

It was an early start for Amy and me on the 6.30am train out of Aberystwyth, make-up and breakfast on the way! Lots of chatting and part of a film later we arrived at the busy NEC. Luckily it was a short walk to hall 3, and there we were… The Club stand was breathtaking, with a beautiful 360 layout, seating in the middle to take in all the wonderful vehicles around you, from the vibrant red Isetta to the luscious navy E30, the 700 with its motorbike engine, the Neue Klasse and E21 filling in the journey of the 3 series. I could not fail to be impressed by Chris Wolsey’s sleek, ceramic coated, grey 2002tii from Northern Ireland completing the story. Throw in a couple of BMW motorbikes to the mix and we had a true display of Classics, receiving awe from all those who passed through. I felt pleasantly talked out by all the visitors over the day. Some though always stick in your mind; Liam O’Riordan with his fabulous list of E21s and their history, and Tony Wawryk who gave me a run down on the cars, his adventures and the great articles he has written about them, which he will hopefully allow us to share in Straight Six, so keep a lookout! For someone who loves to absorb knowledge this is just the food to feed me on. It was my first event exhibiting the new Club jackets and mugs which added a great touch to the stand. It gave Jan the perfect opportunity to demonstrate her car knowledge, selling one of the travel mugs by referencing its gasket style seal! All this fronted up by Dave’s impressive bar, decorated with car parts, emitting hearty teas and coffees to fuel the many members who visited us. The day in some ways seemed to be over before it started. This may be as it was my last event and it is always sad to see an end of an era. It was an emotional farewell to familiar faces at the end of the day with regulars who lend a much welcomed helping hand such as Brian Elliott, Pete Ayres, and who could forget the amazing Jan and Dave! Feet aching, we made our way back to the train, less chatting this time but lots of contemplating over past events and the time with the Club, the members I have met and hopefully friends made. A few tears were shed, in part helped by the end of the film we had started on the way! Words by Lucy Birch

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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As it was my last show as a team member of the HQ, the Restoration Show 2019 was bitter-sweet. The long journeys are always worth it when you see the fabulous stands and of course its wonderful team and members. This by far was my favourite stand I have come across, and I’m sure even those who have attended shows for decades willagree! From the pristine 2002 to the show stopping Isetta; complimented by camera shots, handshakes and a good brew. Whilst surrounded by the classics, it was a glimpse of the old times; memories, stories, experiences and more importantly times where the beauty was being in the moment. That to me was priceless. Words by Amy Evans

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

The NEC Restoration Classic Car is a great show with a focus on restorations and ongoing projects. So rather than seeing a line-up of heavily polished garage queens, the Classic Car and Restoration show, which attracts over 25,000 enthusiasts each year, is different: it’s a celebration of works in progress. Jasmine and I drew the Saturday shift so it was up with the dawn chorus and into the car to make the drive to Birmingham. The journey was a smooth one, and three hours later we were walking through the halls to the Club stand. Strolling through the various stands, we were greeted by cars in various states of repair, from rusty barn finds full of hidden charm, history and stories to tell, to the gleaming Concours quality cars standing proud as peacocks looking just as polished and buffed as they did in back in their showroom heydays. Whether you wanted to see old cars with a story to tell or were in the middle of completing a restoration project of your own, there was plenty on show to admire and inspire. We finally arrived at our Club stand, and boy what a stand it was! The whole display was simply a historic timeline of the evolution of the iconic 3 Series and how it all began. We started with the impressive Isetta (or the bubble car, as most people know it as), which rescued BMW in 1956, before moving on to the year 1959 where the scintillating BMW 700 stood on proud display – best known for revitalising the BMW brand. The nostalgic Neue Klasse took us back to 1962 – powered by a motorcycle engine – this was the BMW that really saved and made BMW. We then got to the tantalising 2002 which was produced in 1968 – best known for being the most successful selling model of the time, including the predecessor of the 3 Series. It brought most recognition as the producer of Sports Saloon. 1975 saw the replacement of the BMW 02, where the 3 Series was officially born – the first generation of the 3 Series, the effulgent E21. We finished our journey with the enjoyable and especial E30 – produced in 1982 and represented by enthusiasts as the absolute ‘Ultimate Driving Machine’. Our social media pages were filled with good impressions and engagement from our Instagram and Facebook accounts. Instagram had great story impressions with 9,352 and feed impressions of 5,088. Our live video on Facebook reached up to 1.7 thousand enthusiasts! Followers were quick to comment their favourite BMW on our stand. This was an impossible decision for us… How could we choose between all six iconic models and two supersonic motorbikes? There were around 150 clubs on display at the show, all of which are the life and soul of the classic car community. We have to thank our members and volunteers who work tirelessly to ensure that our fantastic marque is not forgotten and enthusiasts of all ages can still enjoy its motoring heritage. Heading for home, I spotted a vivid green 1971 Ford Escort MK1 Mexico and just had to take a closer look. We had the same car back in the late 70s, ours was a conservative navy blue colour, so a lot of happy memories came flooding back to me, driving up and down our promenade, sun shining, listening to a hand held radio blaring out the Top 20 chart countdown on a warm summer Sunday evening… that is the wonderful thing about shows like this, you always leave with a warm nostalgic smile on your face. Words by Jasmine Davies and Michelle Evans

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

Feature The story of the lightweight CSL Coupé comes in four stages. The 500 RHD models built for the UK market are the most familiar – and in some ways the least exciting. Then there are the so-called ‘Batmobiles’, the fastest, rarest and most visually dramatic of the cars – these tend to get people the most excited. But we don’t actually know much about the very first CSLs, those 169 carburettor fed cars built between May 1971 and June 1972; it’s all part of the legend surrounding this most desirable and iconic of ’70s BMW models…

CARB RICH DIET! Words Martin Buckley /Jeff Heywood Photos Marco Steiner/BMW Press

hese carb-fed CSs were all left-hand drive and were never sold new in the UK, where their stripped-back character would not have chimed with the luxury image that the local importers (in those days they

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

BMW’S E9 CSL – BIRTH OF A RACING ICON

were merely concessionaires and thus separate from the factory) were trying to promote (and failing miserably, going off sales figures) with the RHD CSLs. In many ways, the E9 Coupé with its heavy luxury trim and not overly stiff

bodyshells was an unlikely racing car. Who would have thought a body that started life as the prosaic 2000CS in 1965 would end up a five-time European Touring Car Championship winner, still competitive three years after the E9s had www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Feature

The E9 CS has always been a handsome Coupé and the early CSL is no exception, the front end dominated by the black kidney grilles and the lack of a true bumper

Viewed from the rear the E9 has always looked the part, with its slim tail lights and glassy cabin it has a delicate, feminine style to it

The E9’s side stance is the perfect template in how to design a Coupé; with a glassy pillarless cabin and slim A and C pillars it is a handsome beast, and those period Alpina wheels help of course!

been replaced by the E24 6 Series in the late 70s? Before the Coupés, BMW had been concentrating its motorsport efforts on the 2002 and Formula 2 racers. Tuning firm Alpina had demonstrated the potential of the new E9 six-cylinder Coupé, when its almost standard 2800CS, complete with power steering, managed to finish a respectable ninth overall in the Spa 24H race in 1969. Although the car finished the race, it used 40 Dunlop racing tyres in the process – an obvious clue to the fact that the BMWs were at a huge weight disadvantage, particularly compared with the featherweight V6-engined Capris. Officially, BMW was content to let Alpina, Schnitzer and the other privateer www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

teams campaign the CS Coupés on the basis that they could always bask in the reflected glory if the cars were successful, but equally claim they were ‘not invented here’ if the cars failed to cover themselves in glory. However, in 1970, despite the fact that the factory had pulled out of competition involvement altogether, things began to look slightly more promising for the E9 Coupé. Alpina’s 2800CS chalked up two outright wins in international events counting towards the European title, and the car could now wind itself up impressively on the straights, thanks to its 280bhp dry sump engine and smaller, wider 13” wheels, sat beneath ‘bubble’ wheelarch extensions. The trouble was that the Coupé was

still far too heavy at 1,270kg (compared to the 970kg/300bhp Capris), which meant a discrepancy of 10-15 seconds per lap at the Nürburgring. Even so, there was now a renewed determination within Alpina and Schnitzer to build a BMW that could beat the increasingly dominant Fords. That day came at Zandvoort in August 1971, when Dieter Quester’s Schnitzer-prepared 2800CS led home the RS2600 Capris of Marko and Glemser. By now, the 2800CS had been replaced on the Karmann production lines by the 3.0CS, and the creation of a lightweight version, to be marketed as a separate model, was under way. The tuners’ pleas had been heard: the 3.0CSL was to be built to the tune of 1,000 examples to homologate BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

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a lighter Coupé for Group 2 of the European Touring Car Championship. Behind the scenes, BMW was gearing up to launch a new Motorsport division headed by Jochen Neerpasch. The architect of the Capri’s track success, he had been poached from Ford’s competition wing by BMW’s new sales chief Bob Lutz, but only on the understanding that 1,000 lightweights would really be built. The roadgoing CSL, first shown at Geneva in 1971, was an impressive

It’s nice to see this car retains its original factory stickers and plates, including the Karmann paint code (Kunstharzlack) plate on the CSL’s B-pillar

400lb lighter than the CS, at 2,569lb. All its opening panels were stamped out of aluminium and the steel panels – wings, nose and roof – were of a thinner gauge to save further weight. The diet plan did not end there: the rear side windows were made from acrylic and the front and rear ’screens a thinner laminate. There was no front bumper at all, and the rear one was a black polyester moulding weighing in at just 5.5lb. There was less sound deadening, thinner carpets, scant rust protection

The CSL’s interior is functional rather than luxurious, although the wood trim looks rather incongruous within a sporty car. The chunkier 3-spoke steering wheel was an added bonus and the Scheel sports seats superb, trimmed in black corduroy to stop your posterior sliding about in the bucket!

The early carburettor fed CSL’s 2985cc M30 engine was originally fed with a pair of Zenith carbs; this pristine example is now running triple twin-choke Webers and an uprated ‘sparking’ system (as you can see in the photo) and is all the better for it, if not strictly as it left the Karmann factory in 1972…

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

(there was never very much of that anyway on these Karmann shells!) and even the boot lock and bonnet-latching mechanisms had been omitted in the name of shedding pounds. The bonnet was now secured by chromed, quickaction ‘racing’ latches. It almost goes without saying that the power steering and electric windows had gone; the plastic rear quarter-windows were even fixed to save on the weight of the hinges. Inside, the headliner was in black to cut down on reflections and the hefty reclining front seats had been replaced by a pair of lightweight and sporty buckets by Scheel, with black corduroy cushions and figure-hugging outer bolsters in black leatherette; the twin rear seats were trimmed to match. Out went the huge, thin-rimmed steering wheel critics had been berating since the E9 was launched, replaced by a chunky three-spoke with a greatly reduced circumference. The courtesy light was replaced by a map-reading light on the dashboard for ‘rallying’, and there was no sign of the famous BMW toolkit mounted in the bootlid, or of the boot carpet or rear window heater. What you did get was a set of 7inwide Alpina alloys (the CS and CSi had 6in rims) with chromed wheelarch lips to accommodate their greater width, and black accent stripes running along the car’s beltline with the ‘3.0 CSL’ nomenclature cut out of the stripe on the front wings. With the slats of the Nieren (‘kidney’) grilles, and the faux wing vents, painted matt black, these early CSLs came in a special range of distinctive colours: Colorado (orange), Golf (yellow), Inka (gold) and Verona (red). Less obvious were the Bilstein gas struts and progressive-rate springs that sharpened up the original car’s slightly soft feel, apparently with very little penalty in ride comfort. There were slight camber changes all round, too, plus marginally lower-geared steering, and a limited-slip differential with a 25% locking www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Feature

Chris Amon and Hans-Joachim Stuck on their way to victory in the ’73 Nürburgring 6H Race in their BMW Motorsport 3.0 CSL. Who would have thought the touring car legend the E9 Coupé became originated from the slightly insipid (in comparison) ’65 2000CS…

action – the latter a standard feature on the original 2800CS, but one that had mysteriously disappeared to the options list on its 3.0CS successor… And yet, mechanically, it was otherwise stock 3.0CS, sharing the same 2985cc M30 straight-six, rated at 180bhp with two Solex 35/40 twin-choke carburettors and matched to a perfectly standard Getrag four-speed gearbox. The claimed top speed was 132mph – theoretically no better than the CS – but with 0-60mph in 7.2 seconds, and 100mph now attainable in third gear with the 3.45:1 differential. BMW claimed 12.79lb per bhp in a brochure for the CSL, which ran to three folded colour sheets. Published in October 1972, this is a curious document that lists a 3003cc carburetted CSL, a variant that never existed. In fact, all the bored-out 3003cc CSLs were Bosch-injected cars – the ‘CSLi’ if you like – of which 500 were for the right-hand-drive UK market ‘City Package’ models with CS/CSi bumpers, power steering and most of the other luxury gadgets reinstated, to the obvious detriment of the car’s ‘lightweight’ credentials. You could order all these extras in Germany on the left-hand drive CSLs as extras, of course; Bob Lutz ran a fully optioned 3003cc CSL, complete with airconditioning, as his company car. It was Lutz who identified that injection would www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

have to be part of the CSL package if they were going to sell 1,000 cars, even if the Bosch electronic system was not suitable – and thankfully did not need to be homologated – for racing. By increasing the bore by 0.25mm (the maximum overbore on the M30 straight-six) to get 3003cc, the CSL went into the over 3-litre class in Group 2 of the ETCC, the real point being that the Motorsport department then had the wriggle room to increase the capacity even further. The carburetted CSLs seem, then, to have been a preproduction dry run for the lightweight Coupé project; the arrival of Neerpasch in Munich, armed with the promise of being able to build a separate Motorsport company, finally giving the idea the momentum it needed. Of the 169 carburetted CSLs, it is believed that 21 were bought by Alpina, Schnitzer and some of the other privateer teams to convert into racers, while the remainder went into the normal BMW dealer network in Europe. For further identification, the 3003cc fuel-injected cars have 2275/2285 chassis numbers (depending on whether they’re left- or right-hand drive) while the carb CSLs have chassis numbers in standard CS sequence beginning with 2210, 2211 or 2212. The car in the photos, purchased by a wealthy German industrialist back in June 1972 for 31,000 Deutschmarks

(approx. £7,700) was the 123rd of 169 carb-fed cars and finished in 002 Colorado Orange. It has led a charmed life over its almost 47 years and 41,000 miles, even retaining the original paintwork – a good thing, this, because a fair number of these early lightweights would have been modified or upgraded over the years with no thought for originality, particularly when their values were relatively low. Today, though, originality is key, and the car enjoys the bonus of never having seen rust, a rare experience for an E9 Coupé – the old joke about Karmann inventing rust and then leasing it to the Italians has more than an element of truth in it! Luckily, it lived with its first owner in Bonn and led a pampered life; it was kept in a dry garage, hardly ever seeing any rain and certainly no snow or salt, before being sold and shipped to the US in the early ’90s. Today a carb CSL is a rarity aficionados of the BMW E9 would kill for, but at the time these homologation specials were tricky things to pitch to a buying public who largely didn’t care about racing. They were more expensive, less robust and less comfortable than the standard model. Perhaps it is only as a collector’s item that we can see the true significance of these early ‘pure’ CSLs. The M1 was the first official BMW Motorsport ‘M’ car, but the carburetted CSLs were where the story really began. BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

