Straight Six April 2022 by BMW Car Club GB

APRIL 2022 £5

Stephenson’s Rocket!

Ex-BMW designer Frank Stephenson explains car design to Will Beaumont, chats about his time at Ford, Ferrari and McLaren and picks his favourite BMW…

EQUIPPED FOR ADVENTURE. BMW Genuine Accessories

Take your BMW to the next level with Genuine BMW Accessories. Customise and add even more character on the inside, on the outside and on the tech-side. For more information, visit your local BMW Retailer or shop.bmw.co.uk

BMW CAR CLUB INSURANCE DEVELOPED BY EXPERTS FOR BMW CLUB MEMBERS

COVER AVAILABLE CAN INCLUDE: • Classic and Modern Car Policies

• Multi-Vehicle policies

• Limited Mileage Discounts

• Track day Cover

• Salvage Retention

• Breakdown Cover

• Like for Like Cover on modifications

• Agreed Values

Bespoke arrangements for your Motor, Home and Commercial insurance needs.

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 as 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 Roces Square, Witney, OX28 4LE. Registered in England, Registration number 750484. To confirm our registration on 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, run by and for its members. Combined One-Make Car Club Associated 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 Chairman Martyn Goodwin Board of Directors Dave Evans Jamal Blanc Nick Thomas Richard Stern Club Office Michelle Evans Lisa Davies

inside this issue

BMW Car Club Insurance Henry Francis Patron Colin Turkington, Mike Wilds, The late Barrie Williams Editing Team Jeff Heywood Lisa Davies Will Beaumont

Cover image: Chaydon Ford Advertising Print & Digital Next Step Heritage Madeleine Lillywhite 01485 779455 07855 447968 advertising@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Website advertising Next Step Heritage Madeleine Lillywhite 01485 779455 07855 447968 advertising@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Published on behalf of BMW Car Club by Cedar Group, Unit 3, The Triton Centre, Premier Way, Abbey Park Industrial Estate, Romsey, Hampshire SO51 9DJ Tel: 01794 525 020 info@cedargroup.uk.com BMW Car Club (Great Britain) Ltd Registered in England Number 1617753

MLife: The Second CSL…?

The CSL was born out of the E9 CS Coupe, and would later adorn the E46 M3 CSL, but there may have been another CSL built by BMW M 10-years earlier…

32 Creating the Ultimate Garage: Lighting and Flooring What are the pros and cons for certain flooring in your garage? Is there an easy answer to the best lighting to use? Will Beaumont finds out in this informative feature.

36 36

BM-Wednesdays: Totally Frank

The BMW Car Club is honoured to present Frank Stephenson during this year’s BMWednesdays virtual events.

Classifieds - From £9.95 per issue 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

Flying the Flag!

Club member, Keith Bridge, shares his memories on BMW ownership and how he became a Club stalwart.

Sweet Schnitzer Music!

AC Schnitzer brings out a new kit for the G82 M4 Coupé and G83 M4 Convertible.

Why my M5 drinks a lot…

Robert Walton Sharp discusses the longterm use of the new E10 petrol in his BMWs.

The E46 330Ci (Coupé Injection)

Contents

from the editor Welcome to the April issue of Straight Six. This month will see those trickle charges and car covers packed away, and the dreaded tax paid for another six months (or not at all for those lucky pre-1982 car owners!), as we look forward to the start of this year’s car show season. Don’t forget to mark those calendars ready for the return of the BMW Car Club’s national event, the BMW Sommerfest on Sunday 7th August. To follow the announcements, please visit www.bmwcarclubgb.uk/sommerfest22 In this month’s edition of MLife on page 22, we look at the history of the second CSL. For some, it would be the E46 M3 CSL, but within the BMW M department at Garching, it was known 10-years earlier in the form of an E36. Straight Six editor, Will Beaumont, brings you the next episode of Creating the Ultimate Garage on page 32. This month we delve into garage lighting and flooring with Garage Concepts proprietor, Rob Hudson. The Club was honour to present a well-known name within BMW design at our recent BM-Wednesdays virtual event; Frank Stephenson. The event was a huge success, and you can find out what was discussed on page 36.

