Straight Six September 2020 by BMW Car Club GB

Straight Six MEMBERS EDITION

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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 Michelle Evans

inside this issue

Lisa Davies Anya Edwardes BMW Car Club Insurance Henry Francis Patron

Colin Turkington, Mike Wilds,

The late Barrie Williams

Auction Fever! A recent Bring-a-Trailer auction has sent the E30 M3 world into a frenzy

Editing Team

after a ‘standard’ car crashed through

Jeff Heywood

the $250,000 barrier!

Lisa Davies

Andrew Coles

Better Late Than Never After an unprecedented 10-month

Cover image: Andrew Coles

sabbatical, the BMW Car Club’s Advertising Display Advertising

Racing Championship got underway

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for 2020 at Brands Hatch.

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A Tale of Three Passes… Club member Jake Senior embarked

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on a tour of the UK’s very own ‘Alpine

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passes’ in his E30 325i SE.

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Classifieds - £9.95 per issue

Straight Six Editor, Jeff Heywood,

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

M-agnificent! reports on a club member’s ultra-low

mileage E30 M5.

Drive Through Cars and Coffee Quest Brothers Classic Cars in St Ives have started a socially distanced classic car meeting to allow car enthusiasts to enjoy a relaxing Sunday morning drive.

Contents

from the editor

24 regulars 6 Board Torque 8 Thoughts from the Boardroom 10 Club News

Welcome to the September issue of Straight Six! Inside this issue of Straight Six we look back at the some of the events we attended in August; first was the socially distanced Drive Though Cars and Coffee organized by Quest Brothers, followed by the exciting first BMW Car Club Racing round of the year at Brands Hatch. You can read these reports on pages 24 and 42. Looking for articles on BMW’s most popular model, the E30? Look no further than pages 21 and 30. The former takes you to the world of car auctions, where the E30 M3 world has been sent into a frenzy after a ‘standard’ M3 crashed through the $250,000 barrier, whilst the latter takes you back 12-months when Club member, Jake Senior, embarked on a tour of the UK’s very own ‘Alpine passes’ in his 325i SE, traversing some of the UK’s most beautiful and dramatic scenery. When West Lancashire based Club member, Gordon Dean, asked Straight Six editor Jeff Heywood if he would be interested in reporting on his new car, an 8,000 mile 2005 E60 M3, he needn’t have asked! Read the feature on this ultra-low mileage stunner on page 36. Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show is nearing! Join us at the NEC Birmingham on 13th – 15th of November, we will be in hall 1 stand 520. Club members can save £2 on their tickets by using Club code CC139 at checkout. Looking for a show nearer in the future? This month the Club heads to the new and exciting Classic Car Drive in Weekend event, held on 18th-20th September. Grab £5 off your tickets at theclassiccarshowuk.com with Club code BMWCLUB. 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, Rob Norton. Happy reading!

12 BMW News 14 Motorsport News 17 Products 18 Meguiar’s 44 Pirelli 46 Crossword 49 Regions 59 Registers 71 Classified 72 Your Photos 74 Club Pub Meets

Jeff, Lisa & Andrew Straight Six editorial team.

boardtorque

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E10 Fuel: As part of the government’s latest effort to thwart polluting petrolpowered motors and cut carbon dioxide emissions, it has announced that an eco-friendly E10 fuel will become standard at filling stations across the UK. Unfortunately, due to the high ethanol content, it’s not compatible with hundreds of thousands of older cars. It will be the standard grade at British filling stations from 2021. Ethanol absorbs carbon dioxide, and by increasing the percentage in UK fuels, it’s estimated a reduction of CO2 emissions by about 750,000 tonnes per year – equivalent to taking 350,000 cars off the road. Currently, UK fuels only contain up to 5% ethanol (E5), whereas the E10 blend, which contains 90% regular unleaded and 10% ethanol, is offered at petrol stations across the EU. But drivers of older cars have been left alarmed at the announcement, for the standardisation of such ‘biofuel’ could physically rule their car redundant. While new cars sold in the UK since 2011 have had to be E10 compatible, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has estimated almost 8% of petrol-engined vehicles in the UK are not compatible with E10. In fact, according to the RAC, ‘owners of cars registered prior to 2002 are advised not to use E10 in their vehicle, as problems have been

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

reported’. Such problems are said to include damage to seals, plastics and metals caused by bioethanol’s corrosive properties due to its high water content. Many carbureted cars, or those that previously ran on leaded fuel, are included in this warning, while some turbocharged or performance vehicles require a minimum octane rating of 95 or 98 and so should not be refuelled with E10. It’s an alarming reality for many classic car owners, and while the Department for Transport has now confirmed that E5 fuels will remain available from 2021, it is as yet unknown whether they will command a premium. Motorists wondering whether their car is compatible with E10 fuels should contact the manufacturer. And while the introduction of E10 fuels will likely appease environmentalists and help the government meet its emissions targets, it’s likely to be the little guys that take the hit. Research carried out by What Car? in 2014 revealed that E10 is potentially less efficient than the current E5, particularly in smaller-engined cars, thus increasing the cost of drivers’ annual fuel bills. HOW DOES E10 FUEL CAUSE PROBLEMS? Ethanol in fuel has been around since 2008, and in the industry we are

already seeing problems arising from the current addition of low levels of ethanol in existing fuels (even up to the 5% level). These problems include deposits blocking fine mesh fuel filters, degradation of fuel pipes and hoses and internals of carburettors suffering corrosion. The regime required to fully empty and clean fuel systems between uses of the car is prohibitive both in terms of time and practicality, and replacing components with ethanol compatible ones may not always be economical, or in certain cases, even possible. HOW MANY CARS WILL BE AFFECTED? While current estimates suggest that there are 700,000 vehicles that are incompatible with E10 fuel in regular use on the UK’s roads, the government estimates that scrappage schemes will remove the majority of these, leaving only a few of what they term “cherished and classic” vehicles. Personally I am hoping an additive like we had for lead substitute will be found, the other option is to use the car more often, as when older cars are parked up that’s when the damage can be done due to the increased water content.

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www.classiclineinsurance.co.uk BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

thoughts from the boardroom D

Graeme Grieve, CEO BMW (UK) Ltd.

o you remember the first time turbochargers were commonly used in production cars, often as a cost effective way of extracting significant performance gains from something otherwise humdrum? When the technology was in its infancy it was relatively rudimentary and led to some interesting power delivery characteristics. Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it – boom, all the performance you could wish for, and sometimes a little bit more. And in a way this feels a little bit like this season’s motorsport… nothing, nothing, nothing – boom, races coming so thick and fast that it’s hard to keep up. Those of you who regularly read my thoughts in these pages will know that I’m a huge supporter of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) and I must say I’m delighted that it is back with us and that despite all the uncertainty associated with Covid-19 it’s still the world’s premier tin-top series. As I type I can still hear the echo of the pack streaming around Paddock Hill bend at Brands Hatch, but by the time you read this the BTCC will already have visited Oulton Park and Knockhill – yes, the races are certainly coming thick and fast! Traditionally the season kicks off at Brands but this year the opening races were at Donington Park and I have to say that seeing the field flowing through the Craner Curves for the first time was a sight for sore eyes. The first qualifying session of the year gives a clear picture of each car’s speed as it’s the only time in the season when no one is carrying any success ballast so it was great to see Colin Turkington emerge as pole sitter for race one, testament to the team’s hard work, Colin’s skill and the intrinsic balance in the 330i M Sport. I can only comment on what’s happened in the two weekends that we’ve had so far, but I’m immensely proud of what Team BMW, West Surrey Racing and our drivers Colin Turkington and Tom Oliphant have managed so far. Six races, three wins, two additional podium finishes and as we head for Oulton Colin leads the drivers’ standings, BMW leads the manufacturers’ championship and Team BMW heads the teams’ category. Colin has been with us for some time now and his ability and consistency is legendary, but I was delighted for Tom

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

to take his maiden BTCC race win at the third race at Brands Hatch. From sixth on the grid a blistering start took him to third place for the first lap and at the start of the second tour a ballsy move around the outside of Paddock saw him take the lead where he was hounded for the entire race by Sutton in his Infiniti, with the gap between them rarely exceeding half a second. Tom ran a perfect race though and emerged victorious after a hard fought 15 laps. It was a thoroughly deserved win and coincided with West Surrey Racing’s 300th BTCC podium – good going everyone! As the dust was still settling after an excellent weekend of racing I couldn’t help but reflect on what an excellent package the 3 Series represents. This year sees the

45th anniversary of the model’s debut as well as 35 years since the iconic M3 made its motor show debut. Since its arrival the 3 Series has constantly been rejuvenated and has been the class leader though its seven generations. As this weekend proved it’s still a brilliant race winner on track yet in the same week the 330e has also won the What Car? ‘Hybrid Executive Car of the Year’ at its electric car awards, while the 3 Series won the ‘Most Loved’ award in AutoTrader’s New Car Awards. The 3 Series might have been in its infancy when the turbocharger first saw the light of day but over the years it’s been honed and refined to create the wonderful machine we know today – it’s a superb car on both road and track.

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A STATEMENT OF STYLE. BMW Lifestyle

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 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; or visit shop.bmw.co.uk

clubnews The Classic Car Drive In Weekend

Celebrating Classic Cars on display, on sale and on the silver screen! The wait is over and we can finally all get together at one of the most exciting new events for the Season. Taking place at Bicester Heritage, over the weekend of 18th-20th September. The Classic Car Drive In Weekend brings

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

together over 500 Classic cars for you to admire or buy along with a selection of the most iconic Classic Car Movies at a Drive In Cinema, all in a socially distanced Covid-compliant outdoor environment. Tickets on sale now at theclassiccarshowuk.com! Use club code BMWCLUB for ÂŁ5 off your tickets for The Full Experience.

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New Members CENTRAL

EASTERN

Andrew El Hajj Alex Garnham Karen Frost

Liz Wood Martin Todd Anthony Peters Chris Homyard William Farren CENTRAL WEST Craig Watt Jonathan Cooke Christopher Adkin Harjinder Lalli Krystian Zielinski Terrance James Anthony Hilley Umair Malik IRELAND Ricardo Waszkewicz James De Carteret CHESHIRE & LONDON Ranjit Chauhan STAFFS Tanzim Husain Frederick Beeston Dominic Michaelson Nick Dewis Govaniy Paczkowski COTSWOLD Parminder Sall Martin Kotler Grzegorz Kasperowicz CUMBRIA Matthew Campbell Rod Smith Audrey Mitchell James Delamere EAST ANGLIA Rob Lyons Siddharth Thakore Jon Passingham Damian Huczko David Everitt Connor Redgewell Patryk Albecki Martin Simmons Mark Turner Michelle Prior Gary Southall Colin Denton Matt Sibley Robert Alger Paul Rosenfeld

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SCOTLAND Ronald Algie Greig Allan Ross McCall

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SOUTH WALES Richard Edwards Simon Nicholas Chris Charlton Wayne Morris

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WESTERN David Frost Hannah Gardin Matthew Butler Andrius Belikas Ernest Hawryluk

WESSEX Martin Charles Chris Young Jon Platt David Skillicorn Chris Butler Bob Harris Andrew Leonard James Dalzell Peter Claridge Albert Honey Russell Wharf Brian Bowker

National Events Calendar 2020 September 18-20: The Classic Car Drive In Weekend

Celebrating Classic Cars on display, on sale and on the silver screen at Bicester Heritage. Use club code BMWCLUB to save £5 on The Full Experience tickets at theclassiccarshowuk.com October 4: Bicester Heritage Sunday Scramble Club stand tickets have now sold out, however general entry tickets are still available on Bicester Heritage’s website.

November 13-15: Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show Wheel meet again at NEC

Birmingham! Use Club code CC139 for a discount on your tickets.

Calendar 2021 May 2:

Southern Concours Sherborne Castle, Dorset

June 27:

BM’s on the Lawn Weston-Super-Mare front lawns

Wheel meet again! Join us at the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show at the NEC Birmingham in November. We hope to welcome you in hall 1 stand 520 on 13-15th November. To book your tickets with the Club’s discount, use code CC139 at checkout https://www. necclassicmotorshow. com/ www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Trackday Calendar 2020 28 Sep:

Snetterton – £200

6 Nov:

Oulton Park – £170

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

bmwnews bmwnews

Finally BMW has succumbed to pressure from BMW M fans, having announced that the forthcoming M3 model will also include a Touring version

BMW gives the green-light to an M3 Touring! With the world-premiere of the new M3 and M4 just a week or two away, BMW surprised us all when they announced that they are also to produce a Touring version of the new M3! For the first time in the history of the BMW M GmbH, the model range will be complemented by a BMW M3 Touring. Five doors and a highly versatile luggage compartment are precisely what have been long awaited by fans of the M3. Speculation on the M forums has been rife with regards to

engine and performance, but “wide axles, conspicuously large front air intakes and four exhaust tailpipes at the rear leave no doubt that the iconic M DNA will be fully perceptible despite the car’s new body design”…and they are BMW’s own words! Development of this vehicle is still in its early stages with plenty of pounding around the Nurburgring to come, so the expected premiere will probably be late 2021 or spring 2022 – watch this space.

Redux M3 update Electric future for BMW’s Munich Plant

Redux body shop technicians take a mould of the E30 M3’s rear bumper

In preparation for production of the fully-electric BMW i4, BMW Group Plant Munich paused vehicle production for six weeks, with no cars produced between the end of the late shift on 23rd July and the start of the early shift on 7th September. The plant management will take advantage of the break in production to implement structural and remodelling measures before the fully-electric i4 goes into standard production next year. Once the remodelling is finished, the plant will be able to produce vehicles with diesel, petrol and hybrid drivetrains, as well as the fully-electric i4, all on the same line. Integrating the i4 into the existing production system will be a major challenge. The high-voltage battery makes the BMW i4 body concept different to that of the vehicle models previously built at the plant. As well as installing new systems, existing production equipment will also have to be converted so the 3 Series Saloon and Touring – both with combustion engines and hybrid drivetrain, the new M3 and the fullyelectric BMW i4 can all be produced on the same line.

The production of the Redux pre-preg carbon fibre body panels continues to make good progress. The team has finished shaping the new front bumper, front wings, and rear quarters; the rear bumper, bonnet, and rear window surround are underway (see photo), with the side sills and boot lid next on their list. Once the shaping is complete, moulds will be created for each panel allowing the new parts to be manufactured. BMW’s Munich plant is gearing up for production of the i4 Concept

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

bmwnews BMW launches world-first eDrive Zone technology in the UK

Big brother is watching and tracking you with the introduction of BMW’s eDrive Zones

BMW is the first car manufacturer to use GPS geo-fencing technology in designated areas of London and Birmingham. BMW plug-in hybrid models will automatically switch to electric

driving mode when they enter an eDrive Zone. The technology is included in every new 3, 5, and 7 Series and X5 plug-in hybrid models and is available as a free over-the-air software update for compatible plug-in hybrid models running BMW Operating System 7. As cities increasingly place low emission zones at the forefront of their agendas, BMW is launching BMW eDrive zones in London and Birmingham. With electric ranges of up to 54 miles, BMW plug-in hybrid models are built with cities in mind, as they can complete most commuting trips on pureelectric power. BMW eDrive Zones automate the process of switching to electric-only power when a BMW plug-in hybrid vehicle enters a defined area of these cities. The service also automatically ensures that the electric power is conserved for use during the part of the journey within the low emission zone, if the journey destination is entered into the vehicle’s navigation system. BMW’s eDrive Zones cover the same geographic area as the TFL Congestion Charge/ULEZ zone in London, whilst in Birmingham the service covers the city’s planned Clean Air Zone. The eDrive Zones went live in August.

BMW launches new 545e xDrive saloon BMW have launched a new top-of-therange plug-in hybrid for the new LCI 5 Series – the 545e xDrive, powered by a twin-turbo 3.0-litre straight six petrol engine giving 286bhp, combined with a synchronous electric motor delivering a maximum power output of 109bhp. Together they generate an overall output of 394bhp and 600Nm of torque. That is good enough to allow the 545e xDrive to sprint to 60mph from rest in a brisk 4.5 seconds whilst the top speed is limited to 155mph. Power is distributed as required to all four wheels via an 8-speed Steptronic transmission and intelligent xDrive fourwheel drive. A speed of 87mph is also possible in purely electric operation. The latest plug-in hybrid model of the 5 Series range is fitted with a 400V lithium-ion battery which is positioned under the rear seat in order to save

space. The boot can hold 410-litres of luggage, meaning boot space in the 545e xDrive is only slightly less than those models fitted with conventional petrol/diesel engines. Hybrid mode is the default setting, although it is also possible to select Electric mode as the standard setting via the iDrive menu. In Sport mode, the electric motor supports the petrol engine, giving 394bhp. The set-up is designed for dynamic performance, and the gearshift program is ‘sporty’. The Electric mode, on the other hand, enables local emission-free driving of up to 35 miles at speeds up to 87mph. The 545e xDrive is joined by two more hybrid 5 Series Touring models in November, a 530e and 530e xDrive, bringing the total plug-in hybrid 5 Series

models to five (530e and 530e xDrive saloons were launched in July). The 545e xDrive is available to order now, and more details can be found on the BMW UK website and via your local BMW dealer - there was no OTR prices available for the 545e xDrive as we went to press.

BMW Group aims for 7 million Electric or plug-in Hybrid models by 2030 Currently, BMW and MINI brands featuring all-electric and plug-in hybrid drive systems already account for approximately 13.3% of all new Group registrations Europe-wide, and BMW expects this figure to rise to 25% in 2021, to 33% by 2025 and to 50% by 2030, when it aims to have put 7 million BMW Group electrified or plugin Hybrid vehicles on the road globally. As a result of the massive expansion of electric mobility, emissions produced by BMW Group vehicles per kilometre driven will be reduced by around 40% by the year 2030.