Feature

t would seem that the future of the roadster is uncertain – word has it that Audi won’t be replacing its TT when the recently facelifted model has completed its production run and I can’t remember the last time I saw a Mercedes SLC – its SLK predecessor used to be a common sight. The problem is that development costs for what are now seen as low volume niche models are so high that the bean counters struggle to make a business case for them. Which is why we’re starting to see joint efforts such as the new Z4 and its coupe relation, the new Toyota Supra. I’m quite fond of the Z4 in all of its guises – the original was suitably sporting, especially in its larger-engined incarnations, if not quite the Boxster-beater BMW was hoping for. The E89 was also an excellent

machine, less overtly sporting, but that’s how BMW wanted it to be. To me it was more or a mini-GT that happened to have a folding roof and as such it was a refined companion for longer hauls yet moderately entertaining when you were after something more sporting. And I think this is what BMW’s planned with this new incarnation as it’s very refined, despite ditching the folding roof for a conventional soft-top, yet in BMW’s press briefings it’s also keen to highlight its agility and dynamic character. Of course, the infernally good Boxster is still the machine it will be judged by, but you’ll need at least £45k to bag one of those and in top spec ‘S’ trim it’s £5k more than the M40i. Add the equipment the Z4 has as standard and you’re looking at £60k… and the Boxster

will still have its aurally-appalling fourpot that sounds like a bag of nails going through your washing machine’s spin cycle. So, what’s on offer as far as the Z4 is concerned? There are three versions to choose from – sDrive20i, sDrive30i and the range-topping M Performance model, the M40i. The 20i and 30i both feature the B48 four-cylinder turbocharged engine for outputs of 197 and 258hp respectively while the M40i uses the familiar B58 3.0-litre turbocharged ‘six which in this guise is good for 340hp. Prices start at £36,995 for the 20i Sport and rise to £40,695 for the 30i Sport and nigh-on £50k for the M40i. The two four-cylinder cars can also be had in M Sport guise – and the expectation is that most buyers will go down this route – for an additional £1,750. They’re well equipped too, with all models featuring Vernasca leather, M Sport seats, two-zone air, cruise control, LED lights front and rear, heated seats, 18-inch alloys and Professional Navigation. All Z4s also receive BMW’s new Live

RETURN OF THE ZED The new Z4 has arrived with funky new styling and a host of new technology. Was it worth the wait? Bob Harper finds out. Images by BMW Press

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

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Feature Cockpit Professional which means you can chat to your Z4 using the voice prompt ‘Hey BMW’ and also features new digital instruments. M Sport models add the usual accoutrements – M double spoke 18-inch alloys, M aero kit, high-gloss shadowline exterior trim and M Sport suspension, and if you opt for a 30i M Sport, bigger brakes, too. Along with its bigger engine the M40i adds electric seats, Adaptive M suspension, the bigger brakes and an M limited slip differential, too. As far as its looks go I’ll leave you to make up your own minds. In the flesh and in the right colour I think it looks pretty good, although as is often the case it’s not quite as svelte and lithe as the Concept. Somehow the detailing seems to have got a little fussier, particularly on the M Sport and I feel the proportions are a little off. It sits on a shorter wheelbase than before but is actually 85mm longer than the old E89 Z4 which means its overhangs are considerable, which doesn’t endow it with the best-looking profile – but maybe that’s just me! Inside we’re treated to the full-on new BMW design language and it’s a pretty comfy place to be, albeit one that doesn’t actually shout sporting ambiance. The Z4 actually uses a shortened version of the 5 Series’ platform and as a result it’s packed full of the latest tech. The centre console is relatively wide with the gear lever and iDrive controller taking up most of the space along with the start/stop button, iDrive short cut buttons and the Sport/Comfort/Eco Pro switches. My only criticism is that these buttons and switches have been flattened – they used to stand proud of the surrounding surface, but now

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they’re just separated by a small raised divider between each different function button which makes them harder to find without taking your eyes off the road. Aesthetically it’s very pleasing but in terms of functionality it feels like a retrograde step. The BMW UK press launch event gave us the opportunity to sample the 20i – in both Sport and M Sport guises – along with the range-topping M40i. First up was the six-cylinder model and it’s immediately obvious where the M40i really scores over the Boxster – it sounds divine, whether pootling along or chasing the red line. All Z4s come as standard with an eightspeed automatic transmission – the 20i will be offered with a manual ’box later this year – and while it might seem a bit of an anathema to equip such a car with an auto it’s obviously what the majority of buyers want. It goes about its business very well though, shuffling between ratios imperceptibly when simply pootling around. But we didn’t come on the launch to

potter about and the test route offers a good blend of everything – motorways, a modicum of town work and some challenging, twisting mountain roads, too. On the motorway it’s suitably refined – hood up or down – although you’ll need the wind deflector in place for top down motoring for which BMW has the cheek to charge an additional £170. Over about 80mph wind noise does intrude with the hood down so that voices have to be raised for conversation but overall it’s a machine you could drive for long distances without it becoming wearing. On the mountainous back roads the M40i exhibits not only exceptional pace – it feels every bit as quick as its 4.6-second 0-62mph time would suggest – but also plenty of grip and poise, too. The steering’s nice and precise allowing you to place the car accurately and apply small corrections when necessary without fear of upsetting its balance. The front end’s grip is simply prodigious and resolutely resists understeer unless you’re unreasonably ambitious with your entry speed, while the rear stays similarly planted unless you switch out the DSC and get brutal with the throttle. Body control is excellent with the adaptive dampers in their Sport setting, and the ride quality remains compliant too – even on the optional 19-inch rims – although the vast majority of the roads we encountered were exceptionally smooth. Overall it’s an impressive beast, but perhaps one that doesn’t immediately stir the soul… perhaps it’s a little too clinical

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

Feature to feel truly sporting as there’s not quite enough interaction between the car and the driver. It’s incredibly fast, grips like superglue and is admirably refined and as an allrounder it’s hard to beat bar the slightly sterile driving experience when you’re looking to have some fun. With a price tag of nearly £50k the M40i may well be a rare sight and the 20i is bound to sell in far greater numbers. With ‘only’ 197hp and 236lb ft of torque (143hp and 133lb ft less than the M40i) it’s hardly surprising it feels considerably slower than its more potent sibling, but in isolation it feels quick enough, recording a 6.6-second 0-62mph time. While it lacks the more aggressive styling of the M Sport model the entry-level Sport will be all that many owners need but there wasn’t a huge difference between the way the two models drove.

G29 Z4 sDrive20i and M40i Z4 sDrive20i Z4 M40i Engine: B48B20 four-cylinder turbo B58B30 six-cylinder turbo Capacity: 1998cc 2998cc Max power: 197hp @ 4500-6500rpm 340hp @ 5000-6500rpm Max torque: 236lb ft @ 1450-4200rpm 369lb ft @ 1600-4500rpm 0-62mph: 6.6 seconds 4.6 seconds Top speed: 149mph 155mph Economy: 38.7-39.8mpg 33.2mpg Emissions: 138g/km 165g/km Weight (EU): 1480kg 1610kg Price: From £36,995 £49,065 While the four-cylinder isn’t as inspiring as the ’six in the M40i it doesn’t sound bad – certainly not Boxster bad – and when in Sport mode it does emit the odd pop and bang on the overrun or when swapping cogs, which makes it feel a little more sporting. On the standard, non-adaptive, suspension it also felt ever so slightly more

playful than the M40i – its lighter weight and slightly less rubber on the road working in its favour here. It just felt more interactive than the larger-engined machine with a touch more body roll and perhaps a little more feel through the steering. If it were my money I’d be sorely tempted to save £14k and opt for the 20i over the M40i. But perhaps the 30i will be the pick of the range? It’s £3,700 more expensive than the 20i but a chunk faster with a 5.4-second 0-62mph time yet virtually identical economy figures. Ultimately though BMW should be applauded for continuing with the Z4 roadster. In this third generation it perhaps blends the best bits of the first two generations in a very appealing package.

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THE VIBRATOR

– From eBay to the Nordschleife - Part 1 Words by Nick Thomas Photos by Darren Teagles, Chris Teagles and Steve Bostock (BMWCCGB photographers), Tristan Reutzel (Pistenclub e.V. photographer), Nordschleifenbilder.de, Nick Thomas, Simon Maskell

t’s hard to say where it all started. The BMW Car Club GB trackday at Croft in July 2017 certainly played a part. A trip to Germany in June 2017 in my E30 planted seeds about how close Spa is to

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

the Channel ports. My desire to drive the Nürburgring in a car more suitable than a 320i Convertible was in the background somewhere. Listening to an E36 328i on the straight at the Club trackday at Croft

helped. A late Friday night exchange of texts after a few glasses of wine crystallised the thoughts – I was going to jointly buy and modify a trackday BMW with Simon Maskell (the BMW Car Club GB E46 Captain)! The fact that a trackday car would mean Simon didn’t need to buy an E30 Baur also seemed to make sense to us but would be too hard to explain to anyone else! www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Feature The next weekend was the BMW Car Club National Festival at Gaydon, so the Saturday night in the hotel bar was spent discussing the work to be done, and reconciling our different visions. Simon wanted to retain comfort and keep some resale value. I wanted to go for the minimalist stripped out race car look. The car would have to drive itself and a set of track wheels to and from the track to avoid the costs and storage hassle of a trailer. This also meant a reasonable level of comfort had to be maintained for long drives. Luckily the next day at the National Festival we could have a good look at many modified road and track cars and find elements we both agreed on. We could also chat with Keith (our favourite mechanic) who was on a high after his E30 M3 had got a great result in the Masterclass concours, and he foolishly agreed to take on some of the repairs and improvements needed.

A few more days of sober thought ruled out some of the initial plans of an M3 or a Z4 Coupe. The man maths behind the project justified the expenditure on the basis that a joint entry to a Club trackday would be £150 cheaper than two separate entries. So £10,000 on an M3 was stretching the justification a bit. After a bit more research we narrowed our hunt down to an E46 330i Coupe. Enough power. Smart looks. Good handling. Plentiful spares. Still cheap to buy. An initial attempt to buy a gold, red and yellow (yes, really) coupe failed when the seller refused to answer any messages. A few more days and phone calls later and we were ready to view an early 330Ci in Topazblau, advertised on eBay for £1,500 or make me an offer.

used banknotes was handed over in exchange for four keys and a V5C. A new replacement front wing was magically produced to sweeten the deal. On the drive home we discovered how bad the wobble and shimmy was. Below 50mph all was calm. At 60mph the whole car would shake and wobble. At 70mph everything was smooth and like an express train. Luckily most of the journey home through the rain and dark was on motorways so we just kept to either 50 or 70mph. This journey did however earn the car its name – The Vibrator! Otherwise The Vibrator was fine on the way home, and we took turns to enjoy the leather heated seats and the poor music the previous owner had left in the CD changer.

20th August 2017 A Sunday without other commitments meant we could get to grips with some of the jobs that needed doing. It started with a good examination of the car, followed by removing relics of previous owners. Simon’s neighbour Phil was at a loose end and so spent the day helping us. Simon’s daughter was also helping us, and took control of all the loose change we found in, on and under various bits of car. Some of the evaluation was positive, some less so, such as when Simon had a good poke at the rusty front wing and just succeeded in making a large hole. We then settled down to some serious work removing the grey leather non-sports front seats and unjamming the folding rear seats, followed by total removal. Then in went the black leather sports seats left over from my Z4C, giving a boost in both looks and comfort. After lunch we moved on to the really serious work. Simon and Phil changed the oil and filters, replaced the wipers, fixed the

6th August 2017 So we set off in my old E46 Touring, leaving the sunny North East for a four hour drive to a wet Stafford. There we found a tatty and neglected E46 330Ci. But a careful check over, and a read-out of the car’s various memories via Carly, showed nothing fundamentally wrong with it except the classic E46 weakness of a very rusty front wing. A test drive showed a wobble and shimmy that we were pretty sure was down to the front control arm bushes. And as long as you stood at least three metres away it looked great, and it had a really nice options list. Then came the haggling. Simon tried to make the owner cry by offering £1,000 for the car. However we all agreed on £1,200, and soon a pile of www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

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windscreen washers and sorted out the dodgy wiring on the indicators. In parallel I concentrated on adding various stickers to the car to further devalue it and pretend it looked like a track car already! 3rd September 2017 We made big progress on the car, particularly the rotating stuff at each corner. I brought round a BMW Touring full of wheels, tyres and brake parts. Phil again helped out, and pretty much single-handedly fitted new MTEC brake discs and EBC Yellowstuff brake pads all round, plus cleaned the braking hardware up and made sure all was working as intended. As each brake unit was completed, the old MV1 wheels with a mixture of tyres were replaced with staggered 18inch MV2’s fitted with Pirelli P Zero’s. The Vibrator had to be fit for long distance road runs as well as damp/cold trackdays. We also made a difference to the optics. On went the imitation Clubsport front spoilers we had bought at Gaydon. Also a genuine Clubsport rear spoiler off eBay was bolted onto the boot lid. It was Estoril Blue, so kind of but didn’t quite match the Topazblau. We also finished the big changes to the interior. The ugly space left by removing the rear seats was covered by black carpeting. The day finished with a test drive. The engine seemed to be running a lot better, the sports seats were working well (including the heating), and

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

the carpet made the car quite refined. Best of all, the new brakes, wheels and tyres had totally removed the vibrations at 60mph. There was still a bit of vagueness in the steering, but we were confident that no expensive suspension work was needed. 10th September 2017 The Vibrator made its first appearance at a BMW Car Club event, on the North East Region stand at The Collective Car Show at Croft Circuit. There was no on-track action though, as we didn’t fancy messing with the boy racers trying to prove something in their turbo FWD toys. The drive down however showed that the suspension was not quite right, misbehaving on some surfaces. Carefully assessing the car’s stance on a flat surface showed the springs seemed to be OK, so after a long chat on a windswept grass bank overlooking the Sunny In and Sunny Out curves we decided a set of Bilstein B6 shock absorbers needed to be added to the to do list. 22nd October 2017 The Vibrator had been having an extended stay with Keith in his workshop, sorting out issues that needed a professional touch. It had received a fresh MOT, a new horn to give it its beep back, the spare front wing and spoiler were sprayed in Topazblau, and new handbrake shoes, brake fluid and fuel filter were added. A shiny new set of

Bilstein B6 shock absorbers and top/ bottom mounts were fitted. Keith also replaced the leaking power steering pump, returned the headlights to standard wiring and bulbs, and regassed the aircon. The car was getting close to being track ready so we only did a few simple tasks. Various loose bits of trim got removed and refitted with new clips where needed. The airbox got replaced with a secondhand one from eBay as the original one had been damaged by a previous owner. And the engine bay got a good clean for purely cosmetic reasons. A few more test runs showed the car was handling very well, and gave a chance to bed in the Yellowstuff Pads until they were smoking. Although everything was good, the steering felt very light. Some internet research showed this might be because The Vibrator is an early car – later cars got a different steering rack with improved feel. A BMW purple tag steering rack was added to the shopping list. 5th November 2017 Guy Fawkes was a clear sunny day, but cold with a bitter wind. We drove The Vibrator halfway into Simon’s garage, which gave us some shelter. We then jacked up the nose as high as we could, and onto axle stands. This allowed us a good poke around underneath, checking out the parts that would be needed to repair the left hand front corner damaged by a minor accident by a previous owner, and also all the shiny new parts Keith had installed.

