Straight Six May 2020 by BMW Car Club GB

Straight Six MEMBERS EDITION

M AY 2 020 £5

SMG to be or not to be?

That is the question posed in this month’s MLife article…

PLUS: MEGUIAR’S CLEANING GOODIES TO GIVE AWAY!

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

BMW CAR CLUB

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

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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 in 1982 as BMW Car Club (GB) 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 Chairman Jamal Blanc Board of Directors Dave Evans Martyn Goodwin Neil McDonald Richard Stern Club Office

inside this issue

Michelle Evans Lisa Davies Anya Edwardes BMW Car Club Insurance Henry Francis

Patron

“I am not a driver, I am a racer”

Following the sad news of Sir Stirling Moss’ passing, we look back at the incredible achievements of the greatest driver never to win the World Championship.

Mike Wilds, The late Barrie Williams

Editing Team Jeff Heywood Lisa Davies Andrew Coles Cover image: Andrew Coles Advertising Display Advertising

MLife: Transmitting a Legend

The SMG-equipped E46 Convertible – Is there redemption to be found in this unloved variant?

Full Circle Club member Gabriel Samaroo takes us through the history of his BMW ownership.

Hine Marketing 01452 730 770 nick@hinemarketing.co.uk Website advertising

The Odd Couple

office@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Wilhelm Noll and Fritz Cron, a brilliant motorcycle sidecar combination.

Online classifieds - £4.95 bmwcarclubgb.uk

The ‘Square-Rigger’ E28

Classifieds - £9.95 per issue

Revisiting the Classics No. 5. The E28.

Club Office 01970 267 989 office@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 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 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 2020

38 Are friends electric?

6 Series Register Captain, Mani Singh Hayer, tries out the new i3S for the day.

E31 M8 – The one that never was…

Richard Baxter, discusses why the E31 M8 never existed on our roads.

Russ Cockburn

BMW Car Club Racing members say goodbye to their greatest supporter and friend.. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Contents

from the editor

34 regulars 6

Board Torque

Thoughts from the Boardroom

10 Club News 12 BMW News 14 Products 15 Meguiar’s

Welcome to the May issue of Straight Six! This issue is packed with news and articles to keep you occupied during lockdown. We are also running competitions on our social media, so keep an eye on our Facebook page. Last month we sadly said goodbye to two legends in motorsport, Sir Stirling Moss and Russ Cockburn. We remember these great personalities and their achievements on pages 16 and 46. The SMG-equipped E46 M3 is regarded as the most unpopular M3 built. Automotive journalist and Straight Six co-editor, Andrew Coles, decides whether there is redemption to be found in this unloved variant in this month’s MLife: Transmitting a Legend on page 18. Have you thought about your past cars and wished you could own them again? This is exactly what Club member Gabriel Samaroo has done. Starting his history of car ownership with an E21, then on to a Ford Capri 2.8 Injection and then an E28 M535i. Later in life he would come ‘Full Circle’ and purchase a concours level E21 and a Ford Capri 2.8 Injection. Read the fascinating story on page 25. Head to page 30 for the history of the brilliant motorcycle sidecar combination that was Wilhelm Noll and Fritz Cron. On page 34 you can revisit the classic that is the E28. It had a lot to live up to, and this edition of ‘Revisiting the Classics’ will help you look for the best example of the popular 5 Series. Are friends electric? This is what our 6 Series Register Captain, Mani Singh Hayer, finds out when he tried the new i3S for the day, borrowed from retailer Sytner BMW Leicester. Read the feature on page 38. Our M Power Register Captain, Richard Baxter, discusses why the E31 M8 didn’t materialize and land on our roads on page 43. This is the classic that never was… Practical Classics Classic Car & Restoration Show have a new date for your diaries! The postponed show will now take place on 7-9th of August. At the time of publishing, Silverstone Classic is still going ahead, with the Early Bird prices extended until 10th of May. For any further event updates, please keep an eye on our social media and fortnightly E-Newsletter. Do you have an interesting article for Straight Six? Whether it’s 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! Remember, Straight Six is a magazine for members, written by members. Want to help the Club? We are always looking for volunteers with knowledge in BMW models to fill our vacant registers. To find out what roles need filling or to show your interest, email officeadmin@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk. Part-time photographer or just love taking pictures? Send us high quality images of your BMW along with a caption to officeadmin@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk to be in for the chance to win FREE Meguiar’s products! Below is this month’s winner! Happy reading! Jeff, Lisa & Andrew Straight Six editorial team.

50 Pirelli 51 Crossword 53 Regions 63 Registers 72 Your Photos 74 Club Pub Meets www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

boardtorque

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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, please contact us at limitededition@pirelli.com from all the Regions and Registers – it’s AGM Announcement your club. Personally, I want the annual The steps recommended by the UK event to be diverse, by that I mean I Government to combat the effects want it to be about all BMWs, whether of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), in factory fresh, modified, old and rusty, it particular the recommendation to doesn’t matter as long as it’s got a BMW avoid large public gatherings, means badge on it. Are you celebrating a major the Annual General Meeting No.38 milestone? Is your model becoming a of BMW Car Club (GB) LTD which cult classic? What model anniversaries was due to be held on Saturday 16th are you celebrating? This would then May 2020 will be postponed with all feed into the new event and become a view to reconvene in August, as top focal points. We need to do more for mandated in section 14 of the Articles other related BMW themes and forums of Association. like we used to attract, more modified All voting activity facilitated by the cars and this will hopefully become one face-to-face meeting will be carried of Europe’s best annual events. forward to the rescheduled date and Richard Stern – Series Director time, with the exception of the end of year accounts, which we will make every effort to publish electronically in In this our collective Board Torque I the coming weeks. Our accountants am sending my thoughts out to you Davies Lewis Baker are working hard all as our members, hoping that you to fulfil that requirement. are all well and that your families and At this stage, it is not possible loved ones are all equally so. We are to forecast either the duration of this all experiencing varying degrees of disruption or its impact, however our frustration in what we hope is the primary focus is on the health, safety safety of our homes and getting and wellbeing of our staff, members, on with life as best we can and and the general public. In line with being mindful of those that are on the current guidance on the situation, the front-line dealing with the fight we have the capability for staff to against COVID-19. I am equally sure work from home, all National and that some of you will be finding time Regional events have been cancelled, to cherish and share the love with meetings are all held via Cisco your BSO (Bright, Shiny Object/s) WebEx collaboration toolset, and we that sit on your driveway or in your are monitoring the status of events garage, longing for the day that you scheduled for later in the year, with a can once again drive unhindered view to assessing the risk, impact and beyond the local supermarket and feasibility of attending. on the open road with that special In conclusion, it is ‘business as experience that only comes from unusual’, the Board and staff are behind the wheel of your Ultimate focussed on maintaining service and Driving Machine, your BMW! doing what we can to look after our We should all be looking forward members, sponsors and partners with hope and anticipation that the through the present uncertainty, in Silverstone Classic (31 July to 02 order to ensure we respond rapidly August) can go ahead as planned, when normal conditions return. possibly our first real opportunity to Jamal Blanc – Chairman come together once more as a Club and that Social Distancing will be in the With all events being cancelled in 2020, past. In the meantime, my friends and maybe we were psychic in cancelling our fellow members, stay safe and be well. National Festival early? But regardless, Martyn Goodwin – Retailer Liaison we need to think about the right venue As I am sat outside on a warm sunny for 2021 and the future for our annual day with the birds singing and a cold event. I think Gaydon as a venue for us G&T in hand it’s hard not to think that at has run its course, we have been going least three quarters of this country is on there for over 10 years and I strongly lockdown and many people on an open believe it’s time for something new. We ended Government funded furlough, with need somewhere fresh and exciting and social distancing and a crazy shortage to do this we need time to plan. We will of many items in supermarkets missing come back bigger and better next year from the shelves. Hopefully at the time as we’ll all have time to focus on it with of reading this edition of Straight Six new ideas and enthusiasm. We also want you are all well and we have some more to engage with you! This club is about its encouraging news. members; we should have regular input

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

On a lighter note the roads and lanes around the village where I live are quiet, peaceful and traffic free and as one of my close neighbours (standing at two meters away) ‘of a certain age’ said “this is what the village used to be like in the 70’s, just a few vehicles, plenty of cyclists and people out for an evening stroll down to the local pub”. On the Car Club side of things as you already know all meetings and shows have been cancelled until further notice, and even though a lot of time and effort has been spent we have to prioritise the health and wellbeing of our nation above our plans. We can only look forward to meeting up with friends and fellow club members as soon as we see the back of this awful virus and have been given the all clear to socialise again. Keep safe and well my friends, look forward to seeing you soon. Dave Evans – Region Director As you are all aware the situation we all find ourselves in could not have been predicted by any of us, and we are unable to know what will happen going forward. Once you have ensured you and your family are safe you may have the opportunity to work on that project you have been putting off, or complete the article for the magazine, or do some research on your car’s past. Whatever it is, we can all help each other and stay positive whether it’s friends you have made at a local Branch meet or at a National show, we should at times like this be one community and be able to share and discuss not only your car issues but other things. Once we get back to some sort of normality then I hope we can all work together to enjoy some events, whether it’s participating by helping with the organisation or bringing your car on display. Hopefully the Silverstone Classic will go ahead without problems and we can show off all that’s good about the BMW Car Club. I am hoping that the Club’s racing championship will be able to host enough races you can all come and support, the Trackday at Snetterton in September will be great for novice and experienced drivers, but most importantly I want you all to stay safe so we can all enjoy these events together as a Club. I wish you all the best and look forward to sharing stories later in the year of what you got up to during the lockdown. Neil McDonald – Motorsport Director www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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thoughts from the boardroom

Graeme Grieve, CEO BMW (UK) Ltd.

There’s one subject that dominates our lives at the moment so I’d like to try and whisk you away from all that for a brief moment and indulge in a bit of good old nostalgia. Without wishing to trivialise the current situation I think most of us motoring aficionados are probably frustrated that the roads are now quieter than they’ve ever been in our lifetimes, yet we can’t go out and take advantage of those highways and byways. And this got me thinking as I gazed out of the window at a glorious spring morning – if I could go out for a nonessential drive, in which classic BMW would I choose to enjoy these sparselytrafficked roads? There’s certainly an extensive back catalogue to choose from but I think I’d set my sights on the glorious Z8. We’ve a history of making some rather fine Roadsters and when it was launched the Z8 was the pinnacle of the breed – classic looks allied to the lusty S62 V8 from the contemporary M5 gave it the credentials to be an all-time great. Strangely, it wasn’t always thus. The Z8’s reception from the press was warm without being glowing – maybe its left-hand drive configuration was off putting – or perhaps as we entered a new millennium retro styling was deemed not forward looking enough? Either way the car itself was an absolute cracker and unlike any other modern BMW. Constructed around a lightweight spaceframe chassis and wrapped in aluminium bodywork penned by Henrik Fisker as an homage to the iconic 507, it really was, and still is, a very handsome machine.

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

It’s hard to believe that it has been 20 years since it went on sale but before it hit the road it was already a screen icon thanks to its starring role in the Bond film The World is Not Enough. As is the way with most of 007’s cars it suffered an ignominious fate, being sliced in half by a helicopter equipped with a tree cutting saw. Fortunately the vehicle used for this scene wasn’t a genuine Z8 – I always felt the film should have come with an advisory note: no Z8s were harmed in the making of this film. The Z8’s V8 developed 400bhp and with less weight to haul around than the M5 it was even faster, recording a zero to 62mph time of just 4.7 seconds. With rack and pinion steering, MacPherson struts up front and a multi-link set up at the rear and the brakes from a 750i it handled and stopped as well as it looked. Despite this second-hand values once dropped to as low as £40,000 – I wish my

crystal ball had been working back then as they can now change hands for over £300,000! And it’s not hard to understand why they’re now so coveted. The Z8 is an epic car to drive with the sonorous V8 providing vivid acceleration while its advanced underpinnings endow it with an excellent ride when cruising and sublime handling when pressing on. Its retro-styled cockpit is a perfect complement to the exterior yet it has all the mod cons you could ever need – it even has satellite navigation tucked away in its radio display. As much as I’d like to be behind the wheel of a Z8 once again for the time being I’ll just have to be satisfied with my Roadster musings and hope that it’s not too long before we can emerge from lockdown and enjoy our BMWs again. In the meantime, I can only wish you and your families all the best in these trying times – stay safe and well.

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

clubnews National Events Calendar 2020

Club Volunteers

We are on the lookout for enthusiastic volunteers with a passion for the Club and BMW! Here are some vacancies in our Regions and Registers: Irish Region: We are looking for a member based in Ireland to rise to the challenge of becoming a Regional Chair. You can be based in either Northern Ireland or Republic of Ireland. Being a Regional Chair means you can organise your own events and pub meets, and get to know likeminded people in your area. 2 Series Register: If you are a keen 2 Series fan this would be the perfect role for you! Register Captains are there to help our members with questions about their cars. You don’t need to know everything about the mechanics of a 2 Series, however some knowledge is helpful. Other vacant Registers: 5 Series E60/61 and F07 Registers 6 Series F06/12/13 Register Z Series Register i3 Register If you are interested in volunteering for any of the above, please email officeadmin@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk for more information.

May Early Bird prices have been extended until 10th May. Book by the end of May to join us. BMW Car Club promises a larger presence at Silverstone Classic’s 30th anniversary, with a more central location to enjoy the weekend’s racing and facilities.

How to access digital issues of Straight Six

• Log in to www.bmwcarclubgb.uk (top right corner). Once logged in, hover over ‘Club’ and click ‘Straight Six’. Click on ‘E-Magazine’ and you will see all previous and current Straight Six issues. • Keep an eye out for a link in your member’s only E-Newsletter, which is emailed to you every fortnight. • Email the office through office@ bmwcarclubgb.co.uk.

New Members CENTRAL David Roberts Nick Adderley Arun Chandhar Will Beechey Charlie Foley Gary Kruba CENTRAL WEST Jabel Khan Rengel Vanderwyk Patricia Appleby David Whitehead Harpinder Gill Samuel Begley Ian Best CHESHIRE & STAFFS Anthony Kitchen CUMBRIA Richard Chalmers John Chester Paul Kerr EAST ANGLIA Steve Kirk Albertas Gasputis Shane Gunfield Jonathon Armbruster Alison Barton Mark White Phil Hobbs

Clinton Cornish Robert James EASTERN Stewart Messruther Trevor Brown Matthew White Arundeep Punia Thomas Caffry IRELAND Tom Flynn David Kennedy LONDON Mike Digby Harry Miller Sylvester Esuruoso Manjit Sandhu Bora Esen Zubin Sapurgi Richard Humphrey Dzowani Mickiewicz Seymour Forsyth Winston Smith William Heffron David King Daniel Packowski Julian Shapland Simon Gurdere Jamie Horastead Aleksander Dabrowski Rahul Nagar

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

1-3:

SCOTLAND Gerry McCafferty Luisa Crawford Kimberly Foster

Postponed - To book, call MSV ticket hotline 0843 453 9000, and quote the booking code DHF_20_HHDG8JV

Southern Concours

BMW Car Club AGM

Cancelled Postponed with a view to reconvene in August

June 5-12:

Munich Trip

Open to all BMWCC members in any BMW. For more information, or to book, please email 3series@ bmwcarclubgb.co.uk.

19-21: BMW Welsh Weekend

To book, contact Metropole Hotel direct on 01597 823 700 and quote BMW Welsh Weekender. Ju

21:

Bicester Heritage Sunday Scramble

Denis Glowacki Thomas Matchett Jonathan Stockham David Wilkins Ryszard Dyszko MID WALES & SHROPSHIRE Richard Proudlove NORTH EAST Shaun Green Steven Appleby John Colquhoun Nathan Longstaff Andrew Atkinson Phillip Hare Steven Fagan Robert Cook David Rivers NORTH WALES Colin Barker NORTH WEST Stephen Weir Jason Lewis Itsham Sadiq

Donington Historic Festival

April’s postponed Sunday Scramble. All bookings from April’s Scramble will be valid on this day. Full refunds are available if you cannot attend.

Stuart Mason David Brown

July

SOUTH EAST Tom Bolger Tommy Ritchie Martyn Russell Darren Hanison Trevor Scarlett Isaac Anscomb Dave Ripley Simon Copley WESTERN Richard Hill Niall Penny Andrew Sproson Mark Defty WESSEX Jahanara Khanom Chris Youmans Mark Strickland Aaron Roberts Leslie Morris Uvis Cevers Charles Neil Atkinson Rod Long Wayne Guthrie Matthew Mullin Jason Barrow

Western-Super-Mare beach front lawns. For more information, email western@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

BM’s on the Lawn

31-2 Aug

Silverstone Classic

30th anniversary of Silverstone Classic. Club code: 2020CCD057

August 7-9:

Practical Classics Classic Car & Restoration Show New dates announced for the popular show at the NEC, Birmingham.

16: National Concours d’Elegance

Stone Manor Hotel, Kidderminster. Pre-book entry either with Club Office 01970 267 989 or through Club Shop shop.bmwcarclubgb.uk.

November 13-15: Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show NEC Birmingham www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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bmwnews bmwnews Message from the Chairman of BMW AG In a press conference called in late March, the Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Oliver Zipse, made the following statement; “We take our responsibilities seriously, both when it comes to ensuring the protection and health of our employees and to achieving the best possible balance in terms of profitability. One thing is certain: coronavirus is here now, but there will also be a time after coronavirus. The approach we are taking clearly reflects the BMW Group’s ability to react quickly and flexibly.” – “New technologies are key to the future of mobility. Up to 2025, we intend to invest more than €30 billion in research and development to underscore our position as an innovation leader. This also expresses our confidence for the future business development.”

The BMW Group set about achieving the new CO2 targets at an early stage; with its Performance > NEXT programme launched in 2017, further moves were made to achieve greater efficiency and a stronger operating performance. 46,000 employees have received training in the field of electric mobility. The Performance > NEXT programme is expected to generate efficiency savings in excess of €12 billion by the end of 2022. Development times for new models will be reduced by as much as one third. On the product side, up to 50% of traditional drivetrain variants will be eliminated from 2021 onwards. The next generation of the BMW 7 Series will be available with four different types of drivetrain; as a highly efficient diesel or petrol-driven car, as

Oliver Zipse, Chairman BMW AG

an electrified plug-in hybrid and, for the first time, as an all-electric BEV model, which will also be equipped with a fifthgeneration electric drivetrain. By 2023, the BMW Group will already have 25 electrified models on the roads – more than half of them all-electric.

BMW i Hydrogen NEXT here in 2022 The future BMW i Hydrogen NEXT fuel cell electric vehicle is scheduled to be unveiled in 2022, equipped with a stateof-the-art hydrogen-based powertrain. The new trial model will be produced in a small series on a modified G05 X5 chassis. The second generation hydrogen fuel cell powertrain generates 170hp of electric output from the chemical reaction between hydrogen (from the vehicle’s storage tanks) and oxygen in the ambient air. Essentially, the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen creates water, so the emissions of the powertrain are entirely green and eco-friendly. The electric converter located underneath the fuel cell units at the front adapts the voltage level to that of both the electric powertrain and the peak power battery located on the rear axle of the vehicle. The high-voltage battery is fed by brake

energy as well as energy from the fuel cell. The hydrogen storage tanks are both weight and space-optimized, they are located on the floor of the vehicle, below the passenger shuttle. The tanks are pressurized to 700bar and, together, have a storage capacity of 6kgs of liquid hydrogen. This mass of fuel ensures a long vehicle range regardless of weather conditions. The total system output of the hydrogen fuel cell/electric powertrain is 374hp. Another plus point is the hydrogen tanks take 3-4 minutes maximum to fill. The prospects of offering a largerscale series production BMW FCEV depend very much on market conditions, requisite infrastructure, competitive pricing and customer requirements. BMW estimates that it will be able to launch such a vehicle in the second half of this decade.

BMW Group R&D chief Klaus Fröhlich stated that BMW’s ‘Power of Choice’ strategy is an all-encompassing, multi-pillar approach to future mobility, offering conventional internal combustion powertrains together with pure electric, plug-in hybrid and even hydrogen fuel cell alternatives. BMW forecasts that multiple powertrain solutions will coexist for a long time, maybe even 15 to 20 years from now.

The BMW i Hydrogen NEXT fuel cell and hydrogen tanks

The BMW i Hydrogen NEXT fuel cell electric vehicle will be based on a modified G05 X5 chassis

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

bmwnews Apple working with BMW to offer ‘Car Key’ feature

BMW, as well as other car makers, are investing heavily in new technologies, and smartphone integration is a key element in this new push. BMW already allows you to use your Android smartphone as a car key and has an app that allows you to check on your car’s status from across the globe. This is a pretty cool feature

but Apple users have been left out in the cold in this regard, which was a bit of a surprise to many people. It seems that Apple are keen to catch up and are working with BMW on a new way to open and close your car, without a key fob. The two companies are working on a 3.0 version of the Digital Key. This new feature will use a combination of BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) and UWB (ultra-wideband) to allow you to lock and unlock your car without having to take your phone out of your pocket and touch the door handle with it. It seems the new iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max already have the necessary tech and implementing it on the cars should make them a lot safer and avoid situations where thieves can simply steal your BMW by using a relay.

Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este postponed

This fabulous event, which was due to take place from the 22nd to 24th May, has been postponed. The organisers – BMW Group Classic and the Grand Hotel Villa d’Este – are now planning new dates from 16th to 18th October 2020.

McLaren F1 GTR Longtail listed for sale This is the first Longtail McLaren F1 GTR to ever go on open sale. It is the first of only ten F1 GTR Longtail examples ever produced and the factory prototype/development car. It was first raced at the Suzuka 1000km where it ran in Lark Livery and boasts extensive Japanese race history. It is one of only two F1 GTR Prototypes in private hands, the other is owned by renowned collector Nick Mason. Chassis 19R was also the first Longtail to ever be converted to road specification, the work carried out by Lanzante and Gordon Murray Design.

The Longtail F1 GTR models came with better aero, longer noses and tails as well as a wider body to get as much downforce as possible pressing on the car and the tyres to keep them competitive. The mighty BMW V12 engine was also tweaked, taking the displacement to 5990cc to adhere to the World Sportscar Championship rules of 1997. The V12 developed 600hp in this guise and was mated to a sequential gearbox. This particular example is for sale via specialist dealer Tom Hartley Jnr, POA.