22 regulars 6

Board Torque

Thoughts from the Boardroom

10 Club News 12 BMW News 16 Motorsport News 18 Dan Norris 20 Products 30 BMW Sommerfest 2022 52 Pirelli 54 Crossword 57 Regions 69 Registers 81 Your Photos

On page 42 we look back at Club stalwart, Keith Bridge’s memories of being a BMW owner and Club member, and on page 45 we share the latest kit in AC Schnitzer’s catalogue. Conversations on the new E10 petrol released last year have slowly died down, however Club member Robert Walton Sharp shares his experiences of using the new fuel on page 48, and on page 49, Richard Stern discusses the E46 330Ci model. 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. Please send article suggestions to officeadmin@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk. 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, Sam Main. Happy reading! Jeff, Lisa, & Will Straight Six editorial team.

boardtorque Richard Stern - Series Director

he onslaught on the motorist doesn’t stop, using any excuse to drive up costs. For many people, cars and vans are not a luxury, they need them to get to work because public transport is inadequate. It’s Car Clubs and organisations that hopefully can voice their concerns against this constant increasing costs. Petrol prices are now at an all-time high and there seems to be no let up. Panic buying led to fuel companies knowing the motorist would pay what it takes to buy fuel. Reports are coming in that the new E10 petrol is not good for engines (as predicted) and causing problems, time will tell the long-term effects. Shell V-Max has been spotted lowering the octane from 98 to 97 and hoping we don’t notice, I haven’t had a chance to check other companies yet. With prices now around £1.70 per litre how much longer before we see £1.99 or £2.00 a litre really pushing the barriers and hardship. Road Tax. In April, Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is set to rise in line with inflation and will see the cost of owning a petrol or diesel vehicle rise. Inflation hit 5.5 per cent in January, with experts predicting it could rise to as high as eight per cent by April. The amount of VED, or car tax, a driver pays will depend on how old the car is and how environmentally friendly it is. Electric vehicles will continue to pay nothing in VED for the first year, while all other car tax bands will increase. ULEZ. The Mayor of London now is pushing for the ULEZ zone to be extended to the M25 around London so the revenue generated will hopefully plug his public transport black hole. Electric vehicle (EV) sales are growing rapidly. Analysts suggest that EVs will represent at least 25 percent of the global fleet by 2030, up from a small percentage of all cars on the road today. At the heart of every EV is a high-performance rechargeable battery. While there are various types, the lithium-ion battery has emerged as the clear favourite for performance and durability. So, with the skyrocketing demand for EVs comes an equal demand for batteries — and thus the lithium required to produce them. The challenge is that, to date, lithium production has required moving large amounts of dirt and rocks, and consuming millions of gallons of water to extract this precious resource – it is estimated that 500,000 gallons of water is

6 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

used to mine one metric ton of lithium. The process often unsettles local ecosystems, threatens endangered species and disrupts nearby communities. The displacement of thousands of acres of overburden material (dirt and rock) disrupts nearby land and eradicates plant life. The huge quantities of fresh water are often sourced from wells, streams or aquifers that are also used for farming or drinking water, a precious resource in the arid regions where lithium deposits are found. In addition to environmental concerns there is the impact on local communities. Large earth-moving equipment has invaded quiet, out-ofthe-way towns, and sprawling cattle farms have had new mountains of clay and dirt impede their livestock grazing areas and water supply EV batteries are not just all about lithium. There are some other key components that are just as potentially harmful to the environment, cobalt and nickel. Cobalt mining produces a lot of airborne particulate matter, which often contains toxic contaminants like uranium. Inhalation of these substances has been linked to serious health problems, including respiratory disease, cancer, and birth defects. Cobalt mining sites also often contain sulphur-containing materials that can generate sulphuric acid when exposed to air and water. When this acid drains from the mines, it can devastate rivers, streams and other aquatic and terrestrial

environments for a very long time. Where the batteries for EVs are made is also an important factor when considering their environmental impact. Batteries produced in China produce somewhere in the region of 60% more carbon dioxide than internal combustion engines. Obviously companies are working on ways to make longer lasting batteries and even endless, but this is all a long way off yet.