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Then we started to strip out and replace the coolant system. Trackdays can get the engine really hot, and we don’t want a 17 year old pipe or gasket blowing on us. Out came the top and bottom hoses, radiator, expansion tank, thermostat and water pump. Most came out relatively easily, with only the old expansion tank fighting us. Then everything was reassembled with new parts all round. This went well until we added new coolant. Then we found we had forgotten to tighten up the top hose, and the bottom hose temperature sensor was leaking. An emergency run to Halfords for a new O-ring didn’t seal the sensor, but putting the old hose back did. The pleasures of non-BMW parts. The top hose also refused to seal even once attached properly, again a non-BMW part. We put the original hoses back on, and completed checking everything was working properly again. Simon ordered some genuine hoses from BMW and fitted them during the week, as on the following Friday The Vibrator debuted at the BMWCCGB trackday at Oulton Park. 10th November 2017 The Vibrator earned his racing numbers as he was car number 7 at the BMWCCGB trackday at Oulton Park. The day started early with the safety briefing at 8:30, followed by sound checks and sighting laps. I drove on the sighting laps to try to readjust to a manual gearbox. We then took it in turns throughout the day to try to master the twists and turns of Oulton, with varying degrees of success. We both had sessions with the professional instructors: Simon to hone his braking and turn in points, and I was just trying to get close to changing gear, braking and steering in approximately the right sequence. The Vibrator was outpowered on the straights by some of the hardware out on the track, but handling and braking was great, and in the right hands was impressively fast. The grip on a cold, damp track on the road Pirellis was very reassuring, and the brakes were very confidence inspiring. We were www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

perfectly happy diving into chicanes at 90mph under full braking and not worrying about missing the turn. Not bad for a £1,200 car off eBay. Oulton Park is quite a challenging track, with some quite fast corners followed by fast straights, and the other corners seem to be difficult to judge the right line and get the speed right. The Vibrator performed perfectly without even a hint of stress despite being on the track all day. It was a very good first trip out with the car, showing we had got the balance right between stripped out track car and long distance cruiser able to handle long drives to and from the track without driver stress. 28th January 2018 After a Christmas break it was time to get on with preparations for the new trackday season. The alternator came out as it was making grinding noises, and was exchanged for a nice new Bosch one. We discovered that the air cooling duct to the alternator was missing (a legacy of the front left minor accident), which may explain why the old one was dying. We also stuck down the peeling passenger door seal (another E46 Coupe weak spot), plus swapped the standard steering wheel for a much chunkier M Sport wheel. 11th February 2018 This was the last weekend free to do some last tweaks before the first Club trackday of the year in two weeks at Anglesey. The alternator cooling duct was reinstated. eBay was reluctant to cough up the right part as it is specific to 330i’s with the M Sport bumper, so some innovation with silicon flexipipe, some bits off eBay, jubilee clips, duct tape an allen bolt and a piece of drainpipe was used. We also refurbished the steering wheel which then looked surprisingly smart, and fitted some safety gear – a fire extinguisher and a seat belt knife, both in easy reach of the driver. 24-26th February 2018 We set off early on the Saturday to allow time for a stop near Liverpool. We had booked a Z4 expert to rebuild the Vanos

unit. Then it was on to our overnight stop in Llandudno. Sunday dawned bright and very cold. Luckily this was a few days before the Beast From The East snowstorm struck so no sign of snow or ice yet. We arrived at the Anglesey Circuit in time to allow us to check in for the BMWCCGB trackday, sign up for the free instructor sessions, and still have a full breakfast before the safety briefing. The track proved to be a challenging technical run. In the morning we used the Coastal layout including the Corkscrew, which neither of us really managed to get the hang of. Simon particularly enjoyed the long back curve though, which is taken at full power where we reached 100mph, followed by a sharp left done at about 20mph. I enjoyed bouncing off the kerb at the start of the pit straight, and a bit of unplanned grass track driving. In the afternoon the layout was switched to the full circuit, adding two straights and a hairpin. This meant each lap included three very heavy braking zones, and we were very pleased with the performance of the Yellowstuff pads that just kept coming back for more. Anglesey is quite a small track, but is technically very challenging. The Pirelli road tyres were showing their limitations and over-enthusiastic cornering very quickly led to understeer. The track has some fabulous views over the Menai Straights glinting in the February sun and across to Snowdonia, and it is very tempting to get distracted by the scenery! At the end of the day I had some luck in the raffle and won both a £100 Cobra voucher, and a 50% off a future trackday voucher. By the end of the day we were both exhausted and glad we only had a short drive back to an overnight stop in Llandudno again. On the Monday we drove back up to Newcastle via Wrexham and a visit to Demon Tweeks. After a useful chat with one of the advisors, four Toyo R888R track tyres found their way into the car. Loading the tyres into the car revealed that the space left by removal of the rear seat was a perfect fit for the tyres, complete with a curved floor to hold track wheels perfectly. BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

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PERHAPS JUST 1/43rd OF THE

CSL SUCCESS STORY... Words by Jez Crabb

am sure you would agree one of the most beautiful cars, if not the most beautiful car BMW has ever produced was the E9. And when the CSL version came about, especially adorned with all the aerodynamic aides, nothing looked better hurtling around a race track than a Batmobile. Dressed in various bold and bright liveries including the Art Cars themselves, the Luigi cars, the Alpina cars and my personal favourite the BMW Motorsport decaled cars, I couldn’t watch them enough as a kid. I now cannot seem to read and watch enough history about

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how the BMW Motorsport GmbH division developed and the 1970s BMW racing campaigns, especially in North America. For those who may not know, BMW Motorsport GmbH (now known as BMW M GmbH) was set up in 1972 as a racing subsidiary of BMW. It was initially created to facilitate BMW’s motorsport programme during the 1970s and started with just 35 employees, augmenting BMW’s road car portfolio with specially enhanced models. Race rival Ford’s competition manager Jochen Neerpasch arrived in 1972 to run the newly-created and unconnectedly funded motorsport department. Its budgets

however were ravaged by such things as the 1973-74 fuel crisis – the crisis which had left a lot of motor racing in the cold. When BMW Motorsport set off to North America, they dominated the racing circuits with that revolutionary CSL car. The CSL was a dominant force across the Atlantic. Drivers such as Sam Posey, Brian Redman, Peter Gregg, Hans Stuck, David Hobbs and Benny Parsons had phenomenal success for BMW in the IMSA race series at famous venues such as Daytona and Sebring. Into the mechanics of it all So, at that time in being knee high to a kidney grille, I’d missed the boat in seeing these races and cars in their full maxed out glory. I missed the no health and safety, the risk these guys put themselves in. And I thought one day could I somehow create a scene from one of these races – a pit mechanic scene perhaps? One of these Dioramas you see about on the internet. Bring my imagination of how it may have been into a visual representation. Now I have never done much modelling in the past, it’s always been too slow and fiddly for me, but for some reason I really wanted to do this. So, with an BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

Sharknose Feature placed where grass was to go – an area was cut out). The flags were printed off the internet but chosen to look like they were in a wind. German, Coca-Cola and Bavarian flags were used by association and just as my choice really. The flagpoles were the thin painted dowels again (from Hobbycraft). A background picture of an actual pit scene was used to try and enhance the foreground. This was printed on a laser printer on A3 adhesive photo paper. It was then stuck to another piece of foamboard.

enthusiasm I hope you can connect with, I started my project. Shopping List What did I need to begin? Well I guess it was a tarmac or concrete surface. I looked up on various websites how to achieve this – some of the results were amazing and quite complex. I was daunted but then I said to myself: it doesn’t have to be the best diorama man has ever built, I just have to like it. Just me. So, off to a local Model Shop and Hobbycraft Superstore, I gathered all off my shopping list and started. A Model in the Making The base of the diorama is black 5mm foam board. Easy to cut and not expensive. This was covered with a self adhesive model railway macadam surface covering. I then compressed the board in places to form potholes and undulations in the surface. These were filled with small scenery rocks painted black to look like broken and crumbled away tarmac. Various areas were then painted in different black shades to give it an aged look and surface scars where old repairs have been carried out. 3mm masking tapes in black, white and yellow were used for bitumen sealing and road markings.

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

The pit wall was made from 10mm thick foamboard (two 5mm off cuts), dressed in a modelling plaster bandage. This didn’t have to be done too neatly as it had to look aged. A couple of layers achieved the desired effect and it was then painted with a concrete coloured wash to complete. Some period graffiti was added to the face using Sharpie pens and sponsor logos printed off on a home computer. Rubbing marks were just a pass with a black wide tip marker, and smudged a little. The wall had small peg dowels in the base which then allowed it just to be pushed into the surface board in position. The chain-link fence was not easy. The fence is a very small gauge cross stitch fabric sprayed silver grey. The line wires are what artificial flower arrangers use, and very thin. The barbed wire is a crimpled version of this wire and the posts were from the thinnest dowel I could find. The posts were overlength so they could be pushed into the foam board and glued in-situ. It was fiddly, all scaled off real fence dimensions. I was very pleased how it turned out. The grass and rocks were from standard modelling kit which were sprinkled onto clear double sided vinyl to hold it all still (the tarmac surface was not

Finishing Touches So, for the props. The cars are Minichamps 1/43 scale models. The lorries are 1/43 Premium Classixx models. Because I was using these, the whole diorama is 1/43 scale. The Canopy was from eBay – it was a Citroen Rally scene canopy so I had to rub it all down, repaint it and make BMW Motorsport roundels and words for it. The ground sheet is the material from the bag Alpen Muesli is kept in inside the box. Anything like this would do, and again homemade decals were applied. The figurines were from a kit made by Premium Classixx, These were not cheap as they are resin formed. I made tiny M coloured stripes and wrapped then around arms or down lapels to make them look like BMW Motorsport pit crew. The tool chest and small tools and equipment are actually Snap-On endorsed products which I got from Greece. Car 59 is precariously placed on Snap-On axle stands! Top Notch Results I was more than happy with the result. The bit I enjoyed the most was the research side of it and the experimenting with different materials to get the best results I could. I dare say there are many other ways of getting the same results even better, but I will learn those perhaps one day. For me, I was bringing as close to life my imagination, lifting pages from books. This was my starter for ten and I really did enjoy doing it – it is very therapeutic and quite the distraction from the norm.

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BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

Feature

aving been a BWM M3 owner on and off for more years that I care to remember, and owning more M3s than can be counted on my fingers and toes, I have often been obsessed with making the cars best examples of what they can be, cost permitting, often returning them to OEM, removing what previous owners deemed to be improvements to BMW’s M design department – such as chrome foot pedals, non-OEM wheels, air boxes, stripes, exhausts; you get the idea. I recently found myself in a position where I had a car that had some modifications done by a previous owner and completed in such a way that they cannot easily removed, as they were glued and screwed onto the bodywork. As the car is finished in a matte paint, removing

the rear spoiler would damage the paintwork and leave it needing a repair. The front chin spoilers are screwed to the front spoiler and I was unaware of what damage could potentially be behind those, as I have seen parts like this glued to the spoilers of a car in the past and when I have tried to remove the spoilers I’ve been left with nothing but Swiss cheese. As the BMW M3 has a carbon roof I first thought that the rear spoiler and front splitter, being carbon fibre, actually lent themselves to the design of the car. It would seem also that as these components were BMW performance parts in essence, they are something that could have been put on the car when it left the showroom when initially purchased.

My car is finished in Frozen grey matte effect paint with black alloy wheels, and I have added my own personal touch along the lines of that already started by the original owner. The black grilles on the BMW rather than the standard chrome made for a more aggressive style, so this got me thinking I could further enhance the look of the car by removing all of the chrome. BMW offer an extended grille package which turned the front grille black, the side repeaters black and also allows you to have black chrome tips for the exhausts; so this was the path I took. I replaced the side repeaters with black chrome versions from BMW and I also replaced the grille surrounds in the bonnet from the standard grey painted parts for some satin black BMW versions.

FOLLOWING THE OEM PLUS TREND Words by John Denny

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

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Feature As the car had black alloy wheels I believed replacing the chrome added to the overall style of the car, especially as the trim around the windows is also finished in satin black. The car was purchased under the Individual programme, therefore I decided to treat the inside to some new parts as well but just stopped at some cill protectors, which would finish with the M3 Individual logos rather than the standard M3 version. I did toy with the idea of going for some carbon fibre interior enhancements such as a centre console and dash trim; however, the pack I had seen online was quite expensive and as I had a car with carbon fibre interior trim already, I know it is notoriously difficult to keep protected and there’s always a chance you will scratch it with your ring or anything else that is remotely sharp. I think when it comes to modifying cars it’s always down to personal taste. I tend to think about whether you enjoy doing it and whether it would affect the resale value of the car. If you decided to have your car painted pink on a whim,

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it may be enjoyable for yourself but you would probably lose a lot of money when you came to sell it. In the case of my car I did think I hadn’t modified it too much or caused any damage to it because everything I did was easily reversible. Being an OEM freak, the question will still remain: had I been able to easily remove carbon spoilers from the car, would I have done so or would I have left them? I guess M3s are such a popular car that people are always striving for a little bit of individuality to make them stand out, and BMW are now offering the M performance kits and parts. I will regularly see a BMW of some description with a bolt on spoiler or a different pair of side trims, and I often spot varying sets of wheels and exhaust. However, in my opinion you have to be careful, modify delicately and don’t do anything that ruins the overall look of a car, and I would always try to avoid cutting holes in panels for Cosworth style vents or spoilers; but then again, perhaps at 46 I may be getting too old for this!

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

Feature

t was a while since I had been to a BMW Car Club GB board meeting, and this was the first under the new Chairman. It was, if I remember correctly, about 2012. I had been used to quite a traditional mode of dress since 1997 at such meetings, and was looking around at the other members, many of whom I had not met previously. Most were casually dressed in sweaters or jackets, but there was one major exception. Seated opposite me was a tall, affable man with a big smile, dressed in a blue, white and green flower power shirt with yellow trousers. Yes you have guessed! George. That was my first meeting with the Chairman of the East Anglia Region, a vision that has always recurred when I think of him. In the past seven years, I have been in constant contact with George either as a director, a regional Chair, or as a friend (though we have had our differences at times). Strangely, at that board meeting the question of dress code at the forthcoming AGM was raised. I suggested, “Jacket and tie at the minimum.” On the day I rolled up in my suit to find a very smartly dressed gent in a spotless tan suit with trouser creases that you could cut your finger on greeting members at

the door. That’s correct – it was George. Or to give him his full name – George Champ. George was the Chairman of East Anglia Region, one of the biggest with quite a few sections in it. The previous time I had been a director, East Anglia had been a failing Region in certain areas, but since George took over, it has blossomed into what it is today, one of the best. I have to assume that this is his doing. Later I found that he had a total lack of knowledge of one of my favourite subjects, IT and computers. Often he would give me a ring and ask me questions as to why his computer would not do as he thought it should. Which brings me on to another part of George. Behind every successful man there is usually a great woman. In this case the lady is the devoted wife of George – Maggie. She helps him along, particularly when it comes to writing articles or emails on his computer. I met her at Gaydon many times, helping on the Club stand, often running the tombola. I know that she also helped him at Club events.

WHAT A CHAMP!