This stunning McLaren F1 GTR is the first Longtail version to ever go on open sale

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

products MOMO Trofeo Heritage Gear Shift Knob

M-Style Scorpion High Flow Downpipe for BMW F20/21 M140i As proud distributors of Scorpion exhausts, M-Style is pleased to offer Scorpion High-flow downpipes for the F20/21 M140i. Most new cars now come with a Petrol Particulate Filter (PPF) which restricts both the flow of exhaust gasses and the sound the vehicle produces. Luckily, the wizards over at Scorpion have come up with a solution to alleviate this issue. Scorpion has developed a high quality 4’’ (100mm) pipe made from T304 stainless steel. This downpipe frees up back pressure and limits restrictions in the exhaust. The downpipe is a direct replacement for the original and one of the most cost effective ways to improve the soundtrack of the car as well as the performance. Prices start at £447 including VAT with an additional £120 charge for fitting this part. For further details e-mail info@ mstyle.co.uk or call 0208 598 9115 DEI’s EXO Series™ Exhaust and Pipe Wrap

The craftsmanship of MOMO’s artisans has been taken to a new level with the introduction of the Trofeo Heritage Gear Knob. The Trofeo is a triumph of extraordinary woodworking in which mahogany and beechwood have been combined, layered and expertly sanded along the whole body of the grip area. The result is a complex but harmonious game of contrasts between colours and materials. The crown jewel of this shift knob is the vintage tobacco leather top featuring the stamped MOMO Heritage logo to ensure no one is left guessing about the pedigree of this unique product. The Trofeo has been ergonomically designed for a three-finger’s grip, making for a faster gear shift with a taste for racing. Price: £179.99 inc. VAT. For more details contact Brown & Geeson Ltd. +44 (0) 1268 764411 or visit their website: www.momo-uk.co.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

DEI’s EXO Series™ Exhaust and Pipe Wrap provides superior heat protection and insulation for pipes and exhausts repeatedly exposed to abrasive or high impact environmental conditions. Whether it’s hill climbing, rally or autocross racing, off-roading or dirt track racing, the EXO Series thermal wrap is the most durable and rugged wrap on the market.

M-Style - Eibach Springs and Spacers for BMW F80/F82

Uniquely constructed with a dual layer design of high temp glass fibre encased in a 304 grade stainless steel exoskeleton, this wrap provides rugged good looks, durability and superior heat protection. The exoskeleton construction creates an air gap between the wrap and the pipe for additional cooling and allows the wrap to overlap and lock together for a tight, secure fit. EXO Series is available in both black and tan in either 1.5” x 10’, 20’ and 30’ lengths. Prices start at £33.56 plus shipping and tax. Order direct from DEI in America, or you can search on-line for a dealer in your area at www.designengineering. com/storelocator/international-dealers In the UK DEI products may be ordered from Demon Tweaks and Nimbus Motorsport. For more information about the EXO Series Exhaust and Pipe Wrap or other thermal control performance products, visit www.DesignEngineering.com

Give your BMW F80/F82 a lower stance with M-Style’s current offer on Eibach lowering springs and spacer kits. The wheel spacers provide a 12mm offset at the front and 15mm at the rear. The springs will lower the ride by 20mm at the front and 10mm at the rear. The complete kit retails at £389.00 inc. VAT and fitting at M-Style’s BMW specialist workshop in Romford, Essex. M-Style is also able to offer Eibach springs for other BMW and MINI models.For further details e-mail info@mstyle.co.uk or call 0208 598 9115 www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Products Webcon’s Top Cover Replacement Assembly for Weber 32/36DGV Weber’s 32/36DGV carburettor has been around for decades and many of the originals are still going strong. However if your 32/36 is worn or has been damaged there is no need to buy a complete new carburettor. Webcon has the largest range of genuine Spanish Weber carburettor top cover assemblies available and is pleased to announce a new replacement top cover to suit the ever popular Weber 32/36DGV. The replacement top cover comes already assembled as part number 3171613200 and is supplied complete with: • Cover • Choke plates and shaft • Powervalve • Float • Needle valve ... and even the Gasket 3171613200 is priced at £94.33 plus VAT. For further details contact Webcon UK on +44 (0)1932 787100 or visit www.webcon.co.uk

Webcon’s Airhorn for Weber DGV Caburettor

The key to obtaining maximum performance from an engine/ carburettor setup is ensuring a smooth flow of air into the carburettor. For many years models such as the Weber DCOE and IDF have benefitted from having air horns that provide an optimised, smooth flow of air into the intake. Other carburettors, such as the popular downdraft DGV and DGAS type, have had nothing available. All that has changed now with the introduction of the Webcon low profile air horn. This has been designed specifically to suit the Weber twin choke 32/36 DGV/DGAV, as well as the 38 DGAS/ DGMS. The new air horn is superbly machined from billet aluminium and features a radiused profile to ensure optimum airflow. Using these air horns in a super competitive race series might just give a winning edge. Part number 5284801500 is available at just £74.95 plus VAT. For further details contact Webcon UK on +44 (0)1932 787100 or visit www.webcon.co.uk

MEGUIAR’S INTRODUCESTHE NEW ULTIMATE SNOW FOAM

EXTREME CLING WASH DELIVERS THE ULTIMATE SWIRL-FREE SHINE T rusted car care experts Meguiar’s, has just introduced a larger size for their Meguiar’s® Ultimate Snow Foam. This formula is engineered specifically towards car enthusiasts looking for the ultimate snow foam to use along with a foam cannon and pressure washer. Ultimate Snow Foam, with Xtreme Cling foam, is the perfect way to obtain a swirl-free wash that won’t compromise wax protection! This advanced formula contains a specialized Xtreme Cling foaming action that delivers an intense foam that sticks and clings to painted surfaces gently loosening road grime, dirt and contaminants. Fine-tuned to carefully and thoroughly clean coated, waxed or sealed finishes while preserving protection and leaving a brilliant, swirl-free shine. This versatile product can be used in one of two ways: either as a pre-wash prior to using a traditional two-bucket method or used with a premium wash mitt. If the vehicle you are working with needs deep cleaning, spray the Ultimate Snow Foam on the paint and rinse off. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Then, wash the vehicle using your favorite car wash using two buckets: one bucket with your wash solution and the second as a rinse bucket with water to help keep your wash mitt clean and free of debris. For lighter cleaning, you can instead spray on the Ultimate Snow Foam and gently work in with a premium wash mitt before rinsing off and drying. With either method, the Ultimate Snow Foam will deliver an amazing foaming action that will help loosen dirt and debris while helping lubricate and buffer the paint to help prevent swirls and will ultimately preserve the protection that’s on your paint. So, the next time you are looking for a premium wash to use with your foam cannon Meguiar’s® Ultimate Snow Foam Xtreme Cling Wash is the perfect choice! Meguiar’s Ultimate Snow Foam comes in a 1.89L bottle and has an RRP of £28.00. It can be found in UK stores and online from early April 2020. About Meguiar’s For more than 115 years, Meguiar’s has provided Car Crazy® people with spe-

cialized state-of-the-art formulations for making every car’s appearance show car perfect. Meguiar’s provides high performance car care products for every automotive surface. To learn more visit www. meguiars.co.uk.

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

Obituary

orn in London on September 17 1929, Stirling Moss would be no stranger to the world of motorsport. His father, Alfred Moss, was an amateur racing driver who, at the age of 25, competed at the Essex Motor Club Winter Trial 1921 in an Avro Bicar. He later became the first dentist to compete in an Indianapolis 500 race in 1924, finishing 16th place. He returned home in 1925, where he would continue racing at Brooklands, emerging victorious in the Short Handicap race at the August Bank Holiday Meeting of summer 1925. Moss’ mother, Aileen, had also been involved in some motorsport, competing at pre-war hillclimbs in a Singer Nine. Racing was clearly fixed in the Moss gene, creating a successful auto rally driver in daughter Patricia “Pat” Moss, and forging the legend that is Stirling Moss. Moss maintained an interest in cars and driving from a young age, at the age of nine he would take his old Austin Seven around the fields surrounding their home. School was not a priority, and neither was following the family footsteps in dentistry. In 1947, with a recently purchased BMW 328 in his possession, Alfred Moss relented to his son’s aspirations, and allowed the young Stirling to borrow the black DPX 653 registration BMW for his very first speed trial at the Harrow Car Club Trial.

The trial was won comfortably, and ultimately created the start of his successful career in motor racing. Moss would later describe the 328 as “a great little sports car in which I learned a great deal.” Sold in 1948 to a doctor, the BMW changed hands a few times, even going as far as Australia. At the age of 82, 65 years after his first race, Moss was reunited with the now white 328, “I’m very happy to see my old car, but it’s the wrong colour of course, when I had it, it was black!” The 328 wouldn’t be the only BMW Stirling had the pleasure of driving, as 02 Register Chairman Richard Stern explains, “He owned a few 2002 Tourings, but BMW never built a right-hand drive Touring Tii (with mechanical fuel injection being the main advantage), they were only left-hand drive. So, Stirling got the BMW importer of the time to convert a normal carburetted 02 Touring to Tii specification. That not only meant the more powerful 130bhp injection engine, but stronger rear trailing arms, and bigger front brakes to cope with the extra power. It was in special order black and I believe had the number plate SM 001 or similar.” His first professional race was in 1948 at the age of 18, behind the wheel of a Cooper 500. Success earned him a seat in Formula 3, then Formula 2 for

the Hersham and Walton Motors (HWM) team, and within two years he reached the top – Formula One. His F1 career did not get off to a flying start, his cars were never as reliable as its competitors, which at the time were largely the famous Italian marques. However, his third-place finish at Spa in 1954 in a Maserati proved his potential. Mercedes, now returning to motorsport for the first time since the war, were observing, with racing legend Juan Manuel Fangio already sat firmly as their lead driver. Moss and Fangio had a strong relationship from the start, with Moss confessing, “he was the main reason I joined the Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Team in 1955.” Although his role in Mercedes was to support Fangio, he secured his first F1 victory in the British Grand Prix at Aintree, a victory that he was certain was gifted to him by Fangio. Perhaps Moss’ most famous outing came at the 1955 Mille Miglia, where he and Motor Sport journalist Dennis

“I AM NOT A DRIVER, I AM A RACER” Words: Lisa Davies. Photographs: Rexmail Pix, Klemantaski Collection/Getty Images, SWNS.com, Hulton Archive, Popperfoto, Charles Coates

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

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Obituary

Fangio and Moss at the Nurburgring, May 1955.

Jenkinson became only the second nonItalians to win the storied 1000-mile road race, driving a 300SLR for the factory Mercedes-Benz team. The pair used a scientific approach to combat their more experienced competitors driving more powerful cars, completing the twisting 992-mile course in 10 hours, 7 minutes and 48 seconds, at a scantly believable 99mph average. To address their lack of local knowledge, during pre-event testing Moss and Jenkinson transcribed detailed notes of the entire course onto a scrolling note system, which Jenkinson then relayed to Moss using a series of hand gestures, allowing the pair to take unknown corners flat and blind crests at speeds of up to 170mph. This is widely credited to be the invention of rally pacenotes, commonly used today throughout the world. Jenkinson’s detailed account of the pre-event testing (including a large accident in a 300SL road car), and a spellbinding account of what it’s like to win the 1950’s most gruelling road race can still be found online at the Motor Sport magazine website and is essential reading for the contemporary motorsport fan. When describing the race, Moss is quoted to have said, “imagine having an early breakfast and leaving London by car at about 7.15am, reaching Aberdeen by lunchtime, and getting back to London in time for a latish tea – with only two stops.” And this is in a time before the autostrada or motorway existed! Moss came closest to the World Championship in 1958, a season where he had won four races with Vanwall but finished one point behind Mike Hawthorn in his Ferrari Dino 246, making Hawthorn the first British World Champion. His sterling act of sportsmanship is what ultimately cost him the World Championship. The championship was almost decided at the Portuguese Grand Prix, Moss was dominating the race and Hawthorn had spun his car on the last lap and needed a push-start to complete the race. Moss, who was passing Hawthorn on his coolwww.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Stirling Moss adjusts the helmet of Mike Hawthorn ahead of a race in 1958.

Moss, pictured with his wife Susie, on their wedding day in 1980.

down lap, yelled for the fellow Brit to “push it downhill – you’ll never start the bloody thing that way!” A marshal had witnessed Hawthorn turning the Ferrari around, assuming he had done it against the flow of traffic on the circuit, which was against the rules and could have threatened Hawthorn with exclusion. Summoned as a witness, Moss insisted that Hawthorn had not been on the track at the time, and was push-starting the car on the pavement, which allowed him to turn his Ferrari on an escape road. If he had not supported Hawthorn, the title would have been his and Hawthorn would have been disqualified. Looking back at his decision to support Hawthorn, he said, “it turned out that it lost me the title. But it’s a case of what winning means to you.” After the 1958 season, Moss raced in a handful of different cars, mainly Coopers and Lotus. He previously vowed never to race for Enzo Ferrari, and although for 1962 he was given a deal that would see him compete in a Ferrari painted in dark blue and white, his vow was kept, as on Easter Monday 1962, competing in the Formula One Glover Trophy at Goodwood, he crashed his Lotus heavily, resulting in injuries that put him in a coma for a month, and partially paralysed the left side of his body for six months. A year later he returned to Goodwood, but admitted, “it was obvious the level of concentration needed to compete had gone. I knew that if I didn’t get out I’d kill myself and maybe somebody else. So, at 32, my plans of continuing to race until my late 40s like my hero Fangio were over.” Moss didn’t retire from the public eye, expanding his commercial interests instead. He began a property business with his family, narrated the popular children’s series ‘Roary the Racing Car’, and became a familiar voice in commentating. His success has been commended many times; in 1990 he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, was made a Knight Bachelor for services

to motor racing in the 2000 New Year Honours list, and most notably knighted by Prince Charles on March 21, 2000. He officially retired in 2018 at the age of 88, with his son Elliot Moss announcing that his father “will finally retire, so that he and my mother can have some much-deserved rest and spend more time with each other and the rest of the family.” The name ‘Stirling Moss’ will forever be etched into the history of motorsport, and it’s no surprise as out of the 375 competitive races he finished during his professional racing career, he came first an amazing 212 times, working out at more than one win in two. Speaking about his achievements over the years, in 2012 Sir Stirling said, “I hope I’ll continue to be described as the greatest driver who never won the World Championship, but it doesn’t really matter as the most important thing for me was gaining the respect of other drivers and I think I achieved that. I had a fantastic innings and you couldn’t think of a better life for a young man.” Sir Stirling Moss, OBE 1929-2020

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

Power Feature

LIFE

TRANSMITTING A LEGEND By Andrew Coles

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

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Power Feature

bjectively, the SMG-equipped E46 Convertible is the most unpopular M3 built, but is there redemption to be found in this unloved variant? I’ll skip you straight to my end conclusion – no, there isn’t. But that’s not to say there aren’t several very good reasons to buy one anyway. We’ll dive into those on the drive I’ve got planned, and what a way of getting to the bottom of it all. A weekday dash through motorway traffic, 250-miles return, from my home in Cambridge down to a meeting at Goodwood. And then a sunny weekend spent hopping about the Cambridgeshire countryside with friends, going nowhere in particular. Whenever I’m borrowing a car overnight for evaluation or otherwise, there’s a time-honoured early morning routine I revel in. I’m not one for setting off immediately with a stone-cold car, so I like to make myself a coffee, take it outside, and sip it as the machine brings itself up to temperature, taking in its details and reflecting on its meaning as the steam emanates out of its exhausts. Why then, is this one so divisive? The E46 M3 Convertible, here with the controversial SMG semi-automated transmission. And a soft, flexible, wobbly fabric roof instead of a rigid, fixed one formed of steel, aluminium or carbon. Should either of these options have a place in BMW’s carefully-honed icon, a car that had its genesis as a homologation special for racing? No. But, yes. Maybe the problem resides not with the car, but within ourselves? It’s complicated. I feel sorry for the children of popculture icons. If you happen to be born as Dhani Harrison, Randolph Churchill or Mick Schumacher, it must be very difficult to step out of your parent’s shadow. Doesn’t make you any less of a person, though. So, for the purpose of our drive, let’s pretend that the E46 M3 was only built as a Coupe, and that this car is, say, an E46 332Ci. Although maybe that would be doing the M3 Convertible a disservice, because that engine on its own more than justifies the nomenclature. I mean, you could put an S54B32 in just about anything

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and affix an M badge and I don’t think you’d get a single argument. It is one of the all-time great engines, right up there in the ‘final tank of fuel’ doomsday discussion. Evolved from the S50 fitted to earlier E36 M3 Evolution and Z3M models, by making 343bhp (at 7900rpm!) from its 3.2-litre capacity, the S54 sits in a rarefied stratosphere of naturally aspirated production engines to boast over 100bhp per litre of capacity – at the time, the only other manufacturer to reach this famous target was Ferrari. These days it’s relatively easy to produce prodigious power by slapping a few turbos onto an otherwise lacklustre engine, but with the S50 and S54, BMW achieved something that no other mainstream manufacturer could. It almost doesn’t matter what packaging your S54 comes wrapped in, it’s going to be good whatever the scenario. And just look at the E46 M3, with those iconic fat wheel arches swollen just as far as good taste dictates, housing plump wheels for a squat, passiveaggressive stance. Four stubby exhausts are the only deviation from an otherwise demure derriere, mirroring similar restraint shown at the front. It’s a good looking, purposefully understated car in anyone’s book. And, once warm, it’ll rev to eightthousand. How could anyone ever argue that this isn’t a good thing? Oh, that gearbox. That’ll do it, and

it makes itself known as soon as I pull out of my driveway. Nothing dates a car from the 1990s or 2000s quite like period satellite navigation and a semi-automatic gearbox, and in respect to the E46 M3, they are both anachronisms. At slow speeds around town it is jerky and uncouth, and when I find an enticing stretch of B-road, it masks the intimacy and connection with the car I crave. Heading to Goodwood with the top up, seat heaters on and my mind focusing on the destination not the journey, this is the time when a two-pedal transmission needs to excel. But it misses the mark. There are flashes of brilliance from the SMG, like when you allow that divine straight six to kiss its rev limiter in second or third gear on full throttle and a no-lift upshift maintains maximum momentum, but those moments are few and far between. At anything less than maximum attack I find myself using the cold, beautifully wrought console-mounted shift knob (I find the steering wheel-mounted paddles annoyingly flimsy) to control the gearbox, timing my shifts with a lift of the throttle for smoothness. The delivery is acceptable if you drive it like a manual, but in that case, why not just drive a manual? BMW’s ‘Sequential Manual Gearbox’ pinpoints this car to a particular time and place in automotive history, and from that perspective, it’s actually quite interesting. BMW first brought SMG to market

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

Power Feature in 1997 on the E36 M3, and the E46 generation launched with an improved version called, unsurprisingly, SMG II. The electrohydraulic manual transmission is basic in concept, requiring little engineering investment from the manufacturer for a large payoff in the eyes of the contemporary consumer. It all seemed very futuristic, didn’t it? Just pull a flappy paddle to change gear, like the racing drivers do. Except the manual gearbox and clutch assembly remain largely untouched, and instead of the shift rods being actuated by linkages running inside the car and operated by the driver, they are computer controlled and actuated electro-hydraulically. Viewed in a historical context, it’s a simple answer to a complex problem posed by the contemporary performance cars of the late 1990s. Automatic transmissions of the time were still largely of the torque converter type and wholly unsuitable for performance driving, let alone track use. The potential benefits for both around-town usability in eliminating

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

the use of the clutch pedal in traffic, and on track, with theoretically faster shifts and the ability for the driver to keep their hands on the steering wheel at all times, were hard to ignore. The semi-automated future had arrived. The Fiat Group were the progenitors of the technology. Ferrari’s Formula One team had introduced the sport’s first semi-automated gearbox on 1989’s John Barnard-designed 640, and at around the same time Lancia’s rally team developed a system for the Delta Integrale, which replaced the clutch pedal with an electrohydraulic mechanism triggered by sensors in a conventional H-pattern shifter. This Valeo-engineered system allowed the driver to left-foot brake 100 percent of the time, and Ferrari made it available to the public in a small number of Mondial Ts in 1993. Valeo also fitted this system to an F40 for Gianni Agnelli – oh, the horror! The idea was developed throughout the mid-1990s for road use into the version we’re more familiar with today, and BMW were not alone in pursuing

the technology. Most famously Ferrari linked its on-track heritage by launching its F1 gearbox on the 355 in 1997 - quite why anyone would give up the glorious tactility of a gated manual shift assembly is beyond this writer. Alfa Romeo offered Selespeed across much of its range from 1999, Aston Martin offered its SSM on the Vanquish, Lamborghini had e-gear on the Murcielago from 2001, Toyota had a version called SMT on its MR2 Spyder and Maserati had its brilliantly-named Cambiocorsa system. They were all, to put it bluntly, rubbish. Well, let me qualify that statement. At that period in time, as new cars, they were brilliant. But this design of actuation does not address a significant shortcoming, and hence, when viewed (and driven) through the window of the past two decades of technological development, they feel old, clunky, and outdated. By comparison, a manualequipped sports car from the same period feels, arguably, even more relevant today than it did back then.