The new hybrid 545e with 394bhp and an all-electric range of 35 miles

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

Feature

motorsportnews Roving reporters Jeff Heywood & Neil McDonald

BMW off the pace at Sebring… The pair of BMW Team RLL M8 GTEs finished fourth and fifth in July’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Cadillac Grand Prix of Sebring. The two M8 GTEs were off the pace all weekend, qualifying in the final two spots in the GTLM class. In the race itself, the tussle for the GTLM class win was contested by the Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs and the Porsche 911 RSRs. The Porsches just had the edge at Sebring but a calamitous collision in the pit lane between both 911’s put paid to the Porsche’s chances of a class win.

At the chequered flag, the two Corvette C8.Rs recorded a one-two for Chevrolet Racing, whilst one of the 911 RSRs, front spoiler held together by gaffer tape, managed to salvage third position. The two BMW M8 GTEs were way off the pace, coming home fourth and fifth in class. A BMW spokesman blamed the result on a “combination of fuel saving and an overall lack of pace.” A ‘lack of pace’ was evident in the race times, with the lead Corvette finishing over a minute ahead of the fourth placed M8 GTE, a country mile in racing terms…

Connor De Phillippi and Bruno Spengler in the #25 M8 GTE finished in fourth place in the GTLM class at July’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Cadillac Grand Prix of Sebring, but in all honesty they were a country mile away from a podium finish, being a minute behind the class winning Corvette C8.R

BMW on the podium at Road America

The #24 M8 GTE piloted by Edwards/Krohn managed to snatch third place on the podium at Road America after a chaotic finish to the race

Just a fortnight after their poor showing at Sebring, one of the BMW M8 GTEs fared much better in the fourth race of this season’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Road America, with a podium finish for the #24 M8 GTE. Qualifying didn’t promise much, with both cars still struggling for outright pace.

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

The Spengler/de Phillippi #25 M8 GTE finally managed to grab fourth place on the starting grid in the GTLM class, while the #24 M8 GTE of Edwards/Krohn secured fifth for the race start. We must bear in mind though, there are only six cars competing in the GTLM class, so the BMWs qualified fourth and fifth out of six cars.

The race was timed to last for 2 hours and 40 minutes and for nearly the first 2 hours, the race was largely uneventful for the M8 GTEs, then a heavy downpour with 40 minutes to go caused the race to be suspended. When the race was given the green flag with roughly seven minutes remaining, Edwards, who had earlier switched to wet tyres on his BMW M8 GTE, led the GTLM field. As the rain intensified, he was initially able to defend his lead. Unfortunately, cars were aquaplaning all over the place, and on the final lap Edwards, like a number of other drivers, slid off the track in his #24 M8 GTE. Whilst this did result in the loss of first place, the American was able to rescue third place and came home behind the two Corvettes to claim the third spot on the podium. The #25 M8 GTE piloted by Spengler/ de Phillippi also restarted brightly, initially running second in class and closely following the leading #25 M8 GTE; unfortunately their car suffered a mechanical issue shortly before the end of the race, which dropped them down to a sixth place finish in class. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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Products products DEI Titanium™ Turbo Shield/Blanket - GEN-3 DEI has raised the bar by producing the most technologically advanced turbo shield ever! DEI drew on its extensive experience and state-of-the-art advanced textiles to produce the optimum in turbo heat management. The DEI GEN-3 TITANIUM Turbo Shield boasts a silicone coated TITANIUM LR™ outer layer with multiple stainless steel and silica inner layers. This unique combination makes the GEN-3, without doubt, the strongest and most heat resistant shield available. OUTER SHELL • Coated in silicone to insulate and hold up under extreme conditions. • Prevents fraying & encases seams make them over four times stronger. INSULATION LAYER Thick layer of silica insulation keeps heat in the turbo shield and turbo housing. Silica has a low thermal conductivity making it one of the best insulators.

INNER LAYER Stainless steel, glass fibre & silicone adds to insulating and thermal properties. Increases seam strength, durability and insulation value. INNER COVER Stainless Steel fabric holds up against the highest temperatures. Will not break down or become brittle with heat. • Direct Heat Resistance: 1800°F (approx.980°C). • Radiant Heat Resistance: 2500°F (approx.1370°C). RRP: £239.01 plus VAT (Subject to currency fluctuations) Available in UK, Europe and Japan from Demon Tweeks [www.demon-tweeks.com] For more information about this and other

M-Style G Power SK 2 Superchargers for E90 E92 E93 M3

Looking for an instant power hike for the E9x M3? Then look no further than the G Power range of SK2 superchargers from M-Style. These kits must be the easiest way to achieve massive gains in power and torque, without any internal engine modifications. However, this upgrade goes much further than just giving an instant performance boost. The supercharger will deliver a linear pressure build up as the engine revs rise for a smoother power delivery. There is none of the lag associated with turbochargers and no alarming sudden onset of power. With the supercharger pressure and power builds steadily throughout the rev band. The more you need the more it gives, thus enabling safer overtaking and acceleration out of corners. The kits come complete with everything required for the installation: • the ASA Compressor • Oil Supply Compressor • Drive Belt • Cast aluminium air intake duct and air box • Charge Air Recooling System • Performance air filter • Pneumatic boost pressure control and even the ECU re-programming by G Power. Everything is totally reversible should you wish to sell the car and keep the supercharger and the factory OBD and diagnostic functions are retained. M-Style has three levels of upgrade available starting with the Limited Edition 580 package that will, as its title suggests, boost power to 580bhp with 560Nm of torque at £4,995.00 inc. VAT. Want more power? Try the 610 package with 610bhp and 580Nm at £6,495.00 or even the 640 kit with 640bhp and www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

DEI Heat and Sound control products visit: www.designengineering.com or e-mail sales@designengineering.com.

595Nm at £7,595.00 inc. VAT. All the kits are relatively simple bolt-on conversions but if you’re not confident about installing them yourself M-Style is ready to help and perform the complete installation and ECU upgrade for £1,000 all in. Make your M3 the car you always dreamed it should be by contacting M-Style today. For further details e-mail info@mstyle.co.uk or call 0208 598 9115

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

Products Fidanza Short Throw Shifter for Mini Cooper 2002-2004

Fidanza Performance shifters are designed as a plug-’n’-play direct factory replacement and reduce throw by up to 40% for faster shifts. Fidanza short shift kits are precisely made with 6061 billet aluminium and a hardened steel lever shaft. The Fidanza short throw shifter number 891851 is based on the OEM shifter design with a reduced angle in the shifter shaft. This will change your driving experience by giving you a shorter throw and an even sportier shifter action. The conversion is also height adjustable allowing the driver to adjust the position to suit their own preference. The Fidanza Short Throw Shifter number 891869 is suitable for: Mini Cooper 2002-2004 (Both 5 and 6 speed models) Fidanza Short Shifter 891851 is available from Fidanza.com at $90.43 plus import tax and shipping. For more information on Fidanza’s great products visit www.fidanza.com or contact sales@fidanza.com

GAZ Camber Adjuster Plates for BMW 02 models

The camber angle of the front struts on the classic BMW 2002/1602/1502 and Touring is fixed as standard. For racing purposes a more negative camber would be desirable, so; to enable this leading suspension specialist GAZ has developed an adjustable camber plate to allow the angle to be altered. The plates are made from anodised aluminium billet and come with a top bearing incorporated into the centre. The adjustable camber plates are recommended for competition only as they would be too harsh / noisy for general road use. In order to obtain the maximum adjustment GAZ can supply a specially shortened coilover unit for use with these plates. Unlike other camber adjusters the GAZ units fit underneath the arch thus leaving space above the arch for any design of strut brace to be used. GAZ BMW 02 front camber adjusters with two piece sliding mounts retail at £165.38 plus VAT per pair. For further details visit the GAZ website: www.gazshocks.com

MEGUIAR’S WHOLE CAR AIR RE-FRESHNER Odor Eliminator in Fiji Sunset Scent 59ML Product Code: G201502EU Meguiar’s G201502EU Whole Car Air Re-freshner £13.00 RRP Has your car lost its fresh smell over time? Now you can enjoy a refreshing tropical scent wherever you drive. Meguiar’s Permanent Odor Elimination Technology not only permanently removes unwanted odors wherever they hide, but also replaces the bad smell with a refreshing tropical scent that lasts for weeks. Meguiar’s Whole Car Air Re-Fresher technology permanently removes exciting bad odors through chemical bonding at a molecular level. The Benefits: • Permanent odor eliminator • One-Time use • Removes odors • Air Re-freshner • Fiji Sunset scent About Meguiar’s For more than 119 years, Meguiar’s has provided car enthusiasts with specialized 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 September 2020

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BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

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AUCTION FEVER! We’ve all noted, even cussed at times, as prices of BMW’s venerable E30 M3 have risen at a fair pace, sometimes dramatically, over the past ten years. A recent Bring-a-Trailer auction has sent the E30 M3 world into a frenzy after a ‘standard’ car crashed through the $250,000 barrier! Words - Jeff Heywood - Photographs – Bring-a-Trailer/Barret-Jackson

recent Bring a Trailer online auction for a mega low mileage 1988 BMW M3 has shattered the previous record for an E30 M3. The Zinnoberrot example’s price had been slowly ticking steadily upwards, but in the final few days a twoperson bidding war erupted that saw the price rise from an already crazy $190,000 to the closing $250,000 (£191,000), as both made bids and counter bids in the final 20 minutes. Including commission, www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

the final sale price stood at $255,000 or £195,000 in sterling, nearly double the car’s current A1-condition (concours) value. That’s nearly £50,000 per flared arch! What is worth noting is that although the car had very low miles, it was a standard, North American spec E30 M3, not one of the Evo or Cecotto/Ravaglia limited edition models, unlike the car it knocked off the top spot. The previous record auction price for a roadgoing E30 M3 was achieved

This Jet Black, 1989 E30 M3 Sport Evo was the previous E30 M3 record holder, having sold for approximately $177,000 (£135,000) at the Silverstone Classic Sale in 2018

at the Silverstone Classic Sale in 2018 when a Jet Black E30 M3 Sport Evo sold for approximately $177,000 (£135,000), despite having an odometer reading of 79,000 miles, and in January 2020 at a Barrett-Jackson sale a standard Alpine White II 1988 model from Paul Walker’s collection made $165,000. This example, painted in Zinnoberrot (German for vermilion) with a tan leather interior, has covered just over 8,000 miles in its lifetime, which explains the megahigh price achieved. The condition of the rest of the car seems to support that low mileage. The interior is in excellent BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

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Paul Walker’s Alpine White II 1988 E30 M3 was part of his collection that went under the hammer at the Barrett-Jackson sale in January of this year, fetching a cool $165,000 (£126,000), mostly because of the tragic celebrity connection to this car

condition, the recently serviced engine (reportedly) starts up readily and ticks over smoothly. There have been some subtle OEM+ upgrades, like the Sport Evolution spoilers and front splitter, plus the upgraded BMW wheels; the factory spoiler and wheels were also included in the sale, along with the original spare. (As pointed out by a Bring-a-Trailer spokesperson, that spare presumably contains the original German air!) Obviously, the price attained at auction can be attributed to this car’s fantastic condition and low mileage. The buyer obviously wanted a museum quality E30 M3 and he certainly has that now. Such a crazily-high, record-setting price sent shockwaves through the collector car and BMW communities. Enthusiasts tend to get anxious that other similar cars will jump in price as well. But we have to remember that this car was quite unique and unrepeatable owing to its mega-low mileage. Sellers will hope that higher prices for E30 M3s are now the norm, but we’ve got to temper their excitement with the reality that, like any single sale, the result comes down to two people who really wanted this particular M3. If you’re in the market for a run-of-the-mill E30 M3, this single sale shouldn’t affect the prices of cars that you are looking at. It wasn’t always the case that E30 M3s went for the crazy high prices seen recently though, I remember viewing

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

quite a number of E30 M3s with club member Kev Royle back in the 1990s, when prices ranged from £4-8,000 at an E30 M3 specialist, which seemed quite high. While visiting this specialist, Kev had also arranged for us to view a socalled mint example owned by a private seller just outside Reading. On arrival we found the paintwork to be particularly dodgy, the sill covers (part of the bodykit) had faded and discoloured (as they do), and the alloy wheels didn’t have one decent bit of rim left. Kerb rashed and with chunks missing, where the owner had either parked the car way too

enthusiastically or, more likely, bashed a kerb whilst pretending he was Roberto Ravaglia one too many times! And then the A-pillar. There was something not quite right with the driver’s side A-pillar; although it escapes my memory exactly what was wrong, I do recall that it indicated that the car had probably been parked roof side down at one point! Kev finally found a nice, low mileage silver example with a stunning factory red leather interior that sat in a garage alongside the owner’s Ferrari 355, and Kev got the M3 for comfortably under £8,000...

Kev Royle picked up this beauty (in the background of the pic) for comfortably under £8,000 www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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BETTER LATE THAN NEVER After an unprecedented 10-month sabbatical, the BMW Car Clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Racing Championship got underway for 2020 at Brands Hatch.

Words and photography by Andrew Coles

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

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his year is undoubtedly one that we’ll all remember for a long time to come. Our lives have been upended by the coronavirus pandemic in a variety of ways, and not since wartime have domestic and international sporting calendars been so comprehensively scrambled. Here it is mid-August and our Club’s Racing Championship has only just now got its first round completed, some four months later than originally planned. But after months of dreaming and careful preparation for that green light to finally show, didn’t we make up for lost time? A fully subscribed field of 34 raceprepared BMWs took to the tight 1.2mile Brands Hatch Indy circuit, putting on a display of fine racing in honour of BMW Car Club Racing stalwart and motorsport legend Russ Cockburn, who sadly passed away earlier this year. Russ was part of the furniture at Club racing events, always willing to share his knowledge and experience that was

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BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

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hard-fought for at the highest levels of rallying, hill climbing and circuit racing. Most drivers on the grid would have benefitted from Russ’ help in ways big or small over the years, and the field carried special stickers in his honour. Russ would have been grinning as the field stormed around Paddock Hill Bend in Race One in the pouring rain, down Pilgrim’s Rise and up into Druids with thick rooster tails of spray reducing visibility to nothing for those not fortunate to be at the head of the field. This was the first BMW Car Club Racing Championship race since 2019’s final round at Silverstone in October, and many drivers hadn’t been behind the wheel competitively in the 10 months since. What a way to get things underway! The blow-by-blow race reports will be detailed elsewhere, but Graham Crowhurst capitalised on the tricky conditions to take the outright Race One win in his class M2 specification E46 M3, showing how the weather was a great equaliser. “It’s a blur, it’s good to be back after all the time in lockdown, I thought I’d be a bit rusty but I surprised myself to be honest.” “Wherever I wanted to put the car it gripped, and I managed to pick people off one at a time. But on the second to last lap I had a ten second lead and heading into Clearways I spun the car, I was saying some obscenities to myself but I got it going and still somehow won, the relief seeing the chequered flag was special.”

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

Crowhurst had done track days pre and post-lockdown, but says that his last actual race was in November last year, here at Brands Hatch for the MSV Supercup, where he finished third overall in the dry. He notes that some time spent during lockdown may have assisted with his victory. “I did buy a steering wheel for my Xbox and I have been doing a bit of SIM racing, so it may well have paid off!” Conditions were notably drier for Race Two, with the rain holding off long enough to create a dry line but with damp patches off-line ready to catch the

unwary. The increased grip on offer saw the faster M1 specification cars rise to the top, with the victory going to Garrie Whittaker in his E36 M3. He managed to thread through the M2 cars cleanly and drove into the distance to the chequered flag, while the rest of his M1 competitors had a tougher time clearing the traffic. Unlike Crowhurst, Whittaker had no preparation and not only had he not sat in his car since October, he hadn’t travelled faster than 60mph. “I’m a long-distance lorry driver, and I’m limited to 56mph. My personal vehicle is an ex-Water Board Ford Transit, which is also limited to 56mph. So, from October last year until yesterday, I hadn’t been faster than 56mph. I was looking forward to going over 56mph and it lived up to expectations!” Whittaker says that in the days leading up to the event he just wasn’t feeling it and was even beginning to reconsider his need to race. That quickly changed when qualifying started, however. “I’ve come from the Kumho BMW Championship where I dominated for the past two years which kind of took the edge off the whole experience, and on the Wednesday prior to this event I was loading the car and I thought, I’m not sure if I really want to do this, I’d lost my mojo. And now with all the social distancing, you used to come across all the old faces and shake hands, now

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BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

Feature that’s gone. But I’d paid for it all so I came anyway, I did the test day but they aren’t my thing, I did a couple of laps but I just got bored. I don’t see the point of driving around if you aren’t racing.” “But then today I came out of pit lane for qualifying and as soon as I crossed the line to say I was on track, it was just awesome. It was if someone had switched the Christmas lights on and I was suddenly up for it! And I’ve been

up for it all weekend, as soon as I got onto the track and it meant something. And that first race in the wet was just incredible, I was so tired I could barely stand up at the end of it!” It was a feeling echoed across the paddock, and even trackside in the spectator areas. Despite the weather keeping the crowds away which was undeniably good for social distancing

reasons, around the track you could see motorsport fans gradually rediscovering the lost joy of live motorsport. There’s only so much 1990s DTM racing you can watch on YouTube before you begin to crave the real thing, and in our new normal, Club racing such as that provided by race organisers the 750 Motor Club are an ideal and responsible way of getting back into it. By their nature, race circuits are wide open spaces in parkland and without the tens of thousands who flock to major international championships to deal with,

November 21: Donington Park National

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

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Feature club racing provides ample opportunity to either spectate from within your car or to spread out around the track. Entry is by pre-bought ticket (cut-off is usually by the Friday afternoon before the race) which allows the organisers to easily monitor attendance numbers and comply with track and trace rules. 2020 is the year when what’s old is suddenly in vogue again. For example,

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with easy international travel largely off the menu people are rediscovering the joys of holidaying locally, and with more time on their hands, they’re now doing jobs on their cars and homes that they otherwise would have paid someone else to do. Club racing used to be huge and in the 1960s, taking your road car and a picnic to the track was just what you did. Now, in 2020, bringing your BMW out for a drive to watch a round of the Club’s racing championship may well be the

only motorsport you get in this year. With the field now back into the swing of things and making up for lost time, 2020 is the year to discover or rediscover the BMW Car Club Racing Championship. Revised 2020 Calendar: September 5: Oulton Park International September 20: Castle Combe October 18: Snetterton 300

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

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A TALE OF THREE PASSES... Words/Photos - Jake Senior /Atelier Schnell

We roll the calendar back 12 months, as Club member Jake Senior embarked on a tour of the UK’s very own ‘Alpine passes’ in his E30 325i SE, traversing some of the UK’s most beautiful and dramatic scenery stretching from Northumbria to the Cumbrian Fells and the Lake District. At the present time when Europe’s Alps are difficult to access, Jake’s tale is more relevant than ever...