Words by Howard Walker

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

My most recent connection with George was when it came to cataloguing a vast number of BMW related items that had accumulated at the office and elsewhere. It took us four days in Aberystwyth at the office to get it mostly catalogued and stored in as good a way that we could with the limited space available. During those four days I worked hard along with George to get things filed. He did it on paper and I did it on computer. We had quite a few, shall we say ‘discussions’ on how to do it, but finally we had a written list of everything, which I took home and sorted on my computer. For many weeks after that I was bombarded with additional items and corrections, until George was satisfied with the results. We now had a documented BMW Car Club Archive. We could never have done it without George’s input. We also had great fun in the evenings when eating at pubs and Chinese restaurants. When you eat with people you get to know them better. Taught me a lot, did George. One of the great ideas that he came up with was the BMW 100th Birthday relay around the UK. The idea was to start somewhere, drive somewhere else, and pass on a model car to the next stage of the relay. It seemed to me to be a waste of time until I had to do my bit in the Eastern Region. We chose to visit every BMW Retailer in our Region over a two day run. Only then did I realise what a great idea the relay was. Everywhere we arrived we were greeted by lots of members, Retailers with banners, fed like kings at many, but always greeted with a smile. All down to George! In his position as Director for Regions, he got very involved in setting up ‘Micro’ Regions in his area and around London, being largely responsible for resurrecting the South East Region at the same time. I believe that many of these Micro Regions are still functioning. So all in all, the Club owes a lot to this unassuming gentleman, and not to forget Maggie. Sadly there comes a time in life when you can no longer devote as much time as you would like to the Club, and you start to slow down. That’s when you have time to devote it to your family, and retire from office. Which is what George Champ has done. On behalf of everyone who knows him. I would like to wish him a happy and contented retirement. Enjoy yourselves, George and Maggie. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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Winner of last month’s crossword - Clive Jones. All entrants for May’s issue crossword must be received into the office by 11th May. Winner will be announced in next issue. The first correct crossword chosen at random will receive Meguiars Goodies. Please email all completed crosswords to office@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk or post it to BMW Car Club GB, Unit 5h, Glan Yr Afon, Aberystywth, SY23 3JQ Answers to last months Crossword Across: 1. Cage, 6. cf (confer/conferatur), 8. Ambassador, 10. RC, 11. ANO (A. N. Other), 12. Alcatraz, 15. HUDs (Head-Up Displays), 17. Makie, 18. USDNA, 20. Tern, 21. DeLorean, 22. SDe, 23. SL, 25. Oldsmobile, 28. Nr, 29. Acid Down: 1. Car, 2. AMC (American Motors Corporation), 3. GB, 4. EA (Electronic Arts), 5. Assam, 6. Con Air, 7. Frozen, 9. Darken, 12. Addled, 13. LSNO, 14. Tata, 15. Hudson, 16. Used LR, 19. Aroma, 23. SLi, 24. LED (Light Emitting Diode), 26. BA (British Airways), 27. IC (Integrated Circuit)

1. Colin...: Triple BTCC champion and Team BMW driver (10) 8. Initials for Armed Security Officer (1,1,1) 9. Initials for Republic of China (1,1,1) 10. Exclamation to attract attention, or friendly greeting in the USA (3) 11. Rudolf...: Successful German inventor and mechanical engineer born in Paris in 1858 (6) 12. Nationality by birth of the BMW M2 designer Hussein Al-Attar (5) 13. Initials for the Youth Hostels Association (1,1,1) 14. Series of dual purpose off-road/on-road BMW motorcycles (1,1) 16. Chemical symbol for Sodium (1,1) 18. ...Metall: dominant metalworkers’ union in Germany, and in fact Europe’s largest industrial union (1,1) 20. Open University (1,1) 22. Representation of the primary colours in the additive colour model (1,1,1) 25. President who awarded BMW X6, X5 and X4 models to the gold, silver and bronze winners from his country at the 2018 Winter Olympics - his surname spelt backwards! (5) 27. Greece - in Greek (6) 28. Initials for the Earth Research Institute (1,1,1) 29. Initials for the Economist Intelligence Unit (1,1,1)

30. ...Robertson: Was the most senior Englishman on BMW’s Board of Management until his retirement in 2018 (3) 31. ...BMW: 1970’s marketing slogan and rear window sticker, also a book by Jeremy Walton (10)

Down

1. Polynesian island and BMW 1 Series paint colour [code A78] (6) 2. Person who operates something, or takes illegal drugs (4) 3. & 24. BMW E30 and E34 metallic paint colour [code 198] (5,4) 4. & 24. BMW motorcycle metallic paint colour [code 958] (6,4) 5. Colour of Sebring and Sophisto BMW metallic paint [codes 229 and A90] (4) 6. Rubbish or nonsense (4) 7. & 24. BMW standard [code 54] and also BMW motorcycle metallic shade (5,4) 15. BMW orange metallic [code C1X] (6) 17. BMW standard white paint [code 300] (6) 19. Colour of 1. Down (5) 21. Nuremberg-based sidecar manufacturer, particularly during most of the 1950’s when they were the standard model for BMW motorcycles (5) 23. Smooth-talking (4) 24. See 3. 4. and 7. Down 26. Russian version of 1930’s BMW horizontallyopposed twin cylinder motorcycles (4)

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BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

socialmedia It has been a great month across our Social channels, with members hearing about events and activities first. We have just passed over 5,000 followers on Instagram, and nearly 13,000 on our Facebook page, if you don’t follow us already then you can find our details below. Coming up this month we have great photos from our Southern

Concours as well as many more track day photos from our upcoming Cadwell Park Trackday, you can enjoy these first if you follow us on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook. We are also taking part in the Petrolicious Drivers’ Meeting on May 12th at Bicester Heritage, you can join us by buying advance tickets with the

discount code PETBMW19. We will be showing a very special club car at the event, and it will be shared first on our social channels - Instagram @thebmwcarclub. Facebook & Twitter @BMWCCGB. Remember if you would like any of your BMW images featured on our social media, email Jasmine@ bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

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BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

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Welcome to May; the prospect of warmer weather and decent events coupled with the hope of bringing your BMW up to showroom condition. Unless I spend a considerable amount of money my faithful 320d Sport will never regain that showroom elegance. Yet the 2 Litre engine keeps purring along and on a trip to London in March ’19 I achieved 67mpg. Not since cruising on French Motorways have I achieved such fuel efficiency. I have restarted once again to add 2 stroke of to the fuel mixture if only to help clean out some parts of the engine like the EGR and Inlet Manifold so I like to think this additive contributed to the increased MPG! The spec for 2 stroke oil is: Japanese Engine Oil Standards Implementation Panel (JASO) introduced the following specifications: JASO FB Increased lubricity, detergency, exhaust smoke and exhaust system blocking requirements over JASO FA (original spec). JASO FC Lubricity and initial torque requirements same as FB, however far higher detergency, exhaust smoke and exhaust system blocking requirements over FB. Either 0.5ltr and 1 ltr bottles can be bought at most, supermarkets; Morrisons in my case but ensure you check the label which should state which spec the contents meet. FB or FC is fine. Wilko also sell 2 Stroke oil as well! I didn’t realise that BMW crushed all test cars after they had competed their artificially accelerated test cycle. The car in question was a white M3. Apparently this is also part of BMW’s recycling test programme which started in 1990 and has even set up approved recycling centres throughout Europe including the UK(over 190 centres).BMW guarantees to take back free of charge old vehicles from their registered owner when their cars useful life is over. Must be hard work seeing a beautiful modern M3 being crushed to an anonymous cube.

Coventry, with some great vehicles on display, starting with a solitary Jaguar E Type. Outside it was time to look at the cars and pose for an impromptu group photo.

Past Events Visit to Coventry Transport Museum on March 10th 2019 by Anne Dalgleny Having joined the BMWCC in 2000, when I purchased my 840i, I was really looking forward to this event at the Coventry Transport Museum. I was the second car to arrive, no surprise as I live locally and was excited about taking the car to an event to meet up with fellow Club members. The concours was in front of the museum and soon filled up with a variety of BMW’s including a very nice M3 and M5. Tony Skerrett, Central Chairman arranged the visit even roping in BMWCC member Harry Pearson an associate member of CTM as a guide.

My Car by Club member – Ian Newnham Vehicle – 2002 BMW 330i Sport Touring (E46)

Every car was different in specification and every owner had a story to tell .The cars received a lot of attention from members of the public and it was nice to be able to share our passion for the 8 Series. Future Events May 13th Monthly Meet and the 38th Central AGM at the Aviator Hotel, Sywell, Northampton, NN6 0BA- 7.30pm Start….prompt! 19th May Waterperry House and Gardens - Waterperry 0X33 1LA - £6.95/pp 9th June Classics on the Crick - https://www classicsonthe crick.co.uk/ 23rd June Central and Thames Cotswold Trip itinerary: Meet Chipping Norton 10am, Drive to Broadway Towers for Coffee and perhaps onto Chipping Camden.This is a popular event so please let me know who is coming!

We had an opportunity to a have a look round the Museum of cars which was well worth the visit, as it tells the story of Car, Motorcycle and Bicycle manufacturing and the history of www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

regionalnews Hello fellow club members, as per the polite request of Tony Skerrett here’s a bit on my car. This car was purchased 4 years ago in Dec 2014 from a dealer in Nottingham on 54,900 miles. It was brought to replace a reliable but ageing E30 325i Touring as I needed something more modern for work and doing the miles without me needing to spend every weekend fixing another fault. For 4 years and 60,000 miles it has and still is reliable day to day transport, it’s taken me out to its home on a European driving holiday which included the Nurburgring,

Central West Dave Evans Central West Region sponsored by

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It was a busy but enjoyable long weekend at the Restoration Show recently. We would like to give a big thank you to all who gave up their time to help us set up, run and break down the Club stand. We had some very positive comments regarding the display of post war – 1980s classics. Please see the full report in this edition of Straight Six. We had our annual presentation of regional awards during out Christmas party but forgot to include them in previous newsletters (sorry guys). The loose wheel nut award – Presented to Dean Greenfield for over-analysing a basic wobbly wheel! The go faster stripe award – Presented to Mark Farmer for his stand out addition of M stripes to his M3 Ongoing reliable lateness award – Edward Hathaway (we all love you Edward, and your cows that get the blame!) Member’s Article – Michael Pope E86 Z4, 2007 – The story of my coupe is a simple one and probably the same as many people’s; I wanted something interesting and different from my daily driver. Plus, the bonus was being able to join a club and share both cars and social pastimes. To that end, my Z4 and the BMW Club have been a great success; I think we are all part of a special world. Moving on from a previous 50 year old classic, I was looking for a car that wasn’t sterile and gave a real driving experience but was safer, drier and could be used more often with less effort. (Clearly I’m getting soft.) The Z4 coupe fitted the bill, being rarer than the roadster, rear

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

which has since become a yearly trip to the Green Hell. The past 2 years the car’s been subject to a rolling restoration which has included a full suspension overhaul and upgrade, brake upgrades (incl Brembos from a Porsche!), some mild engine updates with cams, exhaust and remap, with the last major update being a trip to the body-shop with every panel bar the roof and tailgate being repaired and resprayed. I would like to think of this car as an example of the Clubsport (+) / M3 Touring BMW never built. 07800 616500 centralwest@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Richard Felton 07739 120111 01743 632391 www.autocardetailing.co.uk enquiries@autocardetailing.co.uk 15% off with presentation of membership card

wheel drive, great six cylinder engine, good looking, curvy, with the classic long bonnet, short tail, two seats and double bubble roof. If I’m not driving it, I just love looking at it. A classic to my eyes. PS. It seems others think likewise; take a look at the 2019 Toyota Supra (partly developed with BMW of course)… six cylinder engine, curvy, long bonnet, short tail, two seats and double bubble roof…. 2019 Events Calendar to Date Saturday 11th May – BMW Car Club AGM Taking place at Bicester Golf and Spa Hotel, open to all members, come and have your say and partake in a free A-Plan sponsored driving range experience. Sunday May 19th May – The Midland Meander Meeting up at our pub meet venue at 9am, driving out for a breakfast, then on to the International Centre for Birds of Prey in Newent, Gloucestershire. Please contact us if you would like to join us. Sunday 16th June – Coffee and Chrome at The Chateau Impney, Droitwich between 9am & 12pm – Please contact us if you would like to join our Club display. Sunday 30th June – BMW’s on the Lawn Weston-s-Mare Joining in with this event hosted by the Western Region on the sea front including a show and shine event if you wish to take part. Friday 26th – Sunday 28th July – Silverstone Classic Three day event is well worth a visit for a day or all three, live action throughout with lots more to see and do for all the family. Early bird ticket code CCD0032019 Sunday 11th August – National BMW Car Club festival at The British Motor Museum, Gaydon Tickets are now on sale; they can be purchased online bmwcarclubgb.uk/shop or by calling Club HQ on 01970 267989. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews Monthly Pub Meet If you have never come to a regional event we would love to meet you, and the monthly pub meet is a good place to start. If you are a little apprehensive please be assured it’s all very informal. We have a great couple of hours together, it’s always very laid back with lots of laughs, sharing our experiences, tips, updates on future events and as the nights get lighter time is spent amongst the cars on the large car park. So don’t be shy, come along, you will be made most welcome and we are always happy for you to bring along wives, partners and friends. We are a gathering of likeminded folk who just want to enjoy their cars and enjoy the social side of the Club. We have a good number

of regular attendees but long to see more of you and your cars, so if you are available on the second Tuesday evening of the month please come over and join us. There is good reasonably priced food available until 9.30pm. Pub meet venue – 7.30pm (Directors Room, just ask at the bar) The Manor House at Whittington, Wolverhampton Road (A449), Stourbridge, DY7 6NY If anyone has a short article or photo they would like us to share in the regional news section please email or message us and we will include it in subsequent editions. Hope to see you soon Dave, Dean & Jan

Cheshire & Staffs Steve Cooper Cheshire & Staffs Region sponsored by

cheshireandstaffs@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

 DISCOUNT OF UP TO 10% IS GIVEN TO MEMBERS WITH VALID MEMBERSHIP CARD *Conditions apply

Cornwall Jim Husband

Monthly Meets The monthly pub meets continue to be held on the 2nd Monday of the month at the Punchbowl and Ladle. We are a friendly bunch so please come along! If you are a new member or a member who has not attended before and are planning on attending give me an email or call beforehand so I can look out for you.

Recent Events: The now annual Bowling evening was held on March 23rd followed by a meal at Hubbox. I did say I would name and shame so here goes…….. Congratulations to Andy who was a worthy

winner. Roger took 2nd place with Greg 3rd. Last years winner started well but things went wrong halfway didn’t they Kaz!!! It was the first time Maurice had played so well done to him. I hope all had a good evening. Forthcoming events: April/May (Saturday) exact date TBC: Cornwall Region visit to a local Detailing Specialist. 14th April Southern Concours & M Power Collection launch 2019: Sherborne, Dorset. 12th May: Bude Classic Car Show. 18th & 19th May 2019 BTCC at Thruxton: 26th May Boconnoc Country and Classic: 2nd or 9th June Cornwall Region drive out: Route TBC. 14th July Wadebridge Wheels: Registration now open on the website. Please register for the BMW CC GB to ensure we are on the same stand on the day. 21st July Tregrehan Country and Classic: 26th, 27th & 28th July 2019: - Silverstone Classic: 4th August Mount Edgcumbe Classic Car show and Summer Fayre: Registration beforehand advisable. 11th August National Festival at Gaydon: 8th September THS Classic Car Show at Truro: 20th October or 3rd November Haynes Breakfast Club: TBC. Car of the month If you would like to have your car featured please send me details with a maximum of 100 words and a good quality photo. Even if you have had your car featured previously but have since modified it, an updated report would be good. I also know some have changed their car recently so a new report would be welcomed.

Cotswold Martyn Goodwin Cheltenham BMW Cheltenham MINI Cotswold Motor Group Cheltenham Motorrad www.cotswoldgroup.com Cheltenham Parts Corinthian Way, Cheltenham, GL51 6UP Cheltenham Service Hereford Roman Road, Hereford, HR1 1LN

cotswold@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 01242 335 335 01242 335 345 01242 335 355 01242 335 365 01242 335 375 01432 375 555

Chairman’s Chat Plans for the Club’s National Festival in August are still all coming together and consuming every spare minute, of which there are few. Each year seems to become more complex than the www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Knights Bede Road, Radial Park, Stoke on Trent Staffordshire. ST4 4GU Tel:01782 572100

cornwall@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Welcome to this month’s article and to any new members of the Cornwall Region. I hope you will enjoy being a member of the club and region. Please contact me if there is anything you wish to know about the pub meets, club events or regional activities we have planned. I hope to meet you at one soon. If you are a Facebook user please check out the BMW Car Club GB – Cornwall page. Details of meets and events are posted on this page along with any last minute changes / updates. Please also check the Cornwall page of the club website for details of events, I will update this as events are confirmed, and everything will be printed in the club magazine as deadlines allow.

Cotswold Region sponsored by

Blue Bell Fourth Avenue, Weston Road, Crewe

Cheshire. CW1 6XH. Tel:01270 212525 

Cotswold Motor Group offer members: Generous discounts off the new BMW and MINI range

Discounts on approved used vehicles in stock 15% plus discount on parts and accessories, 10% discount on all service work and labour ( 15% on vehicles 4 years old plus ) Available to members presenting current valid membership card

previous one so this year with the additional landscape and features to utilise in the best possible way and a significant increase in the available space to fill, I am hoping that this will be another great year for our special event. BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

regionalnews As mentioned last month, last year we tried out a new event. There has been a change in the organizing team for the Car Show this year. I have been in touch with them to advise that we plan to be more involved with helping out with the running of the day and as such we have been promised a prime location but space is at a premium and therefore spaces may be limited so the sooner we book and confirm the better. I have already had some contact from members wanting to attend as a result of last month’s editorial, so again, I am hoping that this will be Cotswold joining together with our good friends from Central West to put on a display at this year’s Pershore Plum Festival on August Bank Holiday Monday. The Car Show is extremely well attended and grows year on year offering a diverse variety of vehicles in a very relaxed and informal way. The show takes place on the grounds immediately in front of Pershore Abbey on grass – plenty of space for a good display of BMW’s so please do think about coming to join us. The Festival itself brings the Market town of Pershore virtually to a close with street stalls offering all manner of local produce and crafts and of course FOOD. All of the pubs are open, there

are boat trips on the river, sip a Pimms or a local brew and enjoy a pleasant and relaxing day relatively close to home with other friends from BMW Car Club. What more could you want ? Future Events Cotswold Region Car Club Nights – Wednesday 8th May – Wednesday 12th June, Wednesday 10th July, Wednesday 14th August, Wednesday 11th September, Wednesday 10th October, Wednesday 13th November, Wednesday 11th December BMW Car Club Racing – Castle Combe – Sunday 27th May National Festival 2019 – Sunday 11th August, British Motor Museum, Gaydon Pershore Plum Festival – Monday 26th August Lancaster Insurance Classic Car Show – Friday 8th – Sunday 10th November Please feel free to contact me directly by phone or text on 07968 190728 or e-mail cotswold@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk to chat or to introduce yourselves or just turn up at The Swan at Coombe Hill the next monthly meeting in May, see you there !