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Power Feature What makes a true sequential racing transmission fit for purpose is its strength. Through the use of expensive billet materials, non-syncromesh straightcut gears and dog gear engagement (and with a far shorter service life than what is expected of a road car), a racing transmission from the likes of Hewland or X-Trac is strong enough to endure clutchless shifting. And since there’s no syncromesh to slow things down in the name of smoothness and refinement, the gears literally smash together much faster. So, the folly here is two-fold – while the manufacturer’s marketing departments spun tales of racing technology for the road, what makes a racing gearbox shift so quickly often has little to do with the type of actuation. And since the gearbox internals in a semi-automated road car remain essentially unchanged, the speed of the shift is limited by how fast the clutch and syncromesh assemblies can each work. With a semi-automated gearbox, instead of occupying shift time by using

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your left hand to move a lever and coordinating that with the action of your left foot pumping a pedal in and out, you now just pull a paddle and spend the ensuring time staring at the road ahead, wondering when the bloody gearbox will change up. Even if that process does happen faster than you could do it yourself, it sure as hell feels a lot slower. Or, what’s worse is that you become your own back-seat driver, wondering when the car will change up and tut-tutting any deviation from ideal. And therein lies the problem. Back then, it was acceptable. It’s like when you listened to a Sony Discman in the 1990s. Sure, the track skipped every now and then but hey, who cares? You’re walking down the high street AND you’re listening to Nirvana’s latest CD! But today, with skip-free streaming services like Spotify on your iPhone, why would you bother? In the past few years, we’ve also reached a particularly interesting and relevant juncture in the development of the performance automobile. Today, performance is abundant, to the point

that most modern sports and supercars are completely irrelevant for our road conditions and upwards of 50 percent of their performance is wholly unusable, even on track for the majority of owners. But it wasn’t like that when the E46 M3 was new – back then we were pushing relatable boundaries. Each new M3 was noticeably faster, stiffer and better than the last, and an average competent driver could feel, gauge and evaluate those improvements. So, if this new type of transmission shifts faster and gives a notable improvement in lap time, why not have it? It was the introduction of the dualclutch transmission by the Volkswagen Group on 2003’s MkIV Golf R32 that made the semi-automatic feel instantly obsolete. The idea wasn’t new – Porsche won the 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans with a dual-clutch equipped 956, but it took decades to refine the concept for reliable road use. This new design used two separate clutches for odd and even gearsets, swapping power transmission seamlessly between them. All the

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

Power Feature benefits of semi-automatic but with faster shift speeds and the smoothness of a torque converter, and BMW quickly adopted this design for 2008’s V8powered E90 M3. Concurrently, sections of the market seemed to accept that they themselves were now the biggest limiting factor in their car’s performance. Today, the relentless pursuit of speed is ending in some segments, and we now seem to be embarking on a relentless pursuit of engagement, with the manual

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

transmission making a resurgence. Possibly the most notable backflip came from Porsche – after declaring in 2013 that the manual transmission was dead and buried and no longer available in its most hardcore sports car, the 991 GT3, public demand saw it return in 2017’s 991.2 GT3 and it is now the most sought-after variant, despite being 0.6 seconds slower to 60mph. So where does this leave our humble SMG-equipped M3 Convertible? Caught in a no-man’s land of transmission technology, trying to make do with an evolutionary dead-end that features neither the lightning-quick shifts of a dual-clutch nor the engagement of a manual. The worst of both worlds. With my meeting at Goodwood finished and the sun shining, I put the top down and set Google Maps to avoid the motorways. Yes, a balding, slightly overweight man in a BMW convertible – cliché perhaps – but I cared not one

bit. The difference in noise between roof up and down was like clasping your hands over your ears and then releasing them – if that S54 sounded good as it neared redline on the way down, it was nothing short of magical now. Mixed with the scents of early springtime filling the cabin and the audible sound of birdsong as I took back lanes through the Sussex countryside, I couldn’t help but grin. However, I found the car rather perplexing. The E46 M3 is really all about that true M Power engine, and the SMG transmission demands you drive it hard to get the best from it. But when you begin to push the Convertible a little harder on a country road, it begins to come apart. The steering isn’t as precise as I’d like, it is nicely weighted but it lacks ultimate connection and response, the scuttle shakes and the car skips across awkward mid-corner bumps in an undignified manner. It’s as if the car and

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Power Feature

its driveline are not in perfect harmony – it’s a seven tenths vehicle fitted with a ten-tenths driveline. This was confirmed a few days later when my fiancé, her cousin and I drove it to a trailhead for a hike. The M3 Convertible is relaxing in nature when driven gently, three-up with the top down, but then there’s no real benefit over a nicely equipped 330Ci. I showed the girls what 7,500rpm sounds like a few times, jerkiness and all, but it was clearly lost on them and they shot me a look as if to say ‘well done, please stop now’, like a Mum might give her 10-year old son after he’s proven he can ride his BMX bike with no hands. Every time the car made me smile, I realised that I’d be smiling sooner and more often if it were manual. Changing gears myself would not only make it smoother and more relaxed around town, but it would calm the nature of the car down on a twisting road, allowing that magical engine to be enjoyed in a wider breadth of circumstances. The enhanced connection with driving would mean you could meaningfully dance with the engine at less than full throttle, at levels of aggression more appropriate to a fourseater convertible. If the story were to end there I’d finish on the conclusion that the E46 M3 SMG Convertible is a mismatched car, and that you should either find a manual example, or instead spend half the money on the UK’s nicest torque converter automatic 330Ci. Throw in the known reliability issues with the SMG’s hydraulic pump and the selector angle sensor and it really doesn’t make any sense to me. However, the story doesn’t end there. Remember how I mentioned that the gearbox was unchanged from a manual M3, except for the actuation system? With plentiful wrecked E46s of lesser varieties now filling the scrap yards of the UK and providing the parts, it is now relatively simple and cost effective to convert your SMG M3 to manual. I spoke to Darren Wood BMW Specialists in Stockport, Cheshire, who www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

have done several of the conversions. The first step is to remove the SMG’s pump, gear lever and wiring. The transmission’s bellhousing, which mounts the pump, can be modified, but Darren says he prefers to replace it with the correct manual bellhousing from a scrapped car for an OEM-level result. A new manual pedal box with new pipework for brake and clutch master and slave cylinders is fitted, and Darren replaces the inlet manifold as well. The SMG manifold can be reused but it will have an ugly, unused mount for a fluid reservoir so it makes for a cleaner job to swap it. A gear stick assembly from a manual M3 is required, as is a fresh hole in the transmission tunnel to accommodate it. Darren likes to remove the dash in order to replace the lower half of the instrument display, which houses SMG gear selection information, with that from a scrapped manual car, but this isn’t strictly necessary. The final step is to re-map the

ECU to tell the car it’s now a three-pedal manual, and for the entire conversion Darren charges approximately £2,500. Put this conversion into context and the E46 SMG Convertible seems a good proposition. For one, being the most unloved M3 makes it the most affordable way into S54 ownership, itself almost a means to an end. SMGs are slightly cheaper than manual cars, so a given budget will net you a much nicer SMG with better history if you go into the deal planning to convert. And if you’re short on funds, you can enjoy what is still a very special car until your budget permits conversion down the line, unlocking the joy of rediscovering the car all over again. Of course, context is key, and in the context of the majority of boring whitegoods that populate our roads, any M car is a wonderful experience and an SMG Convertible is no different. Should you be lucky enough to have one, a manual conversion is all the redemption you’ll ever need to unlock something truly special.

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

Feature

hilst in lockdown, I was reminiscing about the various cars, past and present that I have had the privilege to be the custodian of over the years since passing my driving test back in 1986. From a young age I have always loved cars, I could tell you what type of car was coming down the road without even seeing it, identifying it just by the sound of the engine. I could also recognise the make and model of most cars from a long distance by their silhouette (this is all very sad, but I reckon there are a few others like me out there!). Anyway I digress. Back in 1981, I was a 13 year old school kid and during the summer holidays my mum and I would spend four weeks in Belgium (my mum’s home country) staying with family, this in itself was not unusual because this was what we always used to do (and still do also with my wife and teenage kids) every summer since I can remember. My mum and I would travel from Dover as foot passengers on either Sealink or

Townsend Thoresen ferries and my Uncle Jos would meet us at Ostend ferry port. 1981 stands out because, unknown to me, that year Uncle Jos had ditched the 1972 Peugeot 504 and had arrived in a brand new car that had never registered on my radar (up until now, it was all about the Fords). The car in question was a 1981 (E12) BMW 520 six-cylinder, solid black paint with beige fabric interior and manual Webasto tilt and slide sunroof. I can remember my uncle saying that he had sleepless nights after placing the order from his BMW dealer, he was in turmoil over the paint colour, worried the car would be mistaken for a funeral directors car, but he had obviously overcome that thought. It did look good in black, I assured him. I got in the front passenger seat and closed the door, the first thing I noticed was when the door closed it made a reassuringly solid and pleasant “thunk” (not the slam, bang and clang of your usual Ford or Vauxhall of that era) and all the other doors made the exact same “thunk” sound. My uncle informed me that BMW

tuned the doors on the production line to get the same uniform sound from every door, I can picture it in my head, can you imagine them doing that on the Luton or Dagenham production line, I reckon that the production line workers back then would have told the quality control personnel where to go! During the two hour journey from Ostend ferry port to the Belgian family home all I did was scrutinise the whole car’s interior, build quality, and the sound of that fabulous six pot engine. A few things stood out; first the strange but ever so ergonomic position of the interior door handles, which to me were unique to what I had ever seen before on other vehicles. Then there was the red LED circular digital clock display, mounted in the centre console with an outer circular bezel surrounding it that you twisted to make adjustments to the “unten” (‘fan speed’ in English), and finally the car just felt solid, it didn’t squeak or rattle and not much wind noise. As a 13 year old I even inspected the panel gaps and shut lines of the car

FULL CIRCLE Words and Photographs by Gabriel Samaroo

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BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

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(sad but true) and I just enjoyed the sound of the fantastic six cylinder engine (once again very true and equally as sad). Fast track to 1986, I had passed my driving test (fourth attempt, enough said) and my first ever car (totally influenced by my uncle’s 520) was a 1978 E21 BMW 320 six cylinder in Pastel Blue with blue fabric interior (no sunroof though) registration LAA 719T with 59,000 miles on it. I think I paid around £3,000 for it as a private sale, I was the third owner. It originally came from BMW dealer ‘Kings Worthy Motors’ in King’s Lynn, Norfolk. This is my most memorable car for all the usual reasons that one lusts over their first car (no matter how good OR bad the ownership experience was, you will always remember it). I was in the second year of my apprenticeship as a carpenter, the first year of my apprenticeship was under a new scheme that the government of the time launched. For those of you who care to remember or forget it was called YTS (Youth Training Scheme) and you were paid £25 per week. From the point of having LAA 719T all my money was spent on the car, this was to be the start of a very long term relationship with my local BMW dealer Chandlers of Brighton, who are one of the longest established UK BMW dealerships. I remember my mates, who were also fellow carpentry apprentices constantly jibbing me about having a direct link with my BMW dealer and how my wage package should have just bypassed me and gone straight into Chandlers’ bank account, to be fair I did and still do spend a lot of time (and money) with them. I wasn’t inclined to go out and spend my money at Topman on a Saturday afternoon on the latest fashion and then blow it that night at the clubs, pubs, and disco. In fact there is a picture, together with all of my pals looking very cool for that period and me in a pink panther sweatshirt! (NOT cool for that period, in fact not cool whatsoever). Once again I digress, back to the car. When I bought LAA 719T it was a totally standard car with steel wheels. In the next two years I set about doing what most boy racers did at that time and potentially ruined the car by making it out to be something that it actually wasn’t (sound familiar?), although to be fair I think it looked mega cool and it did seem

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

to attract a lot of attention from the right people (job done then). Some of the things I subjected LAA 719T to were a set of BBS fake alloy wheels, Zender front and rear bumper spoilers, rear boot top deck spoiler (all purchased from Rippspeed International in North London) also a Perspex “M” panel that fitted between the rear back lights which I got in Belgium so no one over here could get one, making my car stand out, result! But the very best thing that the car was subjected to was actually a birthday present from best mate Dave and other pals, a genuine Alpina decal body stripe kit fitted by my BMW dealer, this totally transformed the car and got it noticed. In retrospect this was the best single item that was fitted to the car. Time for a change, the year is 1988 springtime and I say goodbye (for now) to LAA 719T and replaced it with a 1987 Rosso Red Ford Capri 2.8 Injection Special, D271 YCD with 12,000 miles on the clock. I always wanted one of these (because of the Professionals). I think I paid around £7,000 for it from “Frost Cars”, who were and still are a Vauxhall franchise dealer. I was the second owner (the first was a dentist, strange the things you remember). I can remember leaving LAA 719T in part exchange, doing the paperwork and jumping into the Capri Injection and driving it away from Frosts. It was a sunny Saturday morning and I had that ‘just got a new car’ feeling, but also equally felt gutted about leaving LAA 719T. Anyway, I enjoyed the Capri for around 18 months with no issues, but one winter’s night whilst driving on a straight dual carriageway at about 60mph, I felt the back end of the car twitch, this really unsettled me (contrary to what you have just read above, I was not a hardcore boy racer or prolific speed merchant), this incident made me lose confidence

in the car. After that event I found myself driving to the various used car dealers and my two local BMW dealers at night time (so I could wander around the used car forecourts undisturbed by sales people and look at the cars dreaming, at the same time knowing they were out of my financial reach). This went on for quite a few months, when out of the blue one evening, I passed an independent high performance car showroom, selling all brands of used cars, I had just spotted my next car behind their plate glass window. Car three, once again heavily influenced by the love of my Uncle Jos’ BMW E12 520, was to be a 1985 E28 BMW M535I in Zinnobar Red with 0206 pearl beige leather; most things adjusted electrically, but there was no air con or electric seats. It had 56,000 miles on the clock. When new it was originally a BMW press promotions fleet car for its first 18 months with BMW GB Bracknell. BMW GB then passed the car onto BMW dealer “Vines” of Sevenoaks, where the second owner bought the car with 18,000 miles on the clock, the original registration was C480 ORD but the second owner put his own private plate on it (908 WHW), which was also on the car for several months after I bought it until it was transferred back to the second owner for his next car (a Mercedes). I, the third owner, then placed another personal plate on the car; BMW 180L (which it still has today). In retrospect I wish I could have reused the original C480 ORD first registration mark, I personally think that a classic car looks better showing its original year of registration. This was no longer an option, once I had fitted the new BMW 180L plates on the car I then went and bought a window etching kit from Halfords and etched ALL the glass on the car with the diamond tipped pen and stencil that came in the kit (anyone remember those?) with my new private plate details. This car was purchased by me in 1990 for £10,000, I have owned it for 30 years now and I absolutely adore it (nearly as much as our family Dachshund). In 1995 I joined the BMW Car Club GB and discovered what concours was all about and the level of

Car back in the 1990’s with original TRX

wheels

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Car as it is today

detail that could be achieved. From this point, I became what is known in the classic car world as ‘very anal’. Very soon after I found myself not wanting to drive the car on wet and salty roads, for fear of having to spend hours cleaning it again, just dry summer use only. To keep it in exceptional overall condition, BMW 180L has had vast amounts spent on it in the last 30 years, it’s the quintessential original ‘garage queen’. I have not entered any concours for over 20 years (but have become even more fussy now, partly due to the value of classics having risen over the years). For me though, it’s all about reminiscing, sentimental values

Boiler suit

Saville Row

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and memories that a classic car can invoke in a person. It’s for these reasons (to quote our current Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak) the car gets ‘whatever it takes’ to keep it in the best condition mechanically and cosmetically perfect. One thing that was very apparent when swapping back to a BMW from the Capri Injection was the build quality and driving pleasure was like night and day, but in saying that the Capri is of a much older design era and is a “man in a boiler suit” (that’s me) compared to BMW’s Saville row suit. Both of these two cars are at either end of the car spectrum,

however both give me the same level of enjoyment when I drive them. Out of all the cars the Capri 2.8 Injection tends to get the most interest from people. Going back briefly to LAA 719T, my girlfriend at that time knew how much I was attached to that car and on spotting the car for sale on the forecourt of a second hand car dealer, a year after I had let it go for the Capri, she bought it back again! So for a while we had LAA 719T and 908 WHW (AKA BMW 180L) at the same time, this was a really nice thing for her to do for me. In 1999, the year of our first child, my wife and I bought a new VW Golf GT TDI in pearl jazz blue pearlescent paint, which we imported from Denmark, a really, really great car and never let us down, we sold it privately in 2005 with 71,000 miles on it, this was my wife’s all-time favourite car (today my wife now drives a 2017 Toyota Yaris). Two years before the VW Golf was sold, I was searching for another car, one type in particular. My justification to my wife for the Golf to go was that we needed a bigger car as we now had a second child. Luckily for me, she went along with it. At this point I must stress, my wife ‘who is keen to point out was not my girlfriend back at that time’ has no interest in cars whatsoever and hates BMWs. Anyway, having test driven one of these cars at a BMW Car Club GB event previously, I knew what the family needed and eventually I found it, five hours away in Scunthorpe at BMW dealer Astle. The year was 2005 and the car in question was a 2003 E39 530d saloon sport auto in Sterling Grey metallic (an M5 colour) and black Dakota leather with one previous owner and 21,000 miles, registration FY53 MXJ. This is one of the last batch of E39’s to be produced in March 2003 and generally speaking, as with any car manufacturer, the last production run of any car has had any production faults that came to life during earlier production corrected and tweaked to make the last batches the best of the bunch. I cannot stress what a great car the E39 is, it feels like the car is made out of one piece of billet aluminium with no creaks or rattles, even now at 18 years old with 77,000 miles on the clock. The only bad point with these M57 diesel engines was swirl flap ingestion issues, which BMW denied was an issue. I had the swirl flaps removed and billet aluminium plugs fitted to stop any potential engine damage. Everyone should at least drive an E39 if they get a chance, it constantly beats the competition from the other German competitors throughout its lifecycle. I have 3M paint protection film on the whole front of the car all the way back BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

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to the windscreen pillars and Pentagon Supaglass light grey window film which should resist a hammer attack for three minutes (well you never know when someone may choose to conduct a British standard test of his hammer against the side window of your car to see if his hammer is fit for purpose!) Both of these products have been on the car for years and still look brand new, not one single stone chip or anyone conducting British standard hammer test! The new replacement BMW E60 5 Series had been out for nearly two years and technically was hailed as the better car, but speak to any BMW technician and they will all say that the E39 was the better car and I must agree. I still have this car today and it is by far the best car I have ever owned, at one stage this was the fastest

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

production diesel saloon car in the world. There’s nothing this car won’t do well, to the extent that I would not want to change it, even for a new 5 Series. Back in 2017 I became 50 years young, cue the midlife crisis (the circle is starting to close). For three years previously I found myself looking on Car & Classic for Ford Capris, and in March 2017 I bought one from H&H car auctions at Duxford. I am a one man builder by trade and was at home pricing for work on my laptop, I don’t know how this happened but I suddenly found myself on the live H&H auction site watching (and having no experience of buying a car this way) the proceedings, I watched the particular car I was interested in fail to meet its reserve price, bearing in mind that I had not pre-registered my details for the auction, I would not have

been able to bid online, so I tried the old fashioned way and called the auction line and said I would offer £500 more than the last bidder and five minutes later H&H came back to me to say the owner had accepted my offer. I now find myself the custodian of a 1987 Ford Capri 2.8 Injection Special, D750 HYP with two previous owners and warranted 71,000 miles with service history in Crystal Blue metallic. This is what happens when you watch re-runs of Bodie and Doyle on ITV HUB! The car was £12,995 + purchase fee, it is in very good overall original condition, but I intend to take it to the highest level of detail with a strip down restoration by Restore a Ford, who are known in the classic Ford world as the best in the industry, and better still it is a father and son only business who really do care about what they do, with people on a three year waiting list for their services. Once completed this will be another garage queen and one of the best in the country, remaining to factory standard in all aspects down to the most minute detail for new original Ford accessories like mud flaps and rubber floor mats. The demand for NOS parts is high for these cars and now very rare and mega expensive. If you can get them, for instance a genuine new Ford Capri front wing is well over £1,000. The complete interior, dashboard, door panels, centre consoles, all carpets and trims (including the boot) is already out of the car and being cleaned, revived and redyed, new original strobe seat fabric fitted to all the seat centres and the original shark grey leather outer seat sections (already in great condition) cleaned and recoloured to be factory perfect, and the interior plastic surfaces are being resprayed. All this work is being done by BMW Club sponsors Interior Revival who, in my opinion, are the best in their field of work, being a husband and wife only business, using long forgotten, old school techniques with the finest attention to detail. Because it’s a car of ‘the people’ and everyone knew someone who either

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owned one or some other family member or friend had one, for me, that’s the point of a classic; not to show off, but to put a smile on people’s faces as I drive past them as they point, smile and remember for that moment how things used to be in the world. In 2018 I continued to plough on with my midlife crisis and bought yet another classic car, yes you guessed it, another E21 3 Series. This time the very last special limited edition production run of the E21 3 Series. Apparently each UK BMW franchise got just one car per dealership as the run out 323i LE (limited edition). The difference of these cars were they had two tone metallic paintwork (ascot grey on the top and graphite grey on the lower half of the car), BBS alloy wheels, rear rubber boot spoiler, BBS front spoiler, headlamp wash wiper system, anthracite fabric Recaro front sport seats, sport steering wheel and sport suspension as standard. I actually knew this car, having competed against it in my early BMW Car Club concours days back in the mid-nineties. The second owner was a really nice guy who was a traffic police officer (Paul) who kept the car absolutely pristine. The car has had two other owners since, making me the fifth custodian. Today the car interior is still faultless but other areas need bringing back to original factory detail to benefit how a car of this rarity and low mileage deserves to be returned to. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Possibly one of the lowest (if not the lowest) mileage examples, with only 43,000 miles on the clock. XRU 58Y will be the best one out there once I have finished with it. The car is currently undergoing a no expense spared mechanical makeover at Classic Heroes, lots of genuine BMW parts fitted and re-chroming of the all bumper sections, followed by a proper show car respray with Stuart and Alex at “Restore a Ford”, this will be the best factory original detailed example in the Country. Will I ever drive any of these cars once all the work is done? Good question, keep an eye out at various club

events and other classic car gatherings, if the weather is great, possibly and if it’s wet, ‘sayonara baby’. Well I have come full circle, having bought versions of my first two cars again in later life. Midlife crisis? What midlife crisis? It was never my intention to end up with four classics but as the saying goes, ‘we don’t own a classic car, we just look after it until the next custodian is ready to pick up the baton’. Stay safe, stay indoors, health not wealth and failing that there’s always Car & Classic and PistonHeads if you get bored! Best of luck to you all, wherever you may be.