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

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BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

The inclement Cumbrian weather didn’t spoil Jake’s fun, and it made for some seriously atmospheric shots like this one

Jake tackles the infamous Honister Pass in his E30 325i

Our tale of three passes began on an early September morning in 2019, embarking from Newcastle upon Tyne. Our first port of call was to make the all-essential pit stop to top up my E30 on that sweet octane nectar that is V Power 99 RON, and some 63 litres later, we were ready to go. Hartside, Honister, Whinlatter. The sun was blazing and with the sunroof cassette nearly concealed, we engaged our playlist and began our journey west along the A695 toward Hexham. This route contributed a leisurely quality to our trip, in stark contrast to that of its larger A69 counterpart, currently littered with roadworks, speed cameras and impatient lorry drivers with painful 60mph restrictions and a burning desire to overtake one another in some sort of unwritten feud of the road. It added to the length of our journey, but time was not of importance as we were driving on our own clock, and the scenery made it worth every minute, the A-roads digressing to B-roads as we passed through a succession of Northumberland towns. Briefly passing through Hexham and onto Lowgate, we finally reached the A69 for an all-encompassing 500-

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

yard stretch, until we turned off at the Haydon Bridge junction and joined the A686 where the real driving began. We approached the junction in third gear and dropped into second as we entered the long winding corner, and the revs continued to climb up past 3000rpm. The stainless steel PowerFlow exhaust

system really opens up in the mid ranges and has a powerfully refined note – however, I would not recommend such a system on any long distance journey as the novelty soon wears thin; thankfully a cracking playlist distracted our attention. As soon as you rotate rubber upon the freshly laid tarmac of the A686, you can’t help but become engaged with the road and your surroundings. As you maneuver along a quintessentially British winding B-road and hurtle through a cathredralesque corridor of blurring greenery, occasional gaps reveal rolling fields and farming skylines resembling Roman times. We pass over fords and landmarks with ancient names such as ‘Cupola Bridge’ and ‘Bearsbridge’.

Jake’s E30 325i stood up to the three pass challenge well, its lusty 2.5 M20 engine making short work of the many climbs and passes www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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Time to pitch the tent, the E30’s large boot swallowed everything needed for a camping trip, and the sun even tried to shine…

The corners became sharper and the terrain more aggressive as we approached the open expanse of the Northumberland Moors. This stretch of road requires a slightly tamer driving style as the steep ravines that snake alongside the road have claimed many lives, in particular that of motorcyclists, with their deceivingly camouflaged drops. Hartside Pass. After negotiating a series of undulating dips and blind summits, our first resting point was finally within reach. We disembarked at the Northeastern renowned ‘Hartside Pass’ — a well-known place of rendezvous dubbed a ‘mecca’ for local motoring enthusiasts. Hartside summit plays host to a large car park and was once home to Hartside Café, which tragically burnt down in 2018. Despite this, petrolheads still flock to the area for its roads and rewarding panoramic vistas of both the Northumberland and Cumbrian landscape. After a short pit stop, we rejoined Hartside Pass and resumed our route west. This particular stretch of road is distinguished by its hairpin bends and rapid variations in elevation, earning it a spot as one the AA’s top ten driving roads worldwide, something that perhaps as locals we take for granted. The twists and bends of the A686 can put even the most experienced driver to the test. I have to say, some of the best fun I’ve had in the E30 was on a hill climb up Hartside Pass, dropping into second gear at high revs and letting that back end push me effortlessly around the hairpins. We rejoined the A686 in all its glory and continued west through the majestic Cumbrian landscape, joining the A66 at Penrith. From here it was mostly straight dual carriageways and mundane farming backdrops until the monolithic lump that is Blencathra (also known as Saddleback), began to peer over the skyline, welcoming us into the Lake District. Before long we arrived in Keswick with its unmistakably unique characteristics and uniform buildings, constructed solely from the locally sourced Honister Green Slate. After a brief meander through the town, we set off to pitch up at Castlerigg Campsite. Regrettably the exhaust note and our age demographic presumably www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

went against us when we were told there was ‘no room at the inn’ and were forced to find an alternative. That’s never an arduous task in the Lake District, more of an inconvenience, so we headed up to Dale Bottom Farm where we were greeted with free roaming hens strutting up a dusty cobbled back lane flanked by slate roofed outbuildings and a white rendered farmhouse. We paid for our spot and went to pitch our tent under an old English elm tree, where we settled down for the night with some burgers and a few beers enjoyed as we watched

the flickering lights of wild campers on the slopes of Helvellyn in the distance. Day Two. We awoke early the next morning to the relentless sound of tapping on the tent and a waterlogged entrance, which quickly prompted us to pack up and head into Keswick in search of a strong coffee and a cooked breakfast. Soaked to the skin, we sought refuge in the Merienda Coffee Shop on Main Street, where we tucked into a hearty breakfast of bacon, poached eggs and avocado

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

Feature with thick cut wholegrain toast, setting us up for a full day of driving ahead. Fed and watered, we headed south from Keswick, absorbing the scenic views along the shore side of Derwent Water, and up along the River Derwent into Borrowdale. In the bottom of the valley the wandering roads are lined with old dry stone walls leading into forked junctions, hedgerows and sparsely dotted small trees, and one-way stone humped bridges that look like the plasticine set of Postman Pat. The ethereal clouds hung low in the valley like a layer of white treetops creating the perfect atmospheric backdrop and an opportunity to steal some photos of the E30. Despite the weather, the surroundings made it impossible to feel like it was an otherwise miserable day. After a few small detours of curiosity, we finished exploring the valley and headed west toward Honister Pass and Slate Mine, taking a right turn onto the B5289 just before the village of Seatoller. Honister Pass. The route to Honister Slate Mine starts off relatively tame for the first two or so miles as you negate a series of winding roads leaving the valley, upon which the real ascent commences. Honister Pass is not shy in its attributes and has subsequently claimed many a clutch with its extreme 20-30 percent incline! There were moments when the car felt like it was going to tip back on itself, bonnet over boot, as we passed camper vans hauling a small bungalow’s worth of furniture pulled over to the side of the narrow one way roads, reluctant to continue with their climb. Dropping down into second and with the throttle whipping all 170 horses in their ‘six-pen’, the revs steadily rose as

the exhaust screamed with the gradual incline. Despite the severe one-in-four slope, the M20B25 straight-six engine made light work of this otherwise laborious trek and our trusty steed powered on to the top. Reaching a plateau with a small stream and some grazing sheep, we took a break at one of the gravel-spread rest stops, and decided to use this opportunity to fly the drone. After a few attempts it became clear that the conditions weren’t suitable as the clouds were too heavy and low, so we decided to pack up and head on to the slate mine. A short while later following another succession of winding bends, the two adjacent peaks came into view as we passed the visitor’s car park and coffee shop on the site of the old mine. As the road curved around a rocky outcrop to our right, a large slate retaining wall framed an absolutely awe inspiring view with these two gargantuan cliffs on either side of us, like knighted guards granting us passage to enter the next valley, looking down into Buttermere below. The descent was a lot less arduous than expected, with meandering roads intertwining with small streams as we journeyed alongside a bubbling brook on freshly laid tarmac, crossing over small stone bridges on our way. We left the towering gorge behind us as we passed through Gatesgarth and continued along Honister Pass, past Buttermere Lake and into Buttermere Village. Whinlatter Pass. From Buttermere we turned onto Newlands Pass, an expansive stretch of moorland road that runs north, passing through a number of farmsteads and up into the village of Braithwaite. Once

The ‘gateway’ to the peak of the Honister pass, constructed from slate sourced at the mine, with figurines stood sentinel-like at the entrance to a huge Roman fort

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

arriving at Braithwaite we passed through a series of white rendered single-story dwellings, farmhouse inns and pubs, exiting to the northwest as we joined the B5292 — better known as the Whinlatter Pass. The scenery quickly changed as the road steadily climbed and became covered with thick forest on either side, passing a series of viewpoints and rest stops along the way. Whinlatter Pass is a rather leisurely drive in comparison to Hartside and Honister. With its gentle incline and slow winding trajectory, you’re able to fully embrace the surroundings at your own pace. We continued for some time until we found an entrance spur to a felling site which boasted a fantastic vista of the surrounding area and villages below. Once pulled over we took full advantage of this as a photo opportunity and since weather conditions had cleared, we decided to fly the drone. After spending a short while here, satisfied we had soaked in all of the scenery, we packed up and headed back toward Keswick which was to be the final leg of our Cumbrian excursion. From here we ventured east along the A66, with a brief pit stop at the huge and pretentiously overpriced Rheged Centre Service Station – a Venus fly trap for unsuspecting tourists desperate to take an authentic token of their romantic Cumbrian holiday home with them. With its stone clad walls and sloping hill-like green roof, it has to be one of the least obtrusive filling stations I’ve witnessed in my time, and despite their price points, I did enjoy a rather nice coffee and a pastry from their bakery. I also managed to take full advantage of the free compressed air, making sure all four of the E30’s tyres were still at optimum pressure for our final stretch home. Rested, fueled and aired we concluded our journey taking the path of least resistance home along the A66 to Penrith, joining the M6 north and finally taking the A69 east at Carlisle, back to Newcastle. Overall this road trip encompassed some fantastic driving roads — some of the best in the UK for that matter. With a mix of undulating moorland hill climbs, forest twists and steep valley gorges, it evokes a sense of adventure within the driving enthusiast. And with an absolutely astounding array of scenery to match, it all contributes to building a route I’ll definitely be taking again in the future. Jake Senior is a member of the Club and proprietor of Atelier Schnell, a digital car blog/design house offering photographic and journalistic services and online automobile critique. Jake can be found on Instagram - @atelier_schnell www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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TIME WARP BMW E60 M5

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When West Lancashire based club member Gordon Dean telephoned me asking if I would be interested in reporting on a car he had just purchased – an 8,000 mile, 2005 E60 M5 - he needn’t have asked! We chose the Industrial Revolution inspired Castlefield area of inner city Manchester as the photographic backdrop and drive location for this ultra-low mileage stunner… Words/Photographs - Jeff Heywood

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Feature

ordon happened upon the car via a friend of a friend who knew the sales manager at Hexagon Classics, who have a penchant for special BMWs. When first told of the car, Gordon remained largely indifferent to his friend’s tale of this ‘blue M5’ until he mentioned the mileage – just 8,000 recorded miles on a 15-year-old car! He had always admired the E60 M5. Its Bangle influenced styling, while vilified by many when launched, has now matured into a saloon car styling icon that still looks fresh and modern, especially in M-car guise. His interest now piqued, Gordon was put in touch with the sales manager at Hexagon, and after much haggling a deal was thrashed out and he was the new owner of a rather special E60 M5. Finished in BMW A30 Interlagos Blue Metallic with an (X3A9) Silverstone II ‘Complete’ Merino Leather interior, the car looks as if it has just rolled off the production line at the Dingolfing Plant. The E60 5 Series has always been in the shadow of its older brother, the E39, and that includes the M5 models. Launched in 2003, the standard 5 Series range shocked many with its modernist, Banglesque styling, with many disliking the front headlight design, going so far as to name it the ‘Dame Edna Everage’ look. Whereas the E39 was safely and conservatively styled, the E60 was avantgarde and broke new ground for BMW by using Bangle’s flame-surface techniques with marmite results. The other significant role played by the E60 was in being a real turning point in terms of technology, marking the time that vehicles moved from the analogue age to digital as the E60 pioneered new technological items and electronic features such as the iDrive infotainment system, head-up display, active cruise control, active steering, adaptive headlights, night vision, lane departure warning and voice control. The fleet market meant that E60 5 Series sales were strong, and once the motoring public became acclimatised to the E60’s styling the sales to private buyers also increased, especially in M Sport guise here in the UK. Time mellows both people and objects be they architectural, sculptural or automotive when viewed from a stylistic viewpoint; the E60 has now softened with age into a handsome, practical and popular motor car that is now an accepted model in the BMW range, and thanks to Bangle’s cuttingedge flame-surface styling, the E60 5 Series range still looks fresh and modern, just like the Bangle-styled Z4. The E60 M5 was launched by BMW in 2005 and was sold as both a four-door saloon and five-door estate, something

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

Feature

The ‘Dame Edna Everage glasses’ jibes have (mostly) disappeared now as the E60, especially in M5 guise, is recognised as a handsome and attractive executive saloon

BMW didn’t do with the E39. In total, 20,548 M5s were sold, consisting of 19,523 saloons and just 1,025 Tourings. 1,776 M5s found buyers in the UK, beating Germany as the largest market in Europe for the E60 M5. BMW M S85 V10 The M5’s S85 V10 engine has a bad reputation when it comes to reliability, just like the S65 V8 found in the E90/2/3 M3, but this is broadly unfair. As long as the car is regularly

serviced using OEM grade products then there should be no issues with the S85 engine. The problems that have arisen are typically due to rod bearing failure. The rod bearings in the S85 engine experience excessive wear and consequently premature failure, and some engines have been known to fail within 60,000 miles. This premature component failure appears to occur because the connecting rod bearing clearance to journal ratio for S65/S85 engines is quite tight, and old, sludgy

or low grade oils struggle to lubricate this area successfully. Inadequate lubrication between the crank journal and the connecting rod bearings results in premature wear of the bearings, as does revving the nuts off a car when started from cold. Additionally, the debris produced by this process can damage the connecting rod bearings and other engine parts. A quality OEM approved oil of the correct viscosity lubricates the bearings adequately, but if servicing is neglected or poor quality products are used then failure can occur, as well as abusive treatment of the engine when cold. One has to remember that this is a thoroughbred, handbuilt engine producing over 100bhp per litre. We are in Ferrari and Lamborghini territory here, so these M engines need to be treated with respect by using premium products and following BMW M’s warmup procedures. It’s no use red-lining the engine from cold on a regular basis and then crying on a blog somewhere when it goes bang! The original rod bearings (088/089) were manufactured from 2007 and they are made up of several layers, including copper and lead. BMW released an updated rod bearing (702/703) around 2010, manufactured from tin and aluminium, coupled with a slight increase in bearing clearance value that cured this issue. Owners of cars with over 50,000 miles may want to consider rod bearing replacement as preventative maintenance, to reduce the risk of severe engine damage in the event of bearing failure. But, if you own a car or are thinking about a car that has been well looked after with low/ low-ish mileage, then the engine experts out there recommend that employing a regime where you change the oil every 4-5000 miles using top quality oil is the way to go, whilst also having the old oil tested after every oil change. Before you protest too loudly, you can

Gordon’s E60 M5 looks equally as attractive from the rear. The Interlagos Blue paint gleams and those M-car giveaways, the quad tailpipes, give the M5 real roadside presence

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

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Feature find companies that charge between £30-50 to carry out a test on the old oil, looking for microscopic particles of excess copper and lead. If these are present it tells you that the bearings are wearing and replacement would be a good idea, saving you from experiencing a catastrophic engine failure. An annual cost of £30-50 is hardly going to break the bank and is best viewed as being part of the M5’s annual maintenance programme. Gordon’s car To be honest, Gordon couldn’t believe his luck when he found this car, especially for the price he ended up paying. Delivered by BMW dealer Holland Park, London, and first registered on September 24th 2005 to a well-heeled resident of Notting Hill, this Interlagos Blue beauty has led an extremely pampered life. The original owner hardly used the car, racking up all of 7,000 miles over a period of 13-years, and in that time had the oil changed four times – yes, it has a very comprehensive BMW service history! The all-important running in service was carried out in 2006 with just 680 miles on the odometer. The car was finally sold to the second, Oxford-based owner in 2018, who rattled up the mileage to a heady 8,000! The second owner also had the car serviced in 2018 when the oil was changed again, so that’s five oil changes during its 15-year life. The car was then sold by Hexagon on behalf of the second owner to Gordon in July 2020. As well as being truly immaculate, it is also fabulously well-equipped. BMW Extended Leather was standard fit on the E60 M5, while Complete Leather was a costly option, which meant that in addition to the leather covered interior items included with the standard Extended Leather (mainly seats and