SOMMERFEST I’ve reached out to all Register heads and encourage you all to get on board with this year’s massive show. Some of you will remember in 2004 we had a special M Power day at Rockingham race circuit with Tiff Needle and Vicky ButlerHenderson racing a Williams F1 car against the then new E60 M5 and was a once in a lifetime event. This year’s event will be even more memorable, so don’t miss out. Hope to see many of you at the Southern Concours 24th April, be safe!

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club GB Ireland Tour

4th – 8th September 2022 | Killarney, County Kerry Join fellow BMW owners in exploring some of Ireland’s most dramatic scenery on this relaxed driving holiday. The combination of rugged coastlines, imposing mountains and picturesque villages make this area perfect for exploring in your car. When you are not out enjoying the pre-planned circular daydrives, you will be able to relax at the 5-star Hotel Dunloe & Gardens, which will host us for four nights. What is included: • Return cruise ferry crossings from Holyhead – Dublin with Stena Line (other routes are also available) • 4 nights at the 5-star Hotel Dunloe & Gardens in Killarney, in a double or twin garden room. • Breakfast at the hotel each morning • Sunday evening welcome barbecue in the hotel’s gardens • Wednesday night tour dinner • Use of the hotel’s facilities including swimming pool, gymnasium, horse stables, fishing & indoor tennis courts • Suggested driving routes, route plans & rally boards

Tour Price: £879.00 per person (based on 2 people in a car sharing a double or twin room) non-refundable deposit of £200.00 per person A will be required at the time of booking This exclusive tour will be limited to 25 cars.

Please call Travel Destinations on 01707 329988 to reserve your place.

www.traveldestinations.co.uk/driving-holidays/BMW-Car-Club

A BTA No .W597X

thoughts from the boardroom W

Chris Brownridge. CEO BMW (UK) Ltd.

hile BMW is renowned for its class leading automobiles and motorbikes, we also have very close ties to the arts. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show we became the first manufacturer to bring digital art into our cars and we have a long history of cultural engagement in a variety of different forms. However, when you mention the words art and BMW in the same sentence, most of us will immediately think of the famous BMW Art Cars; iconic BMWs that are rolling masterpieces of artistic expression created by internationally acclaimed artists. It all started back in 1975 when Alexander Calder was commissioned to design a livery for a BMW 3.0 CSL that would race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was a glorious machine and since then there have been a further 18 Art Cars created by artists such as Frank Stella, Andy Warhol, David Hockney and Jeff Koons. Some have been based on racing cars while others are road cars and I must admit I find it incredibly difficult to decide which is my favourite. We were fortunate enough to pay host to the Art Car collection in 2012 when they were on display in an east London car park and it was quite a sight to see them all together in London. I was particularly taken with Koons’ striking design for the 17th Art Car, an M3 GT2,