Both cars currently at Classic Heroes in self-isolation BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

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ilhelm Noll was born in the town of Kirchhain near Marburg, Germany on March 15th, 1926. Petrol flowed through his veins from an early age, his father having run his own bicycle and motorcycle workshop since 1921. Just around the corner lived the Cron family, whose son Fritz (born March 31st, 1925) became Noll’s closest friend. The pair’s adventure playground of choice was the Noll family workshop. So it was little surprise that Wilhelm learnt to ride motorcycles and drive cars while still at school – he also knew his way around a car or motorcycle engine as a result. Wilhelm’s father wanted his son to follow in his footsteps in a sporting sense as well, having been a successful bicycle racer in the 1920s. But Wilhelm – with Fritz Cron forever at his side – had motor sport ambitions in mind. And nothing fitted the bill better than sidecar racing, a proper team sport. In the years immediately after the Second World War, however, laying your hands on a suitable racing machine demanded some creative thinking. In Noll’s case the path led to a ‘classic’ BMW R66, a pre-war model that many would have declared ready for the scrapheap (including Noll Snr.), such was the poor condition of the bike. Wilhelm’s father

was duly appalled to find that his son had traded in his beautifully rebuilt DKW350 NZ for the R66 and was convinced the project was doomed to failure. Wilhelm knew the R66 had potential though, and with great diligence and meticulousness, both he and Fritz set about proving Noll Snr. wrong. Moral and practical support from the successful Marburg-based bike racer Karl Lottes gave them an extra boost. Impressed by how the restoration project

was coming along, a friend of Noll’s father – the then well-known sports car racer and BMW sales representative Helm Glöckler – used his factory contacts in Munich to assist in the procurement of RS parts. Turning the motorcycle into a functioning entity was one thing, but there was also the sidecar to consider. The widespread shortages of the immediate post-war era provided a platform for outof-the-box thinking. So, when a regular

An early photo from a race at Salzburg showing the BMW RS54 sans fairing…

THE ODD COUPLE! Some were fast, others were very fast. And then there was Wilhelm Noll and Fritz Cron… Wilhelm Noll may be far from a household name in the modern era, but back in his racing heyday he was one of motorcycle racing’s headline-makersin-chief. Noll was determined to achieve great things and he knew he had a special talent to back up his iron will. The German was a brilliant motorcycle sidecar combination rider, and his good friend Fritz Cron provided the necessary balance with almost acrobatic dexterity... Words: BMW Classic & Jeff Heywood Photographs: BMW Classic

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Feature customer who happened to own a suitable sidecar came forward in urgent need for three cubic metres of building timber, Noll Snr. stepped in. It just so happened he had the requisite materials at the back of his shed, and a trade was completed. The willingness of Wilhelmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s father to barter this relatively valuable commodity confirmed that he was now very much on board with his offspringâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plans and eager to help. The sidecar was in fine fettle, and Noll and Cron soon had the sidecar, now stripped of all its bodywork and with the addition of a small aluminium nose cone, attached to the R66. After extensive testing, the pairingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s debut race was pencilled in for May 1948 at an event in

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Cologne. The race organisers were less than keen on accommodating the rookies though, and it took the intervention of the influential Lottes to change their minds. With Noll (at the helm) and Cron (in the sidecar), they duly repaid his faith by securing second place in their first ever competitive outing. A couple of weeks later was the Dieburger Dreiecksrennen race, and this time they went one better: taking victory at the chequered flag! This success put those early hiccups with race organisers firmly to bed, as Noll and Cron finished race after race

with a skip up the podium steps. Back then, prize money barely registered and competitors were often paid in material goods. Noll was once presented with three metres of cloth for a race win, which he duly had made up into a dinner suit rather than racing overalls... In 1950 Noll and Cron were granted their much anticipated racing licences and they went on to finish the season top of the class for 600cc machines without a supercharger. From 1951 they competed with their BMW in the 500cc class, winning at the Sachsenring and continuing to accumulate podium finishes. Later in the 1951 season the team

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Noll and Cron pound out the hard yards in practice in their newly ‘faired’ RS54 before the eventful Monza race in ’54…

lined up with hydraulic combination brakes, developed by the ever resourceful Noll, leaving their competitors in a haze of brake dust and marvelling at the sudden “late brakers” out in front of the field! This – allied to the formidable skill of Noll and Cron – also caught the attention of the BMW factory operation, and in 1953 the duo joined the company’s works team, giving them access to the R54. After battling the Nortons for half of the season in their ‘bare’ RS, at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on September 12th 1954, Wilhelm Noll and Fritz Cron took the chequered flag with their new, fully faired BMW RS54 sidecar to notch up their third victory of the season. Mechanic Noll and telephone engineer Cron had already won two rounds of the World Championship – at the German and Swiss Grands Prix. This was an amazing feat without faired bodywork. The pairing rounded off a successful season after securing two second places (at the Ulster GP in Belfast and the Belgian Grand Prix at SpaFrancorchamps) and a third place at the TT on the Isle of Man earlier in the season, where aerodynamically faired bodywork made such a difference on the Manx’ fast road circuit. This meant the BMW sidecar had recorded podium finishes in every round of the World Championship, as Noll and Cron brought the years of dominance by Norton machines in this class of racing to an end and secured BMW its first ever World Championship crown. Such a scenario had appeared unlikely, to say the least, when the 1954 season

had got under way. Riding a faired factory Norton, the Englishman Eric Oliver, fourtime world champion and the title holder at the time, raced to victory with passenger Les Nutt in the first three races of the season. The Norton’s aerodynamic fairing gave them a huge advantage in top speed, especially on the TT, so it was with great skill and endeavour that Noll and Cron managed to keep in touching distance of the British pair in the championship, and at the both German and Swiss Grands Prix they snatched victory from the Nortons. However, at the Feldbergrennen race, which didn’t count towards the World Championship, Oliver suffered a serious accident which ruled him out of the German Grand Prix, held at the Solitude circuit near Stuttgart. Noll and Cron grasped their chance with both hands and guided their ‘bare’ RS54 to what was BMW’s first ever win in a World Championship race. Noll and Cron then led the way over the finish line at the Swiss Grand Prix. Their rivals, Oliver and Nutt, registered only two points, and ahead of the final race of the season the two sidecars were tied for first place on 26 points. However, Oliver, his arm back in plaster, was unable to line up at Monza, which left Wilhelm Noll and Fritz Cron – competing in a fully faired sidecar for the first time – needing only to finish in the points to win the title. Not that such modest ambitions were ever going to be enough. The pairing led the race in commanding style from the start, increasing their margin over the Norton of Smith and Dibben in second place

Fritz Cron (left) and Wilhelm Noll celebrate their victory in the 1954 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, thus securing the Sidecar World Championship into the bargain! It was BMW’s first World Championship victory in any form of motorsport, and the RS54 would go on to dominate sidecar racing on the world stage for the next 20 years

by more than four seconds per lap. There was to be no grand showdown. The press were downhearted, deprived of the climatic head-to-head between the two leading machines they had been looking forward to. Nevertheless, in setting new lap and track records Noll and Cron had proven themselves worthy world champions. Indeed, even Oliver would likely have had little chance against the factory RS54, whose new fully faired design had brought a significant top speed advantage. That first World Championship title in 1954 kick-started a run of success for BMW without parallel in the motor racing world. Up until 1974, BMW RS54 sidecars accounted for no fewer than 22 riders’ World Championship titles and 19 manufacturers’ crowns. Noll and Cron repeated their title win in 1956, having been forced to settle for the runners-up slot in 1955 after finishing behind another BMW RS54, piloted by fellow Germans Willi Faust and Karl Remmert. In autumn 1956, following the final round of the World Championship, the two men closed the curtain on their motorsport careers, some say prematurely. Both were now married and had young families. Their carefree attitude to racing within an inch or so from the tarmac at high speed changed; with the responsibilities a young family brings they both reluctantly made the decision to hang up their racing overalls. Wilhelm became a workshop supervisor at his father’s BMW dealership; seven years later he took over the running of the whole business. He remained at the helm of BMW

Noll and Cron on the #1 RS54 prepare to sweep past the Faust/Remmert #2 RS54 at Monza to take victory in the 1954 Italian Grand Prix and be crowned World Champions

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Noll and Cron at speed on their RS54 on the 1955 Isle of Man TT race BMW released this striking poster in celebration of their first motorsport world title in 1954, thanks to the prowess of the RS54 and the skill and bravery of Noll and Cron

Autohaus Noll, which he ran with his wife, until 1990. Noll never turned his back on motorsport though, sitting as president of German motor sport’s governing body, the OMK. In 2014, 60 years on from that maiden World Championship win, he passed on his extensive collection of sidecar memorabilia to BMW Classic, including a large number of rare and previously unreleased images, films and audio recordings. These are currently being digitised and reviewed. On October 4th 2015, the 60th anniversary of another historic moment in motorsport history was celebrated: on that day in 1955 Wilhelm Noll posted a quite incredible speed of 174mph in a specially streamlined motorcycle-sidecar combination to break the world record. This feat was carried out on a section of autobahn between Munich and Ingolstadt closed off to other traffic (see photo). Wilhelm Noll and his passenger Fritz Cron are two racers whose names may no longer be on everybody’s lips, but they achieved some quite remarkable feats in their day – and in the process etched those names into motorsport history. Wilhelm Noll passed away in January 2017 at the age of 90. Four months later, on April 29th, his long-time co-pilot and friend Fritz Cron passed away at the age of 92.

Back to the legendary TT in 1955 on the Isle of Man. This race was unusual for the pair as they recorded a rare DNF. It didn’t stop Noll and Cron sweeping to their second World Championship for both riders and manufacturers, winning the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, the German Grand Prix at the Solitude circuit and the Ulster Grand Prix at the Dundrod circuit, Lisburn

Fritz Cron and Wilhelm Noll (right) were indeed an odd couple. Noll had the demeanour of a school teacher and was a quiet and studious person. Cron was slightly more outgoing; friends from an early age, on a motorcycle and sidecar combo they just clicked as a team and were super quick. Cron’s roll in these victories is often overlooked, but his agility in the sidecar was legendary in the motorcycling world

Wilhelm Noll poses with the streamlined RS54 sidecar that took him to the world speed record of 174mph in 1955 on a closed Autobahn twixt Munich and Ingolstadt www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

*There is a short BMW.TV video that you can view on YouTube interviewing Noll and shows some amazing old race footage and their homecoming celebration after winning their first World title in 1954 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN2QjQly7WE BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

Feature Revisiting the BMW Classics – No5, E28 5 Series

ack in 1982 cars like the ultramodern Ford Sierra had started to appear so the E28 already looked conservatively designed when it was launched – but to be fair it carried all the distinct BMW styling cues and it was superbly proportioned and detailed both inside and out. Despite looking very similar to the E12, very little of the body was carried over – the roof skin, doors (with modifications), front

and rear windscreens... and that was about it. The 518’s M10 four-cylinder 1766cc engine was carried over from the E12, but the six-cylinder carburettorfed 520 was replaced with a 520i model running an M20 engine equipped with K-Jetronic fuel injection. The 525i and 528i models were powered by M30 units that were revised and both given the new Bosch LE-Jetronic fuel injection system. Unfortunately the M535i was

When launched in 1981, the E28 had a lot to live up to. The E12 had been well received as a more than worthwhile competitor to the Mercedes Benz W115 in the mid-range executive-saloon class, yet the motoring press were more than a little surprised to see that BMW’s all-new ‘E28’ 5 Series looked much like a facelift of the previous E12, a car first introduced in 1972! Plus, the new E28 model had an ominous competitor in the shape of Mercedes Benz’ W123 range, one of the finest built cars of all time, and one that is often described as being hewn from granite!

discontinued (for now). Suspension and brakes were all completely revised as were the chassis and inner wings with different mounting points. The interior was also all new, with a ‘service indicator system’ featuring red and green ‘countdown’ lights. Launched in September 1981, the E28 range consisted of a four-speed 90bhp four-cylinder 518 with optional five speed transmission and power assisted steering; all the six-cylinder cars (150bhp 525i and 184bhp 528i) used BMW’s M30 engine, with the exception of the 125bhp 520i, which came with the new M20 engine. All came with a five-speed manual gearbox as standard and power steering. The 528i was also fitted with alloy wheels and electric front windows as standard. A three speed ZF automatic gearbox was optional on all six-cylinder cars. The 520i model arrived in late 1982 with a revised cylinder head and LE-

THE ‘SQUARE -RIGGER’ E28 Words Jeff Heywood / Photographs BMW & Jeff Heywood

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

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Feature Jetronic injection, whilst all the sixes had a new Getrag 260 gearbox gradually phased in except for the sport models, which retained the older dogleg-style Getrag unit. The early 1980s saw yet another fuel crisis owing to the Iran-Iraq war, so BMW introduced the economy-minded 525e in 1983. Utilising a long stroke version of the 520i M20 engine displacing 2.7-litres, the so-called ‘eta’ unit developed just 125bhp but produced reasonable torque (240Nm), with a redline of just 4500rpm. This was down to the eta’s small ports, long inlet manifold tracts and special cam timing as well as four rather than seven cam bearings. The 525e was fitted with the new four-speed ZF4HP22 automatic gearbox and a very tall final drive that gave it very long legged gearing, at around 33mph per 1000rpm in top gear. This gave the car excellent cruising economy with 35 to 40mpg possible on a steady run. Two new models entered production in early 1985: the 518i and the eagerly awaited 535i. The previous 90bhp 518 carburettor-fed model was never a ball of fire so the 518i took its place with 105bhp, power steering and a five-speed gearbox. The 518i took a share of 520i sales because it was brisk enough to compete with 2-litre Granadas and 1.8 Carltons of the time. The E28 535i came in two forms, the M535i with an M-Technic bodykit (bumpers, sills and arch flares) and

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The M-Technic equipped M535i was well received by the motoring press and public alike, providing near M5 thrills whilst the purchase price was far friendlier on the wallet

special metric wheels, plus a low-key version was offered with a standard body that looked like most other models but had the special wheels and flares. Both came with the 3430cc M30B34 engine seen in the E24 635CSi which gave 218bhp and 310Nm of torque. This allowed the M535i to hit 60mph from rest in 6.9 seconds. Top speed was 140mph. Both were also fitted with Bilstein dampers and M Technic suspension. The ‘body-kitted’ M535i was by far the more popular model; the standard bodied version was discontinued but remained available to special order and was renamed 535i SE. Both were available with sport, overdrive or four-speed auto gearboxes. In late 1986 Lux versions of the 518i, 520i and 525e (2.7-litre) were launched.

These featured velour trim, BBS crossspoke 14-inch alloy wheels (or optional metric wheels), double coachlines, electric front windows, a manual sunroof and a three spoke leather rimmed steering wheel. E28 production wound down in December 1987. BMW built up enough stock to last until spring 1988, when the E28 was officially replaced in June by the E34 in the UK. Engines All E28 models were fitted with either M10, M20 or M30 engines. All of these units are excellent but they do require regular maintenance. Yearly coolant changes (or long life coolant) are essential along with regular oil and filter changes. All engines have adjustable

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

Feature

The E28 was well liked because it was so versatile – it could be seen hurtling down an autobahn taking a sales rep onto his next call, or traversing the French Riviera like the 528i model shown in the photo, providing understated, chic and comfortable transport for its occupants

tappets that need checking every 10,000 miles whilst the M10 and M30 engines require the oil spray bar banjo bolts to be replaced. These were well known for working loose and starving the cam of oil so BMW now sells replacement banjos with a slightly different thread design that cannot work loose. Be aware of any E28 with a noisy cam as these are only available from BMW and are quite expensive. If you do find a nice car with a noisy cam, factor in the cost of replacement when negotiating a deal. Head gasket failures can be an issue on M30 engines so check the oil filler cap for the oil/water ‘mayonnaise’. M20 engines have a cam belt which must be replaced every 30,000 miles along with a new tensioner. It’s well worth replacing the cam oil seal and the water pump at the same time. The 525e and 535i models use the Bosch Motronic 1.1 fuel injection system. This system is very good but can develop a few issues over time - the fuel pump and relays that can cause intermittent or permanent non-starting, the two crank position sensors that take a reading from a small peg on the flywheel can drop out, and the ECU can fail. It’s worth hunting down spare units for these as they are often no longer available and Bosch don’t make them anymore.

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

Transmission Manual gearboxes used on the various E28s are so robust and reliable that it’s pointless discussing them. By this time if they are badly worn it’s time for a rebuild because they will have performed reliable service. The three-speed autos gearbox is near enough unbreakable but the fourspeed ZF 4HP22 isn’t quite as good. A surefire way to kill one is to rev it while in neutral or park – this is due to an age and wear related cross leak from the oil pump onto the forward clutch, partially engaging it. Rev the engine and you will burn out the clutch plates leading to no forward drive. When driving an E28 with a 4-speed auto gearbox, always leave the car in D when driving, especially in stop-start traffic, and make sure you tell anyone who is driving the car besides yourself to do the same! Bodywork Although robustly built, we must remember that the very last E28s to roll off the production line are now over 32 years old, with some cars approaching their 40th birthday, so although impeccably built there are now problem areas to look for where rust can creep in. Let’s start with the bonnet – the front edge can rust so that’s an easy one to check. Moving onto the front wings, rust

can bubble through above the bumper, especially on the M535i models. There are a couple of plastic shields ‘protecting’ the wing from the wet and road dirt etc these can trap mud behind and become a magnet for corrosion. Arches aren’t too bad for rusting but check them as a matter of course because they can get stone chips that turn into rust holes eventually if not treated. Moving onto the doors; check the A-posts for rust and open the door fully and check if there’s any extra movement, especially in the up and down planes. Any movement could either be caused by rusty a-pillars or worn or rusty hinges. Check around the door check strap and all of the hinge mounting points for corrosion. Whilst on the doors, check the door bottoms and leading edge of all doors for rust. Next to tick off on the list is the windscreen surround especially where it meets the scuttle, a problem with E30s as well. The boot lid rarely rusts, but check the leading edge just to make sure. Sunroof panels can rust out so give them a thorough inspection. Bumpers also rust and are expensive to replace, so make sure these are OK. Moving under the bonnet, check around the front suspension struts and give the inner wings and bulkhead a once over. Check the sills on cars with or without the bodykit. There are four flat square plates on the sills that look like jacking points – they aren’t and they are prone to rust. The plates are where the car was ‘sat down’ on the assembly line whilst being built! Talking of jacking points, check these are rust free and also the double skinned rear axle beam mounting points. Check the front strut ‘cup’ where the bottom of the spring sits, if the drain hole is blocked these can fill full of mud and the cup rots away meaning new front struts are needed. Check the front footwells; they rust where all the muck and water is thrown up off the front wheels causing a mud trap. Next on the checklist is the fuel tank. If possible, fill the fuel tank (without spilling) and check for a strong smell of petrol. The tanks are prone to cracking around where the filler neck meets the tank – drive around a left hand bend then have a good sniff! The interior was superbly constructed so faults are few and obvious – front seat bolsters wear, especially on the driver’s side but are easily repairable. Door trims can shrink but these are again easily repaired by a good trimmer. Check the dash top for cracking and make sure the instrument cluster is working fine especially the Service Interval Indicator with the green-amber-red warning lights that show when a service is due, the NICad batteries may need replacing and www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Feature make sure they haven’t leaked, as this can damage the Service Indicator circuit board. The above may make the E28 sound like it’s a rust bucket, but you have to remember that some cars of its era, like the Sierra, were being welded up 25 years ago! Parts Most mechanical parts are still available, but quite a few will have been remanufactured by BMW so expect high prices on a lot of items. When it comes to the bodywork the outlook isn’t so good. A lot of the body panels are now no longer available, along with the stainless exterior trim and most interior and boot trim, so be careful when buying a car, especially one where an owner has stripped the car for restoration then given up on the job and parts are all in boxes! Go through them in a meticulous fashion to make sure everything is as it should be. Chrome bumpers are available but very expensive and come in three sections. There are some none OEM bits available and some specialists carry stock, plus there are second hand parts to fall back on. Parts can be found at the following suppliers – wallothnesch.com, quarrymotors.co.uk, e28goodies.com, e28.nl, and Tim Pollock has plenty of spare parts and can be reached via email - pollocktim@hotmail.com. There are also plenty of Facebook groups offering help, parts and advice, just search for BMW E28, and of course, there’s lots of people that can help within our Club – check out the Sharknose Collection for help on anything E28, and if you aren’t sure, give the Club office a call. Summary The E28 5 Series is an extremely well built executive saloon that rides beautifully with a fair turn of speed from the larger engines models. The interiors

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The Sharknose E28 was ruggedly built and reliable; owners felt confident tackling epic journeys in their cars – many continental based E28’s covered mega mileages in their lifetimes

are a paradigm of ergonomic excellence and the trim quality is first class. They come from a time when BMW and Mercedes Benz built cars to last. The E28 does have a few weak points to look out for, but the aforementioned problems mentioned above is a comprehensive list of everything known to have gone wrong on an E28. Most cars will only have one or two niggles or none at all. Just make sure the body is checked thoroughly, because it is corrosion repair that empties the wallet quicker than anything else, especially if new panels are required

and you have to start hunting around for replacements. Find a good E28 and cherish it, because they are fine, solidly built cars that still provide quality driving enjoyment and are an excellent step on the classic car ladder. Prices are on the up for all models, with the larger engine models rising the quickest, especially the 535i models, so don’t wait too long to acquire a classic E28 Sharknose beauty! I would like to thank Keith Bridge, Andrew Everett, Richard Baxter and Tim Maltby for their help in putting this article together.

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

Feature

ARE FRIENDS ELECTRIC?