Devon Kathy Jemfrey

01626 330436 devon@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Devon Region sponsored by

INDEPENDENT BMW & MINI SPECIALISTS

Diary Dates For 2019 Sun. 9th June Lyn Valley Classic Sat. 22nd June P4 Rover Club Blue Ball Inn Sandygate Sun 30th June Bm’s On The Lawn Weston Super Mare

July 13th & 14th Powderham Castle Car Show July 28th Torbay Old Wheels 18th August Exmouth Car Show 21St September Sidmouth Car Show

East Anglia George Champ East Anglia Region sponsored by Barons Cambridge

& Stanstead

07514 216660 eastanglia@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

www.barronsbmw.co.uk Cambridge Stanstead

: 0844 326 7249 : 0844 326 7244

Our first visit to Lodge Coaches was very enjoyable as well as being blessed by the sunshine.

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

Barons offers members • Generous discounts off the new BMW and MINI range • A minimum discount of £500 on approved used cars in stock • 15% discount on parts and accessories 10% off servicing, excludes Value Line Servicing which applies to cars over 4 yrs old.

AUTUMN COUNTRY SHOW, SUFFOLK, 20th OCTOBER (DAVID) Battlesbridge events and breakfast meets, Essex: battlesbridge. com/events Chelmer Valley Car Meets, Essex. Too many events to list; please see website: chelmervalleycarmeet.co.uk GLEMHAM HALL, SUFFOLK. 1st September (DAVID ) Earsham Hall, 5th May (PAUL) ELVEDON, NORFOLK, 2nd June (DAVID, PAUL, RICHARD) EUSTON PARK, SUFFOLK, 9th June (DAVID, RICHARD or PAUL) Galleywood Common Classics, Essex, 17th July chelmervalleycarmeet.co.uk Great Leighs Horsepower event, Essex. 27th-28th July (full info to follow): chelmsfordcityracecourse.com Halfwayhouse pub breakfast car meets, Essex. All future meets CANCELLED due to the actions of certain individuals (not I believe BMW owners) JOURNEY THROUGH THE AGES, PALGRAVE, SUFFOLK, 16th June (DAVID) HELMINGHAM HALL, SUFFOLK, 4th August (DAVID) Kings Lynn Classic Car Show plus Heritage Open Day, Norfolk, 15th September SUGGEST YOU BOOK NOW: west-norfolk. gov.uk/classiccarday Lt GRANSDEN AIR SHOW, CAMBRIDGESHIRE, 25th AUGUST (MATTHEW) Lodge Coaches Breakfast Meets, The Street, High Easter, Chelmsford CM1 4QR: 12th May, 8th September 9:30 am to 4:30pm includes Bedford Coach Rally, 20th October includes www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews Auto Jumble, and Boxing Day 26th December 10:00am to 2:00pm. General Car meet including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Vintage Coaches. Café on site ‘The Snug’ plus Coffee/Tea/ Hotdogs etc. under cover. Maldon Motor Show. Essex, 7th July. Book with Maldon Council, tell John when you have booked so can park up together. Mersea Island Show, Essex (tbc) RAF MARHAM, NORFOLK (tbc). Remember you will need to register with Norfolk Branch Reps early, as you will need to pass some SECURITY CHECKS. RAF Air Defence Museum and NATO Bunkers, Norfolk, 10th August (RICHARD) Sandringham, Norfolk. Joint with Mercedes Benz. 13th October Snetterton, Norfolk. See Straight Six Club magazine for events involving BMWCCR etc. Warren Golf Club, Essex, 22nd September Main Show (Breakfast Meets 26/5, 23/6, 28/7, 28/8, 20/10) warrenclassic.co.uk

Eastern Paul Rice

Contacts: George Champ (Director and East Anglia Regional Chairman) eastanglia@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 07514 216660 David Adams (Suffolk Branch Rep) bmwccsuffolkrep@btinternet.com 07774 668596 John Herman (Essex Branch Rep) johnherman.charlie1@virgin.net Matthew Hunt (Cambs/Beds Branch Rep) matthew.hunt13@btinternet.com 07973 986525 Paul Sharp (Norfolk Branch Rep) bmwccnorfolk@gmail.com Richard Howard (Asst. Norfolk Branch Rep) bmwccnorfolk@gmail.com Aaron Reeve (NW Norfolk, STH Lincolnshire, Peterborough Branch Rep) westnorfolk@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 01553 764600

cumbria@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

members from the Eastern Region joined in the day. A great selection of new BMWs was made available, including the new Z4, 330i, X5, 840D and i8 roadster. First time for Coopers hosting this type of event, and despite some teething problems the day went well. Possibly look to arranging a similar event within our own Region.

As the show season gets underway with what seems to be a full diary, will we see a further decline in Club cars at these events? With the exception of the Doncaster and Sewerby events, numbers were disappointing for our Region. We will continue to promote these events but maybe we have too many and need to look at reducing the ones we attend? This year’s season starts off on Sunday 5th May at Newby Hall for Sports Cars in the Park. Joining up with our neighbours in the North East, we will be taking the opportunity to hold our regional Concours event. Don’t worry if you cannot make it, new rules still apply, entry to the National Concours is no longer dependent on qualification through your Region. We have two alternative events in the planning stage, first involving a drive and a train ride in the magnificent North Yorkshire Moors and second a repeat of the successful autumn run around the Wensleydale region. Further details will be posted as and when final details are confirmed.

Car of the Month Z3 1.9 16V By the time you receive this edition of Straight Six I hope to have my Z3 back on the road. Eighteen months ago on a sunny Sunday afternoon, top down of course, returning from an event, the previously faultless engine decided enough was enough. Having just purchased a Z4, the Z3 was sadly put to one side awaiting further investigation. Finally after 12 months I needed to make a decision. With Z3 second hand parts prices on the up and values falling, the practical decision would be to strip and sell the various desirable parts and scrap the car. The emotional decision won! Head off revealed the head gasket had blown quite dramatically between cylinder three and four, so head pressure tested and skimmed, new gaskets and fluids changed and the car’s back together. So once again is it head over heart, do I sell the car or keep it? It does look nice!

Events A big thank you to Nick and Simon (NE Region) and Coopers of Sunderland for an open invitation to their Drive It Day. Four

Ireland

Nick O’Kane

ireland@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Following on from the April edition when I announced that Frank Keane BMW in Dublin would be hosting a Cars & Coffee event, I can now confirm that the date has been set for Saturday 24th August from 10am to 2pm, so looking forward to seeing as many of you there with your pride and joy for some friendly car chat. Frank Keane BMW were also busy in January when they hosted an event at the Radisson Blu hotel in Stillorgan, Dublin. This was a preview of the new 3 series. Guests were invited (unfortunately, I wasn’t one of them) to have a look at the new www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

regionalnews

3 series before its official launch in March 2019. I’m assuming that this was a pre-production car supplied by BMW Ireland. Also of note at the event, Frank Keane BMW brought along some of their private collection, including their 1988 320i anniversary model and their E36 328i coupe. This E36 is in asnew condition and has never been registered. Unfortunately, the fact that the car was never registered means that it cannot legally be driven on the roads as it cannot be registered today due to current European safety and emissions legislation. Forthcoming events Cars & Coffee, Bavarian BMW, Boucher Crescent, Belfast. 10am-2pm. Saturday 6th July. Irish Classic and Vintage show, Terenure. 10am-5pm. Sunday 7th July. Cars & Coffee, Frank Keane BMW, Naas Road, Dublin. 10am2pm. Saturday 24th August.

offer an E30 320i anniversary model. Twenty-one cars were ordered and all were Zinnobar Red. There was a mix of two and four door cars ordered. All cars had Motorsport front and rear bumpers and had a numbered plaque from 1 to 21. Today these anniversary models are prized by Irish collectors, but very few are known to have survived, possibly four. Thankfully, Motor Import Ltd (now Frank Keane BMW) had the foresight to keep a two door car for themselves. 88 D 31421 now forms part of their display collection. The car has very low mileage and is in outstanding condition. It has to be one of the best low mileage original E30s in Ireland with a very interesting history.

Car of the month In 1988, to celebrate 21 years of Motor Import Ltd (who were the original importers of BMW into Ireland), it was decided to

London Tim Fathers London Region sponsored by

london@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

BMW Park Lane, 70 Park Lane London. W1K 7TT www.bmwparklane.com mail@bmwparklane.co.uk 020 7514 3559

Barons Watford 01923 700 217 and Borehamwood 02031 316 645 www.baronsgroup.co.uk/bmw

Mid Wales & Shropshire Phil Pinnington Welcome to May’s edition of the Mid Wales & Shropshire Region Chairman chitty chat. Another great turnout for our pub meet in March. More than I was expecting which meant our normal meeting room was a tad small, but we all squeezed in and enjoyed the carvery. We had two members from Cheshire & Staffs Region come along to meet others from our Region and surrounding Regions and looking to join us at some of the events. I’ve added another show towards the end of our show season. It’s a local show in the village I live in and I’ve been enlisted to help organise it. The show was a regular show for many years and as popular as any show we go to, but for some reason it stopped in the late 80s – 90s. We are hoping to revive it, so I will keep you posted. During show season there won’t be monthly pub meets due to our hectic schedule, but I will be doing one or two new members pub meets to encourage new members to pop along and meet us. Tim and I have sorted out this year’s shows, with some old favourites and some new ones which we are trying for the first time this year. There have been some changes this year by some event show organisers. The most significant one is Oulton Park where they have stipulated that modern/new cars be kept to a minimum, as the event is based on vintage/classic racing and cars on display should reflect the era of the cars racing. We can probably allow four post-2000 cars on the stand. The events that require you to buy tickets have their websites included. Any that don’t, then contact either me or Tim to arrange a ticket or a place. Please note: you need to make sure you can

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

midwales@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

make an event when you book through us, as tickets cannot be transferred to another vehicle. The tickets are only valid for the vehicle that was registered at the time of booking. Forthcoming Events 2019 MAY 2, Sunday 5th May Catton Hall http://www.classicmotorshows. co.uk/ 3, Sunday 12th May Cholmondeley Castle http://www. classicshows.org (New one added) 4, Alderford Lake 19th May. Just pop along. 5, Sunday 26th May Capesthorne Hall http://www.classicshows.org JUNE 6, Sunday 16th June Trentham Gardens http:// classicmotorshows.co.uk/ (For this show only please book as a privateer under section G or H not as club) JULY 7, Sunday 7th July Lichfield Cars in the Park (contact Tim – limited spaces) 8, Sunday 14th July Shrewsbury Classic Car Festival SY58EX – Pay on the Gate (New) 9, Sunday 21st July Wem Vehicles of Interest Show (contact Phil for tickets) (New) 10, Sunday 28th July Bodrhyddan Hall http://www. classicshows.org (New) www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews AUGUST 11, Sunday 11th August BMWCCGB- National Festival (Book bmwcarclubgb.uk/shop under Mid Wales Region) 12, Sunday 25th & Monday 26th August Oulton Park Gold Cup (Contact Tim via Phil for tickets)

North East

Nick Thomas

SEPTEMBER 13, Sunday 1st September Cholmondeley Castle http:// wwwclassicshows.org 14, Sunday 8th September The Gredington Classic (see Phil for details) northeast@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

and even got a thumbs up at a roundabout from two men in a Transit (high praise indeed!). After everyone regrouped at the end of the session, there was a real buzz going on as various people shared their thoughts on the cars they had experienced. It was great event organised by our chairman Nick Thomas and was well run by Dean, assisted by Joe from the dealer. The posts on social media were well received by Dean, who phoned the day after to thank us for them, and it has resulted in us having the greatest number of Facebook membership requests we have ever seen. All these new social media people are potential Club members, so let’s hear it for more outings of this calibre and hopefully this event has cemented itself in our annual plans.

Following discussions with Cooper Sunderland BMW about closer co-operations with the NE Region, they are now offering NE Region members a 15% discount on parts and servicing. To qualify for this you must show a valid BMWCCGB membership card. Recent Events: The March monthly meeting at Champs was again very well attended, and was also the first time for a while where the whole NE Committee was together, so we risked the rain to get a photo of us all. From left to right we are Keith Bates, Mike Dickinson, Nick Thomas, Mike Milbourne, Simon Maskell. The first joint event with Cooper Sunderland BMW took place on 24th March 2019. Thanks to Simon Maskell for this report – It seems 2019 is turning out to be a good one for the Region, as yet another excellent event took place on Sunday 24th March. Cooper’s of Sunderland hosted the Club and had laid on some of Munich’s finest new metal. There was an 840d, new model 330i, new model x5 and z4, as well as a 420d cabby, and last but by no means least, an i8 roadster. There was palpable excitement as our host Dean explained the format of what he had planned. He aimed for as many people as possible to drive as many cars as they could. For me the new 3 series was excellent, packed with tech and a decent driving car too, with plenty of refinement; the 840d was simply brilliant; the i8 was clearly an accomplished piece of technology, with the added theatre of the ‘Lamborghini’ doors, but for me didn’t seem as quick as I thought it would. The car that left the biggest impression, however, was the new x5. It is a very high quality place to sit, has incredible levels refinement and comfort,

North Wales David Allen General: I have to begin this month’s report with some very sad news. One of our valued members, Michael Davies, sadly passed away. Michael was an enthusiastic BMW owner, attending most of our local shows and meetings – he will be missed. All the North Wales members express their condolences to Michael’s family and friends and in particular our thoughts are with his www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Forthcoming events: Confirmed events for the next few months: Sunday 5th May – Sports Cars In the Park, Newby Hall featuring the Northern Concours (members only) and Northern E46 Register Meet. Tickets for displaying cars are only sold in advance at £7.00, with each extra occupant costing an additional £7.00. To get your tickets go to http://www. carsinthepark.org.uk/ and click on ‘Tickets’. Remember to select ‘BMW Car Club GB’. Keith Bates will be organising the Northern Concours jointly with the Eastern Region at Sports Cars In The Park. A regional concours is a very informal affair, where cars are judged based on how well your car is presented. There is no cost for BMWCCGB members to enter, and there will be prizes for the best cars. If you want to enter please send your name, membership number and car registration, model and colour to Keith at bmautos@yahoo.co.uk. Sunday 12th May – Monthly meet at Champs followed by North Yorkshire drive to Thornton le Dale motor museum. We will meet as usual at 10:00am for breakfast. At 11:00 we will set off to Mathewson’s classic car auctions to meet the family of vintage car-crazy petrol-heads with oil in their veins and classic motors on their minds. Mathewson’s is featuring in the new TV series ‘Bangers & Cash’ starting in April on Yesterday Channel. Part of the route we will be taking has recently featured in an article in Auto Express as one of the best driving roads in Britain. This is a joint event with the Eastern Region. Sunday 9th June – Monthly meet at Champs Sunday 23rd June – Drive out into the moors, with meal and visit to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. This is a joint event with the Eastern Region. I will be very pleased to see you all at one or more of the events, whether a new member or an old hand. Plans can change so keep checking on the Club website, forum or NE Region Facebook group. Also check out Scottish, Cumbrian and Eastern Region events as any member can attend any Region’s events. 07788 718590 northwales@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

father, Brian, a previous chair of the North Wales Region and still a very active member. Michael, rest in peace. Forthcoming events: APM Customs in Sandycroft (the car wrapping co) have extended an invitation to BMW Club members for the morning of Sunday 12th May from 9am onwards. After we left APM last BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

regionalnews time, we enjoyed coffee and sandwiches at ‘Chocks Away’ at Hawarden and saw the Beluga take off. Yes we’ll go there again, no guarantee of seeing the ‘take off’. Sunday 19th May we will meet at the café at Llyn Brennig. Again there is plenty of parking – fantastic views over the lake and a beautiful drive from either direction to the lake. 11.00am onwards. Just to repeat, I have received details of two shows – Caerwys on Sunday 7th July. If you would like to show your car I need your ‘make, model and registration no’ and either a mobile number or email address. Exhibitors are asked for a small donation to a nominated charity. The Bodelwyddan show has been moved to a new venue. Bodrhyddan Hall , Dyserth,

North West

Jeff Heywood

approximately six miles away. The date for your diary is Sunday 28th July. I have contacted the organisers and booked a BMW area. We are joining forces with Mid Wales and Shropshire so there should be a good turnout. For those members wishing to attend, you will have to contact Classic Shows direct on 01484 667776 or www.CLASSICSHOWS.org . Cost is £4.50 per car to include up to two passengers. DON’T FORGET TO MENTION THAT YOU WILL BE IN THE BMW AREA. We have been invited to a show in Wrexham on Saturday 3rd August. I am awaiting details. Car of the month: If any members would like their car featured, please give me a call. 0161 678 2088 northwest@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

News Welcome to the May edition of North West News. The Regional AGM passed smoothly in March, with all committee men voted back onto the committee for another 12 months, barring Darryl Curran who stepped down for personal reasons – the committee would like to place on record our thanks to Darryl for all his help and support over the years. Event wise, May sees us return to the Swan for a pub meet on the 19th plus a week later we’ll have a Club stand at stunning Gawsworth Hall for the Youngtimers Show – see below for more details. June 30th sees us visiting the Lion Salt Works – more info next month.