8 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

that raced at Le Mans back in 2010 and I’m incredibly pleased that we have once again collaborated with Koons to create the stunning THE 8 X JEFF KOONS, the most elaborately designed car in BMW’s entire history. But this time it’s not a one off machine – 99 of these incredible M850i xDrive Gran Coupés will be constructed and are now on sale. Imagine that, your very own mobile work of art on your driveway. As with his M3 GT2 the M850i xDrive uses vibrant colours and explores the themes of power, motion and energy with Koons commenting, “It is sporty and flashy as well as minimalist and conceptual.” I’m a huge fan of its design and am in awe of the planning and execution involved in its manufacture. As you would expect the artists who have designed the Art Cars over the years have all taken a different approach

in terms of how they have interpreted the BMW on which they have arranged their composition but also in the way the pattern has been applied to the car. Some used scale models while others painted straight onto the car’s bodywork. Andy Warhol famously took around half an hour to apply his design to the Group 4 M1 race car, but for the Koons’ 8 Series the procedure was a little more complex. It was a huge challenge for the paint specialists at our Plant Landshut who are already experts in producing around 2,000 panels a day in 45 standard and 200 custom colours. For this project, it was an exceptionally complex process with 11 different colours being required. The boot lid alone required seven hues and 12 coats of paint with a total thickness of less than three human hairs. Quite an achievement. Just four of these special 8 Series models can be painted each week such is the complexity involved in their construction. While THE 8 X JEFF KOONS isn’t the same as the unique Art Cars I like to think it offers the best of both worlds, a symbiosis of Koons’ art and a celebration of the incredible skill and craft that we have in our paint shops. The M850i xDrive Gran Coupé is a superb machine and a fitting canvas for the project and I’m happy to admit that I’m rather jealous of those lucky 99 owners.

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Car Storage Locations

1. Carvault Co.

A full-service turnkey storage and car care solution. Located 40 miles from London, covers Henley-On-Thames, Reading and Oxford

Secure car storage, maintenance, servicing, valet and detailing, car transportation

www.carvaultco.com contact@carvaultco.com Ben Willis: 01491 714 055 Instagram: @carvaultco

Located in Sutton Coldfield, covers Little Aston, Birmingham, Litchfield, Solihull and the West Midlands

2. The Classic Motor Hub

www.store-my-car.co.uk info@store-my-car.co.uk Miles Redman: 07863 540 064

Located in the Cotswolds, covers Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire

5. Weaver Car Storage Limited

Bespoke car storage and care facility

www.classicmotorhub.com/storage/

Professional, discreet, secure car storage.

01242 384 092

Located in the South Liverpool area, covers the North West Region. Weaver Car Storage Limited. Weaver Industrial Estate. Blackburne Street Garston Liverpool L19 8JA

car storage map? info@classicmotorhub.com

3. JLF Car Nest

5. 4. 3. 2.

Exceptional storage solutions. Fully insured, secure car storage with the latest car care and maintenance. Special Offer £5 off all package prices for BMW Car Club GB Members Located in Norfolk, covers the South East & East Anglia Regions and all of the UK. www.jlfcarnest.co.uk info@jlfcarnest.co.uk Olly: 07521 568 881 Josh: 07856 952 383

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

4. Store My Car

www.weavercarstorage.co.uk info@weavercarstorage.co.uk 0151 329 3390 Anthony Weaver: 07534 101 504

BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

clubnews The Board of the BMW Car Club GB invites members to participate in the 2022 Annual General Meeting The AGM will be held as an online virtual meeting on Saturday 14th May 2022 from 10:00am to 1pm. All members are invited to participate and contribute, and we encourage members to register their interest to participate by Friday 6th May so that they may be sent joining details and be provided with any technical assistance they may require. Members questions for the Q&A to be submitted two weeks in advance, no later than Friday 29th April, via email to office@ bmwcarclubgb.co.uk or via post to BMW Car Club GB, Unit 5H Glan Yr Afon, Aberystwyth SY23 3JQ. Please remember to include your name and membership number with all correspondence. Please email office@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk to register your attendance.

The Classic at Silverstone returns on a new date for 2022; Bank Holiday August 26 – 28th. 2022 also marks the 70th Anniversary of the BMW Car Club and 50 years of the M, so why not join us at The Classic and be part of the Club display to celebrate these fantastic milestones.