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

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Feature Thanks to my local retailer Sytner BMW Leicester, I was recently given a BMW i3S to try out for the day, which was something I was really looking forward to, as other than spending a short amount of time in an i8 a few years ago, I really have not experienced the electric car revolution… until now. Words/Photographs by Mani Singh Hayer

s a huge fan of naturally aspirated six-cylinder internal combustion petrol engines, I went into this experience with an open mind. Primary for me, I was keen to experience the near instant acceleration everyone talks about, the charge capability and the practicality of it. I do have to say that externally, it is very futuristic looking, even if the i3 has been out for several years now. It certainly stands out on the road, and even more so when finished in the Metallic Melbourne Red with contrast Grey and 20-inch style 431 wheels, as was the car that I was given. I would say that one of the key external design features are the suicide doors allowing easy entry and exit for passengers into the rear of the car and of course, the lack of any centre B-pillar which opens the whole side of the car up. The only downside being that in order to open the rear doors, the front doors must be opened first. Carrying on with the futuristic theme inside the car, there are no speed related dials to be seen at all other than two liquid-crystal displays, one for speed information and the other for the standard iDrive display. The screens were crystal clear and easy to read and I found the adjustment from the traditional dials in my E64 and E46 to the LCD screen easy. Gears are controlled by a stalk on the steering wheel, much like it was in the E65 7 Series, and the iDrive controller is found in its normal place on the lower centre dash. The quality of the materials used on the interior are

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fantastic and had a really nice feel to them, bearing in mind that according to BMW, 25-percent renewable raw materials and recycled plastics were used in the interior of the i3 which is in keeping with the electric and ecofriendly theme of the car. Seating in the rear was pretty good where I would say three adults could fit at an absolute push (also helped by there being no transmission tunnel). The large rear windows really do help bring lots of light into the rear of the cabin making it feel very airy and spacious. The i3S model that I drove is the sportier of the two i3 models available, with the “S” Sport version adding a little bit more power (about 14bhp more taking it up to 184bhp) and a more refined and engaging driving characteristic. It was very surreal upon starting the car; there was nothing, no sound, no juddering of an engine firing into life; nothing apart from various noises coming from the iDrive. So, after selecting Drive, I gently pressed down on the accelerator and off we went; again, with near silence. After several miles and heading out into the countryside, it was amazing how quickly I got used to how the i3S drives. The acceleration is phenomenal, no questions asked. It really is like a rocket ship to 60mph with no fuss other than pure power which is very addictive! Equally, when slowing down, you just have to remove your foot off the accelerator and the car will slow down automatically; I cannot stress how easy I adapted from my daily cars to this new

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

Feature way of driving. Through the twisty bits, I felt as if the car was planted to the road even riding on the skinny tyres fitted on the 20-inch wheels and the turn-in was great. It really was good fun! In terms of battery range, BMW quotes about 175 miles on a full charge which I would imagine makes a good argument as a daily commuter for most people - with the M5 in the garage for the weekends! During my drive, the i3S was handed over with a full charge and despite driving it for about 40 miles in a mix of country and city roads, the display was showing that there was still more than 85% of charge left when I handed it back which I think is fantastic. To charge the car fully, it takes about 40 minutes using a high-power charger (such as at a service station) and about 11 hours when using a normal domestic plug at home So, onto my final thoughts. It was definitely an interesting experience and I can see the market for it, especially those who need a vehicle to commute to and from work and do about 150 miles a day. To me, it feels far more premium than the other electric vehicles that are on the market and it looks different too, which I think helps, and it has certainly changed my viewpoint on these types of vehicles. They can be fun yet practical and there is no reason why the i3 cannot be used over a long distance, so long as you plan your journey in advance. Whilst for my personal needs and interests I may not be fully converted to

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

electric vehicles and still plan to stick to my ICE petrol engines for the years ahead, it is great to experience modern day engineering and modern battery

technology from the fantastic guys and girls at Munich. My thanks to the team at Sytner BMW Leicester for the drive in the i3S.

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Feature

E31 M8 -THE ONETHAT NEVER WAS… Words: Richard Baxter rbaxter@btinternet.com Photographs: BMW Press Canada & BMWBlog.com

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t’s funny the things you find buried in that mental file marked ‘impressions’ and in this context the year was 1994. On April 1st we lost Ayrton Senna depriving us of so much. Firstly, a battle royale of which driver would ultimately succeed; the ‘heart’ of Senna or the ‘head’ of Schumacher – what a season that could have been. Secondly, just what an interesting motor sport ambassador Senna might have become – he would have been 60 this year! My initial visit to Barons of Farnborough was a week prior to that fateful Imola weekend, when I stopped by to view a Daytona Violet 3.8 E34 M5, only to find that parked next to it in the showroom was the last ever and ‘special build’ E28 M5, I couldn’t remove my gaze. It started a near-three month negotiation which concluded in June, having eventually exacted a £1,000 discount for all the effort and for what was in essence a visually very dated six year old motor car! However, one part of the goodies that came with the M5 purchase was an invitation to attend a BMW driving day at Brands Hatch. It was quite a sight on this warm June morning to find the then current range lined up along the entire length of the pit lane, all new and gleaming of course. We were invited to drive each of the cars for three laps on the full circuit with a resident race driver as passenger, who was going to mark our card with his assessment of our skills. Immediately there were the inevitable queues to take out the E36 M3s and to avoid the wait my first run was in a

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

Feature

lonely standing 318iS! It turned out to be the most enjoyable car of the day, sweet handling with terrific turn in and enough performance to be rewarding – the rest of the cars left no lasting impression except the final of the day; an E31 V12 Auto 8 Series. Unfortunately, it left an impression for all the wrong reasons, heavy, lumbering as we squealed around the circuit with the tyres complaining bitterly and it was clearly a motorway cruising machine, something that was never going to display any dynamic M Power qualities. But back in the windowless and mysterious skunkworks in Munich, gifted engineers with the right knowledge, imagination and ambition clearly agreed. We have since learned that they had already turned an E31 into something that, if it had been released into production, would have positioned BMW M to an extraordinary level, even above the Porsche 959 and Ferrari F40. It would have elevated the then technically advanced 8 Series into instant global recognition at the top table, creating in a single stroke aspiration and gold dust to what was otherwise a rather grey nondescript model – half good but missing a strapline! Design of the 8 Series started in 1984 and was technically advanced

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

in many areas, it had multiplex wiring, multi-link rear axle (as did the Z1, as well as sharing styling cues with it) along with rear axle kinematics - a self steer dynamic. The drag coefficient was 0.29, (down from the E24’s M6’s 0.39) meaning for one that it didn’t need to have a rear spoiler. After 20 odd years of denial, where it is believed the car was locked away in the company’s ‘Giftschrank’ poison storage, the missing M8 was revealed and many articles have been written covering its credentials, although some of these conflict in a minor technical sense. However what we do know is that in the best traditions the car went on a weight shredding exercise, out came all of the bulky interior with the heavy seats, soundproofing, carpets, window opening motors, air conditioning, the pop up headlamps, and a B pillar was fitted to create torsional rigidity. A new bonnet with cooling vents and without headlamps (these were integrated within the bumper), revised front spoiler and revised rear wings with cooling ducts for diff cooling, revised rear bumper, the 17-inch wheel rims appeared to come from the E34 M5 but with unique carbon fibre wheel covers. The interior, missing much from the

luxury end, became minimalist with a covering of black alacantara and no rear seats. From their racing involvement one can see fixed racing carbon fibre bucket seats using motorsport cloth in a unique design that would later appear only in the 20 1992 20 Jahre E34 M5 cars built to celebrate two decades of M. Of particular detail is how the door glass appears fixed with a simple and smaller opening within the window glass, the overtaking mirrors are streamlined and made from carbon fibre as would be found on the E30 M3 race cars. The rear bladder tank comes straight from motor racing along with the boot mounted pumps and filters. The heart of any M powered car is the very special S designated engine and none more so in my view than the naturally aspirated motors. The present turbo engines make all the sense in the world for their efficiency and potency but they can never match the sheer visceral sound and feel of a naturally aspirated power plant. And so we come to the unique S70 V12 engine, the data is unclear and as a best guess there might appear to be three variations; the S70B56 producing 375bhp with single overhead cam, which made it into production for the halfwayhouse 850CSi fitted with a six speed manual transmission.

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Feature

The S70/1 was likely the M8 engine and beautifully presented with 12 carbon fibre intake trumpets fed through two collection chambers producing approximately 620-640bhp from a capacity of 6064cc. Its designer Paul Rosche commented that “to get good torque characteristics I needed the intake system to be as long as possible, which is why the system is as big and bulky as it is. I had trouble fitting it all under the bonnet.” There is a story to say that it is the same engine as fitted to the Mclaren F1 and also the BMW/Williams V12 LMR Le Mans race cars, but it is believed these were S70/2 Mclaren F1 and S70/3 V12 LMR. Certainly the McLaren F1 had vertical mounted air feeds, as opposed to the side mounted air feeds on the M8, the collector box on the race cars being directly above the engine. It is however difficult to believe there was much variation between the engines, the bore and stroke matched at 86mm x 87mm, there were double overhead cams with variable valve timing and four valves per cylinder. Particularly given that the engine only had a short development time and therefore the BMW design team “used only trusted technology from prior design and implementation experience”. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

That engine would have propelled the M8 at speeds conservatively in excess of 300kmh (180mph) and with a 0-60 time of approximately four seconds, although no official records seem to exist. Had the M8 gone into production, what a perfect lineage this would have created and complemented perfectly the M1 mid engine supercar from 12 years earlier, and just think of being able to get into a semi practical BMW that shared its credentials with the Mclaren F1? The story has two reasons why it did not go into production when presented to the board for approval. One being that financially it would have cost in the region of DM 250,000/£83,000 and therefore too expensive against the likes of Porsche, and secondly it was deemed to be too powerful for the time.

From an enthusiast’s point of view; “because it does exist it should exist” – the same argument existed at the time for the E46 M3 CSL. Motorsport were extremely anxious about pitching an M3 CSL into the Porsche market at £65,000 (£20,000 more than the standard M3). Sales were slow and it took many months to eventually sell them, but what price can you put on creating an aspirational automobile that has gone on to be one of BMW’s all-time favourite models? Adding gold dust to the brand and that in itself is a priceless marketing tool. I wonder how the team, reported to consist of Paul Rosche, Karl-Heinz Kalbfell and Gerhard Richter, must have felt after such fine and extraordinary work was rejected, having channeled their vision of what was possible to give their very best to forging a special path of engineering excellence…

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

Obituary

RUSS COCKBURN

WELL RESPECTED ENGINEER AND FRIEND – A BIG LOSS TO OUR BMW FAMILY.

uss will be remembered by all who met him, he was a remarkable man who was always positive no matter what was thrown at him. He was building engines, gearboxes and differentials before many of us were born. Whilst he had a great knowledge of all things mechanical and in particular BMW, he was always learning, you could truly say in his case “he had forgotten more than other specialists knew”. He was always willing to share his knowledge and help anyone he could. There will be people all over the world who will be affected by his passing. He was well known in BMW circles far and wide and counted the likes of Charly Lamm at Schnitzer as a friend. He didn’t shout about it but BMW Motorsport and their official team were amongst his impressive list of customers. Whilst Russ was in his 70’s he was still going to work each day and helping the family business, and anyone who called would have received lots of valuable advice. It’s true to say he was

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

like a “second dad” to some and certainly a father figure to many who knew him. For those in the BMW Car Club that had not met him personally, they may have spotted him at the Club trackdays or race meetings where he was a great supporter, he was always ready to muck in and help others, it was not unusual to see him lying under a car diagnosing any issues. His motoring heritage goes back many years and included a variety of disciplines, rallying to a high level in Escorts, hillclimbing and endurance racing but many of us knew him through racing and his engineering expertise. He was always available to help and enjoyed seeing others succeed and do well, passing on his knowledge and expertise. In club circles he was a vital part in the BMW Trackday and Racing events in the 1980s, and when many people went racing he was considered the man to ask and look up to; many of us continued to be in awe

of his achievements and the way he conducted himself. However it is true to say the more you knew him the drier his sense of humour became, a challenge as he could test people with his knowledge, whilst as a Yorkshireman he could make his point when he felt it was needed and www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Obituary people listened. More recently he was a large cog in making the BMW Car Club Racing Championship a success, helping the drivers and also awarding trophies. He touched many lives and helped countless BMW Club members with their cars. We will miss his humour and the joy of his banter, but also his undoubted wisdom. On the day he died I had so many conversations with his Really sad to hear the news about Russ. I’ve known Russ for over 25 years and not only did he make numerous mechanical bits for my car, he became a good friend. That voice you could hear anywhere, full of unbelievable knowledge. You always listened when he spoke, such a great understanding and abundance of information. He had such a great sense of humour, always smiling and always having a laugh. Great fun when he was around. They just don’t make them like Russ anymore. I’ll miss you.... but certainly won’t forget you! R.I.P. Russ. Dave Kempton I first met Russ circa 1973, having just bought a BMW 2002 which I could barely afford, let alone take to a main dealer for a service. Someone mentioned a guy who would do this from his house, was good, and partial to pound notes. Upon arrival at a small terraced house I was greeted by Russ’ mother and shown into the sitting room, and there was this Woody Allen facsimile sitting in front of the TV rebuilding a gearbox on his lap. Russ was working for Harrogate Council at the time and working on cars for fun. The first car of his own was a tweaked Austin A40 Farina with side exhaust. Neither of his parents could drive so never owned a car, it was therefore a mystery even to Russ as to where his love of cars came from. But his father was a highly skilled engineer, so at least we know where that side of Russ’ skill set originated. At first rallying was his thing, and he serviced for Johnny Coulter (Imp), Pip Dale (Lotus Cortina), then later Terry Cree and Steve Ward (Escorts) on many events, including such internationals as the Circuit of Ireland, Manx, Scottish and RAC Rallies. Eventually he co-drove for both Terry and Steve. In the meantime he went through a succession of desirable road cars that included a Lotus Elan 26R (yes, really!), Lotus Cortina’s, a BDA engined Capri prototype, and BMWs 2002Ti, M3 and M5. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

friends who reminisced and enjoyed remembering the things he had said and done…. he will leave a big hole and will be missed by so many people. We all wish his family our condolences. Since his passing the word ‘legend’ has been used by many and he qualifies due to all his qualities that many of us

can only aspire to, but we can learn from him even though he is not here to put us straight. Our first BMWCCR race after lockdown will be in memory of Russ and we have other plans including a trophy and a memorial so the huge number of people can share stories and celebrate his life together. He was a great and lovely guy, one of my best friends. A true enthusiast, there are so many good memories. Sadly missed but remembered. You could take the man out of Yorkshire but not Yorkshire out of the man. We still had plans but I will still do them with you. Mike Cutt

I have known Russ since I was 14, started rallying in ‘76, and Russ joined in ’78. We had been all over with his engines, proving successful including wins on the RAC rally. He was like my second Dad, always there. If anyone could massage the rules Russ could, he could even baffle the scrutineers. He was some man, he really was. You can’t print some of the things we did, I will share more at his celebration event. Terry Cree

Later he acquired Century House Garage in Newham, North Yorkshire, and when I began speed hillclimbing Russ prepared my Westfield, building me a Cosworth BDH screamer with which we won the Harewood Hillclimb Championship. Later we competed in the FIA European Hillclimb Championship with his Schnitzer built Group N M3. Then he got me into circuit racing, first with Bob Sheill’s 323i,

then in his own, a 325i and M3. This resulted in Russ and I spending many hours together towing around the UK and mainland Europe, and he was a most amusing companion. He was also fiercely competitive, and could not bear to think you had been beaten because of a car he had prepared. He loved ‘distance’ races, looking after such luminaries as Guy Povey, Alastair Davison, Chris Hodgetts, Nigel BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

Obituary Greensall, Ian Flux and many more. He was also a regular on the Northern Saloon and Sports Car Championship, BWWCC, Britcar and European Endurance series scenes, and helped Guy Spurr, Mark Smith, Mike Cutt and Kirk Armitage to championships. Then there was the time he looked after Alastair Davidson’s Ralt F3 car at Historic Monaco, and wound up having a drink with John Button, Jensen’s father, in a local bar. There are so many stories about Russ that one could tell, but I’m sure you will hear plenty of those from others. He was a rascal, self-opinionated and stubborn, and an Olympic level flirt. But he was also highly intelligent, funny, and loyal, and would do anything for someone he liked. He was my friend and I’ll miss him. Peter Herbert

Russ Cockburn, engineer, father figure, rally navigator, race engineer, and all round good bloke. Font of unlimitless BMW knowledge or anything with wheels. I can’t count the number of 5am finishes at Century House Garage all fuelled by Rich Tea biscuits and tea, but it all mattered. Russ helped me tremendously when I started racing an E21 when the championship started back in the day, I have been friends with Russ longer than I can remember, I even remember picking John up from school as we were so busy. I have had many adventures over the years, too many to recall. I am writing this with tears in my eyes, I feel for John and his family. Russ leaves a gap in all our lives that will never be filled and I am sure many others have lost a great friend, it will never be the same for me personally. R.I.P my friend, you will be missed greatly. Bob Schiele What a man, incredible achievements and a fantastic attitude to life, a real man’s man and hence his huge respect. They broke the mould when they made him, but we can all carry some of his legacy and hear his words of wisdom that will help us all and educate others. He was always upbeat and positive whether it was words of wisdom or humour, we will remember him. Russ, you may have departed but will be remembered. Neil McDonald

I first met Russ many years ago, when he turned up with his car on a rusty trailer and he had one arm missing from his glasses. I was thinking, ‘I hope the engine he has built is okay’. I was soon put in my place as the engine performed well and I learned quickly that this man knew his stuff, and over the years when he spoke you listened as it was either something very clever or very funny... you will be missed. R.I.P Wayne Schofield My second Dad, we still had so much to do. R.I.P Jason Holyhead

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Obituary I first met Russ in 1971 when I went as a helper on the 1971 Scottish Rally when Russ and a friend of his, Bob Dean, were servicing for a guy who became my best friend, Mike Barrie. Mike sadly passed away about 10 years ago at only 64. Russ built a Ford TwinCam and later, a BMW 2002 engine for Mike, and I was building my first rally car - an 850 Mini! The Mini didn’t last long and I found some cash and some help from Mike, to buy a Mk1 RS1600 in 1974. Russ came on both (I think) events I did in that car, to service for me. I then bought an RS1600 in 1975, from Tony Drummond and Russ came along as co-driver on the second event I did - the Northallerton Stages, which we finished 2nd, then the Scarborough Stages, which was won by Tony Pond, and we had a good run to 5th overall, with Malcolm Wilson finishing 6th. Then came the RAC Rally in November 1975 where again Russ and Bob Dean were servicing for me. That was five days full of drama. The co-driver scared himself virtually from the start and when we got into Wales where there’s loads of big drops, the co-driver kept shouting at me to slow down! Culminating in him wanting to retire because he couldn’t stand the pace, or the big drops. Russ threatened to smack him one if he didn’t get back in the car, and the guy did as he was told and got back in and suffered another two days until we got back to the finish in York! Russ then stripped the engine out of the Drummond car, and we built a Mk2 Escort. Russ came to me and told me it had had the proper head switched for a standard RS1600 small valve head, so I had to find the money for the proper big valve job. Anyway, we went on to do our first event in the new car, the Lakeland Stages, a National Championship round where we finished second to Malcolm Wilson, after driving the last stage with the throttle jammed wide open for 13 miles and going off the road on the last corner. The crowd lifted the car back on the road, but the win had eluded us, and we ended up second. Malcolm had beaten us! The next National Championship round was the Lindesfarne Rally in Kielder Forest - a real tough event. Roger Clark, Ari Vatanen, Pentti Arikkala, Hannu Mikkola, Russell Brookes and a whole host of International drivers were there. Unfazed, Russ was calm as usual and we motored on into 8th place and then the fan belt came off and we lost a load of time, dropping us out of the top 10 and eventually finishing 18th I believe. Russ may have serviced for me on the 1976 RAC rally and 1977 too, but I can’t be sure. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

With Matt Page In 2018

That was the last event Russ did with me but we stayed in touch, and a couple of years later we hooked up again and built a rear wheel drive Fiesta with a 1700 BDA and Escort running gear, a tape measure and a piece of string. Finished 4th first time out with that car. It fell apart on the next visit to Kielder! I moved south to Buckinghamshire to drive for Datsun in 1979 and lost touch with Russ for a few years until seeing him again in 1987 and then around 2000. That, sadly was the last time I saw him. His son John said Russ had fond memories of the times we spent in those cars, and I can say that I could spend hours over a few beers going over those golden years of rallying. He was a lovely bloke. I hope this gives a snapshot into a part of Russ’s life that not everybody in the racing world would know about! Steve Ward

On the BMW Car Club Table for the 750mc awards night in February 2020

I met Russ through Bob Shiell and Nigel Moseley when I was a co-ordinator for the BMW Car Club Championship in 1989. A brilliant meticulous engineer with a can do approach to anything he did. Always ready to try and salvage what many would throw away, and would help someone in need and get them going again whether it be on the road or track. I had many trips to Russ’ home and workshop in North Yorkshire, often finding the important performance engines, gearboxes or diffs in various states of rebuild in the dining room, lounge and various locations in his home. Very much down to earth with a great sense of humour and ready to enjoy the odd drink or hearty meal when the occasion was right. Sadly I lost touch with the racing fraternity when I upped sticks and moved to Portugal. Russ had been involved with the preparation of this plan and on his encouragement located myself in the north of the country, and in true fashion, Russ and Bob volunteered to drive my furniture there and of course brought a young John along too. The fond memories of all that are still very clear to this day, such an impact made by Russ’ enthusiasm and support. My condolences go out to John and all the family who will have a gaping hole missing from their lives. Good bye old friend. John McVikar BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

best ches even

Feature

e will

THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE The world has changed so much recently, but one of the most far-reaching effects has been an increasing reliance on technology, with the virtual taking over from the physical. This course was set many years ago anyway, with companies developing more and more advanced forms of artificial intelligence, meaning that there’s little these days that can’t be done digitally as well as physically – ranging from everyday shopping to tyre development. Because even the tyres that Pirelli supplies for your BMW are tested on simulators, with prototype tyres tried out and developed on a virtual rather than a real car. Essentially, the system works by creating a digital model of a prototype tyre – which mirrors its exact physical characteristics – and ‘fitting’ it to a car simulator, which faithfully replicates the exact dynamics of a particular model of real car. The parameters can be swiftly adjusted to replicate different surfaces and weather conditions, meaning that it’s more or less possible to travel the entire world and test a wide range of different scenarios without leaving one room. Never has that been a more useful capability than right now. As a result, lead times when it comes to tyre development can be

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

reduced by 30%, allowing Pirelli to develop more specialised products even faster: part of the ‘perfect fit’ strategy, in which tailor-made tyres are specifically created to match the exact characteristics of a specific car. With more and more data points available, the use of simulators helps these tyres to become more individually suited to each car’s unique characteristics, as well as helping the environment by reducing the number of physical prototypes needed. Advanced simulation has already been used for more than 10 years during the design and development of Formula 1 and other motorsport tyres. Now this technology, paired with the rich experience in digital modelling of Pirelli’s research and development department, is also being utilised for road-going tyres with car manufacturers. A brand new simulator, inaugurated at Pirelli’s renowned research and development division in Milan at the beginning of the year, aims to accelerate development cycles and tyre testing, reducing lead times and reinforcing the strong partnerships with leading car makers, thanks to a more agile interaction between Pirelli and these key producers of prestige and premium vehicles.

Pirelli fuel gift card offer Members of BMW Owners Club can now benefit from an exclusive offer from Pirelli of a fuel gift card. Available only when purchasing Pirelli tyres from a Pirelli Performance Centre or official BMW dealer. The Pirelli tyres purchased can be for any vehicle and not limited to tyres just for your BMW. It means that this offer is valid on tyres for any car and can also be used for your friends and family, provided the terms and conditions are adhered to. The card’s value depends on the rim size and quantity of tyres purchased as follows: Rim Size

Two Tyres

Four Tyres

16” & below

£10

£30

17”

£30

£70

18” & above

£50

£100

Where can you get your tyres fitted? A dedicated website is set up at http:// pirelli.co.uk/bmwcarclub. Here you will find all the promotional details and a dealer locator enabling you to search for your nearest participating dealer. Terms and conditions apply. Please note, only claims from a Pirelli Performance Centre or official BMW dealer will be accepted. And don’t forget, you can keep in touch with Pirelli here: www.pirelli.co.uk/ keepintouch.