Swan Car of the Month – Matthieu Dath’s BMW E90 M3 Our latest Swan CotM award sponsored by the Car Detailing Centre was awarded to Matthieu’s stunning E90 M3, a 1/100 Frozen Silver Edition model. Matt has owned the M3 just over a month and it has covered 59k miles. It has a stunning black leather interior with carbon trim and 7-Speed DCT ’box. Matt purchased the M3 from Rydale Wolverhampton. Frozen Silver looks awesome, but there is a downside to owning such an exotically painted car. Matt wants to rid the bonnet of a couple of v-minor stone chips but has been quoted £3,500 by BMW to paint the bonnet, and they said they cannot guarantee a colour match! – Hopefully with our connections we can help out on this score!!

Express-dent-removal – Highly recommended Speak to Simon Robinson on 0800 998 9828 or 07767 832255 – or visit www.express-dent-removal.co.uk

Andy Messina (L) hands over a car care goodie bag from the Car Detailing Centre to Matthieu Dath and his Swan CotM winning E90 M3 Frozen Silver Edition

Bodywork – Highly recommended David Tully bodyshop (Tully’s), Rochdale – top class paint shop. 01706 643866 - www.davidtullyltd.co.uk

Forthcoming Events 19th May – Swan Pub Meet Following on from the excellent turnout we had at our March meet, let’s see an even bigger attendance at the Swan in May for our regular meet with plus the latest round of the Darren

BMW Servicing & Repair – Highly recommended Darren Wood BMW Specialist (0161 425 7403) Bredbury, Stockport SK6 2QB. www.darren-wood.com Event Reports 24/3/19 Swan Meet & NW AGM The AGM ran smoothly with an excellent turnout of Club members, so a big thank you to everyone who attended. Myself, Cathy Heywood (treasurer) Andy Messina and Andrew OsborneJames were re-elected onto the committee for a further year and we are all pleased to see Club stalwart Keith Bridge volunteer and be voted onto the committee. The Car Detailing Centre kindly agreed to continue sponsoring the Swan CotM prize. The committee now looks forward to bringing our members a full and varied programme of events in 2019. AGM completed, the regular meet got underway and Keith and Lynne Bridge ‘celebrated’ Keith’s return to the committee by winning the second round of the Darren Wood sponsored NW Quiz on a tie-break. The E46 Boys got their quiz season back on track coming in second, while on another tie-break finish the Planet B boys took third spot.

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews Wood sponsored NW Quiz and fun Swan ‘CotM’, sponsored by the Car Detailing Centre. The meet starts at 12 noon. The Swan, Bucklow Hill, Cheshire WA16 6RD, with easy access from the M56 and M6 motorways. 27th May – Youngtimer Car Show at Gawsworth Hall We’re now fully booked for this event, although I can squeeze in an iconic car like an E30 M3!! You can still visit the show though, so please come along and visit the Club display for a natter – if you have an E30 M3 or iconic BMW give me a bell ASAP! 30th June – Lion Salt Works Visit We are visiting the Lion Salt Works at Marston, Cheshire CW9 6ES for a guided tour – Arrive at 10am for tour at 10.30am – Guided tour – £8 per adult, £4 children. Following our visit and photos we’ll be retiring to the Salt Barge pub for a bite to eat (optional) – book ASAP with Jeff – for more info on the Salt Works, watch a short video – https://youtu.be/ xN_EmOVig70 28th July – Swan Pub Meet More details next month.

Scottish Isabelle Phillips We have kicked off 2019 in true Scottish Region style with a packed events list and have already been to Livingston, Glasgow, Perthshire and Ayrshire with our monthly drive and dines. We have also attended our first show of the year at Knockhill. We are booked into lots of shows including all the usual ones and some new ones, which is going to keep us busy at the weekends. Although attendance has been a bit on the low side from previous years, we have been happy to welcome along a few new members already. If you have never attended a meet please do sign up and come along as a great day out with like-minded people is guaranteed. Recent Events April Monthly meet John Mccall kindly agreed to find us a venue in Ayrshire for lunch for the monthly meet. We started in Edinburgh where we met up with four members from the Irish Region who were over on a road trip. The weather in Edinburgh was not very nice, with a dreich day, however as we headed west it cleared up. We left the guys in Glasgow as they were heading to get their ferry home and we drove on to Saltcoats for lunch. After lunch we drove up to Largs and back over the hill to Kilwinning, where we stopped for a coffee and said our goodbyes as everyone headed home. A good enjoyable day was had by all. Forthcoming Events May Monthly Meet The next monthly meet is on 5th May. We are planning a repeat of our 2017 ‘Breakfast in Inverness’ early morning drive. It will be a very early start for some but we hope to be in Inverness just after 9am where we will stop for breakfast and hopefully meet some of the members from further North. Let us know via the forum if you would like us to pick you up en route or meet us at the stopping point. Everyone is welcome. Highland Fling We are delighted to confirm that the Highland Fling 2019 is booked for 11th – 14th October. The booking arrangements have been announced on the forum and we are taking names for this great event. We are really looking forward to planning a fantastic weekend for everyone, however you will understand that this kind of event takes a bit of organising www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Local NW Branch News Manchester Branch News April’s meet was sparsely attended – do we continue with these meets? I’ll be asking the attendees at the May meet! Manchester Branch meetings are held on the first Tuesday of every month, start at 8.00pm at the Sheldon Arms, Lord Sheldon Way, Ashton-under-Lyne OL6 7UB, half a mile from Jct23 M60 and accessible to all. Future meetings – 7th May & 4th June – 8.00pm onwards. 07803 612220 bmwccscottishregion@gmail.com

and along with Stevie, Cambell and Gary we will do our best to make it another weekend to remember. As previous years I expect this event to sell out very quickly, so to keep things fair please follow the instructions on the forum for requesting the booking information, and ensure you send me all the information I require to proceed. If I have to email you back for missing information this delay may result in you not being able to get booked. So don’t delay when you receive the booking information and follow my instructions. If you don’t use the forum please email me and I will send you the instructions that I post on the forum. Please make sure you regularly check the forum or our Facebook page to keep up to date with all the events and planning. Scottish Region Events list 2019 Monthly Events & Shows 5th May – Drive & Dine – North West (early morning run) 12th May – Bridge of Allen 19th May – 8th Cumbria International Motor Show 20 spaces 2nd June – Thirlestone Castle Show 30th June – Moffat Classic Car Show 7th July – Drive & Dine – Campsies 14th July – Glamis Extravaganza 26th & 28th July – Silverstone (Car Club event, details on the web) 4th August – Drive & Dine – Ayrshire 11th August – National Festival Gaydon 1st September – Drive & Overnight to NE England 6th October – Drive & Dine – Borders / Lanark 11th – 14th October – Highland Fling 2019 3rd November – AGM – Eastern 30th Nov ember / 1st December – Christmas Party Night tbc Our Facebook page can be found by typing this address into your browser. http://www.facebook.com/ groups/13576080191/ Our Forum page can be found by typing this address into your browser. http://www.bmwccgbforum.co.uk/scottish-region_ forum24.html Issy 07803 612220 bmwccscottishregion@gmail.com BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

regionalnews

South East

Ian Bryant

South East Region sponsored by

Chandlers Brighton 01273 769 812

With the clocks changing the season is starting to gain momentum. The Shoreham Airport Meeting in April was blessed with cracking weather and a great selection of members and their cars washed down with a nice healthy breakfast. A number of members attended the NEC Restoration myself included; it not as large as the NEC Classic but well worth a visit if you get the opportunity and BMW Car Club had one of the best stands. Moving onto Sunday 7th May where a number of events converged, Goodwood Members Meeting, Brand Hatch British Touring Cars opening round, Ashford Micro Meeting and a Treasury Hunt, surely there was something for everyone… The Goodwood Members Meeting is attended by many members and is a unique motoring experience where else do you get Edwardian racing cars with airplane engines flying round the track with no front brakes. The meeting celebrated 60 years of the mini supported by BMW and included some of the best racing I have ever watched, 30 odd mini coopers prepared by Nick Swift. The commenter summed it up well “you could get the first, second and third in the back of van”, anyway Members Meeting mini Goodwood videos worth a watch. On to the Treasure Hunt by Steve Carter, with a glorious spring day for the second MPower Treasure hunt at Chandlers Brighton. Filling the especially reserved car parking area was an awesome range of BMW, M, MPower, MSport, Alpina and modified machinery. Martin Buhagiar, the new Head of Business, and James Wells, Sales executive, put on a fabulous welcome light breakfast and took us through the order of the day. First up was the Show n’ Shine. I had the pleasure, and it must be said, difficult task to award a BMW Detailing kit to the winner. My task was so difficult that I agreed with James that we would award two first prizes, one to a stunning Alpine white lowered M4 Coupe and the other to an immaculate Estoril blue M235i.

southeast@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Hailsham 01323 306 106 Worthing 01903 444821

www.baronsgroup.co.uk/bmw

BARONS CC20133 =

15% discount code

We then all headed out to blast around the Sussex countryside on our Treasure hunt, stopping at several stunning locations including Lancing College, the Jack & Jill windmills in Clayton and Brighton & Hove Albion’s AMEX stadium. On our return and after further refreshments, James and I voted for the two best Photograph’s of the day, another difficult challenge. The first winner, receiving a cool Isetta print donated by the BMWCC and the second a Valet kit. Next came the raffle where the lucky top three winners won, in order, an i8 Roadster (for the weekend), an i3S (for the weekend) and a BMWCC goody bag. Norman Burnham also very kindly bought a bottle of fizz and handed that to his favourite car, Stuart’s very tidy 2.2i Z3. This was a really great and fun event which was very well organised, a testament to the hard work by James Wells. Looking forward to next year’s already! Thanks to the members that attended Ashford Micro meeting we were a bit down on numbers due to other events but we still had a lovely cars turn up, thanks Barry Adams for sending pic of 535i. On to upcoming events details on BMW South Region Home page https://bmwcarclubgb.uk/regions/south_east.html Featured events currently worth mentioning are: Eastbourne Classic Car Show is on the 4/5th May the club are attending on Saturday 4th May if you interested contact Nigel Hole on bmwccgbsussesx@gmail.com BMR Performance visit on Sunday 5th May starts at 10:00 a great chance to meet Barry and team and see the facilities. There is also an opportunity for lunch in the Crown. Please let me know if you plan to attend and have not already done so, places are going fast. Bromley Pageant 23rd June Max Cox has organized a stand. To book a place access link below, go to Ticket, Club Display. Select BMW Car Club SE Region. Enter password: Pagbrom@2019 and follow instructions www.bromleypageant.co.uk BMW/Mercedes/Porsche event 30th June 08:30-13:30 The Hawth Theatre Crawley RH10 6YZ, still in planning more details to follow. If you have any ideas of events please contact me as the weekends in the diary are filling up, also would be great to get some new ideas and evolvement from members. Forthcoming events: Diary Dates 28th April The Historic Chatham Dockyard 4th May Eastbourne Classic Car Show 5th May BMR Performance visit

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

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regionalnews 25/26th May Brands Hatch Historic Racing 30th June Combined BMW/Mercedes and Porsche event 13/14th July Michelham Priory 21st July Sherbourne Castle hosted by Wessex, great event

South Wales Leigh Davenport Welcome to our South Wales Region news. Just a quick thank you to all the members that attended our monthly pub meet in April. Another great turnout at the Twelve Knights Pub. We had another new member attended, Hoover from Burry Port, currently driving a Z4 3.0 in blue. Welcome Hoover.

We had our first event for this year which was Castle Combe Circuit, and had a great turnout for the event. Although we arrived early and we had severe fog on the way we still had to queue for 20 minutes or so on arrival as there were a lot of cars going to this event. The weather was awesome; we had a lot of sun for the day and could not ask for more. There was a lot of different stuff to look at in show and on track including some great drifting put on by the Circuit. The members informed me that they had a great day so I am glad everyone enjoyed themselves. Also I am glad we had a pitch next to a café and ice cream van!

Our monthly meeting dates in the Twelve Knights Pub in Margam SA13 2DB proceed with ONE meeting per month. We meet at approximately 7pm or 6.30pm for food. This takes place on the THIRD Wednesday of each month. Don’t forget guys, on 21st July we are joining the Wessex Region for the Sherborne Supercars Show, so if anyone is interested please let me know as I need to arrange with the Region in advance our numbers attending. I will also be asking

Thames Tony Skerrett Welcome to May, the prospect of warmer weather and decent events coupled with the hope of bringing your BMW up to showroom condition. Unless I spend a considerable amount of money, my faithful 320d Sport will never regain that showroom elegance. Yet the two litre engine keeps purring along and on a trip to London in March ’19 I achieved 67mpg. Not since cruising on French motorways have I achieved such fuel efficiency. I have started once again to add two stroke oil to the fuel mixture if only to help clean out some parts of the engine like the EGR and inlet manifold, so I like to think this additive contributed to the increased MPG! See Japanese Engine Oil Standards Implementation Panel (JASO) specifications in Central news.

11th August BMW National Meeting and London International Cartel 29th September Renaissance Cars visit 13th October Lancing Motor Show southwales@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

for payment for our show tickets. Just a reminder, I work a shift pattern and sometimes I will not be in attendance but there will be some members present at the pub meets to welcome you. Again as stated before, if you want to come to a meeting and your BMW is off the road or is not 100% perfect, which most cars are not, you are still welcome to attend. We welcome questions from members and are happy to help with advice if we can. Any new members can arrange to message me if you are not sure about coming to a meet. We have a WhatsApp group as well for members to keep in touch, so contact me if you want to be added to the group. Forthcoming events: Cardiff Stadium show event 19th May. I have forms which will need to be filled out for the show. Contact me for more info. Bimmerfest BMW Show in Holland for a weekend, Thursday 30th May to Monday 3rd June. Brynmawr classic car show 16th June. BM’s on the Lawn Weston-Super-Mare Seafront 30th June with Western Region. Pub meet to be arranged in the Cardiff area. Adam Picks Location, date TBA. Castle Combe German Performance Day 13th July, TBC Sherborn Supercars 21st July, joining the Wessex Region in show. Silverstone Classic 26th to 28th July. Crystal Clear detailing day TBC (possible August). Phil Marker, our tour organiser, will be holding a ‘Historic Bridge’ run, dates TBC. We will be adding more stuff as well, but like I say we need suggestions from you guys! If anyone would like to arrange something, or has an idea, please feel free to do so and I can suggest it in the group or magazine. Here is a picture of our Phil eating a sausage roll whilst enjoying the sun in show! Thanks again guys for your help and support! 07879 404648 thames@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Littlebury Hotel Bicester Attended by Peter Collison, Tony Skerrett, Chris Smith, Phil Star, Primrose Hillier, Gar Jackson, Chris Sawyers, Petula Cavendish, Anne Starling and Sir Roy.