The M5’s sumptuous and unmarked interior, trimmed in super-soft Silverstone II Merino leather, still has the look of a new BMW, and the rear seats don’t look like they’ve been sat on

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

Feature

The heart of the beast – the mighty S85, five-litre V10 M powerhouse pumps out 507bhp of naturally aspirated brute force, making the E60 M5 a true 200mph+ supercar

part door trims), hide was added to the upper dashboard (including instrument panel cover), all of the lower dashboard (including glove box door), upper door panels, lower door panels, all door pillars and the entire centre console. It blends well with the brushed aluminium shadow trim, and I can confirm that it is one of the most supple hides that I have ever had the pleasure of perching on in a BMW! Along with the myriad of standard equipment, this M5 came with M Multifunction Seats, including ‘active bolsters’ that tighten the side bolsters into your sides/kidneys when cornering with some vim! An electric glass sunroof was also specified, along with heated front and rear seats… Head-Up display was also optioned, as was a rear sunblind, Active Headlights, Professional Navigation with TV Function, a six-disc CD changer, Professional Hi-Fi with DSP and a subtle M Boot Spoiler. This M5 really does qualify as being ‘fully loaded’. And the best thing is, the interior looks like it has never been sat in. Similarly, the metallic Interlagos paintwork is also immaculate, with no stone chips, swirls or ‘orange-peeling’, which affected some period BMW models. The engine bay is also just as clean and immaculate. But it’s what that engine bay contains that is most important, that amazing S85 B50 V10 power plant, all five-litres of it! Obviously linked to the then F1 involvement first with Williams and then Sauber, who were also supplied with V10 BMW engines in three-litre guise, the M5’s highly

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

tuned 4999cc lump produced 507bhp at 7,750rpm and 520Nm of torque at 6,100rpm, and I can confirm that the V10 screams like a scalded banshee from 6,700rpm to its 8,250rpm redline! I think we all know the stats by now; 0-60mph is dispatched in 4.4 seconds and the M5 would stroll onto 205mph if the limiter was removed – it is a seriously quick motor car. It was epic that BMW decided to produce a bespoke handbuilt V10 engine for it, and it would have seemed even more radical today if Lamborghini hadn’t decided to build a similar motor around the same time. Will Gordon keep this car? Probably. He is a serial car collector with many marques in his collection, although he does have a soft spot for BMW and MINI products. Sitting in the Dean garage is a black E28 M5, which is an early press car, an E30 325i Sport M-Tech II with bubble leather, an E46 M3 with 38,000 miles as well as an E46 M3 track car, a 10,000-mile Valencia Orange 1M Coupe purchased from new (which should be sat in the Heywood garage!) and an E90 M3 30 Jahre limited edition model that was also a new purchase and I know from memory that they cost a pretty penny. MINIs include an R52 Cooper S Cabriolet, an R53 JCW, and R53 Checkmate model and three others that he couldn’t be bothered telling me about! So yes, Gordon will probably keep the M5. Indeed, he is determined for it not to become a garage queen, unlike the 30 Jahre M3 and 1M Coupe which he intended to use as everyday drivers but then the rarity value kicked in and

they became dry weather cars, although they are enjoyed on high days and holidays as well as being used to attend Club events over the years. Before any of the purists and concours people throw up their arms in horror, Gordon was thinking of using the M5 as an everyday driver and when you listen to his reasoning it starts to make sense – “I was thinking of buying a new BMW. I was looking at the F80 M3 and the LCI M5. I also like the look of the new G20 M340i xDrive, but have you seen the price? I’ve lost a small fortune on new cars in the past so I thought if I put another 16-20,000 miles on the M5 using it as a daily driver, it will still have low mileage and will probably be worth nearly what I paid for it or more if the prices start to appreciate like the E39 M5 has.” He added – “I don’t do mega mileage per annum as I have access to many vehicles, which keeps the mileage reasonable in any one car, although I am enjoying driving the M5, and like Pepperoni, it’s a bit of an animal!”, which is quite logical thinking on Gordon’s part. And when you consider that a new M5 costing over £100,000 will lose £20,000 as soon as you drive it out of the BMW dealership and £35-45,000 or more in its first 2-3 years of ownership, it’s a sobering thought, and makes Gordon’s thinking rather shrewd. Although, the last time I spoke to him he did say “have you seen the news that BMW have confirmed they’re building a Touring version of the next-gen M3 – I fancy one of those…” – Oh dear! www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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Feature

DRIVE THROUGH CARS AND COFFEE By Richard Stern

uest Brothers Classic Cars in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, have now started a classic car meeting for enthusiasts to be able to stretch their classic’s legs and enjoy a relaxing Sunday morning

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

drive to St Ives. There’s a superb mix of classics and a great photo opportunity with the Land Rover coffee van outside Quest Brothers. Once photo’d in front of the coffee van you can park up on the big industrial estate with ease. It was actually very good for

the 2002tii as it hadn’t had its legs stretched for a while and it was great to get back behind the wheel again, although I did have to watch a YouTube video of how to drive a car again! Great to see some old friends too – Stuart and Liz in their gorgeous rare E28 M5 (yes Stuart, I shouldn’t have sold mine), and a lovely mix of cars from vintage MGs, Fords, American muscle, classic bikes, Jaguars, a 1970s Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Singer, Renault, Citroen, an Escort Cosworth, classic Minis, a rare Opel coupe, and plenty of BMWs including an E30 M3 and a rare Baur. Obviously, for those concerned social distancing measures were followed at all times, and people always had the option just to stay in their cars and drive through while still having a look. With external car meets it’s quite easy to implement these rules and still enjoy the day out. This event will grow and grow and I can’t wait until next time. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Feature

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BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

best ches even

Feature

e will

PIRELLI PERFORMANCE CENTRE OF THE YEAR WINNER ANNOUNCED

irelli has named STS Tyre Pros Chester as its Performance Centre of the Year, making this the fourth time the depot has won this award in the 12 years it has been running. Centre Manager Frank Jenkins said: “We’re delighted to have won this award for a fourth time. The recognition from Pirelli is fantastic for the whole team and shows our commitment to the highest standards of customer service and tyre knowledge. A big thank you to the whole team for their hard work, especially through these very challenging times.” Pirelli Performance Centres (PPCs) are a network of carefully selected

audited tyre dealers that offer the highest possible standards of customer service and technical ability to drivers of performance cars, looking for the most exclusive dealer experience available. To become a PPC, each depot must continually meet a set of demanding criteria, ensuring that only the best achieve and retain PPC status. Pirelli has been recognising excellence within tyre dealerships across the UK and Ireland since the inception of its Pirelli Performance Centre (PPC) initiative in 1998, but going one step further, Pirelli now recognises the best PPC in the country via the annual award, which was inaugurated in 2007. Each year, one of the network of 128

Bigger and better fuel card offer for BMW Car Club members In time for increased driving again, the Pirelli fuel card offer is just the ticket for BMW Car Club members. From August 1st, the rewards of this offer are set to be even more generous because when you buy four new tyres, in sizes of 20 inches or bigger, you’ll now receive a fuel gift card to the value of £120. How does it all work? Well that is simple. Pirelli continues to offer a fuel gift card on purchases through official

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

BMW dealers or Pirelli Performance Centres of up to eight Pirelli tyres within a calendar year. This offer can be used for your friends and family too, not just for tyres on your BMW. Providing the terms and conditions are adhered to, you can take advantage on Pirelli tyre purchases for any family cars. See below for full details of the rewards that you’ll receive when you purchase tyres in a variety of sizes:

PPCs is named PPC of the Year, after the top performing centres in the technical audit have a video mystery shop exercise and scored by an independent assessor. This annual audit takes the form of a video mystery shop exercise where PPCs are scored on a variety of criteria including the centre appearance, politeness of staff, correct inspection of the vehicle and correct reporting of any issues found with the vehicle. The highest scoring PPC is then awarded the title of PPC of the Year. Congratulations once again to STS Tyre Pros Chester, who achieved a perfect score of 100%. More information about PPCs can be found at www.pirelli.co.uk/ppc.

Pirelli offer Rim

Number of tyress 2

16” & below

£10

£30

17”

£30

£70

18” & 19”

£50

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20” & above

£60

£120

In order to take advantage of this unique offer for BMW Car Club members, please visit and find out how you can reap the rewards by fitting Pirelli tyres: www.pirelli.co.uk/bmwcarclub www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

CELEBRATING CLASSIC CARS On display, on sale and on the silver screen

The wait is over and we can finally all get together at one of the most exciting new events for the Season. Taking place at Bicester Heritage, over the weekend of 18th - 20th September, The Classic Car Drive In Weekend brings together over 500 Classic cars for you to admire or buy along with a selection of the most iconic Classic Car Movies at a Drive In Cinema, all in a socially distanced Covid-compliant outdoor environment.

Displays from over 25 of the UK’s leading Car Clubs • Bonhams MPH auction Special collection displays • Daily track parades and demonstrations Over 50 Classic car dealers, restorers and traders

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supported by: BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

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crossword 1

Winner of last month’s crossword - James Gould All entrants for September’s issue crossword must be received into the office by 11th September. 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 August 2020 Crossword Across: 1. Tomorrow, 9. Souvenir, 11. Fitt, 12. LE (Limited Edition), GU (Guildford), 14. Fulla, 16. iL, 17. RS, 18. Evil, 19. Olds, 21. SL, 22. AM, 23. Trips, 24. MS (Mississippi), 25.TE, 26. Dies, 28. Overhang, 31. Setright Down: 2. OSI, 3. Motorsport, 4. Out, 5. RV (Recreational Vehicle), 6. Refuelling, 7. On, 8. Williams, 10. Realms, 11. Full Revs, 13. Giotto, 15. LV (Louis Vuitton), 20. Di, 26. DAI, 27. EGH, 29. EE, 30. HR

Sponsored by

Across 1. ...Maltby: BMW Car Club Wessex Regional Officer (3) 5. Commonly used initials for a certain pink newspaper (1,1) 8. Motorcycle model of 6. Down produced 1995-2002 (10) 12. To achieve precise, detailed and accurate representation of something in art (7) 13. Russian car brand, with its Niva model having been in production since 1977 (4) 15. Shortform of the lightest of the halogen gases and also US engineering and construction company with founder of the same surname (5) 16. Initials for US agricultural equipment manufacturer that can trace its ancestry back to Irishman ‘Harry’ Ferguson, of four-wheel drive fame (1,1) 17. Initials for UK headquartered ‘Big Four’ accounting firm that reported BMW as the only German carmaker to have grown in the first half of 2019 (1,1) 18. Homonym for the 2.7l E28 BMW 525 ‘efficiency’. Diner in a restaurant! (5) 21. The firing of a gun or cannon (4) 23. Chinese string-like foodstuffs (7) 25. Motorcycle model of 6. Down at various times since 1959, named after a rather unusual US location used for motor racing since 1914 (10) 28. Commonly-used initials for a UK motoring organisation founded in 1905 by a small group of motorists who banded together to warn fellow drivers about speed traps (1,1) 29. BMW E number for the 02 Series models 1966-77 (3)

Siegfried Bettmann in 1884 and initially producing bicycles. The motorcycle brand is today owned by John Bloor, a former plasterer who left school aged 15 (7) 7. A comfort feature of your BMW, but probably for the driver only used on longer journeys (7) 9. British racing car manufacturer active from 1933 to 1954. The name was briefly reinstated in 1989 for an up-market turbo-charged version of the Austin Rover Mini (1,1,1) 10. Nickname given to Wolfgang von Trips by his friends and fellow-racers. Pejorative term for a Welsh person (5) 11. Initials for European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere. The Paranal Observatory in Peru’s Atacama Desert was the location for launch photographs of the 6 Series Gran Coupé in 2012 (1,1,1) 13. Name of historical Leicestershire BMW dealer, shared with Australian actor who played “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” James Bond role (7) 14. Motorcycle model of 6. Down at various times since 1966, again named after US motor racing location. Also BMW paint colour [code 283] (7) 16. ...Haggard: US country singer and songwriter (5) 19. Perhaps Air Operations Officer? (1,1,1) 20. Dame...: Barry Humphries character whose glasses have been referred to in describing the headlight design of the E60 5 Series BMW! (4) 21. Initials used to describe integrated circuits in the 1960’s with just 10’s of transistors on a single chip. BMW and Bosch were early adopters (1,1,1) 22. Founder and name of UK industrial design company that built a series of cars between 1959 and 1962 (4) 24. Magazine dedicated to performance cars started Down by Harpenden-based farmer Harry Metcalfe and first 1. Could be Traffic Announcement? (1,1) published in 1998 (3) 2. A creative thought or suggestion (4) 26. Letters designating BMW’s ‘full on’ touring 3. ...: Agusta: Italian motorcycle brand (1,1) 4. The basic MINI model in the initial BMW versions (3) motorcycles (1,1) 27. European Standards, with initials / prefix derived 5. Not empty! (4) 6. British motorcycle and car brand founded by German from ‘European Norms’ (1,1)

socialmedia Are you following your Region on Facebook? Social media is a great tool to keep up-to-date on your Region’s events, news, and discussions. Their Facebook pages are a fantastic way to connect with your fellow Regional members to ask questions and chat about all things BMW. Here’s a list of some Regional Facebook pages and groups, if they’re not listed please contact your Regional Chair: BMW Car Club GB Sussex BMW Car Club GB – Cornwall BMW Car Club GB North West BMW Car Club (GB) Essex Region BMW Car Club GB London Region BMW Car Club GB Western Region BMW Car Club GB North East Region BMW Car Club GB South Wales Region BMW Car Club GB Wessex Bournemouth BMW Car Club GB Norfolk and Suffolk Branch BMW Car Club GB Peak & South Yorkshire Area

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

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regionalnews Central Tony Skerrett Central Region sponsored by

Barons Bedford

Here we are in early September, but rejoice as we had a late July meeting involving Central Members at the newly opened Café Belge in Beachampton near Milton Keynes; more about this event below. At the time of writing we at Central still plan or wish to hold a Peak District Tour in late August and an East Coast Seaside Excursion in early September. Regional meetings will continue to operate from September possibly at the Belge Café. I read this in July’s Autocar; “Ford is introducing a software update for its Police Interceptor Utility models in the USA that can temporarily raise the temperature of the car’s cabin to more than 56C for 15 minutes to help reduce the risk of coronavirus infection. The update is available for all of the machines built for law enforcement officials between 2013 and 2019, and was developed with the help of The Ohio State University. Research suggests that exposing coronavirus to temperatures of 56C – hotter than Death Valley – for 15 minutes or more can reduce the viral concentration on interior surfaces by around 99 percent. The new system is designed to be used alongside increased cleaning efforts”. Should be interesting in the UK if approved. Perhaps okay in the winter! I have now finished repainting my bay windows, first floor only as my wife will not allow me to use ladders now. Still a good job done and quite proud of my DIY efforts. Past Events 28th July 2020 Central Meeting at Café Belge – 5pm to dusk.

In spite of recent pandemic events, a really good crowd turned for this Regional Drive It Meet with up to 18 members and some choice Classic BMWs to view (I have plenty of pictures available to show next month). It’s a splendid venue with plenty of room both inside and out. Outside has panoramic views of the beautiful countryside with a veranda type platform to boot. It was formerly a barn and converted by its enterprising owner Paul Watson back in May of this year. So successful was the occasion that we are considering making it a suitable venue for future meetings commencing 14th September.

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

07879 404648 central@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

01234 362 400

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

Jeff and Sasha Wyatt introduced the venue to the Region so great job done there. It was simply terrific to welcome members: Peter and Marion Collison (Z4), Frank Clarke (E36 M3), John Bint (8 Series 840i) and daughter Lucy, Richard Harrison (E30), Eddie Fletcher (E30), Dad Fletcher on a BMW Motor Bike, Jeff and Sasha (2002) plus two friends (Aston Martins), Andrew Overy (M4), Joe Brown (Series 5) and Ian Harwood (E93). Beautiful weather, great company, no Covid-19 issues, so all went well on/after the day. My Car by Roger Clifford - new member Hi all, My driving career started in August 1986. My late father taught me how to drive with many ups and downs but I got there in the end. I have had many cars since I passed my test. The first car was an Austin Mini Metro 1.3s in Nautilus Blue, as I passed my test in automatic I had to stay with it. I had two Hondas (Jazz), Vauxhall Meriva with a faulty gearbox, Rover 416 SLi (two), Rover stepspeed plus Rover with a similar gearbox. A BMW Mini 1.2 One five door. Some of my cars were handed down from my father, the Rover 213SE and 416Sli. The BMW 118i Sport I have just acquired has topped the lot. I am very pleased with the new car. I have a lot of technical gadgets in the car, I feel like James Bond, all I need now is the ejector seat and two guns fitted. Having said that I worked at Aston Martin at Newport Pagnell from 1966 to 1977 and enjoyed it. I met many notable people such as the Royal Family, racing driver Innes Ireland, and model Twiggy (Dame Lesley Hornby). My position at Aston Martin was a Stock Controller in the Parts and Service Department which is ordering stock when it is low, chasing stock in and when a customer wanted a part urgently I had to go on to the Production side to collect a windscreen or shock absorber and anything that was required urgently to keep the customer on the road. I was advised to leave Aston Martin and the job I loved to go into the Civil Service because at that time it was very insecure. They gave me a good start in my working life. They were a good company to work for and they looked after you. I can say none of my cars have been modified and my interests are classic cars and racing, Concours d’Elegence and British Touring cars. I have two friends who like racing and hopefully will go to the Silverstone Classic next year which will not have to be cancelled. In all the excitement of writing this article I should have told you the colour of my car is a stunning Mediterranean blue. I hope to meet many of you in the future. BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

regionalnews Future Events East Coast Seaside Trip - Early September Bicester Heritage Sunday Scramble - 4th October. Club

stand tickets have now sold out, but general entry tickets are still available from the Bicester Heritage website.