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

crossword

Sponsored by

Winner of last month’s crossword - Adrian Baker 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 April 2020 Crossword Across: 1. Kirov, 7. Vauxhall, 11. NAMT, 12. Omaha, 14. RCL, 17. Cord, 18. Hit, 19. Oxo, 20. Eels, 22. SnO (Snows BMW), 24. Asset, 27. GSEA, 29. Cavalier, 31. Snoot Down: 2. Ivan, 3. Ram, 4. Outro, 5. VX, 6. Cam, 8. Holden, 9. Lachs, 10. LH, 13. Anti, 15. Cresta, 16. Nova, 17. Corsa, 21. Log in, 23. Nero, 25. SC, 26. Evo, 28. SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), 30. LS

Across 1. E.g. Jimmy Spithill, winner of the 2010 America’s Cup for BMW Oracle Racing (9) 8. Duncan...: E63 Register Officer for the BMW Car Club (6) 10. Postcode for BMW dealer Knights of North Staffordshire (1,1) 11. Cadillac model that marked General Motor’s attempt at a 5 Series competitor 2004-2011 (1,1,1) 12. M...: BMW’s current ‘pocket rocket’ F87 model (3) 14. Old-fashioned term nowadays, but abbreviation and initials for leads that went to spark plugs before the advent of coil packs (1,1) 15. Munich-based company famous in the day for its professional quality reel-to-reel tape recorders (4) 16. One or a number of things (4) 18. The effort of having to update or repair something once made (6) 20. Thin plastic film which is removed in layers from crash helmet visor as detritus builds up (3,3) 22. Abbreviation for nitrous injection with initials derived from pioneering company name, now Holley (1,1,1) 23. If not carbon ceramic, what you brake discs are probably made of (4) 24. Could be Model Year (1,1) 25. Generic chemical symbol for oxides of nitrogen, especially as atmospheric pollutants (1,1,1) 26. Greek letter used as symbol for electrical resistivity (3) 28. 320...: BMW designation for the special E90 produced in 2006 to satisfy homologation for the FIA World Touring Car Championships (1,1) 29. Informal term for supercharger, especially 1929 to early 1930’s Bentleys (6) 31. Spa town in 9. Down, with Stratstone in Princess Royal Way being your local BMW dealer (9)

Down 1. BMW blue colour [code B68] based on location of Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (3,6) 2. ...Anstead: For the Love of Cars and Wheeler Dealers presenter. Diminutive form of 7. Down (3) 3. ...S: Another Cadillac executive car produced 20032019 in 3 body styles (1,1) 4. Person who entertains, increasingly also used as term for receptionist at your BMW dealer (4) 5. Delivery services company, a subsidiary of FedEx, also an explosive compound developed in 1863 by German chemist Julius Wilbrand (1,1,1) 6. E-...: BMW coding software application to configure vehicle features. Could be short for “system” (3) 7. .Mason: 1 Series Register Officer for the BMW Car Club (7) 9. North of England county (9) 13. Traditional Maori challenge, also known as “taki” (4) 14. Deficiency in the amount of oxygen reaching the tissues e.g. at high altitudes (7) 15. Shortform for underwater (1,1) 17. Kia hybrid subcompact crossover produced since 2016, and now in plug-in and all-electric versions in most major markets (4) 18. Initials to designate that a wireless electromagnetic signal is used as a form of communication (1,1) 19. Initials of ‘Il Commendatore’, born Modena, Italy in 1898 (1,1) 21. Not off (2) 24. Best known for synthesizers, name of the company that provided the control and motion system for the Wimbledon Centre Court opening roof (4) 26. Could be Red Bull Racing (1,1,1) 27. Slang / text greeting (1,1,1) 28. To select a mode operation e.g. BMW Launch Control (3) 30. Shortform for US State e.g. dealer BMW Seattle (1,1)

socialmedia Facebook Competitions Keep an eye out on our Facebook page for competitions, here are some recent winners: Colouring Competition Congratulations to Ella Morgan, age 4, for winning our colouring competition. Ella took inspiration from her grandad’s (the 02 Register’s Richard Stern) orange 2002. Restoration Competition Congratulations to Darren Thompson for winning our lockdown restoration competition. Darren fitted a custom sound system in the boot of his E36 328i which he saved from the scrap yard. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

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BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

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regionalnews Central Tony Skerrett Central Region sponsored by

07879 404648 central@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Barons Bedford

For those brave selfless members who attended the March Regional Meeting I have nothing but admiration; particularly Chris Smith who was due a course of chemotherapy in April so best wishes to him and his family. Not forgetting his collection of 11 BMWs! Simply put: Stay at Home and observe social distancing as these disciplines will hasten the slowdown of the pandemic.

01234 434 122

www.baronsgroup.co.uk/bmw BARONSCC20133 = 15% discount code

30/31st August – Brougton Castle Festival of Transport. 4th October – Bicester Heritage Sunday Scramble. Regarding Regional Meetings (The Aviator Sywell), these will be resumed as soon as possible. It is possible some new events will be announced in due course. In the meantime, chin up and keep fit from all at Central

Future Events 2020 Bicester Sunday Scramble – Now 21st June 2020 subject Government/NHS guidelines. Tour of Peak District with Howard Walker as chief guide has been postponed and a new date will be advised based on Government Policy. July 19th – Henley Traditional Car and Boat Festival July – still on but have my doubts. July 31st – 2nd August – Silverstone Classic – still on. 9th August – Central Tour Seaside Trip postponed to late August/Sept.

Central West Dave Evans Central West Region sponsored by

07800 616500 centralwest@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Autobahn Servicing Ltd Unit 11, Pitcairn Drive Halesowen B62 8AG Tel 0121 585 9146 www.autobahnservicing.co.uk info@autobahnservicing.co.uk

As we all know at the time of writing we are all in lockdown. We hope that you and your families are all well and coping with life at this difficult time. Scheduled events are of course either cancelled or put on hold until at least until the end of June, but hopefully Silverstone Classic will still be going ahead at the end of July. The Restoration Show at the NEC in Birmingham that should have taken place at the end of March has now been rescheduled for

Cheshire & Staffs Steve Cooper Cheshire & Staffs Region sponsored by

cheshireandstaffs@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

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

DISCOUNT OF UP TO 10% IS GIVEN TO MEMBERS WITH VALID MEMBERSHIP CARD *Conditions apply

Cornwall Jim Husband Hello to all members of the Cornwall Region. It is difficult trying to write this in April for the May edition not knowing how things are going to be in a month’s time in view of the current situation. However… If you are a new member, welcome to 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 as soon as we can recommence. If you are a Facebook user please check out the BMW www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

August 7-9, so fingers crossed we will be contacting all those who are involved as soon as we have any further information. Not forgetting the National Concours at The Stone Manor, Kidderminster on 16th August. Hopefully once everything gets back to some sort of normality the rest of the year will be very busy for us all, we will keep you updated. Keep happy, well and safe. Dave, Dean, Jan & Theresa.

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

cornwall@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

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 Straight Six as deadlines allow. Monthly Meets As I write, the Cornwall Region newsletter has just been communicated, stating that our monthly pub meets have been cancelled until further notice. Hopefully we will soon be able to BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

regionalnews resume these monthly pub meets, which are held on the 2nd Monday of the month. Previous Events The annual bowling challenge and following meal was held on the 7th March. It was a great evening with Roger proving far too good for the rest of us. Congratulations on your victory and the highest score recorded on our bowling event to date. Thanks to all who attended and participated, hopefully we will do it all again next year. Forthcoming events The events calendar is taking a bit of a battering at the moment due to the Covid-19 situation. Hopefully by the time this is published we will be through the worst of it and events will recommence. I will update the Region regularly via Club emails as and when events get added / cancelled or otherwise.

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

cotswold@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

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 Region sponsored by

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Devon Kathy Jemfrey

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

01626 330436 devon@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Devon Region sponsored by

INDEPENDENT BMW & MINI SPECIALISTS

These are unprecedented times, and all our best laid plans for our Regions have been put on hold or cancelled. One blessing is that everything we have ever said ‘one day’ about, well, that day is here now. Cars cleaned to within an inch of their lives. Garages or sheds cleared and a few treasures found, but also a load of junk to get rid of. All the bits we hoarded we now question. I have asked and received the following from Graham Bishop (thank you). The grey 1 Series as shown in the image was first introduced to Graham in 2010, he instantly fell in love. The 123d M Sport is efficient on fuel, whilst the engine outputs a nippy 201bhp, which goes from 0-60 in 6.8 seconds. The 400Nm of torque certainly gives her an edge! Stay safe and well and see you all sometime soon.

East Anglia George Champ East Anglia Region sponsored by Barons Cambridge

& Stansted

07514 216660 eastanglia@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

www.barronsbmw.co.uk Cambridge Stansted

: 0844 326 7249 : 0844 326 7244

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.

Hi everyone, If any of you would like to send me some photos and a few lines about your current BMW or indeed “My First Car” which we used to feature, we would all love to read about it during these lean times of events to report on. Guessing game – Name the make, model and year of the car right (Courtesy of John Herman, Essex Branch Rep.) Normal times will return one day so in the meantime use your time wisely, perhaps detailing your BMW amongst other things, but above all stay safe and healthy. Enjoy some photos of Lux Classics held on 15th March. You can also sign up to our various Branch Facebook pages and read, or better yet, contribute some great BMW related items.

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews Sunday 31st May – Norwich Classic Club, Strumpshall Steam Museum. Sunday 31st May – Elveden Car Show. Yes the last 2 are on the same date. Sunday 5th July – Maldon Show. CANCELLED Saturday and Sunday 11th-12th July – Michelham Priory. South East Region event, see earlier newsletter for booking form. If stuck contact me. Saturday 8th August – Mersea Island Show. Book direct merseaislandlionsclub.com. Let John (below) know so we can park up together. Sunday 2nd August – Helmingham Hall Festival of Cars. Sunday 23rd August – Lodge Coaches Special Event including Bus and Train Rides. Sunday 30th August – Little Gransden Air Show. Sunday 6th September - Classics by the Lake. CANCELLED Sunday 6th September – Glemham Hall Car Festival. Sunday 13th September – Kings Lynn Heritage Open Day and Classic Car Show in Market Square. Book direct west-norfolk. gov.uk/classiccarday. Sunday 20th September – The Warren Supercar and Classic Car Show. Register with Anthony (below). Pre-payment vital details to follow. Sunday 18th October – Lodge Coaches including Auto Jumble.

It is probably purely academic but at the time of writing I am being an optimist and publishing our events list as from May onwards. Some events may already have been cancelled or are about to be so please excuse any errors. In order to follow UK Government guidelines all pub meets have of course been suspended. Sunday 3rd May – South East Regional, meet at Chatham Dockyard at 10am, then onto Lepson’s Wheel Refurbishment. If interested contact South East Regional Chair, southeast@ bmwcarclubgb.co.uk. Sunday 10th May – Lodge Coaches VE Day including Hurricane fly past. Sunday 17th May – Snetterton have offered us 15 FREE spaces to display BMWs to watch British GT and F3 Races. Contact Stewart below to reserve a space as once they have gone they are gone.

Eastern Paul Rice Events I would have started this month’s Regional page with Event news and I hope by the time of publication things on the Covid-19 side have improved. There have been many cancellations to date and there are no doubt more to come. With lots of help from the office team I will endeavour to keep you all informed as things improve. Let’s hope we can have a great end of season, but more importantly we all come through this current situation safe and well. Monthly meets As with events the Monthly meets have been affected, but yet again I will keep you all updated on any possible resumption of these meets. We had our first visit to the new Yorkshire area pub night at the George and Dragon prior to the lockdown. Nice to meet www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Contacts George Champ (East Anglia Regional Chairman) eastanglia@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 07514 216660 David Adams (Suffolk Branch Rep.) bmwccsuffolkrep@btinternet.com 07774 668596 Stewart Chambers (Assistant Suffolk Branch Rep. and Motor Sport Coordinator) stwrtchambers@gmail.com 07717 327014 John Herman (Essex Branch Rep.) johnherman316@gmail.com Anthony Shilson (Asst. Essex Branch Rep. and M Power Development for EA Region) anthony_shilson@hotmail.com Matthew Hunt (Cambs/Beds Branch Rep.) matthew.hunt13@btinternet.com 07973 986525 Richard Howard (Norfolk Branch Rep.) bmwccnorfolk@gmail.com or janetrichard@rarness.co.uk Paul Roberts (Assistant Norfolk Branch Rep.) 07768 881763 Aaron Reeve (NW Norfolk, STH Lincolnshire, Peterborough Branch Rep.) westnorfolk@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 01553 764600 Sindy Ratini (East Anglia Region Website and Facebook Coordinator) eastern@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

new members, Dave Woods and Chris Summers. Looks like we have a good new location with our own dedicated area creating a comfortable cosy atmosphere with plenty of room for bigger attendances. We missed out on the Breakfast meet in March at The Motorist due to flooding, thankfully the building housing all the fantastic classic cars was safe, it was just the land and car park that was affected. The Motorist Hub Lots happened since our last visit with a big leap on its future plans taking shape. Although closed earlier in the year due to flooding this hasn’t stopped site progress, thanks to Simon for keeping us all up to speed on what’s happening: The New Utility building will be used for the biomass heating system/paint shop/powder coating/engine build room/detailing BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

regionalnews bay and anything else he can get in! Also not photographed is the workshop extension, which will house an office and MOT reception and store rooms for parts. The two storey cafe/ restaurant is scheduled to be built by the end of summer... we await developments of the current crisis to see when this will be started. The bays which house our temporary cafe at the moment will be for our MOT centre, Class 4 and Motorbike. With the remainder as we now know it housing our showroom/classic/ Vintage repairs and restoration/commission sales etc.

Car of the Month

I purchased my Z3 from James Paul BMW Specialists just under three years ago. It had only 45,313 miles since new and was in exceptional condition inside and out. The body was silver metallic with a contrasting blue electric hood and matching Estoley blue leather seats and an ‘M’ styling interior. The last two years the car has passed the MOT with only one advisory concerning the brake pipes, slight corrosion. In view of this and the fact it’s fast becoming a desirable classic, I decided to have a complete restoration done of suspension, stabiliser links and control arms. We replaced the brake pipes with copper ones, renewed bearings, axle bushes, brake cables, petrol tank securing straps, brake hose pipes, gaskets, rubber mountings, exhaust brackets and heat shields, brake discs, pads and covers, suspension legs and springs. The work was carried out by a team of technicians at BM Works in Leeds, West Yorkshire. They are a great bunch of lads dedicated to preserving the prestige of BMW vehicles. They normally concentrate on the repair of more modern BMW models but since the work I needed carrying out was purely mechanical in nature they agreed to do the work. This was completed over three months due to me being in Portugal for the period, so there was no pressure on them to complete the job earlier. On collection of the car I was over the moon, so to speak. The team did a remarkable job in restoring the car to manufacturer standards, and the car handles as if it had just come off the production line. My Z3 has only covered two hundred miles since the completion of these works and has still only 47,246 on the clock.”

Paul King’s Z3 2.2 “I’ve been a member for over two years and enjoy my monthly fix of Straight Six. I’m always interested in members ‘Pride and Joys’ and how they diligently maintain them.

London Anthony Mason 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 Our 80th Crooked Chimney Meet Once again we were faced with torrential rain, I don’t think this storm had an official name given by the meteorological society, all I know is in the Great British tradition we sat and moaned about the weather, hanging out and having a beer and some fresh cooked pub grub. I openly invite any of you reading this to come to either of our meets, we meet on the first Monday of the month at the Ace Cafe for German night, and the Crooked Chimney meet is the second Monday of the month, every month. I aim to get to both but as I work shifts I cannot always attend (both meets are suspended until further notice).

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

One comment that came up was we didn’t go to fireworks night due to the rain, so in fact we have had six months of rain. Hats off to all of the London Region guys and girls that came down, I cannot thank them enough for the support through the winter meets. Still, we had a great selection of cars; we had the two 1M’s both in Valencia Orange, a red M140i, a blue E46 330i, a beautiful mineral white M760i with the silky smooth V12, a silver M5, a black M6, a track focused E92 M3, an Alpine White 123d and a Z4 finished in Valencia Orange. A later arrival was a beautiful black M2. The evening went quickly and we all chatted about all sorts, this was before the COVID-19 www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews

lockdown. Planning a car meet when you can’t meet holds its problems, but I’m hoping by the summer we can get back to normality. I’d like to look at some of the stories behind cars and the historical stories behind them. Sometimes cars outlast

families, sometimes they are passed through generations, and sometimes they are just a car! Please help me to keep the London Region current and on top form by making it a two way conversation.

Mid Wales & Shropshire Phil Pinnington Welcome to May’s edition of the Mid Wales & Shropshire Region news. Strange times at the moment, and I hope everyone is staying safe at this difficult time. We are all dealing with it in our own different ways, but we are all in this together because no one is immune to this. For those of you who are key workers we salute you and applaud you for everything you are doing, for those of us who have lost loved ones to this terrible virus our hearts go out to you, for those who have lost their businesses and their jobs, and for those who long to see loved ones, you are not alone. Together we will beat this just by following the rules. Please stay in and save lives. As you can imagine the majority of events have so far been cancelled and I’m sure more will follow as the weeks go on. My advice is to hold onto any tickets you may have already bought as I’m sure these will be valid when things do get back to normal. I know most of my Motley Crew of hardcore members like myself have been using the lockdown to work on their cars, repairing motors, pumps, hoses etc. or just giving the cars an extra special wash and clean. My message to everyone is to stay safe. Phil Regional Chairman. Forthcoming events 2020 - please check all dates with the event organisers as we get closer MAY Sunday 3rd – Catton Hall www.classicmotorshows.co.uk.

North East

Nick Thomas

midwales@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Sunday 17th – Cholmondeley Castle www.classicshows.org. Sunday 24th – Capesthorne Hall www.classicshows.org. JUNE Sunday 21st – Trentham Gardens classicmotorshows.co.uk (For this show only please book as a privateer under 1990s section not as club). JULY Sunday 5 – Lichfield Cars in the Park (contact Tim - limited spaces x15). Sunday 12th – Shrewsbury Classic Car Festival SY5 8EX - Pay on the Gate £5 (Reserved x16). Sunday 19th – Wem Vehicles on Interest Show (contact Phil for tickets). Sunday 26th – Bodrhyddan Hall www.classicshows.org. AUGUST Sunday 2nd – NEW EVENT Classic car show Stafford Castle details to be confirmed... Sun 30th and Mon 31st – Oulton Park Gold Cup (Contact Tim x16 via Phil for tickets). SEPTEMBER Sunday 6th – Bodrhyddan Hall wwwclassicshows.org. Sunday 20th – Cholmondeley Castle wwwclassicshows.org. OCTOBER Sunday 4th – AM Breakfast meet Alderford Lake. northeast@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Welcome to all North East members who have joined the Club recently. We normally run a number of events throughout the year, please come and join us. With recent circumstances we have become more virtual, follow our Facebook group to see what is happening and what fellow members are up to. Recent Events The March Monthly Meet was the last before the Coronavirus shutdowns started. It was very well attended, probably one of the biggest we’ve had for a very long time. I’m told we had 27 people (I couldn’t count properly, I was communicating with my family at the other end of the table by semaphore and SMS) and I counted 17 cars. The same weekend we had two stunning cars from Paul Taylor and Mike Milbourne on show in the Cooper Teesside showroom – thanks for volunteering your cars for this. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

regionalnews Forthcoming events North East events recently and over the next few months are very fluid. As you will have seen from the April Straight Six, print deadlines mean last minute changes just cannot be captured. Please follow the North East Region Facebook group or keep an eye on the ‘2020 North East Calendar’ in the Club forum for the latest information. I will be very pleased to see you at one or more of our events. In fact, I would be very pleased just to attend an event even if I was the only one there! Car of the Month The March Car of the Month was awarded at the Black Horse meeting to Anthony Emerson and his white M140i. All regional BMWs are eligible to win COTM and a goodie bag supplied by The Polishing Company. The winner each month is usually selected by the previous month’s winner. Join us at our next monthly meet to be in with a chance of winning.

North Wales David Allen

07788 718590 northwales@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

It certainly is a very unpredictable time. As I write this at the beginning of April it is impossible to predict when things will get back to normal. National and BMW events are being cancelled well into June, July and even August. The message is that we should stay at home and not venture out. Before the lockdown, we did have a meeting – sparsely attended but with a number of apologies. I have not detailed the agenda or discussion points. Many members will become increasingly concerned as work and funds begin to dry up. It will not be an easy time. But please contact the girls in the Club office as they’re happy to discuss options for membership renewals. I sincerely hope that all our members and their families are safe. If we can help others we should try and do so. We must be

North West

Jeff Heywood

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

Forthcoming events For obvious reasons all events for May and June are cancelled. It is probably easier for you to access the internet to see whether some of the shows later in the year will take place. You can always contact me by email with any developments. Car of the Month If any members would like their car featured, please send me an email.

BMW Car Club GB North West image Twitter: @BMWNW

News Welcome to the May edition of North West News. Apologies for April’s NW News, it went to print in early March before the Coronavirus pandemic and lockdown instructions came into force, hence my NW News being full of pub meet dates and other events! So, until further notice, all NW pub meets at the Swan and Sheldon Arms have been cancelled. As this was going to print, the popular Youngtimer Car Show at Gawsworth Hall in May was still going ahead, so I am still taking bookings for this show, just in case – please follow the info below. These are unprecedented and challenging times for us all; everyone’s world has been tipped upside down, including the BMW Car Club world. Thankfully, Straight Six is still being printed by a skeleton staff working at safe distances, so we thank our printers at Hine Marketing for their dedication. The Club is also releasing regular email newsletters, the Club website to peruse, plus the Club’s Facebook page etc. to visit. The Club is also now broadcasting live podcasts – an excellent idea! If you are stuck inside at home and bored, I update my own personal Facebook page on a daily basis with BMW stuff, so please feel free to give my page a visit and send a

positive and I will certainly look forward to getting the BMW out and about in the sunshine when it’s all over. Please stay safe and I look forward to seeing you soon.