Past Events 28th March- Thames Regional Meeting held at the www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

regionalnews This was a fine and enjoyable meeting and the first for 2019. All future events were discussed and approved by members, with Chris Sawyers introducing some new ideas including ‘The Classic Motor Hub’ Bibury Glc who hold monthly coffee mornings for enthusiasts should they wish to take advantage of our fantastic facilities. The most up-to-date news of our events is published on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook. com/TheClassicMotorHub/ Our Coffee & Classics breakfast meets are held on the first Sunday of each month from April to October. In 2019 we have three special themed days for Italian, British and German marques, as well as a Summer BBQ later in July. Our events are often fully booked in advance, so be sure to register your car or motorcycle if you would like to come along. https:// classicmotorhub.com/events/ Thames Region plan to visit ‘The Classic Motor Hub’ Bibury later in the season; those interested in tagging along please let me know. Future Events 19th May Waterperry House and Gardens – Waterperry 0X33 1LA – £6.95/pp 9th June Classics on the Crick – https://www. classicsonthecrick.co.uk/ 23rd June Central and Thames Cotswold Trip My Car by Jeff Leeks

My Car Reports by Jeff Leeks Picture by Paul Goby LADY IN RED – 1996 2.8 litre Straight 6 BMW 328i Convertible Coupe Manual Tony had been offered by a BMWCC member a very nice Helcot Red BMW 328i Convertible Manual Coupe with pristine Black leather and soft top, but regretfully had to turn down the offer. He knew I was on the hunt to buy another BMW in fastidious condition for my 72nd birthday treat. We always seem to find a ‘genuine excuse’ if we’ve the space and funds, don’t we guys and girls!

Wessex

Tim Maltby

Barons Farnborough 01252 883 565

Within a week I had photos/details so went to view the 328i with all my paraphernalia to carry out my detailed inspection. I was immediately impressed by the high overall standards of the body, interior, soft top and mechanicals. The engine and manual gearbox was so smooth it purred like a kitten drinking cream for the first time – Purrfect! The owner took me for a spirited c20 mile drive through town, then onto the A1. I was smitten by the way the 328i performed, but it had a few minor issues needing sorting to meet my high standards. I then made him a cheeky offer to which he replied: “Jeff, you’ve pushed me to my bottom line, but I’d like you to own her as I know you’d look after her!” We shook hands on the deal, including a spare set of optional BMW wheels! Hilary and Lexi (our Miniature Schnauzer) went to Watersperry Gardens, near Oxford on its first BMW CC Summer outing. Many Members gave us the thumbs up when they viewed/inspected our latest addition to our family fleet. She looked resplendent and drove very smoothly, as by then I’d had her superchipped by Superchip in Buckingham to significantly improve the torque band spread and improve fuel consumption – highly recommended and value for money. Then it was time for Sytner’s High Wycombe to carry out an extremely fine tooth-comb inspection MOT, after I’d completed my owsixn 6 months restoration work over the winter/spring. Whilst observing the activity through Sytner’s MOT Service Bay Inspection Window I suddenly noticed 12 technicians swarming, like bees around a honey pot, at our 328i on the ramps. My heart sank, thinking the worst; what have they seen? Then the MOT technician came to see me looking concerned (he was winding me up deliberately). The other 12 technicians dispersed, told to go back to their servicing work by the displeased Service Manager. He looked reluctant to say anything, then smiled, put his thumbs up, said: “Jeff she’s passed with flying colours, no issues or advisories at all” – Phew! We plan to take our lovely ‘Lady In Red’ to Bicester Heritage’s Drive It Day on Sunday 28th April 2019 and have it inspected for an Agreed Valuation by Hagerty’s, our insurers, who are superb. The most important aspect of our ownership is for all our family to be all insured to enjoy this lovely BMW, as and when they want, especially on sunny days. She’s so attractive, fast, responsive and comfortable to drive in a spirited way. Great motoring, fun, exhilarating and just lovely to stand and admire her. She’s a model of pure motoring design – I’m in love with her!! Tony: “Jeff has many BMWs and has recently acquired a £35,000+ Aston Martin circa mid 50/60s vintage. Many of us now in Thames Region refer to Jeff as ‘Lord Jeff’ based on his valuable collection of desirable cars.” 07885 252448 wessex@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Barons Hindhead 01428 853 357

Seems that March has passed by in a blur and was accompanied by a few events as our season starts to get underway. With the launch of the new 3 series and new Z4 it was great to see our members come up trumps to support two of our local dealers, namely Barons Farnborough and Marshall BMW Hampshire. There was a cracking selection of our classics and future classics which was very much appreciated by the dealers and their customers. I know most of our guys and girls enjoyed the days, especially those who were able to partake of a test drive or two!

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

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regionalnews

New Forest Treasure Hunt, Sunday 12th May 13.15. Meet up at The St Leonard’s Hotel Ringwood BH24 2NP 14.00 First car leaves Hotel then a staggered start. Allow approximately 3.5 hours for finding clues and drive. 18.00 to 18.15 arrive at The Bell Inn Brook for dinner and prize giving at 19.00 Or just meet us for dinner if you don’t want to be included in the treasure hunt. For further details and to add your name to the list of entrants, please contact Eric Thompson ericthompson429@ gmail.com, 07722 835930 Classic & Supercar Sunday at Sherborne 21st July Last year we had 18 cars on the stand and I have provisionally booked space for 30. The good news is that the price has been

held at £10 per car. This price includes stand pass, exhibitor card, all occupants of the car and a free show guide. Let Tim Maltby know at wessex@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk, sooner rather than later if you want to join us as numbers are building nicely. There is a deadline of 25th May. Diary Dates 2019 Sunday 12th May Treasure Hunt starting at Ringwood and finishing in the New Forest. More details to follow Sunday 21st July Sherborne Classic, Dorset, £10 per car which covers all occupants Sunday 15th September is now confirmed for our visit to a working flour mill at Sturminster Newton and to indulge in a cheese festival. More details to follow

Western Nigel Smith Welcome new members. Many thanks to all that attended the Southern Concours on April 14th, hopefully you all had a great day. Full article to follow shortly, hopefully in June issue. So, what are we all up to? enjoying driving our cars now the nicer weather is upon us & longer nights. Why not take an evening drive to one of our pub meets, have a chat with other likeminded members & have a bite to eat at the pub while you are there, although eating is not compulsory. Remember our next event that we put on is BM’s on the Lawn at Weston-Super-Mare sea front lawns, why not come along & also take a wonder around the cars & even take a wonder into the town or pier if you fancy. Please visit our FB page for a full list of event dates & also printed here. If you would like your car featured in our car of month then please forward some pictures to me. Happy motoring everyone.

western@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Forthcoming events: 2019 events dates for you all. 5th June 2019, Pub Meet at the Woolpack, Weston-Super-Mare from 7.30pm 30th June 2019 BM’s on the Lawn Weston-superMare seafront lawns (Show & Shine event) 3rd July 2019, Pub Meet at the Woolpack, Weston-Super-Mare from 7.30pm 14th July 2019, Powderham Castle classic vehicle show 7th Aug 2019, Pub Meet at the Woolpack, Weston-Super-Mare from 7.30pm 10th & 11th August 2019, National Festival, Gaydon, Warwickshire 1st September 2019 Dorset coastal drive, further details to come but will start at Portland Bill, Dorset. 4th September 2019, Pub Meet at the Woolpack, WestonSuper-Mare from 7.30pm 2nd October 2019, Pub Meet at the Woolpack, WestonSuper-Mare from 7.30pm 6th November 2019, Pub Meet at the Woolpack, WestonSuper-Mare from 7.30pm December 2019, Christmas meal TBA

Stay warm this event season with our newly launched

BMWCC BRANDED JACKETS & COATS Now available to purchase online: bmwcarclubgb.uk

Full range available to purchase at Southern Concours, Silverstone Classic & National Festival

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

registernews Classic - E3

Tony Wilkes

Following the habitually quiet few months of winter, there’s been a flurry of E3 activity over the last few weeks. Some of you will have noticed that quite a few hitherto unknown cars have popped up for sale recently, and it certainly looks like the rise in value of our cars that we predicted some time ago has taken effect. This is really good news for us all. Some of the more eagle-eyed readers amongst you will remember that I mentioned in my article covering the E3’s 50th birthday celebrations in Bavaria last year that our very good friends in the German E3 Club were planning to visit us in 2019 in order to celebrate the anniversary of model’s launch in the UK in 1969, alongside the E9 coupe. I’m delighted to announce that at least six cars will be coming over from the Continent to attend

Classic - E9

Nick Hull

Welcome to all the E9 owners and enthusiasts out there. Despite the lack of recent postings, the E9 Register continues to thrive, with a quarterly newsletter filled with news about the E9 scene, technical articles and spare parts available. With winter receding, now is the time to be getting E9s out again, and a good time to plan to join a few events this summer. Two events in particular are planned this year for E9s: German BMW E3 group visit and Cotswold Tour 22nd June Our friends from the German E3 owners club are coming to pay a visit to the Bicester Super Scramble event on 23rd June. BMW Car Club will be hosting a stand there and members are encouraged to bring cars along to this popular venue, which replaces the former ‘Flywheel’ event. As part of their visit, we are hosting a tour of the Cotswolds with the E3 group on the previous day, Saturday 22nd June, starting from the Tesco car park in Bicester, just off the A41 near Bicester Village. Reinhard Queckenberg, chairman of the German E3 Club, has arranged for about six cars to travel over to the UK, with Tony Wilkes from the E3 Register co-ordinating the visit. He would like to encourage as many members of the larger Sharknose fraternity to join in either the ‘Super Scramble’ on the Sunday, or the Saturday tour. Meeting point: Tesco car park, Lakeview Drive, Bicester

02 Richard Stern As reported last month, it is sad news that Selwyn Frostick, friend, 02 Touring stalwart and Neue Klasse owner has passed away. He could often be seen in his Touring around the 02 and major classic events in Europe. I have personally known Selwyn for decades and spent many weekends and events with him (and his trusty teapot). Selwyn was even on the 02 Register

e3register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

the Super Scramble event at Bicester Heritage on Sunday 23rd of June. Additionally, we will be organising a Tour of the Cotswolds on Saturday 22nd, and I’d love to see as many E3, E9 and Sharknose Register members as possible attend both events. The itinerary for Saturday 22nd is yet to be finalised, but it will include a picturesque drive through the beautiful Cotswold countryside, a visit to a classic car specialist or two, and the opportunity to enjoy lunch in a traditional setting. If you’re interested in attending either event, please contact me at E3register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk or Nick Hull at E9register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk I’m looking forward to hearing from you all and putting together a really fantastic weekend” e9register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

OX261DE at 9.30. Return approx. 4.30pm. We would like to encourage as many Sharknose Collection owners to join us on this trip. Please get in touch with Tony Wilkes at e3register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk or Nick at e9register @bmwcarclubgb.co.uk if you would like to join. Classic Motor Hub German Car Day – 1st September Following the successful attendance last year, the Classic Motor Hub at Bibury have invited the Sharknose Collection back to the event in 2019, with a revamped day that focuses on all German car brands. Several other car clubs have already reserved group events and spaces are becoming limited, so we need to establish a few numbers this month if we want to attend. You may have noticed that Classic Motor Hub are using the E9 as a ‘poster boy’ for the event so it would be a pity if we could not muster a group to fulfil their expectations! Please get in touch with Nick at e9register@bmwcarclubgb. co.uk if you would like to sign up for this event from 10.00am on Sunday 1st September. Buying Guide and Maintenance Guide Following the lead by Richard Stern’s 02 group, we are developing an updated buying guide and maintenance schedule for the E9, to be available for the Club. More details to come. 07770 443373 02register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

many years ago and could be a one-man crusade for them (especially the Tourings) in Europe. His second 02 Touring was even LHD as he spent so much time in Europe in his 02. Our condolences to his family, he’ll be a missed at all classic events, a pure gentleman and good friend. Rest in Peace Selwyn. Blunt Tech (USA) now have several sets of new early shortstyle bumpers available I also notice they do a full set of heater box foam: https://blunttech.com

Selwyn – centre www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

registernews Race owners can find 02 lightweight fibreglass panels for your 02 including doors here: http://www.pesch.cz/en/category/ bmw/bmw-02-e10 What do the terms ‘OE’ and ‘OEM’ REALLY mean? OE = Original Equipment. These are genuine BMW parts. OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer. Made by the same company that supplies BMW but available via independent distribution system. OEM suppliers include Lemförder, Bosch, Siemens, Ate and many others. How is OEM different from Aftermarket? Aftermarket parts are available from several manufacturers. Some are OEM while others are not. We carry only high quality aftermarket parts that meet or exceed the specifications of the original parts. Not all aftermarket parts are created equal! If you’re not sure about the quality of a particular brand or manufacturer, check with the supplier or BMW. Stock looking RRL 02 with S14 Once again Petrolicious has an 02 on its site, this time a lovely early standard looking 02 with an M3 E30 heart transplant. Read more about this gorgeous 02 here: https://petrolicious.com/articles/this-bmw-2002-s14-evo-swapis-the-perfect-sleeper A tale of two Tii’s I recently got to drive Paul Lucas’s original Tii, and what a difference from my Tii. Paul’s car is a lovely Inka Orange, round rear light, ex-Cyprus RHD car. His Tii has the original seats, early thin steering wheel, suspension and standard brakes of course, unlike mine with the sports seats, bigger brakes – worthwhile modifications, lower and stiffer suspension and the thicker smaller steering wheel than the factory option. Paul’s

car seemed ‘lighter’ and more ‘wollowy’, a combination of un-supportive seats and vaguer steering, but felt lighter and funnily enough easier to drive; whereas my car commands fulltime focus, direct cornering and tons of grip. These two cars are miles apart now. I’d have to say the modifications to seats and brakes predominately are worthwhile to all 02s as they do transform the ride and safety. Other modifications can be judged on an individual basis. Classic Events 2019 can all be found here from now on: https://www.bmw2002.co.uk/upcoming-events/ make sure you add it to your favourites, and on the Club forum (although it needs some work). Don’t forget to contact the Club for a FREE ticket to the Masters Historic in May, only 10 tickets per day issued. Don’t forget ‘DID-Day’, 28th April. Most people seem to be heading for Bicester Heritage, advance tickets online required. Once again, the Ford AVO club has invited us to join their annual show on 16th June. The show includes 70+ AVO cars (Escort Mk1 Twin cams, Mexicos, RS2000s, RS1600s and 1300Es) that normally attend many other classic car clubs and individual classic car owners join us with a total of well over 200 classic cars on show. Venue: Hatton World, Hatton Farm Village, Dark Lane, Hatton, Warwick, Warwickshire, CV35 8XA http:// www.hattonworld.com 02 Main Event: we will be joining the main Car Club at Gaydon on 11th August; make sure you pre-book for discount tickets and a guaranteed space as part of the 02 Register. We’ll be running our ‘Best of Class’ competition sponsored by the lovely Jaymic, and free to sell your 02 parts out of your boot (the only place you’ll find this). See you there. Lelystad latest news: There are several activities at the circuit, like a slalom and a sprint with all kinds of 0’s. Saturday 7th September not the Sunday, there will be Traders including Jaymic, and this year they will have live music! At the end of the afternoon/early evening there is a BBQ. They hope to see much of 02 lovers from all over Europe.