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

Cheshire & Staffs Steve Cooper Cheshire & Staffs Region sponsored by

cheshireandstaffs@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk



Blue Bell Fourth Avenue, Weston Road, Crewe

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

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

Cornwall Jim Husband

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

cornwall@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

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 Car Club GB – Cornwall page. Details of meets and events are posted on this page along with any last minute changes / updates. Please also check the Cornwall page of the Club website for details of events, I will update this as events are confirmed, and everything will be printed in the club magazine as deadlines allow.

Hello to all members of the Cornwall Region. I hope this newsletter finds you all safe and well. Once again not much to report I’m afraid. As soon as I possibly can I will reinstate the pub meetings and look to arrange a social event. Welcome to Timothy, a new member of the Cornwall Region. I hope you will enjoy being a member of both the Club and Region. Please contact me if there is anything you wish to know about the pub meets, Club events or Regional activities

Events / Monthly Pub Meets The Cornwall Region monthly pub meets are still cancelled until further notice. Hopefully we will soon be able to resume these monthly pub meets, which are held on the second Monday of the month. 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 great.

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

Cotswold Region sponsored by

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

Cumbria James France Hello to all Cumbria Region members, By the time you read this we should have had a small external get together at Cocklakes Farm Shop Cafe, a report to follow in next month’s Straight Six. Apart from the get together there has not been much happening on the car and event front with everything being cancelled. On a personal car note, I have stripped, cleaned and repainted the brake callipers on my Alfa (Brembo) along with new discs, pads and wear sensors, looking much nicer now. I used Halfords own caliper spray paint which gave great results but was slow to go off.

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

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

cumbria@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

The X3 (E83) has a sticking front caliper (again) which will get some attention along with a drone which sounds like a wheel bearing, it’s just had a rear ABS ring and sensor to cure an intermittent fault. The 944 Turbo has a few small jobs and a belt change to do, it’s now SORN so will be done over the winter months. The Mini Cooper S (R53 Supercharged) has started with an annoying mechanical noise over the last couple of days, something else to sort, the joys of old cars! Should I sell the lot and buy something new / nearly new… Nah! I tried that and got bored very quickly, plus I like skinned knuckles and nail loss which I have right now and the smell of www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews gearbox oil in my hair along with a full swear box, too. Hope to catch up with you, if you are a new member please feel free to come along to our meets and events.

Be careful, stay safe and be kind. (It’s free!) Phone 07799 620 381 or email jimfrance1@hotmail.co.uk Regards Jim.

Devon Kathy Jemfrey

01626 330436 devon@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Devon Region sponsored by

INDEPENDENT BMW & MINI SPECIALISTS

The Sidmouth Car Show has been cancelled, however if anyone wishes to attend, we will be attending the Crash Box End of Season Car Show it is at Lady’s Mile Holiday Park, Dawlish, on

Sunday 27th September 10am until 4.00pm. Come and go as you please. Take care and see you all 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

: 01954 784 500 : 01279 755 906

Hi everyone, To say 2020 has been a strange and difficult year would be an understatement, but nonetheless I am delighted to say we still have new members joining the Club, so welcome to you all, the good times will return. In the meantime as I remind you all every month, keep up to date with your respective Facebook pages and enjoy reading the contributions and think about sharing your stories and photos with everyone as well. We have a little glimmer of hope that we will be able to enjoy at least a couple of events and/or pub meets if the situation allows, hence I still produce a rather small list. I am sure like me you all miss shows and events. Personally I have found it frustrating that the only reason I have forced myself to get my 2002 out of the garage is the fact it deserves and needs to be taken out for a spin as leaving it unused does it no good whatsoever. I miss meeting members and strangers at events and don’t mind talking at length about my 2002 even if the same questions keep cropping up; how much is it worth, and are you selling it? I also get asked if I know of any classic or interesting BMWs that are for sale, and sometimes the answer is yes so keep sending me details if any of you are changing your BMW for any reason. It is not a substitute for advertising your car properly but sometimes word of mouth can help.

It would be fascinating if you would send me a few lines and photos of your BMW so that I can share these with other members. I am delighted to be able to share the following thanks to Carl Pereira, so don’t be shy, please send your stories and pictures. “After many years of owning small cars I was ‘persuaded’ by Angela, my wife, to buy a bigger, four door car. After a succession of Renault 25s we moved from France to Italy and owned a couple of Alfa Romeo 164s. With each ‘upgrade’ the engines got bigger and/or the number of cylinders increased or often both, with the last 164 having the Busso V6 3 litre engine (a work of art). After years of temperamental French and Italian cars I decided to venture into the world of German cars and in particular BMWs. My father often had Mercedes as a company www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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.

car but I always felt the BMW was a bit ‘sportier’ and less ‘company car’. Scouring the local magazines and papers I found an interesting looking E34 540i for sale near Watford. The advert mentioned an interesting previous owner but did not give any more details. A phone call was made and a trip to Watford arranged. The car was a beautiful Forest Green E34 540i with a parchment leather interior and filled with ’toys’ such as a remote controlled radio and a car phone, completed with a personalised number plate, A2HKJ. The interior was perfect and the rear seats looked almost new. I still remember looking at the massive V8 engine under the bonnet and thinking to myself that while I could afford to buy the car, if anything ever went wrong with the engine I would probably not be able to afford to repair it! The vendor explained to me that the car had a full service history from new but it had never been serviced by a BMW main dealer! It transpired that the previous registered owner of the car was His Royal Highness, the current King of Jordan, and that the person selling the car was his chauffeur who had bought the car from the King (although he was a Prince at the time). The number plate, A2HKJ, which had been added later, stood for Abdullah the 2nd, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. My 540i proved to me that large cars could be reliable, and apart from the fuel costs she was surprisingly cheaper to maintain than any of my previous ‘big’ cars. After a few years ownership, in 2007 I began to look for a replacement and finally bought my B10 V8 Alpina which I still own.”

Forthcoming events Sunday 6th September - Classics by the Lake. CANCELLED Sunday 6th September – Classics at Glemham. Sunday 13th September – Kings Lynn Heritage Open Day and Classic Car Show in Market Square. Book direct west-norfolk. gov.uk/classiccarday. Sunday 27th September – The Warren Supercar and Classic Car Show. CANCELLED Sunday 18th October – Lodge Coaches including Auto Jumble. BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

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Eastern Paul Rice

eastern@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Car of the Month Richard Rixham and his X5 “It’s been 12 months now since I walked into Sytner Sheffield to grab a coffee and ended up walking out having traded in my 530i E39 Sport Touring for a E70 X5 40d M Sport. I do miss the old E39 as it was a great car but I have to say, the X5 has been fantastic, it pulls like there is no tomorrow, great when pulling a 23ft caravan and has all the gizmos and gadgets to keep the kids (and Dad) happy. 12 months on and I still have to turn round to look at it as I walk away.” We are always in need of new and current members’ pride and joys for our regular Car of the Month feature. Send up to 100 words and a good quality photo to eastern@ bmwcarclubgb.co.uk.

Statfold Narrow Gauge Trust As more and more shows and events are cancelled it was great to find an event that was going ahead, of course with full Covid precautions as it was quite a gathering. Venturing into the Midlands we eventually found the location, approximately seven miles from the Junction where the A42 meets the M42 on the B5493 between the motorway and Tamworth. With display vehicle numbers limited to 250 cars there was plenty of room to keep a comfortable distance, let’s face it, we never like parking too close anyway. Although a car event, as with the title the location is principally a private narrow-gauge railway, run by volunteers and as an added attraction, the trains were running throughout the day. The location also houses a museum with beautifully presented trains and railway associated exhibits. For the show we had catering with a mobile bar, hot food

and ice creams available along with excellent spotless welfare facilities. On the display front a great variety of old and new from Bond Bugs to McLarens, Chevy Stepsides to Mustangs, Austin Ambassadors to a superb Singer Vogue estate which caught my eye and of course a good showing of BMWs. I was with a group of Zedder’s proudly showing their roadsters. The main appeal was obviously the opportunity, the first this year to get out and enjoy the summer sun surrounded by a great selection of cars and meeting fellow enthusiasts, at a safe distance of course. Looking forward to returning sometime soon. Straight Six Photo of the month Congratulations to Eastern member Glenn Taylor for winning the August photo of the month competition with his E36 M3. The prize is a selection of Meguiar’s products, having seen Glen’s M3 I think he already has a good supply of detailing products. Bridlington Festival of Motoring Unfortunately, this most popular event has been cancelled for 2020. Let’s hope all is well for September 2021.

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 02089 512 600 www.baronsgroup.co.uk/bmw The pub meets are back on, they are filling up brilliantly and though the eating is a bit tricky and only six at a table, the pub has a one way system for our safety and is working with plenty of hand sanitiser available throughout. We have really enjoyed all the nice weather and some new cars arriving, lovely to see the core members who have been supportive throughout. The lockdown has left us all so uncertain about what meets are on, and what’s been delayed by COVID rulings. The Ace Cafe is still on limited hours open to the public daily until 18:00 on weekdays and 19:00 on weekends. I’ve been a regular down there for the last few years, first Monday of the month is German night, that’s where you’ll find me. We’ve made it a mini London

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

Region meet so as soon as we can get back there I’ll let you know. I was contacted by Michael Kaye who was organising a mini meet for E9s that was local to me so I popped down. If you are planning any meets or breakfast drives out contact me on London@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk and I’ll see if I can make it or publish it on the Facebook page. October 4th is looking like it’s going to be a great meet, being held at Bicester Heritage, it’s sold out now with allocation for 70 cars on the BMW Car Club stand. If you cannot attend please contact me and we will see if we can use your space to get a car in. Our Crooked Chimney is brought to us by the E84, which if you are not aware is the original first generation X1 - purely www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews

because we are staggeringly at meet 84... By the time you are reading this it will be the 85th and so on. A fabulous meet with lovely people, I cannot recommend it highly enough. The car of the month for me had to be between Jon Philips’ new E92 M3 Competition, which has been off in the paint shop since the last meet touching up some issues round the grills on the bonnet, or Kiri’s E60 M5... that V10 really is the daddy of M cars. We also had a very small Italian Fiat, packing a mighty ABARTH punch boasting a fully forged engine and big turbo conversion by Turbo Technics. Lots of mods already carried out and more to come, getting this partially stripped stunner ready for the track. Although yes it’s a BMW Car Club, and yes it’s members only, we know not all of you are only BMW drivers, we always welcome members’ other toys. I’ve had so many car related conversations this month, some about cars for sale and others looking for parts or handbooks. I’m always an open ear for a car conversation. This month I’ve matched a member with a magnificent E39 540i that should be at future London meets. I know of a lovely low millage (45k) 2007 130i LE For sale if anyone’s looking for a future classic without the M running costs. If you’ve not known me before my life was orange I had 10 blissful years with a 2005 130i 5 door.

Mid Wales & Shropshire Phil Pinnington Welcome to September’s edition of the Mid Wales & Shropshire Regional News. I hope everyone is keeping well. Not sure when all this will end and we can start getting back to showing off our cars. With the ever changing situation event organisers are doing their best to keep us updated on dates and cancellations. For the events to go ahead it would be down to the venue to give the OK as most events are held at private family homes, so understandably they don’t want thousands of people roaming their homes at this time. Fingers crossed we may get at least one. A big thank you to Neil Barker for his lockdown story in July’s Straight Six. He’s made great use of his lockdown time off. A lot of members have been tinkering with their cars catching up on those jobs that you never get a chance to do.

North East

Nick Thomas

Welcome to all North East members who have joined the Club recently. With the lockdown you probably haven’t had a chance to meet us in person yet. Keep watching for emails from the office about the events we are running as normally as possible in the second half of the year, following Social Distancing and hygiene requirements. Also follow our Facebook group to see what is happening and what fellow members are up to. Recent Events The July Monthly Meet was again a virtual meet via Zoom. It www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

midwales@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

I have some good news about our village pub. With all that’s been going on it wasn’t clear if it would reopen but the latest is that it will reopen. No dates as yet, so fingers crossed we’ll be back enjoying the carvery soon in our little bubble. Stay safe and keep well. SEPTEMBER Sunday 6th - Bodrhyddan Hall www.classicshows.org Sunday 20th - Cholmondeley Castle www.classicshows.org OCTOBER Sunday 4th October AM - Breakfast meet, Alderford Lake

northeast@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

was well attended with about 11 people. Mike Milbourne of The Polishing Company ran the June “Car of the Month” and Simon Maskell ran a BMW themed pub quiz which was won this month by Greg Webster. Judge’s Choice went to Chris Goose for use of a socket set as a spoon, and I was very proud to win the Wooden Spoon! A nice feature of virtual meets is that we are not limited by geography, and Chris Goose from East Anglia gave us a video tour of his fascinating car collection. At the end of July we ran our old favourite, the Kielder Picnic. With all the car shows that we normally attend over the BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

regionalnews summer cancelled, this made a very suitable replacement and avoided the current hassles with restaurant bookings. We had 12 cars, a Mercedes and a dog come on the run. I’m not sure how many members there were because of Social Distancing, everyone kept suitably separated and so were difficult to count! We ended with a photo opportunity with the cars lined up on the slipway down to the reservoir.

• Sunday 13 September – Monthly Meet • Sunday 27 September – NECPWA end of season at Beamish (if NECPWA proceed with the event). It is very ironic that an End of Season show might be our first show this year! • Monday 28 September – Snetterton Trackday Print deadlines for Straight Six 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. Car of the Month The July “Car of the Month” was awarded to my 1988 E30 325iA convertible, chosen by Mike Milbourne based on sharing photos of it at the virtual meeting. The photo I shared was taken a few years ago at an E21/E30 meeting in Germany, where we visited the steel foundry that used to supply steel for BMW engines. All Regional BMWs are eligible to win COTM and a goodie bag supplied by The Polishing Company. Join us at our next monthly meet to be in with a chance of winning.

Forthcoming events North East events recently and over the next few months are very fluid. As I write this events that might occur over the next few months are possibly:

North West

Jeff Heywood

BMW Car Club GB North West image Twitter: @BMWNW

News Welcome to September’s North West News. Here in the North West it seems like we are the centre of the universe when it comes to Coronavirus; just as it looked like things were moving in the right direction we’ve been plunged back down into… well, they don’t want to call it lockdown, but we aren’t too far away. This means observing ‘social bubble’ rules when eating out, visiting pubs etc. so it has really put the brakes on any plans we had for Club events here in the North West. All I can say is keep smiling, stay safe and hopefully sometime soon we’ll all be able to meet up and tell each other just how many times we’ve washed and polished our beloved BMWs!

07801 506632 northwest@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

start from £40.00 – contact Steve on 07594 018525 – see his work on Facebook, search for ‘Class Alloys’

Steve kindly repaired a rear wheel on my 650i M Sport after I had ‘nicked’ it on a kerb, and he’s performed an invisible repair – I’m well pleased

Alloy Wheel Repair – Highly recommended Class Alloys – mobile visiting service, repair and refurb alloy wheels, all finishes inc. chrome shadowline. He covers most of NW Region. Discount given to club members, wheel repairs

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

BMW Servicing & Repair - Highly recommended Darren Wood BMW Specialist (0161 425 7403) Bredbury, Stockport SK6 2QB. www.darren-wood.com Lockdown news – Darren Wood’s is still open repairing and www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews servicing cars belonging to emergency services personnel and other key workers etc.

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 covering the NW - speak to Simon Robinson on 0800 998 9828 or 07767 832255 – or visit www.express-dentremoval.co.uk Car Detailing – Highly recommended If you fancy treating your car to a summer spruce up, maybe a decent valet, detailing inc. ceramic coating, wheel refurb etc. give Darryl at the Car Detailing Centre a call on 07415 945979

It was only when we received a hospital appointment that we were galvanised into action – and then of course the battery was flat. Flat as in the key fob wouldn’t open the car, thank goodness for the metal key concealed in the fob (how do the current keyless entry systems work if the car battery is flat?) Two days of charging later and I was on the road to our local football ground for a Coronavirus swab test; hardly enough to replenish the battery after starting, even if the engine had to be kept running while driving through the test area (I don’t know why, either). Repeat three days later for a hospital visit, usually a ten-minute bus or taxi ride but these were considered too risky, so my personal chauffeur kindly obliged. Then the MoT issue raised its head. As part of re-importing the car last year (we were previously residing in France) we had obtained an MoT certificate in mid-July. Checking the government website showed the MoT expires mid-July this year. Another page on the same site says January 2021, consistent with the government six-month extension. Recalling that the Health Check from our local BMW dealer listed scored brake disks, a telephone call to the dealer elicited that the MoT expires in January 2021. Then we recall the recent news that the MoT extension period is due to end at the end of July. Are you keeping up – we were struggling… Solution – book the car in for brake disks, replacement brake fluid and “Statutory Inspection” that the car itself was demanding, and was quite cross that we were two months late for the brake fluid! Fortunately, an appointment the following week was available; although no coffee and no bottled water will be available as their supply is considered too risky – although not so the water dispensing machine? No courtesy cars available – reasonable in circumstances – and the dealer has not yet got the delivery/collection drivers sorted yet, so a promised 2½ hour wait, sitting with sandwiches and flask and of course a good book, at a social distance of course. Yes, the MoT will cost more than the last one at Kwik Fit but the whole thing will (hopefully) be over and done with in one morning, so the car can retire to its parking spot for another – who knows how long?