07801 506632 northwest@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

friend request; we also keep the NW Region Facebook page updated, so please give it a visit. And most of all, keep safe, keep healthy, look after your family and the vulnerable and we’ll hopefully see you at a Car Club event later in the year…

Alloy Wheel Repair – Highly recommended Class Alloys – mobile visiting service, repair and refurb alloy wheels, all finishes including chrome shadowline. He covers most of NW Region. Discount given to club members, wheel repairs start from £40.00 – contact Steve on 07594 018525 – see Steve’s work on Facebook, search for ‘Class Alloys’. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews BMW Servicing & Repair – Highly recommended Darren Wood BMW Specialist (0161 425 7403) Bredbury, Stockport SK6 2QB. www.darren-wood.com Bodywork – Highly recommended David Tully Bodyshop (Tully’s), Rochdale – top class paint/body repair shop. 01706 643866 – www.davidtullyltd.co.uk. Express-dent-removal – Highly recommended Mobile Service – speak to Simon Robinson on 0800 998 9828 or 07767 832255 – or visit www.express-dent-removal.co.uk. Forthcoming Events 17th May – NW meet at the Swan Meeting cancelled. 25th May – Youngtimer Car Show at Gawsworth Hall As we went to press this popular show on May Bank Holiday Monday is still being advertised as taking place, so I still need to take bookings. So if the best case scenario happens and it does go ahead, please reserve a place for your car with me via the contact details at the top of this page. We’re looking for eye-catching, rare, classic and beautiful BMWs please! Give Jeff a call ASAP on his mobile number. 19th July – NW meet at the Swan More details next month.

South East South East Region sponsored by

Ian Bryant

Chandlers Brighton 01273 769 812

I hope you’re keeping well during these unprecedented times. While deciding what to write for this month’s update it struck me that the previous month’s update (April) was all about mixed weather and commencing events with plenty to look forward to in the coming year. What a contrast to where we are now, with Coronavirus impacting everything we do, however the good news is that the weather has improved! In line with Government guidelines, all events are currently cancelled/on hold until further notice, and the Brand Hatch British Touring Cars event is to be rescheduled. It is highly likely that other events like Lepson’s Tour will be cancelled/ rescheduled so please watch the South East Region Home page. We will continue to follow the Government advice on when to resume events. So, like many of you, with plenty of spare time on my hands and stuck at home, what have I been up to? Well, the simple answer is having a right overdose on car maintenance and cleaning. First up the Z3, just back from BMR having had new rear suspension bushes and front drop links. This required an interim service, usual checks and new oil and filter. Washed, prepared with a clay bar and waxed. Not much required on the Z3 as it had the full works last year prior to the Italy trip. Next, the Z4M had Inspection 2 last year at BMR, but needed a brake fluid change and I decided to do the oil and filter followed by a wash, clay and wax. Plus a new battery that failed

South Wales Jonathan Bamford Welcome to our South Wales Region May news. Firstly, I hope everyone is safe and adhering to government advice. This is a testing time, not just for the car community but for every single person. I hope you have enough to keep yourselves entertained and that you are filling your time wisely. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Local NW Branch News Manchester Branch News All Manchester meets at the Sheldon Arms are cancelled until further notice. Manchester Branch meetings are usually held on the first Tuesday of every month at the Sheldon Arms, Lord Sheldon Way, Ashton-under-Lyne OL6 7UB, half a mile from Jct23 M60 and accessible to all. southeast@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Hailsham 01323 306 106 Worthing 01903 444821

www.baronsgroup.co.uk/bmw

BARONS CC20133 =

15% discount code

even though it had been on a conditioner, it was old and died, very pleased it did so at home. M235i – decided to give this a full detail, wash, decontamination, clay bar, full machine polish and finished off with two polymer coats. I am using the polymer coat for the first time; very cheap, easy to apply with a great finish, should last 7-9 months. The M235i needs a full service in May so currently sourcing parts for this. Finally the wife’s car, as it is not a BMW it receives little attention other than the odd wash, this has had full detail with the wheels off, same as the M235i with a polymer coat. Plus it needed new brake pads all round and an interim service. So until the next update, stay safe. Key Events - all events subject to change/cancellation 3rd May – Lepson’s tour of Alloy Wheel Refurbishment and Tyre fitting facility – Undecided 5th July – The German Car Show, The Hawth Crawley. BMW/ Porsche and Mercedes. 11th & 12th July – Michelham Priory. 19th July – Sherbourne Castle run by Wessex Region. 20th September – The Warren Classic Concours d’ Elegance run by East Anglia Region. Watch the BMW South East Region home page bmwcarclubgb.uk/regions/south_east.html for latest updates. southwales@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

We have had a number of new members this month, so if this is your first Straight Six issue, then welcome to the group. We run WhatsApp groups for chat and event info so please message me if you wish to be added. I will also continue to use the Club’s MailChimp system to send out BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

regionalnews messages to ensure everyone receives them. Since the last issue, we were lucky enough to have one event before the Covid-19 outbreak. That was to Sytner in Cardiff where we had a great tour of the brand new facility. Everyone who attended would agree that this was one of the best turnouts by far for a South Wales meet, and it didn’t disappoint. Having a free roam around the showroom filled with fantastic cars that many could only dream of, an in-depth look

at the body shop, prep areas and Sytner’s rooftop of stock cars was a real eye opener. For those that attended, Sytner generously offered a free BMW thermal mug and keyring. Moving forward, they are working on a discount structure for members which will be available not only for parts, but labour too! So, watch this space. Here is a selection of the many pictures from the day. Normally, our monthly meetings are held at the Twelve Knights Pub in Margam, SA13 2DB. They are held on the third Wednesday of every month. It is a great opportunity to meet new people and share your passion for cars. They start between 6:30pm and 7:00pm, with some arriving slightly earlier for food. Once these events are up and running again, you will be informed via email. No member’s car this month. Next month, as there is little to write about, I will do a review of a member’s car for the full report. Please let me know if you would like this to be you.

Thames Tony Skerrett Just a brief message for the May issue and hope you are all bearing up and doing your bit during the current pandemic. I’m on gardening leave (literally so!) and have cleaned my 3 Series many times. As far as I know all Thames members are safe and sound and keeping fit. I’m currently reading the Logistics of the Macedonian Army in Afghanistan 325BC plus Sir Aural Stein’s book on “Alexander’s road to the Indus”. Takes your mind off things!

Forthcoming Events – Provisionally booked, Virus dependant. 14th June – BMW Show, Santa Pod – Already booked in and paid, our stand can accommodate 10+ cars. If you have yet to pay for a ticket and are interested to come then please contact me to arrange. 5th July – BM’s on the Lawn, Weston-Super-Mare. 5th September – Forge Action Day, Castle Combe. Another date for the diary, please contact me for club code to book online. Weekend of 18th September – Round Wales Trip – Proving to be a great trip already. Plans to cover all the great sights of our wonderful country. Organised photo shoot at Portmeirion and much more. 07879 404648 thames@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

4th October – Bicester Heritage Sunday Scramble. Regarding Regional Meetings (Littlebury Hotel Bicester), these will be resumed as soon as possible. It is possible some new events will be announced in due course. In the meantime “chin up” and keep fit from all at Thames!

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

stories behind these unforgettable milestones in BMW history. Correction to the Jeff Leek article in SS6 June Issue. Jeff Leek has requested it to be known that the Gearbox in the

Tim Maltby Maltby Wessex Tim

Barons Barons Farnborough Farnborough 01252 883 565 It feels strange to be writing this in these unprecedented times and the more so as there haven’t been any events to share! Social distancing in the form of a drive along one’s favourite roads is no longer acceptable and there is only so much washing and polishing to be done. On a positive note one can at least catch up on all of those outstanding jobs and projects that have gradually been building up.

New Forest Treasure Hunt We met at our usual rendezvous, the St Leonard’s Hotel, for coffee a chat and a chance to check out the cars. A staggered start began at 2.00pm and the 36.8 mile drive through the most stunning New Forest countryside began. It must be said that one or two of us did considerably more than 36.8 miles. With 45 questions to solve, our navigators were kept busy. During the drive we saw New Forest ponies and their foals, longhorn cattle and everyone’s favourite, donkeys, all roaming freely from village to village. Various stop off points around the route enabled us to learn facts relating to the New Forest whilst solving the questions. We all arrived at the Bell Inn in Brook and sat down to a hearty meal.

Western Nigel Smith Welcome new members. Thank you to all that came along to BM’s on the Lawn, hopefully you all enjoyed yourselves; look out for the full article in next month’s magazine. Apologies to anyone who didn’t get the message that last month’s pub meet was held at an alternative venue due to change of ownership at our regular meet. However we will be back to normal this month unless anything else happens. At our last meet we held a little fun raffle and the prize was a bottle of Bead Maker by P&S Products, won by Scott Walters; well done Scott, we await his feedback. Our Dorset Drive is getting closer and it would be nice to knowSo, how many areoninterested in taking part. have about let’s reflect a few things we did lastWe summer. Many15 thanks to Eric for some of the photos. For me, one of the most memorable pub meets was the one at The Sir Walter Tyrell where we had a fabulous turn out of members with a good 20 cars or so.

Western Nigel Smith Welcome to all members, Well, what can I say, as you may or may not be aware the Club Regional news is usually written a month ahead all of the time, which I’m sorry to say means that everything you read in last month’s Regional news sounded like a load of tosh! While writing this we are currently in lockdown due to www.bmwcarclubgb.uk the Covid-19 pandemic. This has hit us all in various ways and I’m sure you were all looking forward to getting those cars out. All of our safety is of utmost importance and some may have needed to self-isolate, while others may still be BMW Straight Six July2019.indd 71 able to exercise or work on the NHS frontline, or might be an important essential worker. Whichever category you are in I wish you all well, stay safe and look forward to meeting up again when this is all over. As far as shows are concerned the Southern Concours was cancelled near the end of March, I will be making no www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews 07885 252448 wessex@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Barons Hindhead 01428 853 357 Some of the boys from the Bournemouth area spread their wings and had a great day at Brooklands and a chance to look around Concorde.

Sharon and Mike were the winners and also the quickest, so congratulations to them. The sun shone all day, there wasn’t a traffic jam in sight, just a perfect day out. Our thanks to Belinda and Julian for organising the whole event and setting all the questions. In conclusion a brilliant day out and one that will be repeated in the future. Eric Thompson The visit to Sturminster Mill was another scorching event, Diary Dateshistory, 2019 good banter and a local cheese and food combining National festival. Festival Gaydon 11th August. If you are parking up withThe Wessex then Tim a line: Wessex@ meeting at please Phoenixdrop Green onMaltby New Year’s Day is a bmwcarclubgb.co.uktickets bmwcarclubgb.uk distant memory of thebook start your to 2020, but a fond one. 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@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

cars so far. Please contact me to register your interest. Please visit our FB page for a full list of event dates and any updates on changes, 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. 2019 events dates for you all: 3rd July 2019, Pub Meet at the Woolpack, Weston-Super-Mare from 7.30pm 14th 2019,May seeunfurls us at Powderham Castle classichealthy. vehicle show Let’s July see how but stay safe and keep 7th August 2019, Pub Meet at the Woolpack, Weston-SuperMare from 7.30pm Forthcoming Events 11th August 2019, Festival, Gaydon, WarwickshireSaturday 27th JuneNational – Norden Train Station (Corfe Castle) tickets at bmwcarclubgb.uk Steam purchased train to Swanage To be confirmed 1st September 2019, Dorset &coastal drive,Sherborne further details to To Sunday 19th July – Classics Supercars Castle come but will start at Portland Bill, Dorset, 9am start be confirmed 4th September 2019, Pub Meet at the Woolpack, WestonSuper-Mare from 7.30pm western@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 2nd October 2019, Pub Meet at the Woolpack, Weston-SuperMare from 7.30pm 6th November 2019, Pub Meet at the Woolpack, WestonSuper-Mare from 7.30pm December 2019, Christmas meal TBA BMW Car Club Magazine JULY 2019

20/06/2019 15:44

attempt to reschedule for later this year, however I will be looking at similar dates for next year and hopefully you will BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

regionalnews all be out in the masses with those immaculate cars that you have had so much time on your hands to detail and clean. As of yet we don’t know how long this is going to last but hopefully we will all meet again soon. Take Care and Stay Safe. Please visit our Facebook page for a full list of event dates and any updates on changes, 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.

:39:59 pm

orthcoming Events 3rd May – Southern Concours and General BMW Gathering at Sherborne Castle, Sherborne Dorset CANCELLED 6th May – Pub Meet at the Woolpack, Weston-Super-Mare from 7.30pm CANCELLED 5th July – BM’s on the Lawn, Weston-Super-Mare sea front lawns. COVID RESTRISTRICTION PERMITTING 12th July – Powderham Castle. CANCELLED 16th August – National Concours. COVID RESTRISTRICTION PERMITTING

NEW Limited Edition Club Merchandise

Our new line of Limited Edition Club merchandise includes an updated black polo with a smaller Pirelli badge and M Power logo, a black long sleeve polo, M Power hoodie, and M Power baseball and trucker caps. All Club merchandise can be purchased either through the Club Shop shop.bmwcarclubgb.uk, by calling the Club Office 01970 267 989, or at one of our National Events.

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

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regionalnews

registernews 02 Richard Stern

07770 443373 02register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

We started off the year well in 2020 with the London New Year’s Day parade, then the Jaymic Jaunt in February (glad we got the 02’s out), then we had the excellent London Classic Car Show and now everything is off! What am I going to do, apart from go out of my mind? Not only has this virus outbreak changed our lives for good it is having a massive impact on people, jobs, businesses and hobbies of course, we need to rethink and restock of what they can do for our members, keep it interesting whilst still attracting new members. For me I think it’s a great time to now get more technical articles completed, time to show off your projects and lessons learnt, we also have a massive archive so let’s re-run some of the old adverts etc. I shall be digging through my archives and trying to create some new features to keep me sane. I think it gives us all time to think about how we appeal to our members and what new value we can offer them. What would you like to see in the 02 Register section? What about some interactive blogs? Technical presentations? Let me know your thoughts please – 02register@ bmwcarclubgb.co.uk.

for that I’d at least want a straight “2002” rear script badge and missing grill screws fitted. 2020 key events – we’ll just have to see when things return to normal, whatever the new normal is, and hopefully start seeing events pop up again later this year. But I think this year might be written off to be honest. Time to get those projects finished ready for next season? Car of the Month – not only one for my site each month but tell us about your 02 and projects, lets share them with the wider 02 members, so please let me know what you’re doing with your 02 and share the experiences. This 02 recently sold for a whopping $130,000, yes, $130,000 in the USA, a former Oldenzaal (Netherlands) restoration, but

1 Series

Anthony Mason

This month’s 1 Series chat comes to you from a housebound me, I’ve been generally binging on TV, eating anything I can find and looking at older photos of other people’s cars wanting to get out and drive my car. I must also admit to watching lots and lots of YouTube videos of my cars, some others and realising what a gem I have. The last active meet was at the beginning of March and was a roaring success, all the cars looked gleaming in the rain – they say never buy a car in the rain as the rain hides so much. The other exciting thing I’ve been doing is watching an artist called Ian Cook – I’ve been following him on Instagram for a couple of years, he does mainly huge canvas automobile artwork with radio controlled cars, or model cars depending on the scale of the piece. He’s been forced out of his workspace and is doing what he can from home. He was doing some www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Tail Pipe Jaymic now have new door skins in stock www.kooglewerks.com/products including DCOE Air filter 90-degree adapters Maximillian BMW Parts USA now have complete fastener/screw kits for 02 projects: https://tinyurl.com/sdp2anp 1series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

continuous line drawings of people’s cars and I put mine forward. If you check out his Instagram @popbangcolour you can watch the art being created. The 1M meet I had started to plan in Frankfurt over the summer has been cancelled due to the Covid-19 outbreak, now the silver lining BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

registernews is next year and will mark the 10 year anniversary of the launch of the 1M and I’m sure the host Amar will pull out all the stops. This gives us plenty of time to organise a truly spectacular trip down there. The plan is to release the date early and I will

3 Series E9x

Julian Pickering

As I write this article, I can only contemplate what a difference just over a week has made. The April edition of Straight Six came through my letterbox this morning and reading all the articles about forthcoming events, planned club visits and car reviews it feels as though we have entered a different time warp. For those of us that are lucky, we are only concerned about the destruction of our social calendars and the confinement to our homes, but our hearts go out to those for whom Coronavirus has been and continues to be a major catastrophe. On a brighter note, Matt Mead has sent me information on his 2007 E92 335i Coupé. He writes: “Further to your report in the latest issue of Straight Six, I thought I would do my bit in support of the E90 range. I’ve been a bit of a fan of BMW for as long as I can remember, with the family car being the latest 5 Series since the early 80s. Having previously owned an E46 318Ci (my first BMW), I watched the first E90s released and knew from the first look I had to have one. As soon as I had saved enough money, I bought the first one I could find. And she was definitely not the best example! But I didn’t care, she was rough around the edges and in desperate need of a decent owner. I was now the proud owner of a 2007 E92 335i Coupé, an epic return to the era of the turbo since the 2002 turbo. Instantly she had issues to resolve, which were really interesting and unorthodox but I won’t bore you with the details - just that with good knowledge I soon put them right. I started to research a brief history of my car and looked at other cars in its class (AKA watching videos on YouTube of reviews and what they pitched it up against). I eventually stumbled upon an episode of ‘5th Gear’ presented by Vicky Butler-Henderson. This was interesting as although the 335i had been established for about a year, it was pitched against the newly released Audi S5 V8.

3 Series E30

Neil McDonald

endeavour to plan the route with some exciting stops on the way. One stop will be the Atomium in Brussels and there’s a fantastic burger place my stomach found on the way there AND back, the use of walkie talkies makes the miles drop away. e90register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

See YouTube video: https://youtu.be/K0GTB-fEoQo On watching the BMW cross the line, marginally ahead, I noticed that the number plate looked familiar... yep you guessed it... it’s that moment when you scream...that’s my bloody car! Needless to say, my car has been named Vicky in homage ever since. The photograph shows me with the original number plate. I have maintained my E92 as well as most and it’s almost stock. I have changed to a private number plate, fitted new wheels and added a front lip. Otherwise everything else is original, which is just how I like it.”

Thank you for this report Mike. We are all secretly proud of your car finishing just ahead of the S5. Please follow Mike’s lead and send me your E9x stories for future editions of Straight Six. Until we talk again I hope that you and your families stay safe and we can all get some serious rubber on the road again soon! e30register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

My Name is Mike Cookson, I have been a member of the Club for over 15 years since becoming a BMW fan, my first being a 1993 E36 318iS. I have owned a number of BMW’s since then (10!) but currently have an E46 M3 Coupe and an E39 520i Saloon. About a month before Christmas, I notice a post on my village Facebook page asking if anyone wanted an old BMW that was in their parents’ back garden and had been there for ten years at least. I replied straight away asking what type of BMW it was etc. but I heard nothing back and forgot about it. About a week before Christmas I got a reply saying that someone had agreed to take the car but it had fallen through and was I still interested, attached were some pictures which were clearly of an E reg. E30 in Delphin Silver with what looked like an M Tech 1 rear spoiler. Yes I was still interested!

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

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registernews

I got down there as soon as I could and was confronted with a very sorry looking E30 325i M Tech 1 Sport, which was half parked in an outbuilding in a back garden belonging to the lady’s mother. Her mother was in a home and she was selling the house, so the car had to go and go quickly. The lady said it was her uncle’s car and she remembered it when it was on the road and had been in it many times. She now lives in the USA and was going back after New Year, so the car would have to be shifted before January 4th. OK I said, leave it with me. I absolutely want it, not having a clue how I was going to get it out of there, never mind the very narrow alleyway at the back of the house!

4 Series

Paul Roberts

I contacted some vehicle recovery firms and a local one agreed to meet me at the house the following Saturday morning. I explained to him that the brakes were probably seized up and that access was tight. ‘Don’t worry lad, we’ll get it out of there no bother,’ he said. He had looked on Google Maps and had seen the back yard and car, no problem. I got down there on Saturday and Mr No Problem was already there, ‘I can’t get in there,’ he explained, ‘The alleyway is too tight and I can’t get near it anyway due to parked cars in the way.’ #######! I thought, how we are going to get around this! End of Part 1. 4series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

At the time of writing this article we are in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic (31st March) and as such all the meetings and trips (Tykes Tango) have been cancelled or at the very least postponed. This is a very sad state of affairs, and personally I have been stuck indoors now for some 10 days and probably have more to go. Prior to the outbreak I did get to drive my 4 Series with the roof down and flying jacket on! However I don’t think this will reoccur now for several weeks. It does mean though that the car has been cleaned almost to death whilst being confined to home. We will soon have to think about what to do as regards our “Welsh Weekend” where we had booked an apartment on the seafront in Aberystwyth. I think this will also have to go by the wayside but as it’s near the end of July who knows. I have no pictures this month either, apart from my car in lockdown so this will be a very short article. All I can say is for all to stay safe, and in due course we will look back at this period in our lives and perhaps share some moments whether sad or happy. Until the next time, Paul.