7 Series Scott Margison Just to introduce myself, I am Scott and hail from Bonny Scotland. I am a lifelong BMW fan, but got my first, an E30 -318i, back in 1998. Two 5 series later (E34 and E39) and I am into my 1998 E38 735i, in Royal Red. It is only a recent purchase and there are plenty of jobs that need doing. So far, I have sorted the instrument binnacle (pixel issues), upgraded the wheels to style 37 and installed a set of aftermarket headlights. I have had a go at vinyl wrapping parts of the chrome with mixed results. I think I will leave that bit to a professional. Lots of other work that needs doing but for a 20-year-old car with 170,000 miles, it is in good condition. One project that I would love to do, is take the insides from a newer F01 or E65 and install it in an E38 body. Anyone see any problems? It really is a beautiful design, and many say the prettiest of all BMWs ever, but then I am biased. Why is there not an E38

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

7series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Design Card in the Shop? I will try and remedy that. As part of my role as 7 Series Register Captain, I will need to get to know all the models, past and present. I had a message recently from a member with a problem with his E32; with a bit of research I found a solution. Let me know if it worked Clive! As part of that process I thought I would source an original brochure for the E38. I found one on a well-known auction site and it was in perfect condition, in hardback. So my quest continues; if anyone has any 7 Series memorabilia they would like to get rid of, please get in touch. I will be attending the Classics in Cardiff on 19th May, so hope to see some classic 7s on display; I will be down with my Club (South Wales), hope to see some of you there. Please send any pictures of your beloved machines or get in touch with any projects involving the 7er, would love to hear from you. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

registernews

8 Series

Debbie Blythe

8series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

LE JOG Plus (You don’t have to do the whole trip or drive an 8 series to join us.) Why don’t you join us on our drive from Land’s End to John O’Groats and back down the East Coast to Duxford for the Spring Car Show at the end of April – beginning of May. The dates and drives are below, and we plan to drive approximately 200/250 miles per day. Anyone is welcome to join us for the full trip, part of the trip or just meet up at one of the venues. Email me at 8series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk, or call me on 07838 385242. Day 1 – Saturday 27th April 2019 – Land’s End to Newport Day 2 – Sunday 28th April 2019 – Newport to Oswestry Day 3 – Monday 29th April 2019 – Oswestry to Carlisle Day 4 – Tuesday 30th April 2019 – Carlisle to Fort William Day 5 – Wednesday 1st May 2019 – Fort William to John O’Groats Day 6 – Thursday 2nd May 2019 – John O’Groats to Dunfermline Day 7 – Friday 3rd May 2019 – Dunfermline to Harrogate Day 8 – Saturday 4th May 2019 – Harrogate to Stevenage Day 9 – Sunday 5th May 2019 – Stevenage to Duxford BMW 8 Series Register – Car of the Month Car and owner: Les Irving – 1992 BMW 850i with 96,500 miles Why, When, Where: I remember the 8 series being launched, in the late 80s. It was so special then but utterly unaffordable (for me, at least). You could have bought two houses for the money, back then. I loved the styling, it seemed pretty futuristic at the time. I never really fell out of love with the car, and, because they were relatively rare, it was always a treat to see one on the road. About four years ago, I was browsing the web and saw one for sale, for about £6,500. On a whim, I drove to Swindon to take a look at it. The car had been stood for about two and a half years before the garage bought it. They had given it a clean and got it running but not much else. I spent about an hour looking round the car, trying to decide if it was something I wanted to buy. The paintwork looked reasonable, with no obvious rust. It was clear that it had been re-sprayed at least once and not very well (you could see the tape marks around the lights and door handles), but the solid bodywork and pretty clean interior was promising. I had a test drive, which, to be honest, was not too inspiring. The brakes weren’t inspiring (rusty discs from having been stood for so long and the quirky design of the RHD 8 series brake linkage) and the performance didn’t impress much either. I went away from the garage and went for a coffee, to think about it. I decided that it was a project I would enjoy. Returning

to the garage, I bought the car for £4,000 (sold as seen) and arranged for them to get it transported to my home. It’s been an interesting four years, getting the majority of the issues sorted. Like most 8 series owners, I’ve probably spent more than the car is worth, but I love driving the car and meeting with fellow owners. The Best and Worst Bits: The best thing about the car, for me, is the smile it puts on my face when I get it out and drive it. It’s not the fastest accelerating car (about 7 seconds 0-60mph) except that at 60mph it’s just getting into its stride; 100+ comes up pretty quickly after that. The braking takes a bit of getting used to, compared to more modern cars but once you’re used to it (resigned to it?) it’s more than adequate. Anything else: A friend asked me, over the Christmas break, whether I would ever sell it. It’s not something I’ve ever thought about. I can’t imagine going out of my front door and not seeing her there!

Future 8 Series Register events – 2019 14th April – Sunday meet at The Chequers Inn, Weston on the Green 27th April – 6th May – Land’s End to John O’Groats road trip. If you are interested in part or all of it then please email me at 8series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk or call on 07838 385242 21st – 27th May – Spanish E31 Club tour of Northern Spain 21st July – Vanity BMW at Beaulieu Motor Museum August – National Festival

Concours Dan Wood Concours sponsored by

concours@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

RYBROOK WARWICK http://www.rybrookwarwickbmw.co.uk/

By the time you are reading this, the Southern Concours will have taken place at the fantastic venue of Sherborne Castle in Dorset. Congratulations to everyone who entered the Concours event. The Northern Concours is scheduled to take place at Newby Hall, Ripon on Sunday 5th May, and again, all members are welcome. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

http://www.meguiars.co.uk/

Congratulations also to everyone who entered the competition last month to win a day of detailing with two professional detailers, donated by the Professional Valeters and Detailers Association (PVD) who will be joining us at Gaydon this year. The winner will be announced next month and an article covering the day will follow in Straight Six. BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

registernews For further information regarding the PVD and their excellent publication ProDetailer Magazine, visit www. pro-valets.co.uk Remember that the National Concours will take place at the National Festival on Sunday 11th August with an open invitation to all members to take part. You can pre-book your place by calling the Club office. The Concours Guide Booklet for 2019 is available on the Club website where you can click on ‘Registers’ and then ‘Concours’ to open the Concours Register pages. The Booklet can be opened, downloaded or printed, and please do take a few moments to take a look as this is your ‘go to’ guide for all things relating to Club Concours. This is a good time to remind everyone of the Core Operating Principles for Club Concours. These are the principles which the Club will always work to at all times in all aspects of Concours: Any Queries: Any queries at all, regarding any aspect of Concours, my email address is shown above, so please feel free to use it. Keep on concours-ing!

Mini

David Young

Not much to say this month. OX4 the MINI Factory is quiet. No new models. Maybe they are already getting ready for the 60th Birthday party. By the time you read this the MINI CHALLENGE race series would have kicked off at Oulton Park. This will be the last year with the British GTs. 2020 sees the MINI CHALLENGE running alongside the BTCC in much the same way as the Clios did. But, they will be having full grids and lots of fun as the inevitable ‘rubbing’ will no doubt get worse. This year we have the MINI Festival to look forward to at Brands Hatch 20th/21st July, just as the schools break up for the long summer break. There will be a lot to see and do, bits to buy, Minis and MINIs in all shapes and sizes. The MCR will be there with the Kent Region arranging a fine display of tasty cars. A lot of racing is also on the agenda with Coopers, Cooper Ss and JCWs racing. Mini 7 and Miglias will be racing as well as the Super Mighty Minis and Mighty Minis. Just to keep you guessing there will also be an all-comers race, with an anything goes. It does promise to be one of the best MINI Festivals ever.

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

Core Operating Principle

Explanatory Notes

1. Professionalism throughout every aspect of Club Concours

Professionalism – by the Club towards every entrant and their car, by the Club towards Concours itself, and this Principle is replicated by all Members entering.

2. Fair and equal access to all Members

Regardless of model of car, every Member is welcome and can enter Club Concours. There are no ‘extra points’ for any particular models whatsoever.

3. Equal judging for all

The Club Concours Guide sets out detailed information covering judging, and this is applied equally to every car entering a Concours event.

4. Clear recognition by the Club of entrants’ hard work

Not everyone can win a trophy, that is the nature of Concours. However, it is abundantly clear that every car entering is always extremely well prepared and this evidences that the owner has put in hard work. The Club will recognise every entrant’s hard work.

5. A warm welcome to all entrants at every event

This goes without saying! All members are welcome to participate in Club Concours events.

mini@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

The National Mini Day at Beaulieu on 9th June will be one of the highlights of the year, showcasing 60 years of the Mini. I hope to see as many of you as possible there. The 26th of May sees the MINIatHOME meeting at the MINI Factory; this is run by Luxewerk and tickets are available direct from Luxewerk.com at £17. This promises to be a big MINI show and shine event. I bought myself an ODB reader at £17 from Amazon. With the Bimmer software downloadable from Apple Play or the App Store, you can see all the various settings of your car. The device works on all cars fitted with the OBD socket. The Bimmer App is purely for BMW/MINIs. The best thing it can do is enable the ‘SPORT’ mode on startup. Just in case you forget! You can also set the car to remember the last used mode and reload that on startup. The thing I would love it to do is change the rear brake light from Bulb to LED. I have changed it and loaded the new code but it shows a light failure. I guess the MINI garage had the same issue hence the fault remaining. A couple of

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

registernews people are having difficulties in getting MINI to supply and fit the Union Flag rear lights, saying they will not order them as you have the wrong VIN; though lots of MINI specialist are doing a supply and fit offer. I think it is due to my car being a bit strange in that the JCW is a February 18 pre-LCI build, it has all the new toys but old software.

Well, that is all for this quiet month. I shall be in Australia next month and I may not get time to ‘report’ – though my daughter has a MINI Cooper S Countryman aka ‘Bigi’ down South, so I may have a few comments to make! Until next month, keep shining and driving those MINIs and stay safe.

Sharknose Collection Richard Baxter

sharknose@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

The Sharknose Register invites you to join us and the German E3 Club for the 50th anniversary of the E3 and E9 launch in the UK on the weekend of 22 and 23 June 2019 at Bicester Heritage. Saturday 22 June will be a Cotswold roadtrip, and Sunday 23 June will be a club celebration at the Bicester Heritage Sunday Super Scramble. All Sharknose cars welcome! For more details and to register for attendance, please contact Tony Wilkes at E3Register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk, or Nick Hull at E9Register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Z1 Register

Jamal Blanc

1989 BMW (Hartge?) Z1 Words and Photos: Steve Lee. My switch from bikes to cars started in 2010, from a widebodied Audi Quattro to a late model Z3M S54 Coupe, going on to becoming hooked on modern classic BMWs. A year later I (literally) stumbled across a Z1 whilst driving through the Gloucestershire countryside. The car was originally delivered to Japanese tuning specialists ‘Tommykaira’ in 1989. Being Hartge agents, it is believed (not yet confirmed) that Tommykaira performed a standard (or partial) Z1 Hartge upgrade. I have been unable to determine the car’s early 90s history, but in 1997 it was purchased by a Mr Yosuke Yamamoto from

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z1register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

a used sportscar specialist for a reasonable £12.5k. In 1998 Yosuke moved to Cheltenham in the UK and established ‘Design and Realizations Ltd’. The grey leather and red nubuck was added and the car mildly refurbished by Yosuke’s staff, which entailed restoration of the running gear, a new BTB stainless steel sports exhaust, new soft-top/hood, repainting of the front bumper and spoiler (now removed), and a general tidy-up. It appears that the car had very little use thereafter. In 2009 the car was sold to the proprietor of BD Motor Bodybuilders, who, apart from regular bodywork services, specialise in historic rally cars. For the next three years the Z1 again saw very little use, whereupon my chance meeting with David resulted in me acquiring the car, at which time it showed only 50,000 kms. The car’s condition was quite good apart from usual door-operation problems and just needing tidying, or so I thought! Business commitments prevented any major work and the car was stored at my home until autumn 2017. Having attended the BMW CAR CLUB Z1 Technical Weekend in 2014, organised by Jamal, I kept in touch with our own Z1 specialist, Ivor Dadswell, who volunteered to take my car in for a ‘mild makeover’. Predictably, there was always going to be more to such a project than meets the eye! Having taken delivery in late autumn 2017, Ivor set about stripping the car and assessing the work needed. In the main, requirements appeared to be relatively minor, but the list of jobs inevitably grew and, as I’m sure readers are aware, spares are not always readily available. Over the next 12 months Ivor tirelessly worked his way through the list, ably assisted by myself when I visited on the odd occasion, although my skill-set does not match that of Mr Dadswell! Initially, Ivor concentrated on minor engine bay, running gear and ABS problems, moving on to more cosmetic requirements thereafter. The list of spare parts added is quite long, many of which simply involved the replacement of worn or perished items, including all inner wheel-arch liners, fan cowling and radiator intake shroud. Most body panels were removed, along with the seats and most of the interior trim, which has been re-painted (grey) and the red nubuck replaced with an original ‘leftover’ hide. Minor repairs to the rear wings, including repainting in original Traumschwarz, were carried out by a local Bolton specialist. Ivor then worked on various aspects of door-actuation before starting the rebuild, and needless to say, Ivor’s standard of work is exemplary; he has transformed the car. I brought it back home in September 2018 and continue to carry out further minor cosmetic repairs… Unfortunately, and again predictably, I have been unable to source an original set of Hartge alloys. BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

registernews Ivor and I plan to finalise the restoration in the next few weeks with further adjustments and addition of parts to the door-locking mechanisms. Final footnotes to the story include meeting Yosuke in January 2017 during a business trip to Kobe, which further enlightened me as to the Z1’s history. I remain in contact with

Z3 Register

him and am also trying to contact Tommykaira in an attempt to ascertain what work they carried out early in the car’s life. To this end, I had the car Dyno’d last week to check engine output. Whilst the Z1 appears (and sounds) to have a very healthy powerplant, the test was unfortunately inconclusive showing 176.5 BHP and 179 ft-lbs.

Alan Jones

Welcome to the May edition of the Straight Six. Those of you that have excellent memories and are a frequent reader of my articles within the magazine may remember that in January of last year, I covered the topic of replacing the fuel filter on my Z3. Unfortunately for whatever reason the included photographs were not included in the article, so I’d like to repeat the text and hopefully the photographs will be included this time? I was just thinking, a few weeks ago now, about renewing the fuel filter on my Z3, as I’d had the car for a few years and I’d never changed it. I’d even bought one but hadn’t got round to actually changing it. I think it’s a testament to how clean modern fuels are, as I wasn’t having any trouble with the car either. So after I’d changed the oil, I decided to change the fuel filter while I was on. I have a set of drive on ramps which lifts the front or rear of the car, but the trouble is the fuel filter is about in the middle of the car, about under the passenger seat. So by the time you get into place under the car to change the filter, there isn’t much room to move. The first job is to remove the cover, which is held on by four nuts, and once removed the fuel filter is visible; the cover is a great idea as it keeps all of the dirt off the road, away from the filter and its fixings, keeping it all nice and clean. There is a clamp keeping the filter in place, which is removed by removing the securing nut, and then the clamp can be removed. I then slackened the jubilee clips on either side of the filter, and then turned the filter to break the bond between the filter pipes and the flexible petrol pipes. Then it’s just a case of removing the flexible petrol pipe from each end and then you can remove the filter. When I was doing this I discovered that the petrol pipe coming from the front of the car came out of its securing clip, making it much easier to remove the filter. You also need a container to catch any fuel when you remove the filter, and also leave some time after the car has been running, to allow the pressure in the fuel system to dissipate. Be very careful with the discharged fuel; remove it from your work area as soon as possible, and obviously, do not smoke while doing this job. One other important point is to

z3register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

ensure you put the fuel filter in the correct way. There should be an arrow on the filter showing the direction of flow, and ‘out’ written on the discharge side of the filter. Then it’s just a matter of putting it all back together. Once you have done so, start the car (without the fuel filter cover on) so you can check for leaks. Then replace the cover, and job done. As an update a year later there are no leaks, so must have done it correctly!

BOOK YOUR PLACE ON OUR NEXT CLUB TRACKDAY AT

CASTLE COMBE

12th July - for only: £180 Book online at shop.bmwcarclubgb.uk 78

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

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The cars are the stars …at the Classic

www.silverstoneclassic.com Our club’s exclusive Car Club Display Package code is:

CCD0032019 www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine MAY 2019

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