NW Lockdown Car of the Month – E93 330i M Sport Convertible This month’s Lockdown CotM is Alan and Barbara Kirkaldy’s E93 330i M Sport Convertible, finished in Crimson Red and trimmed in black leather – “Our 330i M Sport Convertible went into self-isolation with us in mid-March. Unlike if one were to layup a car, for the winter say, we did nothing except stop using it and it has stayed where we left it. Every fortnight or so we had the following conversation: “we ought to start the car”; “but then we’d have to take it for a run and we’re not supposed to be out”; “so we’ll leave it for now”...

South East South East Region sponsored by

Ian Bryant

Chandlers Brighton 01273 423 312

At last an event to attend - Michelham Priory on August 15-16 with social distancing measures being implemented, so we will at least have something to talk about next month. We were also advised that those issued with tickets for the British Touring Car Championship event at Brands Hatch that was cancelled in April would be able to re-use those tickets on August 9. Unfortunately Brands have just advised that this has changed and no spectators are allowed, so apologies if we got your hopes up. So, instead I am going to pop along to the Black www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

southeast@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Hailsham 01323 844 032 Worthing 01903 784 147

www.baronsgroup.co.uk/bmw

BARONS CC20133 =

15% discount code

Swan at Ockham, it’s an early morning Classic Car show and several people have mentioned it to me in the past, so we will go and check this out and report back. I have been using both the Z3 and Z4M most weekends and meeting up with a few BMW buddies recently. Not much has been happening on the renovation front, I have replaced front anti-roll bar bushes on the Z3, an easy job and not very expensive at £18 for genuine BMW bushes, although I did not really notice much difference. I also replaced BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

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the main front wishbone bushes on the Z3, that attaches to the car body this was slightly more challenging; however the good news is the car tramlines much less now. That’s all for this month, short and sweet, hopefully more to report next month.

South Wales Jonathan Bamford Welcome to our South Wales Region September news. 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 messages to ensure everyone receives them. As travel restrictions were lifted in Wales, some members took the opportunity to have a small gathering. The Welsh weather was on our side and it was a long awaited catch up for everyone involved. Members met at Rest Bay in Porthcawl, near Bridgend one Sunday afternoon. Social distancing was

Key Events: 20/09/2020 The Warren Classic Concours d’ Elegance Cancelled Watch the BMW South East Region home page bmwcarclubgb. uk/regions/south_east for latest updates. southwales@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

observed by everyone and it was a welcome return of some kind of ‘normality’ for all. The below photos are just a sample of a great day. At the time of writing, we were days away from our first show of the season and the weather promised to be on our side. Summer Action Day at Castle Combe had been a long time coming, following the postponement of Spring Action Day in April. Due to a mix up with online booking, we were limited to individual stand passes for this show, and managed to obtain nine tickets for Club members. Pictures and details of this show will be in next month’s issue. Remaining shows and events booked for the remainder of 2020 are below. If you would like more information or would like to put your name forward to be added to the list, please contact me via email. Forge Action Day, Castle Combe – 5th September 2020 – This has been provisionally booked and our Club has secured a stand for the show. If you would like to attend, please contact me for the booking details. Price is £17.50 per car and due to the current COVID-19 restrictions, it is only the driver and 1 passenger per car. Round Wales Trip – Weekend of 18th September 2020 Proving to be a great trip already. Plans to cover many of the great sights of our wonderful country. This event is open to everyone and the more the merrier. It will include overnight stays on the Friday and Saturday, and lunch at Castell Deudraeth, at Portmeirion on Sunday. For more information on the castle, please follow this link. portmeirion.wales/eat/castell-deudraeth. We will also be having photos of our cars within the grounds of Portmeirion Village. Don’t miss out on this as it is sure to be a huge success. For full details of times, dates, meeting places, route maps and itinerary, please contact me via the Club email address. Monthly meets are at the Twelve Knights Pub in Margam, SA13 2DB. 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.

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews Member’s Cars No takers for the chance to feature their car this month. Therefore, I would like to share modifications that some of you have been carrying out during the past few months. Peter Sherratt had some cosmetic enhancements carried out under the hood. Peter had his engine cover colour coded to match the vehicle. A professional job has been carried out with a fantastic end result. Nothing less for his much loved 235i.

Thames Tony Skerrett At last we had a Regional meeting at the Littlebury Hotel on 30th July, on a lovely warm evening in the garden with nine members attending and all socially distancing. Overjoyed on reestablishing this meet. Past Events 30th July Regional Meet at the Littlebury Hotel Bicester Delighted that nine members made this event: Myself, Peter Collison, Roy Pugh, Gary Jackson, Chris Sawyer, Trevor Allett, Phil Starr, Odette Gingham, and Carl Pattison (new 850i). Thoroughly enjoyable evening even though I had to leave at 9pm. One sad note Roy has sold his 8 Series and bought himself a fancy Blue M6 – if ever there was a fantastic poser’s car it is a fancy blue M6! Great looking car Roy. There is a picture of Roy’s car on Page 67 August Issue. My Car by Niek Nijson

As Brünhilda began her life as a BMW 3.0CSA Coupe, better known as the E9, I figured we’d best start with a small lesson in history. Subsequently we’ll look further into Brünhilda’s personal history, why the name and what the future might hold for her. Brünhilda was born on 24 July 1974 in Munich, Germany as a 3.0CSA (automatic) bearing the colour “Atlantik” blue with VIN number 4320293. She was exported the following week to the Belgian BMW importer Moorkens in Antwerp. Unfortunately, the years that followed, including who her first owner was, remain a mystery for now. I’m trying hard to find out more information and any help is more than appreciated. What I do know is that she remained in Belgium and ended up in a Chateau somewhere in the Ardennes, where her owner kept her www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

07879 404648 thames@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

amidst his collection of Italian supercars. This particular owner gave her a bodywork restoration in what seems to have been the early 2000’s, before giving the car to his kids for them to learn how to drive in. A few modifications were added with the plan to take her rallying (including the addition of extra headlights). At first the car was stored next to the Austin Healey, where my brother and I learned to drive it as we went up and down the 400-meter driveway. In 2007 the decision was made to get the car road certified and we drove it to the local testing station, but she never made it there. Somewhere along the way the oil lubrication system inside the engine had clogged up and as a result one of the pistons seized, resulting in a catastrophic engine failure. Without much choice, work began on restoring the engine, while also taking care of the front end of the car now that we had easy access. Practically every part was replaced, including the support frame, shock absorbers and suspension, radiator, brakes, a new coat of rust protection and finally fresh paint for the engine bay. Sadly, the progress came to a halt when I moved to the USA in 2011 and the car ended up in longterm storage. Skip ahead a few years to 2018 when she was pulled from under her layer of dust and shipped to the UK where I now lived, with a new attempt at getting her roadworthy again. While being kept in a family member’s garage, the electrical work was completed and after 12 years of silence, she was roaring loudly again as we got the engine running over Christmas that same year. However, progress once again was put on hold as I moved to a new house and began preparing my own garage for her arrival. It is now early 2020 and after many years, Brünhilda is finally home. Please go to Nieks Web site www.nieknijsen.com/brunhildamain to read more on this fabulous E9 and its devoted owner as it is certainly worth a read. Future Events East Coast Seaside Trip - Early September Bicester Heritage Sunday Scramble - 4th October. Club stand tickets have now sold out, but general entry tickets are still available from the Bicester Heritage website. BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

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

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Tim Maltby Maltby Wessex Tim

Barons Barons Farnborough Farnborough 01252 883 518 565 185 Well, that’s another month gone and still no car related events to report on. We have at least had a couple of pub meets which were well received and judging by the laughter and banter there was lots of catching up with each other and meeting new faces. Mid July saw 14 of us regroup at The Fox, North Waltham and I for one was very pleased at how the pub staff managed the social distancing rules. The landlord hadn’t forgotten how to New serveForest decentTreasure beer andHunt the chef hadn’t lost his cooking skills! We met at our usual rendezvous, the St Leonard’s Hotel, for coffee aRecent chat and a chance to check out the cars. Events AAsstaggered began at 2.00pm the Powell, 36.8 mileMartin drive through an aside start to last month’s tributeand to Ray Hockey the stunning began. It must be said wasmost asked by his New familyForest if we countryside could arrange some club cars and that or two of us did considerably more than 36.8Burial miles.Ground. formone a small display at the Hinton Park Woodland 45 to questions to solve, navigators were board, kept busy. My With thanks Martin who also our arranged the story on During drive we sawRegion, New Forest and their foals, behalf the of the Wessex whichponies also highlighted Ray’s long longhorn andfor everyone’s favourite, donkeys, all roaming standingcattle passion three wheelers and not a Reliant Robinfreely in from sight!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 backOur to normal thisevent month unless anything else happens. At our other pub held in early August at the Tyrell Ford last we held asuccess little funwith rafflenew andmembers the prize and was older a bottle wasmeet a resounding lagsof 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 know how many are interested in taking part. We have about 15

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Straight Six July2019.indd 71

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

07885 252448 wessex@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Barons Hindhead 01428 853 605 357 000 mingling. Eric was able to secure the lawn of the hotel for exclusive parking which as well as adding to the occasion meant that we could park our 26 cars together. Eric was even able to prevent any serious rain which was fortuitous as there would have been no room indoors! The owners and staff at the Tyrells did a great job whilst adhering to the current social distancing guidelines. Is this the new normal I wonder? 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 Diary Dates 2019 National Festival Gaydon 11th August. If you are parking up with Wessex then please drop Tim Maltby a line: Wessex@ bmwcarclubgb.co.uk- book your tickets bmwcarclubgb.uk 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 Forthcoming events - everyone. 2021 Please note the correct date is Sunday 18th July for Classics 2019 eventsSherborne dates for Castle. you all:Well spotted those eagle eyed & Supercars 3rd Julyamongst 2019, Pub at typo the Woolpack, Weston-Super-Mare readers youMeet of the in last month’s Straight Six! from 7.30pm 14th July 2019, see us at Powderham Castle classic vehicle show 7th August 2019, Pub Meet at the Woolpack, Weston-SuperMare from 7.30pm 11th August 2019, National Festival, Gaydon, Warwickshiretickets purchased at bmwcarclubgb.uk 1st September 2019, Dorset coastal drive, further details to come but will start at Portland Bill, Dorset, 9am start 4th September 2019, Pub Meet at the Woolpack, WestonSuper-Mare from 7.30pm 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

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registernews 02 Richard Stern Bavaria Tour 2021 latest If you were one of the few lucky enough to get an email acknowledgement you were accepted on to the Bavaria Tour 2021, apparently (as per 2016) it was already over-subscribed and now the German 02 Club are trying to sort out more capacity and we’ll be told in September if we were lucky enough to be accepted. Of course there is nothing stopping you booking a holiday in the area that week and planning your own days out. I think we can write-off 2020 for most shows although there is currently planned a Classic Weekend at Bicester on 18th to 20th September and presently the NEC is on. Both events should have member ticket discounts so contact the club when publicised. Obviously observing social distancing rules. Jaymic now sell Aluminum door skins – so how long will it be before we see an 02 CSL? Monthly meets – Quest Brothers are now doing an irregular Sunday meet, search “Quest Brothers Classic Cars” on Facebook, Instagram and www.questbrothersclassiccars.com for the latest dates.

Check out the latest Car of the Month on my site – 02s are very popular and modified in Thailand, so make sure you check out the turbo monster as August’s COTM thanks to Tharawin Phoungsiri.

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07770 443373 02register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Motor Sport Magazine 1972 Hi everyone. At last lockdown has eased and it has now become even more enjoyable, we can all use our cars on a regular basis. I do agree with Richard that we have to write off this year for attending car shows and I am sure like everyone else I have had to cross off many weekends where I would have been showing my Touring. At last there is light at the end of the tunnel. I have noticed drive-by meetings held at various places around Hertfordshire where I live. They appear to be just popping up and you drive your car there, have a coffee, maybe a snack, and a brief chat and drive off. Brilliant! Like many other people I have been clearing out old paperwork and came across an article about our wonderful Tourings. In Motor Sport magazine January 1972, page 44, there is an interesting feature written by Andrew Marriott about the Touring. ‘A BMW ESTATE – THE 2000 TOURING’ is the title and it refers to a ‘Sporting Estate’. It is interesting to read as the journalist, Andrew, was hopeful that a Tii Touring would come into production, but sadly we all know that never materialised. I must admit I was a bit taken aback to read the back of the car had Austin Maxi features! Really? Overall the Touring received positive comments and Andrew thoroughly recommended the car. I have recently had correspondence with Gordon Cruickshank, Editor at Large at Motor Sport magazine. He informs me that Andrew, who wrote the article, is still working for the magazine but due to copyright we cannot print the whole article. However, we can access it from their electronic archive. Anyway, do read the Motor Sport article which is interesting. I find some of the language is “of its time” and would not work in our world today, but it’s fascinating to read an independent report on the car some 48 years ago! Enjoy, James Hobson To access the article: 1. Log on to www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive 2. You will see – issues archive-motor sport magazine. Along the bottom line click on 1970. 3. You will now see a motor sport page of 1970’s magazines. Just scroll up and you will find a line of years 1979 to 1970. 4. Now click on 1972. This page will show all the monthly magazines for 1972. Scroll down to January 1972 and click on the front cover. BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

registernews 5. The top part is January 1972 and click on the right arrow and you will see the pages are numbered, keep going until you reach page 46. This page has a light yellowish background. Click on page 46 and the article is there. The header reads ‘ROAD IMPRESSIONS: A BMW ESTATE’ Tail pipe And just like buses they all come along at once; indicator month,

1 Series

Anthony Mason

not only does www.mvpvintageparts.com have raised and flat style indicators but also (hopefully they won’t blister on top as per originals?) in orange and split clear Italian style (with side light) are available, there are two designs. Also they are available from Thailand, each pair is 12,500 Baht. American style raised style. 12,900 baht per pair email: innovate_m@yahoo.com Tii new linkages; www.bmw2002faq.com/forums/topic/258861nla-tii-part-reproductionstarted/#comments 1series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Norfolk. The beach was pretty, and not too busy, the weather great, and the donuts fresh and hot. I genuinely enjoyed a calm drive out and found a corner of a car park to leave the car - off we went for a paddle. We had stopped in Wroxham en route for a coffee and to pick up some crabbing equipment. The roads out that way are tight and twisty, almost made for the 1M, although having a passenger and a 9 year old singing along to TikTok kept it slow and steady. So much so I’ve nearly 300 miles out of a tank of fuel. I joined a meet last Sunday of all E9s, the 1M showed it’s a soon to be classic by blending in with the classics. You might have seen the photos on social media. If you would like to tell me about your 1 Series adventures and to get a feature in the magazine write to 1series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Hello, the 1M is back and I’ve fallen in love all over again... its running better than ever before, it’s had a lot of work done in the last few months, more than I’d hoped as you’ve probably read about in the last few editions of Straight Six. The last thing repaired was a split in the turbo pipe, an all too common fault on the N54 engine. I went to the coast yesterday. I’ve been staying up in Cambridgeshire a lot with my girlfriend and we decided a couple of days ago to make a day of it and head to Sea Palling in

3 Series E46 Simon Maskell Hello to you all and welcome to another instalment of the best bit of Straight Six! As I write this my white 330i SE is for sale and has bids above the reserve, on collectingcars.com. This website is a must for any car enthusiast; the range of cars they advertise is truly diverse and I check in with the site regularly. There have been some notable E46 sales occurring on the platform. My favourite has to be a very low mileage M3 CSL, as I have always had a soft spot for these cars and hopefully will be able to buy one at some point. Another vehicle that piqued my interest was an Alpina Z4 that recently appeared on the site. As I say, take a look and you will be pleasantly surprised.