5 Series E34 Manj Sandhu Welcome to the E34 monthly update. I have been sharing my thoughts on my manual E34 535i Sport. As mentioned, the car is my workhorse used at least three to four times a week. The car has had a long and roller coaster of a history. In a past issue, I discussed how the previous owner had done the absolute minimum maintenance on the car in four years of ownership. Nevertheless, looking at the history there are numerous old bills and records going further back. The car was first registered in August 1989, early work was carried out at the local Westerly (Plymouth) and Ocean (Exeter) BMW dealerships. One bugbear has been the original service book, which was misplaced by a previous owner a while back. Apparently lost during a house move, which is a little disappointing. I did replace the service book with a new one. I have also thought www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

e34register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

about tracking down the extensive history and retrospectively going back to all the relevant garages for new stamps in the SB. For most of its life, the car spent its time in the south-west area. Unfortunately, this is not close to where I reside in Coventry, West Midlands, meaning a long journey, probably more than once, to get the stamps with no guarantee of success. Do fellow members think this is a good idea? Has anybody else had to do this? Trolling through the history, back in 2005 the car was a concours winner, giving an insight into the exceptional condition of the car back then. I have all the documents from the time. Ideally, I should try to bring it back to this condition, but with it being a daily driver and not a garage queen it will be difficult. Out of all the cars I own, the 535i is by far my son’s favourite. He prefers the E34 over and above all the other cars BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

registernews in my collection. It is a testament to the build quality, driving experience and classic look, which I assume attracts a young boy to this wonderful make and model. I do recall a few years ago asking him why it was his favourite. I was curious to find out why a young boy would swing favour towards an E34. His response – “I wish I was driving in the 1990s dad. They do not make cars as they used to, when cars were real (proper) cars” he said pointing all around at the neighbour’s modern vehicles! Very perceptive for a seven year old! Thinking about all the jobs remaining to bring it back anywhere close to its previous concours condition might prove harder than first thought. I should now point out that I am not a handy man by no means. No one, especially the wife, would refer to me as an enthusiastic DIY person, much to her annoyance. Unfortunately, I just do not have the patience for it, usually going in gung-ho and heavy handed then breaking stuff as a result. Moving on, I did tackle one annoying issue before the winter weather kicked in. Muddy interiors! It really irks me when I have spent hours cleaning the interior of the E34, for the kids to ruin it within 5 minutes with muddy shoes or clothes. With both of them playing football at the weekend, it is a difficult situation to avoid. I tried double car mats, plastic sheet and cardboard, all with little success. Kids always find a way to make a mess three layers down onto the original carpets! In the end, I brought a long roll of 3mm thick rubber lining material, cutting it to size as required. Making sure that I covered all the visible floor space, the edges, nooks and crannies. It appeared to work fantastically well and all for about a fifth of the price of good quality car mats. Next month I will talk you through more on the interior and my thoughts on the overall appearance of the car. Finally, the car of the month leaves me 100% jealous, as it is clearly one of the best! – Mike Goulding’s stunning Lachs Sliver 525i with FSH and 60k miles on the clock – Wow! Enjoy.

6 Series E24

Konstantinos Loizou

e24register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Welcome to this month’s instalment of the E24 Register news. Firstly, I’d like to apologise for the lack of Register news. There have been a few things happening in my life which meant I have not been able to fully focus on certain things. But as I am writing this we are into week two of the Covid-19 lockdown and I find myself with some spare time. Events We learnt at the end of February that the National Festival was being put on hold for this year. Some of the events in the calendar may be of interest to members – for E24 owners and other owners of cars in the Sharknose Collection, I have again secured a date at the Ace Café London for a Sharknose meet, Sunday 6th September 2020 noon until 5pm. But with things as they are, we don’t know if such meets will be allowed. Hopefully things will be back to normal by then. My plans were to go over to Holland for the Annual Sharknose Meeting in Rosmalen. (www.sharknosrmeeting.com) which was due to be held on the 30th May, but a few days ago I was notified it has been postponed and in all probability cancelled for 2020. Some members from the BMW Car Club GB attended last year and enjoyed it, and there was interest from members to go again. Bimmerfest Europe was due to be held on the 14th June 2020, this has been postponed and at the time of writing we were hoping a new date later in the year would be scheduled. We should know some time in April of the new date. Many of the UK shows have been postponed, the Southern Concours and the Sunday Scramble at Bicester Heritage are two which have great car club attendance. Looking at the situation and how it is developing, I doubt there will be much happening at all. But we can hope that we all get through this difficult time and once we do we can look forward to events.

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

Buying, Selling and Valuations As ever I watch the market and keep an eye on what E24s are selling for at dealers and in auctions. Market trends are an important thing to monitor when doing valuations. I recently helped Classic Cars magazine (along with Barney from Classic Heroes and Ron Inskip from Bigcoupe.com) put together a buyer’s guide, and valuations were something we spoke about at length. My advice was to always buy the best car you can and if in doubt have a pre-purchase inspection done. And having an agreed valuation in place is vital should anything unfortunate happen. Cars are selling, good ones for strong money with the best 635CSi’s making mid to high 20s. A basket case restoration 635CSi starts at around 3k. Maintenance and Parts I do get a fair few emails asking for help with parts and maintenance. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

registernews Parts availability is still good, some parts are now no longer available (front grills, ABS sensors) but generally BMW do a decent job of providing what we need as does the aftermarket. For used parts, it’s a case of eBay and Facebook Marketplace. As with parts, I’m often asked for garage recommendations for maintenance and servicing. This is difficult because what I may view as a good experience, someone else may not. If I find something expensive, another’s may not. I am always happy to share my experience though and will always direct people to garages where I believe they will get a good service. Continuing on service, a hotly discussed topic recently was oil recommendations for the 635CSi and its M30 engine. Lots of our cousins in the USA were adamant 20W50 was the correct oil, which in theory it is. But in the UK, 15W40 is absolutely fine, I’ve run it for 30 years with no issues at all in my car (Castrol

7 Series

Matthew Swanborough

I hope you are reading this with great relief, that the 7 Series Register has some news! I have just taken up the position and I am very excited to be a more active member of the Club – and specifically to bring more news and content about the flagship cruiser in the BMW line-up, the 7 Series. By way of introduction, my name is Matthew Swanborough and I am a long time 7 Series addict, having first been exposed to them as a teenager in the 90’s, to owning my first in 2006. Since then, I have owned around 30 of them and tended to favour the E38 but not exclusively – and now somehow have four E38s. In the coming months I will expand on them a little as well as bring you news on some of the fantastic examples owned and enjoyed by other members. In more recent years and perhaps by virtue of the fact that the E38 is reaching classic status, I have taken a more handson approach to maintenance where possible, which may be the only reason I can currently justify being able to run a few of them. Actually, more importantly, my long suffering wife lets me get away with it and still manages to find it in herself to support me – I am a very lucky man. I thought I’d use this, my first contribution to the magazine and introduction to my infatuation with the 7 Series, to tell you about how this year started with an impulse buy that turned into a big project. It all started when one of my saved eBay searches turnedup a beautiful Mora Metallic Individual 728i for sale with a www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

GTX). If you are in a warmer climate, then there is an argument to switch to 20W50, but somehow, I don’t think many of us are living in a place where it gets over 40 degrees! 7series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

suspected blown head gasket. Taking leave of my senses, on the basis that this may miraculously be a misdiagnosis, I bought the car sight unseen and had it collected the next day. Well, unfortunately a chemical test confirmed that the pressure building up in the coolant system was indeed exhaust gas. Devastated, but this was always going to be a possibility. Having had a bad experience unsuccessfully getting a blown head gasket repaired many years ago, I decided to see if I could find a replacement engine. Long story short, 48 hours later I was driving home a very well kept and presented donor 728i SE which had many of the big E38 issues like ABS lights, leaking fuel tank etc. The engine however, was smoother and silkier than the cat’s pyjamas and the service history completely up-to-date. I set about assembling a team of fellow enthusiasts and organising a space where we could perform an engine swap. A few weeks later the big engine swap day arrived, and a good friend and person to know in the world of E38, Ed Eddie, arrived to join myself and Uvis Chevvers with our ambitious days’ work. BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

registernews We gave ourselves one day to carefully remove two engines and install the good one back and get it running. The expert Ed suggested we drop them on the subframes, and within 1 hour 15 minutes we had one complete engine out and on the ground! The second engine took a little longer as we got into our stride to enjoy the project. By 6pm we had mostly reassembled the car and the time came to turn the key. After a failed first attempt – a little bit of fettling ECU cables and checks – she started up. Another friend, Omkar, had arrived to help out and the car was complete with exception of a couple of exhaust bolts which

8 Series

Debbie Blythe

Hi everyone, as with all of the other Regions and Registers out there nothing much is, or should be, happening at the moment and therefore the column this month will be a little limited. I suppose that a number of you will be taking this opportunity to take care of those little maintenance jobs you hadn’t managed to get to over the winter. Both Paul and I have a few jobs to be done on our cars, with his currently at our mechanics garage after having a couple of MOT advisories taken care of, and waiting for the headlining to be re-fitted once it has been finished at the upholsterers. My car is down for a full service and the fuel gauge sender unit changed, the gauge has a mind of its own and I currently monitor it with the milometer. So if any of you have any stories, advice, tips etc. that you feel would benefit the other 8 Series owners than please send them to me at 8series@ bmwcarclubgb.co.uk and I will try and put them in the next few issues of the magazine, photos are also very welcome. Facebook Groups

As some of you are aware there are a number of Facebook groups specifically for the 8 Series and as a member of those I thought it would be a good idea to post a picture of my car

Z1 Register

Jamal Blanc

Ever since owning my Z1 I’d always noticed that the hood didn’t quite fit equally over both sides of the windscreen when in the closed position. My car had a new hood fitted by the previous owner and I guess the hood wasn’t adjusted properly. A while back I’d started to hear a whistling sound on the driver’s side just by the roll bar/header rail with the roof in the closed position so I knew I’d need to find a way of adjusting this. After a lunch meet up with fellow Z1’ers Pat Slade and Sam Lever I’d explained the problem. Pat had come equipped with the necessary tools to loosen the bolts that hold the roof in place. See illustration below taken from this website: www.bmwz1.org/Reparaturanleitung/pages/en/5410000a. html#refertoc REMOVING AND INSTALLING CONVERTIBLE TOP Unscrew nut (2). Loosen socket head screw (1). Lift out top. Note: Height of top to body can be adjusted with washers (S). What it doesn’t mention is that there is some movement

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

needed replacing. We genuinely had a lot of fun doing the job, and while a few hiccups came up along the way some creative thinking meant nothing held us up. Before leaving, we parked my two cars together with Omkar’s nearly identical Mora Metallic 728i - to get a photo of three rare cars together. Please do get in touch with any comments or questions, I would love to hear from you. Also, find me on Instagram @ e38th. I would like to include other member contributions on my monthly update so do get in touch! 8series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

on the worldwide group BMW 50 & 840 (E31) World Owners Association and start a Virtual Car Show. I ended up with well over 100 photos posted to my original post from all over the world, here are a few of them from Australia, Middle East, Germany, Poland and also the UK. Future events – 2020 The future events section is severely reduced to what we had planned for this year and we still do not know if any of the following will still be happening, I will keep in touch by email and magazine. Saturday 4th July – Cars in the Park, Beacon Park, Lichfield, Staffs, WS13 6RA. We are having a stand for the E31 register. The organisers are making a decision about this event at the end of May. Sunday 19th July – Summer meet at The Chequers Inn, WOTG, OX25 3QH. 10.00am – 2.00pm, contact me if you would like to join us for a very enjoyable carvery at the pub. Sunday 27th September – Autumn meet at The Chequers Inn, WOTG, OX25 3QH. 10.00am – 2.00pm, contact me if you would like to join us for a very enjoyable carvery at the pub. z1register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

backwards/forwards once the nut pictured 2S is loosened and the recessed Allen bolt pictured 1S is also loosened on both sides of the car. This has stopped the whistling noise on my car and made the hood a tighter fit. As you can see you can also add washers to lift the back end of the hood up to reduce the annoying curved mark caused by the hood rubbing the tonneau cover. Two products for the soft top I can fully recommend are BMW Gummipflege Rubber Protection for Hood and Window Seals (stops the hood rubbers drying out and shrinking back). Part No: 83 12 2 288 909. Can’t remember the cost, about £15-ish for 250 ml. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

registernews BMW’s own hood protector and waterproofer (after you’ve cleaned the hood) is easy to apply; dilute 1 part to 10 parts of water in a bucket and apply by hand with a sponge, usual rules apply regarding not getting the product on the paintwork/glass, but I’ve found this quite easy to remove compared to other well-known brands I’d previously used. This is easy to apply and water beads off it really well. I did two coats on my car, after the first coat had dried. Make sure you use disposable gloves to protect your hands when using. Part No: 83 12 2 298 223, costs about £17-ish for 250 ml. Both products available from BMW, don’t forget to claim the Club discount! BMW also used to make a good tube of toothpaste-like substance for polishing the plastic rear window, I’ve got the remnants of an old 75ml tube left called Heckscheiben-Reiniger. Part No: 81 22 9 407 665, sadly I don’t think this is still available, maybe under a different part number? Keith Reid

Z3 Register

Alan Jones

Welcome to the May edition of Straight Six, by the time you read this, hopefully the Coronavirus hasn’t affected the entire car show season for this year. I have another owner wishing to tell us all about his Z3 adventures, enjoy. “In 1998 I took delivery of a silver BMW Z3 and was very happy with it, apart from the rather disappointing performance from the 1.9-litre engine. I expected to own the car for two or three years as my daily driver, but in February 1999 the BMW dealer in Ipswich rang me to say that they had a cancelled order for a rare 2.8 limited edition Orinocco Green Chrome model that was available at list price on a first come first served basis! (The Z3 order backlog was still quite long at this time). I foolishly thought I would at least go and have a quick look, but as soon as I saw it, I fell in love with it. The dealer offered me a full refund on the silver 1.9 in part exchange, the deal was done and I took delivery on March 1st, 1999. The 2.8 Z3 was a vastly better car than the 1.9, with its six-cylinder engine, wider body, chrome windscreen surround, gills, dials and door handles. I absolutely loved it. Later, when the Z4 was first talked about, I happened to be working in Munich and was lucky enough to be invited to the BMW development facility to see a pre-production Z4 model in Merlot red - it looked beautiful and on my return to England I put in a pre-order for a 2.5 in Merlot and I got one of the first Z4’s to be delivered in the UK. At this time my Z3 was still a low mileage car in great condition and our daughter was keen to have it, so we didn’t trade it in, and she took over the Z3. We ran the Z4 for about a year, but to be honest we never really loved it in the same way as the Z3 - not totally sure why, but we just didn’t! Sports suspension and run flat tyres certainly didn’t help. Long story short, we sold the Z4 and bought a Porsche Boxster, and then an Audi TT - both great cars. A few years on, daughter has had a couple of children, the Z3 was no longer practical for her and was languishing out in the open, unused for months with a flat battery. Then, following a night of gales, the hood was damaged, the interior was wet and there were a number of dings in the bodywork from flying roof tiles. I always said that I would happily buy the car back and asked for first option when she was ready to sell it. The car was still very low mileage, and I really wanted to get it back

Z4 Register

Paul Dodds

Hello and welcome to the May edition of Straight Six. I would like to start this month by thanking all of the key workers for doing what they do day in day out. Fortunately, I am now able to work from home so don’t have to dodge the maniacs that have been ignoring social distancing advice. With more time on my hands and to cure my boredom, www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

z3register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

and restore it to its original condition, so about five years ago I bought it back again. The car was then fitted with a new Mohair hood, the dents were repaired, the seats refurbished and it was completely restored to its original condition. A Mini Cooper S and a Honda CRV Hybrid are our current daily drivers, and for the last five years the Z3 has become a garage queen. It lives in a dehumidified garage, it is only used in the summer and never when rain is threatening! Unlike some vehicles from the 1990s I think these wide bodied Z3s have aged (visually) particularly well, and having only completed 53,000 miles, the Z3 is a joy to drive - the engine is powerful and smooth, everything works perfectly and it always puts a smile on your face!”

z4register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

I have ordered some new Meguiar’s polishing pads and a selection of Menzerna polishing compounds in the hope I will finally get around to giving the Z4 its yearly detail before it comes out to play again. The ‘plan’ is to give it a much needed clean over the weekend and then start machine polishing one panel at a time as and when I get a spare half hour. BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

registernews

Future Events For those attending Sports Cars in the Park, we now have a new date. The Newby Hall based show will now be held on the 2nd of August. Tickets have been refunded by the organisers and will have to be purchased again to reserve a place by simply going to www.sportscarsinthepark.co.uk. That is all for this month but remember you can get in touch via the forum or email at z4register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk for all things Z4 related. I will leave you with a couple of photos from past club events/runs to let us all remember that normal petrol head antics will hopefully return soon.

MINI David Young

mini@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

What a weird month it has been. I have not seen many ‘20 plates on the road just yet. All the MINI dealers are showing off the new MINI E. Not for me, but I am sure the time will come when the best deals will be only on the E cars. So there I was sitting down in the kitchen, as you do, all alone and the phone rings. I recognise the number so I answer. A nice young lady on the phone starts, “We want to buy your JCW”. “Really?” I reply, “It’s only just two years old”. And so the never-ending saga of R33EJB returns to this column. Well, she goes on, “I have found a brand new unregistered JCW with all the toys, we can offer you that with reduced monthly payments”. Why? Because they have a target to sell used JCWs but they can’t find any to buy to sell on. Well, that is the story I was told. Black with Red roof and mirror caps, Navigation plus and Comfort plus packs, 18-inch wheels, 8-speed Steptronic box, Harmon Kardon HiFi, bonnet stripes, JCW sports seats in Dinamica/Leather… How? I ask. Well, BMW Finance will write off any outstanding monies, we will give you a very large sweetener and so will MINI. Well, it is coming up to the end of the financial year and targets have to be hit. Spanner in the works, I do not want a black JCW, I have had three of those, I want a Starlight blue one, “OK” she says, “30 minutes and I shall call you back ‘’. 15 Minutes later, phone rings, by this time we are on first name

terms! “Hi, found one”, “What colour roof?” I ask, I wanted a red roof. “No it is Black, leave it with me”. Another 10 minutes pass, low and behold she found one with a Red roof and Red mirror caps. “When can I come down?” “Working late tonight” I am told, “see you soon”. I arrived at Cooper Tunbridge Wells within 20 minutes. The deal was down in 30 minutes. Big saving was the new Finance deal, 3.9% instead of 5.9%. Steptronic was given away, normally £1,700 extra. My deposit was given as cash-back, Protect X given away. So when will I get it? Thursday next week I am told. Friday I am called, do I have the V788 for the registration? They need the original. I had it electronically and could transfer it online but the dealer needs the form. It arrived in the post that very day. So again I ask when may I have it? “Wednesday” I am told. “Great, I will insure it for then”. Later in the afternoon, phone call, we are on speed dial now, I can have it Tuesday afternoon. “Great I will move the insurance.” On Monday evening our beloved Boris says we all have to close up shop, garages can stay open but Car Sales must stop. So here I am looking at my “old” Black JCW on the drive with my new Starlight Blue JCW sitting in Cooper Tunbridge Wells. I have to wait until this Covid-19 thing passes by, I am sure it will but when? Even Boris can’t answer that.

Concours Dan Wood Concours sponsored by

concours@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

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

What a difference a month makes. As I write, it’s the end of March and the clocks have just gone forward. We’ve had a spell of dry weather which usually means that work on our cars is gaining pace. As I am sure you are aware, all Straight Six content is required a month in advance of the magazine arriving through

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

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

our letterboxes. This means that in last months’ Straight Six, you will have seen the article covering the arrangements for the National Concours 2020. This was written at the end of February/very start of March prior to the unprecedented changes to all of our lives. I will keep you all updated in regard to the National Concours arrangements. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

registernews I have seen many people who are not working at the current time keeping themselves busy with car cleaning and detailing tasks. If you’re not using your car on a daily basis at present, and can keep within the law and rules regarding self-isolating and social distancing, you may well have time to be addressing a wide range of cleaning and detailing tasks. For example: A two stage polish of your paintwork can be conducted over two days (check out Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound, followed by their Ultimate Polish – and don’t forget to then protect your hard work with a paste or liquid wax, or why not give the new Meguiar’s Hybrid Ceramic Wax a try?) You might address your engine bay over the course of a two day period (check out the recent concours videos on the BMW Car Club GB YouTube channel for details of the products that Scott and I used on the E88 1 Series) You might remove your headlights for polishing and not have to rush to refit them (remember that rear light clusters will always benefit from polishing too!) You might take the opportunity to remove your seats and vacuum and clean all those areas that can never be reached when they are in place (check out the Meguiar’s Heavy Duty Multi-Purpose Cleaner for any stains you come across) Glass and rubber seals are often overlooked and they do make a big difference when they have been properly cleaned (if you polish, then clean, then coat your glass with a sealant, and clean and then protect all of your rubber seals properly you will perhaps be surprised at how you have managed to spend a whole day on this!) Interiors are often grubby when you really look hard at items like indicator stalks, blower vents, steering wheel stitching, seat rails, the entire length of your seatbelts etc. And don’t forget your

boot space – dust and dirt build up underneath our boot carpets and items like spare wheels, toolkits etc. can become covered in dust! Take your time and enjoy seeing the results you can achieve. You could also put a plan together for addressing a series of small items you may have had on your mind for a while. So, in a strange way, whilst we are all unable to go far from home, there can be a considerable amount of tasks on our cars which will keep us busy, focussed and entertained. In these times, it is important to think about our mental health – everyone has something called ‘mental health’ and recognising and taking care of it is important and positive for every one of us. For many, getting involved in car cleaning and detailing has a positive impact on their mental health. There is something very satisfying about carrying out a detailing task and gaining an almost instant result which one can stand back and feel proud of our work and the difference that we have achieved – whether it be polishing a single alloy wheel or an entire car. You are also moving your body – it doesn’t matter whether you are working fast or taking your sweet time, there is physical exercise involved whether you want it to be fairly vigorous exercise or very gentle exercise. And all of this is likely to be done in the fresh air. So maybe you’d like to make a plan and write it up on a piece of paper and as you work your way through the tasks you’d like to get done, you can tick each off, thus adding to your sense of achievement and satisfaction. Why not take a photo of a task you have carried out, send it in to the email address above and we will create an online display of your achievements! I look forward to receiving your photos and send you all my very best wishes. Keep on Concours-ing!

BMW E46, 320Ci Convertible.

OVER 10 YEARS BMW DEALERSHIP EXPERIENCE GENUINE PARTS USED MOT’S ARRANGED FREE NEW PURCHASE APPRAISAL

5-speed automatic with Tiptronic and Sport option. 1st registered December 2001. Only 81,000 miles. MOT until April’20, with no advisories. Dark Orient blue paintwork with unmarked dark blue mohair power hood with full grey leather interior & overmats. Original Owner’s Service Book showing detailed service history with 8 stamps, (7 main agent). Lots of service receipts indicating regular maintenance totalling £4,600. Previous MOTs from 2005. Original complete

tool kit. Recent rear shock absorbers. SE spec includes: Sport interior and M-Sport Multifunction steering wheel along with walnut trim, electric heated memory seats, digital climate control, on-board computer, traction control, cruise. Additional extras: Rear parking sensors. Electric windows, mirrors. A/c. BMW Radio Cassette and 6-stack CD, Cruise Control, factory Alarm and Tracker. Sports Exhaust.

£3,450 ono All enquiries, please call or text 07792 422209 (lady owner) www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

AAA business park, 7 Camps Industrial Estate, East Calder, EH27 8DF

01506 885 788

E: info@ksautomotive.co.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine May 2020

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