Plans are currently underway for the return of our national show, held on 6 and 7th August at Donington Park. Keep up to date with the plans on www.bmwcarclubgb.uk/sommerfest22

Limited Edition 70th Anniversary BMW Car Club Stickers and Rally Plaques These are available to purchase on the Club Shop www. bmwcarclubgb.uk/shop. Additional 70th Anniversary stickers can be purchased through www.bmwcarclubgb. uk/shop/bmwccgb-70thanniversary-windscreendecals.

Club Code: Pre-1982 BMW: 087CCDP22 Post (and inc.) 1982 BMW: 088CCDP22 We’d like to extend a Thank You to Club Member, Lee Farrow, for the use of his image in the March 2022 issue of Straight Six under the article ‘Revisiting the Classics’. Apologies that this credit was omitted from the article. Lee shares an updated image of his E36 328i in Fern Green.

BMW Car Club @ Le Mans Classic! Club members Kevin McNally and Silas Benaiah are among a group of club members who are attending this year’s Le Mans Classic , from 30th June to 3rd July. They are hoping that more members will join them, either here in the UK, possibly at the ferry port for the run down to Le Sarthe. Or even to meet up at the circuit for a drink and a catch up with the guys. If you would like to join up with the guys, give Kev a call on 07773 775471 or kevin.mcnally1965@btinternet.com or Silas on 07831 554466 or evom3@btinternet.com

10 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

New Members

What’s Planned for 2022…

CENTRAL

LONDON

THAMES

Pav Bansal

Richie Haymes Dale Trotman Gurvinder Puaar Mike Burton Edward Glowacki Michael Dunne Bilal Anwar James Cronje Jamie Hill Mieczyslaw Siwak

Jeff Orford

Satnam Ark Andrew Skinner Ivan Bingham

CENTRAL WEST Phil Watson Wadi Hussain Arif Alvin Hambidge Santars Arlovskis Neil Macrae Ashish Paul

NORTH EAST

Atiqur Rahman

Grant Finlayson John Ward

CHESHIRE & STAFFS

NORTH WEST

Sean Miles Paul McManus

EAST ANGLIA Ernestas Saidenkovas Peter Martin David Wehmeyer

EASTERN Mo Ikhlaq David Pearson James Holding

Sanjay Prasad Alan Jones Gaven Tilbee Richard Bulless

SCOTTISH Dave McNaughton Steve Turner Kevan Maitland

SOUTH EAST Colin Welch Fadeel Baurtally Sean Woods David Ross

WALES - SOUTH Neal Wagstaff Keith Vaughan Ellis Southan Fanica Mazilu

WESSEX Lynden Norman Swarup Bhose Darren Booth Nigel Coole Josh Milne Josh Keep Ross Cockburn Jason Steggall Kelly Dube John Guest

WESTERN Oskar Rosentreter Kevin Lock

April 24: Southern Concours Southern Concours returns in April 2022 at Sherborne Castle, Dorset.

June 5: BM’s on the Lawn The Show & Shine returns next year on the Weston-super-Mare front lawns, in memory of late Club member, Robert Scanlan. 12: Munich Tour Previously postponed due to Covid restrictions, this tour is now scheduled for 2022. To register your interest, email 3series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk.

August 6 – 7: BMW Sommerfest The BMWCCGB national show returns this summer at Donington Park Circuit. More details to follow. 26 – 28: The Classic, Silverstone The Classic returns on a new date for 2022. Bookings open soon. *Provisional dates

September 4: BMW Car Club GB Ireland Tour Four days exploring some of Ireland’s most dramatic scenery on this relaxed driving holiday. Head to page 7 for more information.

Trackday Calendar 2022 BOOKINGS NOW OPEN June 30: Cadwell Park

£195

September 12: Croft

£215

November 11: Oulton Park

£175

Call 01970 267 989 or contact lisa@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk for more information.