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

e46register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

This month has seen my 328i SE being used as intended, as the North East Region had a nice drive up to Kielder Reservoir, in north Northumberland. The event was well attended, with two other E46s amongst the attendees. In other news ‘The Vibrator’ aka track car has seen some action around Croft Circuit, sadly not on a BMW Car Club day, but it seems things are opening up and the next BMW Car Club track day is at Snetterton. Sadly Nick Thomas and I killed the front tyres to the point of cords showing, so new fronts are now definitely required. This month I was contacted by a member who wanted to share his car with us all. The man in question is called Shaneel www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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Mungul and he currently has an E46, which I think you will find interesting. He has written a few words and sent some photos: “Attached are pictures of my daily driven E46 325i in Imola red. In the three years I’ve owned her she has done almost 40,000 miles including trips to Europe for shows such as Bimmerfest. As with most E46s it’s a money pit with something new to do every month. Some modifications include an extended leather dash and centre console to match the Yellow Gelb extended Nappa leather, Bilstein B14 coilovers, and a 330i front brake conversion, including rebuilt calipers and braided hoses. Also improved is the addition of an M3 SMG steering wheel, retrofitted to allow flappy paddles to work with the auto box. There’s more but as with any E46 ownership the list of maintenance and improvements is way too long. Next up for her is a front end respray and a rear end re-bush.” Shaneel is clearly a BMW man and told me that his interest was generated by his Dad buying several of the ultimate driving

3 Series E9x

Julian Pickering

It has been a month of mixed sentiments as far as my connections with BMWs are concerned. Within the Wessex Group, as reported by Tim Maltby and Eric Thompson in the August edition of Straight Six, our colleague Ray Powell passed away recently, which was very sad. We attended his funeral this month and arranged a line-up of BMWs in his honour. Ray used to be an E93 owner and he loved the car, but commented to me that it was difficult while driving to judge how far the car was away from the kerb. I know exactly what he meant – there is something about the shape of the bonnet and the driving position that makes it difficult to judge the distance. This almost certainly is a primary contributor to the number of alloy wheel refurbishments that seem to be required within the E9x family. Another driving problem I have discovered is that the front skirt on the E93 (and therefore the E92 also) is too low to clear typical kerb stones at the end of many parking spaces and so this has encouraged me into reverse parking whenever possible, as the rear height clearance is much greater. On a much more positive note, I have taken delivery of a 2004 E46 M3 convertible to join my E93 and so my BMW stable is now at two. I have always wanted an M3 since I was a kid and the recent trauma that we are all living through pushed me into action. It required the sale of one of my Land Rover Defenders as our new house rules are “one in and one out” on account of available parking space. I have spent a lot of time in the last few weeks working on the M3 and so I have to admit that the E93 has had little attention just recently. The work has been mainly cosmetic improvements, including roof cleaning, polishing and replacing parts of the interior which were showing signs of wear. I could now tell some interesting stories about working with E46 interior trim, but I guess that I will have to send these over to Simon Maskell as they are inappropriate in the E9x Register report. However, I will be interested to compare the E46 www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

machines. Since then he has owned several models from the brand and also has an E31 8 Series for sale if you are interested; contact me through the email address and I’ll pass on the details. In his own words, Shaneel likes to modify things in a way that they look like OEM plus. He informs me that he does his own spannering, with help from friends when necessary. Have a look at the photos and judge for yourself. I am interested in the SMG wheel and paddle conversion; watch this space! Although I would need to buy another E46, as the 328i is staying stock. Hmm. That’s it for this month, thanks to all who have contacted me regarding their cars, please keep them coming. Until next month, it’s bye from me. e90register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

and E93 characteristics as I get more experience of driving the M3. For some excellent E9x reading, take a look at the 3-part series “Santorini Dreaming”, if you haven’t already, it was published in Straight Six in July 2019, November 2019 and the last edition in August 2020. Anthony Shilson describes in wonderful detail the work he has done on his E92 M3 in Santorini Blue. I very much look forward to meeting him and seeing the car when we are out of lockdown and able to hold Club events again. I like to finish these reports with an image of pre-lockdown to remind me of how life used to be and what we hopefully have to look forward to again sometime soon. The attached photo shows my E93 at Highcliffe in Dorset at a breakfast meeting of the Wessex Bournemouth Working Group. The car was freshly polished and it was a memorable meeting because it was the last time I saw Ray. I hope you all have a good month. BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

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4 Series

Paul Roberts

Bit of a last minute effort this month so apologies that I don’t have a lot to say. The dreaded coronavirus is still with us and this curtails nearly all motoring activities, although the other day (Sunday 2nd August) I did go to a gathering of like minded people at the Old Buckenham Country Park for a Classics and Coffee meet. All sorts of old and relatively newish cars on display. No BMWs apart from mine but it was interesting to chat to a few owners about their pride and joy. Sadly nothing else planned for the coming months apart from the odd drive out to see the kids. On a positive note for 2021, I have now booked a 16 night holiday with Scenic and Continental, which includes six nights cruising on the Danube. This is something I have always wanted to do as it combines driving through France, Belgium, Germany and Austria and then the river cruise. This will take place in August 2021, so hopefully by then we will be out of the current crisis. I think I’ll have the same car at that point but given my track record who knows! If I do change I will look at another 4 Series, but possibly a 435d which isn’t significantly more expensive to run but does have a lot more performance, and four wheel drive which I

5 Series E34 Manj Sandhu

Rather than bore you all listening to me prattle on about my E34 experiences, I was intrigued to receive an email that I had to devote a little space in the magazine. It involves the superb red 535i SE you see in the pictures here. Wow! The car is in amazing shape. I should say that it is only a recent purchase by the current owner. Therefore, a lot of credit must go to the previous owner for keeping it in such great condition. Why is all

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

4series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

may need if a possible house move transpires! My car is due for a service soon, or so the email I had the other day from BMW Connect said, so hopefully someone from the main dealer will be in touch soon to book it in. Finally I have had a couple of emails from Phil Parratt, whose car was shown in a previous edition of Straight Six, as he has had some modifications done. These include a carbon-fibre front splitter, a boot lid spoiler and some M badges. So I’m attaching some pictures after these changes were done. If you are a 4 Series owner, please get in touch and send me stories and pictures so these can be included in the next edition. Stay safe, Paul Roberts e34register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

this so intriguing I hear you ask? Well the new owner is only 22 years old. Yes 22! I would have expected the young chap to be going for an Audi A3 or another new modern car. The young man in question is called Sam Nicholson and this was his response when I asked him why an E34 for someone so young; “When it comes to what influenced me to buy it, I can narrow it down to two things. Firstly, being that I am naturally drawn to the 90s era for style and the type of technology used. I find it to be more ‘hands-on’ whether it be manual winding movement watches, recording music to cassettes and when it comes to cars, the ability to be able to get stuck in and maintain and fix your car by yourself and learn about it along the way. “The second reason would be that I feel classic cars offer you more. What I mean by that is, I have seen too many cars with fake exhausts and fake intakes, things like that, and it has always left me feeling like it’s incomplete. So when I found some classic cars, they are more ‘what you see is what you get’. I knew that it was so much more appealing. I came across the www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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E34 and everything I saw was authentic (no fake exhausts) and in a condition that proves it has been well looked after. I knew that it needed someone to maintain it, restore it to the condition it was in when it first came out the factory, and then bring it to shows and meetups to show the car for its true glory. The thought of someone getting it and gutting it to make a drift car just didn’t sit right with me.” In addition, I then had to ask Sam his thoughts on the car having driven it around recently. I was trying to tease out why a young motorist would be attracted to a car older than he was! Here is his response; 1) The handling on the E34 feels heavy and I love it because it feels like you are actually driving, unlike most modern cars. I also like the trip computer, because it is old school, it shows what you need and it is just great to look at.

7 Series

Matthew Swanborough

Are low mileage Japanese imports a gift to enthusiasts, or a scourge to the true BMW connoisseur? Five years ago I made a poor decision to sell a very special E38 735i Sport. Finding myself deeply regretting this decision, it was not long until I began searching for a really good E38 735i sport that I would keep. At the time it seemed like there was nothing for sale at all, let alone something worth going to look at, so I did my best to keep looking but remain committed to finding the best car I could find. This turned out to be a real test of my patience. I went and looked at a few that came up over about an 18 month period, but none of them quite cut it. Then out of the blue, a dealership specialising in iconic 80s and 90s cars listed a very good looking 735i Sport with very low miles - from Japan. It was top money, so it took me a couple of weeks to come to terms with that, but I figured if it’s as good as I hope, I will go for it. I headed down to have a look, but it was not what I had hoped. While being low mileage, it looked and felt quite tired to me. So my search continued. A few weeks later, someone passed on the details of a website for a dealer specialising in Japanese imports. On the website was listed a black 735i Sport, exactly what I was looking for! I spoke to the proprietor and headed over there two days before Christmas. As it turned out, he didn’t just have the one black 735i Sport, he had two. Both low mileage and nearly identical, but that was not all. While I was there to see the black 735’s, tucked away behind some other E38’s was a silver 735i Sport with even lower miles, and a few more options. I ignored the silver one at first, but it was almost identical to the car the other dealership had, only it was as-new condition and had the paperwork and history to boot. Fast-forward a couple of weeks and early in the new year I went to collect the car I had been searching for - an immaculate silver 2001 735i Sport with 42k miles. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

2) I am going to go ahead and clean the engine bay properly. I think a really nice straight six engine to match the spectacular presentation of how the bonnet opens would look just great. 3) I think the one thing that stands out in the car is actually what is not there. In addition, the lack of cup holders, it is insane seeing how much space there is where it could have been and there is not one! I find it funny reading into it. Thanks Sam for contacting me and sharing your views. If any other Club member would like to share their thoughts, (experiences, likes, dislikes) please send me an email with some pictures and I will be more than happy to include it in the magazine. I am not sure about any of you but I am suitably impressed. I could not have described what the model range epitomises any better. Furthermore, from what I gather Sam will be using it and not treating it like a garage queen, which is aces in my book! 7series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Part of wanting to write about this car is not only about how this car fulfilled a dream of mine, but that although unbeknownst to me at the time of buying, there seems to be a lot of myths and some strange views floating around about Japanese imports, none of which I have experienced to be true or can see any substance in.

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

registernews The dash clusters are calibrated in kilometres which are easily changed to miles by one of many specialist companies. The FM radio tuner only finds a lower frequency range, again, easily rectified by replacing with a UK tuner module. And finally, there are a handful of factory stickers on the car in Japanese but they can be replaced for UK ones if you wish. Aside from that they are indistinguishable from UK delivered right-hand drive cars. I’ve heard from some folks that there have been people unable to insure Japanese imports. This certainly was not the case for me. Nobody that I know personally or have heard of has had trouble with a Japanese import BMW specifically, but I wonder if perhaps this is a sweeping statement more to do with car models that were not originally available in the UK. If anyone out there knows any different, please get in touch. I’d love to know your thoughts on the Japanese imports - whether it be E38 or any other model of BMW. Have you purchased one? Have you considered it? Would you rather not? Please do get in touch. I will leave you with some photos of my pride and joy, which recently benefited from a full detailing with

8 Series

Debbie Blythe

Hi everyone, another month gone by and not many events still going ahead. But we do have a new venue for our meeting on 27th September 2020, see the future events section at the bottom of this column. Although we have not had any of our usual organised events, we were lucky that one of our newer E31 owners offered for a few of us to come and visit his workshop and private collection of cars in July. Please see the brief report below. A visit to CPG Classics When all the organised events for this summer were postponed, Chris Goddard, one of our newer E31 owners, offered for us to visit his workshop and private collection in Wellingborough, an opportunity too good to miss. The number attending was limited due to the current restrictions and Chris supplied lots of PPE and hand sanitizer for those wishing to use it. The day started at 10.30am when we were met at CPG by Chris, his partner Debbie and friend Paul for coffee and biscuits, and then Chris took us into his personal garage for a guided viewing and knowledgeable talk about his impressive collection of BMWs, many of which were Alpinas. There were two E39 B10s, an E9, an E24 and a new B5 as well as an E65 that Chris had recently acquired. There was also a classic Bentley owned by his Father that had been all around the world, and a couple of restored Saab 96s owned by Paul parked outside the garage. Chris explained that he had the building built a couple of years ago with the intention of starting a classic car business with his friend Paul, a mechanic and avid Saab enthusiast. The cars were all great and Chris explained that they were not just showroom cars, they are all driven regularly and enjoyed, as all BMWs should be. After an hour or so looking around the collection and chatting, we then went on a tour of the local countryside and villages courtesy of a Rally Style route map provided by Chris. We started off in an almost convoy procession but soon got

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

the fantastic Martin from Renovatio Detailing Surrey. Please do get in touch with me anytime and follow me on instagram @e38th or email 7series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 8series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

broken into smaller groups and passed through some wonderful countryside, down small lanes and through lovely villages. Unfortunately the group we were in was following someone who obviously knew their way and we got separated behind a car towing a caravan with a long line of other cars waiting for the opportunity to get past. Therefore, as we were individual drivers it was not possible to follow the comprehensive instructions we were given and had to reset the lead vehicle’s Sat Nav to CPG and returned back to the garage for a very well organised BBQ. My thanks go out to the chef and others who put up a superb choice of Barbequed food and accompaniments. This turned out to be a really well organised and enjoyable event and all attending have asked me to express their thanks to Chris for giving us the opportunity to visit.

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registernews Chuck’s new G15

“Yes it’s finally happened! Last week my wife Bozena and I drove to Carlisle (yes, the one five miles from Scotland) to pick up the latest car. An 840i G15, and I (we) LOVE it! As soon as I saw the “new” 8 concept when it debuted at Villa d’Este I knew I had to have one! So finally after three months of lockdown the showrooms finally opened and I was off. I was very impressed with the team at Lloyd’s BMW who made the whole process as easy as possible. It’s fully loaded with all specs possible and the bonus was they reduced the price by £2k just before I was going to go ahead, so that was that. Anyway, check out the pictures below and judge for yourself. The colour is Aventurine Red (it’s a semi precious mineral) and the interior is black on black.

When the new G15 8 Series was released in October 2018 it was a bit of a ‘Marmite’ car and many owners of the original E31 were not impressed with the version that was released. But over time opinions have mellowed and another one of our E31 owners have treated themselves to a new 8 Series. Here is Chuck Hallen’s their story:

Z1 Register

Jamal Blanc

Lockdown project, continued… Tazio Nuvolari Richard Julian worked for exhaust manufacturers PD Gough in Nottingham for over 30 years, designing bespoke stainless-steel sports exhausts, before ‘Nouvalari Engineering’ was formed in 2008 as a marketing strategy to expand into the Italian market. A name influenced by Italian racer Tazio Nuvolari, but they misspelt the name and it stuck, conveniently avoiding any intellectual rights issues. The double skinned Z1 exhaust with single sided exit is known for its aero capabilities, but at circa 32-kilograms it is a serious heavyweight. The internal construction of the exhaust suggests a dual exit was considered but shelved, later adopted by a number of third-party manufacturers such as BTB, Lorenz and now Nouvalari. At only a third of the weight, what the transverse Nouvalari Sports exhaust lacks in aero capability it makes up for in sound and aesthetics, and constructed from 304 stainless steel, it is built to last. The biggest downside is that it is invisible to the naked eye, hidden behind the rear diffuser, albeit another piece of stunning engineering. Being such a lightweight it only took 20 minutes to remove, unaided, and 45 minutes to repair by a local

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Future events – 2020 • New venue for our meeting on Sunday 27th September 2020 – Fairoaks Airport, Chobham, Surrey GU24 8HU. 10.00am – 2.00pm. The venue has a large car park, views of the aircraft, Cafe on site that does full English breakfasts all day and healthier options such as jacket potatoes, salad, paninis, baguettes and sandwiches. • Sunday 4th October 2020 – Simply BMW at Beaulieu Motor Museum, Hampshire. Tickets available from their website. • Sunday 18th October 2020 – Meeting at The Pilot Inn, Dungerness, TN29 9NJ. Meeting to commence at 10.00am and cars should be there no later than 11.00 as the pub is busy on a Sunday and starts serving food at midday. Please email me if you are interested in going and also if you will want to have food. z1register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

TIG welding fabricator. Not to be confused with MIG welding, this is a more precise procedure with a cleaner finish. Plug stopper To the rear of the car, obscured by the exhaust, there is a circular section about the diameter of a spray-can, quite rusty from being exposed to the elements. Ivor Dadswell, gave the most plausible explanation: “This is believed to be a drain hole bung to allow electroplating liquid to escape during the dipping process, constructed out of an untreated steel/alloy type material”. Part number is 41128200462, and at £9.22 is a cheap and quick fix, accessible under the boot floor carpet. It is believed all cars have this stopper, but do check before committing. Fins Finding a metal plate and column of fins under the Z1, I can be forgiven for assuming it was attached to something cooling related and therefore important, however the engine ran

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

registernews faultlessly without any change in temperature or drop in fluids. Given the poor access to the radiator and oil cooler this was not going to be a quick fix, so the mystery part was put away for another day, two years to be precise. With a half naked car at my mercy, the part was sent with the car to my Indy for a solution. It didn’t fall off the radiator, and the oil cooler, part number 17212296097 is no longer available, the issue was far simpler than that. Using a simple measuring tape, the plate was three-inches shorter than the Oil cooler, which didn’t make sense. Comparing online images of the oil cooler with the actual item, I have concluded that this part fell off a completely different car.

Retail therapy The best thing about lockdown has to be online retail therapy. I found an unused set of floor mats, a pair of grey leather scuff panels and a screen protector for the rear window. I am on the lookout for a diagram or instructions on how to properly store away the lifting jack, crank handle, steel chock, wheel brace, towing eye and wheel cap puller, in that incredibly tight space. Anyone?

Fuel lines Given their proximity to the road surface the fuel lines have to be robust and on inspection they are in reasonable condition, its protective layer chipped in places with some road rash and rust. A topic raised at the last technical day by TJ Smith, but in the absence of a viable alternative, all I can do is a visual inspection of the lines and rubber hose connected to the fuel filter for signs of wear, remove any dirt or surface rust, and apply a layer of treatment to slow the ageing process. Boot storage There is a storage compartment on the left hand side of the boot, containing the standard compliment of roadside tools. Something had punctured a gaping hole through the flimsy plastic floor which I could finally repair from the underside, solved with some roofing material and epoxy glue.

Z3 Register

Alan Jones

Welcome to the September edition of Straight Six, hopefully by now most of the COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted and life is getting back to normal. It has been a different year for car shows and meetings like none that has been before. Hopefully next year’s shows will be bigger and better than before? I would also like to thank everyone who has taken the time and trouble to write a few lines about their car, and I enclose a couple of photos to be published here. It’s been great reading about other people’s cars, and it just confirms that I can’t be the only person who thinks that the Z3 is a great car, whichever model you own. So I’ll open the invitation again to anyone who wishes to type a few words (max 600), and send a couple of photographs for publication. I thought that I would say a few words about my car. I’ve had it for a while now as I bought it in 2008, I did all the wrong things and bought the first car that I saw. I wasn’t looking for a Z3, I was looking for something older like an MGB or Spitfire as my brother has them, and I thought that if anything major went wrong he would be able to fix it. But after the test drive of the Z3 I was hooked as it drove and handled much better than the MGB or Spitfire, simply because the Z3 was twenty years younger, and having more modern components making everything just better. The car that I bought had a 2.8 engine and was made in 1997, but I think if it had the 1.9 engine I still would have bought it. At the time I was a bit concerned whether the engine was too big as I had not had a car with an engine that big before. But as they say, you can never have too much power. So now looking back I’m pleased that it had a 2.8 with the wider rear, which I much prefer to the 1.9’s narrower body. I like to do repairs and servicing myself, researching how to fix certain problems before attempting any jobs so that I have some idea what is involved and hopefully avoid any mistakes. I have done all of the usual jobs like replacing all of the cooling system, replacing the seat belt guides and the bushes on the seats. I did take the sills off in 2015, but they were fine to put back on after some rust treatments. But as time goes on the

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

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rust comes back, so I bought some new sills from BMW to install when I get around to doing it, hopefully within the next few months. I have also done some upgrades to the interior and on the steering wheel and gear knob. The car isn’t my daily driver so I am able to have the car off the road for a while if doing some of the bigger jobs. The car itself has been very reliable, it has only let me down once in the twelve years that I’ve owned it. It was on a BMW Car Club trip out for a picnic, and we had a really heavy shower where www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

registernews I discovered the temperature gauge was moving from the hot to the cold and back again. After stopping to look in the engine bay, I discovered steam escaping from the radiator where it wasn’t supposed to. So that was a wait for the tow truck to give us a lift

Z4 Register

Paul Dodds

Hello and welcome to the September edition of Straight Six. A new lease of life It has been a while since I have had the time and an excuse to get out and drive the Z4 of late. But recently I said enough is enough and it’s time to get out and use the Z4 for what it was intended for. A few months back I touched upon some tinkering with the suspension, tyres and a four-wheel alignment, and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to test out all of that hard work. Bearing in mind my Z4 is now 14 years old and had done 87,000 miles, the suspension was well past its sell-by date. So after spending a few hours on some awesome North East countryside roads I climbed out of the car feeling like I could do it all again with a big grin on my face. Until I was asked, “where the bl##dy hell have you been?” I see it all the time (and me being one of them at one time),

MINI David Young No news is good news. Really? There I was waiting to pick up my new MINI JCW. The first Tuesday of “Lockdown” in the afternoon. I get the expected call, “Sorry Mr Young, we have to close, you will not be able to collect your car.” June 1st looks like the date when I will get my new baby. It is a bit like waiting for Christmas. Still, nowhere to go, it would only have collected a nice layer of dust, bird poo and pollen. Patience is very much needed. I do not have a lot of that even on a good day, but sitting at home reading the specification paperwork, looking at pictures, wondering how the self-park will work is not my idea of relaxation. With the MINI Factory closed, MINIs at Home has been cancelled. I was looking forward to the M40 convoy to Oxford as well. Still, next year maybe, unless COVID-20 strikes! Fast forward a month of lockdown and the moment I have been waiting for; my new JCW has finally come home. It has been waiting for me since March 23rd. I went to pick it up on June 3rd, just three days after the car showrooms were allowed to open. It still took three hours to complete all the paperwork, even though I had signed them all online through the DocuSign App. First impressions are how on earth can MINI improve on an already great car. I had my last F56 for just two years. The biggest change is the eight-speed sports automatic transmission, complete with paddles and selector, being able to use Sport, Manual and Drive, all just by pushing the selector to the left. With eight speeds to choose from it is as near as identical to a Daf variomatic gearbox. Very smooth and a very fast change. I have the full heated sports seats which are very comfortable. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

back home. But as we were going on a picnic we were able to eat our lunch before the tow truck arrived! Hopefully you have been able to get out into the nice weather and enjoy some open top motoring. z4register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

people chasing numbers and asking ‘where is the best place to have my car tuned’, and I can now honestly say after giving my car a new lease of life in the suspension department, those numbers are meaningless, to some extent. Being naturally aspirated you wouldn’t see much of a gain in power and torque from a remap anyway, however, after the fun I have had today I would rather have less power and properly set up suspension than a ‘shed’ with all the power in the world. I did intend on stopping a few times along the route to take a few pictures, but where’s the fun in that? 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.

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Front and rear parking sensors with an auto park, rear vision camera, front and back security cameras, 18-inch wheels with Goodyear Eagle F1s, centre armrest and wide touch screen navigation. To be honest, it is like a different car. The biggest change is in the colour, Starlight Blue with Red roof and mirror caps. Very eye-catching. I have added Red BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

registernews Flashes from LuxWerx along with JCW carbon fibre tailpipes that replicate the pro exhaust tail pipes at half the price. Hopefully, after I have put a few miles on the car, I will be able to expand on my thoughts. Now that the MINI factory has opened things are starting to happen. A new Limited Edition JCW is planned, 1,600 Paddy Hopkirk editions are being made. Names are being added to a list much like the GP3. Seems the uptake of GP3s is not happening yet, a lot of them are sitting dealers alongside the MINI SE. COVID-19 perhaps, but they are all ready to be snapped up. Fast forward another month and only 150 miles in my nice new JCW. I must say that the 8-speed auto box is mindblowing. So smooth. It can be used as a manual box with paddle shift, sports mode with changes at 4000rpm or just plain old D for drive. I shall keep you all updated when I have taken it out some more. I had some new bonnet stripes fitted as a bird had deposited something not very nice on them while in storage and cleaning the marks left a small stain. The hardest part was getting the old stripes off; the whole episode took three hours. At least the friendly MINI staff at Coopers Tunbridge Wells kept me company. No coffee machine due to COVID-19. We got around

M Power

Richard Baxter, Tristan Glass & John Denny

Yet another “Common Problem” For years now I have been buying cars, and I have usually been lucky enough to get away with the odd indiscretion such as a leaking Vanos solenoid and a cracked e46 rear spring, but in the main, I have been quite lucky with my BMW purchases. Not so when dipping my toe in the Audi RS pool, but that’s a whole other story. At the time of writing, I am still enjoying the Z3M Coupe that I have recently finished my “Mini Resto” as many of you will know as it was covered in the club magazine. As it happens this was to be the first of the many “Things that can go wrong on a BMW Z3M”. The restoration was needed as the sill covers on my car were rusty, as many are, and at the same time I also had to replace rotten front panels, common issue number one. The second thing that I noticed was that the temperature gauge was not sat where it should be, and was an indication that there might be an issue with the thermostat, again another known issue, which turned out to be the case as a replacement fixed the issue. No sooner was the car back, now operating at the correct engine temperature, when I noticed, I assume owing to the oil being thinner as now at correct running temperature, that the Vanos was making some horrid noises. And yes, another M3 S50 engine known issue, the Vanos needed a rebuild and again covered in this magazine earlier in the year. The rocking seat, owing mainly to the cars 158,000 plus miles, was addressed with a common seat bush upgrade thanks to

that one, DIY in their kitchen. They had the new GP3 in the showroom, a cancelled order. Looked nice but not my cup of tea. My JCW has the same gearbox and interior apart from the dashboard, it also has a few more horses. Not that you can use them all without breaking the speed limit while in second gear! I am currently trying to source a set of rear carpets to match my JCW. All the dealers say ‘yes, they have the JCW letters on the mats as shown in their adverts’, but when they turn up they don’t, so back they go. I am currently on my third set. MINI has been awarded “Most Loved Brand” at the 2020 Auto Trader New Car Awards. Erin Baker, Editorial Director of Auto Trader, said: “This loveable builder of cool British cars claims Auto Trader’s Most Loved Brand award this year, with a range of great-looking models replete with endless personalisation options. MINI always brings a smile to the face.” Voted for by 181,000 car owners, the awards are categorised based on customer’s lifestyles including awards for Most Fun Car to Drive and Best Car for Towing. David George, MINI UK Director said, “This is a fantastic award to win and a very fitting one for the brand. To be over 60 years old and winning ‘Most Loved Brand’ shows our customers really understand the soul of MINI, something that’s captured perfectly in the new MINI Electric”.

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the internet and youtube, so that is fair enough and a cheap fix that I was able to do myself. Then I noticed that the odd way one had to shift the gears in order not to end up in fifth gear all the time was not a quirk of the Z3M as indicated to me by the past owner but a worn bush in the gearbox. It causes the fifth gear detent spring (shift return spring) to get stuck, which allows the leaver to lean over to the right of the box by fifth gear, and makes fourth to third gear changes interesting, to say the least. So I started to do some research, and yes you guessed it, I was experiencing yet another common issue… As the fix was a £10 (inc postage) bush insert, I thought fair enough, it must be a linkage on the top of the gearbox that you probably get to after removing the centre console and the gear stick, but not that lucky, it is inside the gearbox, behind a cover,

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registernews and you have to remove the gearbox to get access to it. I was quoted £350 from my Indy R G Lewis for an in and out, and they guessed 45 minutes to get the bush out, and fit the new one, after themselves doing some research, as they had not done this job before either. I must take a quick moment to thank and praise Carl at R G Lewis, Tattenhall, as he’s done some big jobs for me that are not run of the mill, such as converting my old E36 SMG to manual, and they take their time, and do the research, and don’t mind you chipping in with advice and thoughts, even though I’m not a mechanic. So this job was another “could you just” and they just got on with it for me. At the time the box was out I decided to throw in a clutch too, as may as well, and good job I did as the old one had seen better days. The bush is located behind a circlip and a cover. The bush then has to be persuaded out, which is a tricky affair depending on how long it has been in there and how worn or wedged in it is since it’s a pressure fit and in removing it you have to be careful not to damage the lining of the gearbox. The new bush was fitted and it has a Teflon internal coating so should last a few more years, and probably the life of the car. Carl returned the Z3M into my care, and it was a night and day difference, it completely transformed the car. Having only ever driven this one fast Z3 derivative, I had no idea what “normal” was, and now I have a car that I can drive without having to mother the gear change. It is, as they say, like a new car. Though I was frustrated that it was such a cheap part to fix the problem but expensive to replace it, I guess as it’s a 21-year-

old car and the gearbox is “sealed for life”, if BMW didn’t think the oil would need to be changed, who would have thought about gearbox bushes?

Concours Dan Wood Concours sponsored by

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

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Individual Experience Dhaval Bakhai Written by: Dhaval Bakhai, Owner: John Colquhoun A Special car, Unique car, INDIVIDUAL car. The 4 Series Gran Coupe is quite a rare car for BMW, it followed in the footsteps of the 6 Series Gran Coupe and allowed more people to enjoy the Coupe silhouette with the practicality of a four door family car. For BMW it was important to enter this segment as Mercedes and Audi already had established four door coupe vehicles, and BMW needed to provide an alternative to compete. This 2018 model year 440i Gran Coupe (F36 LCI) is pretty special considering at the time of purchase, and according to the sales team, this was the only 440i GC in special order individual Riviera Blue. It is not often you come across a car that is 1 of 1 and since the purchase, the car has become a bit of a celebrity. The car itself is incredibly well specified from the factory and you would hope so too, with a list price of approximately £57,000 when new, an incredible amount for a 4 Series in 2018 especially when you consider pre-registered examples of the M4 Competition Package were available for similar prices. This was the exact dilemma John was in, originally looking at the M4 but after seeing this car and finding it to be less raw, but still powerful yet efficient and incredibly rare in this colour, he let the M4 become a distant memory and in came the 440i. The colour is obviously the big option premium at over £6,000 RRP, but it definitely has some of the other niceties we have come to enjoy from BMW such as the lovely Head Up Display (HUD), ICON Adaptive LED Headlights, Electric memory seats (I am surprised by how many cars do not come with these nowadays considering most households have multiple drivers). www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

As mentioned earlier, the car is the celebrity and during lockdown as most reassessed priorities and a new way of life, John took to social media to highlight his recent purchase having only bought it in February this year. Despite the lockdown resulting in limited usage over those months he has still been able to rack up 2,000 miles since acquiring the car. However, this has meant through social media John gets regular requests BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

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from people inviting him to car meets and events, wanting to take photos of the car and generally garnering a lot of attention every time John takes it out. This has ensured he is driving the car regularly as it has become more than a practical purchase, but a lifestyle choice. If John isn’t attending the various car meets or other social events, he makes sure he is out and about enjoying the drive; after all, it is supposed to be ‘The Ultimate Driving Machine’. Whilst driving the key things enjoyed thus far are the usable power, sound and refinement of the 40i engines, there are many more trips planned to enjoy the car fully and get better acquainted with it. It is going to be the family choice of transport for an upcoming trip to the Lakes, whilst it has already been used for family camping trips where the kids needed some usable space in the rear seats and the boot has proven to be

big enough to accommodate all that is required. This isn’t his first BMW either, as most owners agree, BMWs tend to leave you wanting more from other marques in driving experience and for John over the years owing an F33 435i, E85 Z4 and the original E30 325i that has kept him a loyal owner over the years. It’s the fondness of the E30 and the driving experience that has kept him with the brand over all these years, as he worked his way to this special Individual car that has quickly become one of his favourites, with no desire to change whilst looking forward to a long and enjoyable ownership. In fact, he has already planned to get it ceramic coated with G Techniq Crystal Serum to ensure the lustre and appeal of the paint is protected as much as possible and remains in the best condition it can for years to come.

myothercar Brian Elliott: Ford Capri 2.0 Laser I purchased my 1985 Ford Capri 2.0 Laser in January 1986. Basic modifications carried out include the total removal of automatic choke and air filter, fitting K&N air filter, electronic ignition with low resistance plug leads, an electric cooling fan and 4 branch manifold plus two inch system giving 120bhp, a 20% increase over standard. 2019 was the 50th anniversary of the Ford Capri Mk1 and I attended the majority of events starting with Classic Ford at Mallory Park. This included parade laps, however there was only one doing the laps; mine! This lasted only 21/2 laps as I was black flagged, the reason the marshal gave was ‘no helmet’, even after being told in the drivers briefing they were not needed! Next was East Kirkby for a photoshoot with the Lancaster Bomber ‘Just Jane’. 83 Capris attended and a mixture of fifty Mk1-3’s were arranged in front of the aircraft. Gaydon was next as part of the Old Ford Show, then off to Silverstone for the Classic and another parade lap. My Capri

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had its moment of fame on the television this time as we were only a few cars back from the camera vehicle, and being Lacquer Red (Maroon) it’s easily spotted. The next event was really special as it was held at Ford’s Research and Development at Dunton as part of the Frankie’s Classic Car Fest. 230 Capri’s were parked on the test track where they were originally fine-tuned prior to launch. It was an amazing sight to see a 1/4 mile of Capri’s parked on the track. Finally Brooklands, what a fantastic venue from the 293 Capri’s that attended, 10 were chosen from each Mk to be photographed on the banked track for inclusion in Classic Ford magazine, again my Capri was included. The engine has now done 204,440 miles and only used a litre of oil during all these varied journeys and returned 40mpg! To feature in the next ‘My Other Car’ please email office@ bmwcarclubgb.co.uk by answering the following (max 300 words), along with a suitable image: - Owner: (your name) - Vehicle details: - Ownership history: (i.e. when you bought it and perhaps include why you did) - Interesting information: (i.e. fun facts, background, what have you done with it or to it)

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CLASSIFIEDS For Sale: Z3 2.0L (6 cylinder) 2000, manual. 17k miles. As new condition. Atlanta blue with beige interior. Mine from new. Extras include Oregan leather heated sports seats, chrome line exterior, type 42 cross spoke wheels (unscuffed). BMW FSH. 2+1 keys. MOT until July 2021. £15,000. Bristol area. Tel Keith on 07850 499600.

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For Sale: BMW 320d M-Sport 2007

For Sale: Z3 3.0i (228bhp) Hardtop - Stunning Rare Example Only 57,000 miles as confirmed by MOT documentation. MOT to February 2021. Automatic. One meticulous owner from new. Service history by BMW dealership. Metallic Silver with black leather. Satellite navigation. The vehicle is mechanically faultless, the interior is close to showroom condition and the exterior is unmarked apart from frontal stone-chips. The vehicle is in Northern Ireland and may be collected or professionally transported. Additional photographs and details available. The asking price is £4,750. OIW 5050 registration not included. Contact Oliver on 02870326100 or 07808500051. For Sale: E36 328M Sport Coupe. Owned by BMW enthusiasts, garaged/dry stored for a number of years, 68,000 miles, with only 5,000 miles covered since 2009. The mechanicals, interior and bodywork of this car are all in excellent condition. Spec: Original black and red leather interior with M badge steering wheel, gear stick and fitted floor mats; 18” black/chrome aftermarket BMW rims; Power locks, alarm, immobiliser; original BMW cassette and CD changer; electric heated seats, AC, DSC etc. all in working order; original electric soft top in good condition; official BMW hardtop with BMW fitting kit; stainless steel performance exhaust (sounds great!). Checked over recently by BMW dealership and independent BMW specialist, both concluding that the car is in great condition. New battery, performance front discs and pads, tyres all round. Full BMW service history and comprehensive documentation folder. Last service June 2020 - clean bill of health. MOT until Jan 2021. Reluctantly selling due to change in personal circumstances. £12,500, inviting reasonable offers from someone who will care for this car. Call Rob on 07909448247.

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1997, manual. 81k miles. Excellent condition inside and out. Wheels and tyres unmarked. Red with black leather interior. Climate control, sunroof, electric windows, front armrest. Drives beautifully. Owned for 16 years. 2+1 keys. FSH. MOT until July 2021. £10,500 ONO. Bristol area. Phone Keith on 07850 499600.

BMW Car Club Magazine September 2020

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Straight Six September 2020

Articles inside

Club Pub Meets

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Classified

Drive Through Cars and Coffee

M-agnificent

Pirelli

A Tale of Three Passes

BMW News

Thoughts from the Boardroom

Meguiar’s

Better Late Than Never

Board Torque

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