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

bmwnews BMW buys Alpina! We have decided to bring to Club members the press release from Alpina received on the 10th March. Now is not the time to be making statements and predictions of what will happen in the coming years, although the next three years will see little change. We have decided to go down this route as the internet is awash with trash talk and untruths, so we would prefer that our members read the full press release and then make up their own minds… In a press release dated 10th March 2022, Alpina released the following information Reorganisation of Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH + Co. KG. BMW assumes the ownership rights to the ALPINA brand. The family run company Bovensiepen opens a new chapter in new and existing business opportunities.

The Alpina HQ at Buchloe in Bavaria will stay in the hands of the Bovensiepens…

1) The BMW Group buys the ALPINA brand from the ALPINA Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH + Co. KG. 2) BMW Alpina automobiles will continue to be developed and produced in BUCHLOE until the end of 2025. 3) The family run company will rebrand itself under the Bovensiepen name, invest in the business related to classic automobiles and will continue to offer different, exciting new mobility solutions. 4) The Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH + Co. KG and the BMW Group will continue to co-operate closely in the future, but in a new form and inter alia, with a focus on engineering and development services. 5) The spare parts supply and the service offering for BMW Alpina automobiles of all ages is guaranteed in the long-term. The Bovensiepen family leads its 57 year old partnership with BMW into a new era. Alpina becomes a brand of the BMW Group. From 2026 onwards, BMW will introduce more automotive offerings in the luxury car range, in which Alpina has been established in for many years. Using

12 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

its engineering know-how and expertise, the company of the Bovensiepen family will continue to develop, produce and distribute exclusive BMW Alpina automobiles under the existing cooperation agreement. In the coming years we will showcase new, exciting, dynamic and efficient automobiles. “Our order books are as full as ever and several new products and product updates are imminent“, ex-plains Andreas Bovensiepen, CEO of Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH + Co. KG. “The strength and attractiveness of the Alpina brand is very well established. We made the conscious decision to not sell Alpina to any other interested manufacturers in the automotive industry because BMW and Alpina have co-operated trustfully for many, many decades. It is for this reason the correct strategic decision that the Alpina brand will be operated by the BMW Group in the future.” The full completion of the transaction of the trademark rights is still subject to the approval of the anti-trust authorities. This strategic reorganisation is taking place on the basis of a strong position to react to the increasing dynamics of tightening regulatory demands. 2021 was the most successful year to date for ALPINA Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH + Co. KG with more than 2000 BMW Alpina automobiles delivered around the world. At the same time, the politically

driven transformation to electric mobility as well as tightening worldwide regulatory demands – especially on vehicle emissions, software validation and requirements on safeguarding driver assistant and supervisory systems – means the demands on and risks for small series manufactures are increasing. It is on the back of this development that the existing cooperation agreement, which was last renewed for a further five years at the end of 2020, will end on the 31st of December 2025. With the passing on of the Alpina brand, the Bovensiepen family company sets the course for the future. “We will continue our father’s life’s work and legacy by investing in the equally well-known Bovensiepen name. With our in-depth expertise and know-how, we will continue to bring different but impressive mobility offerings to market”, says CEO Florian Bovensiepen. “Our family and our employees will continue to stand for engineering quality of the highest standard. Our manufacturing activities will transform into engineering services over time. Through this strategic reorganisation the operations of the company in Buchloe is safeguarded well into the future. The engineering and development know-how of our company, gained over many decades of operation, will be made available to further automotive manufactures besides www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

the BMW Group, both in the areas of internal combustion engines and electric mobility. The close connection of the Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH + Co. KG company with the Alpina brand and the BMW Group will continue to prosper in the future. The cooperation in the area of after sales will be continued without change. The availability of original Alpina replacement parts, Alpina accessories and high quality service offerings from the Buchloe company are guaranteed. Furthermore, the Buchloe Company’s rich tradition and unique heritage means a new business area will be developed with regards to the restoration of classic

BMW Alpina automobiles. This includes the new production and distribution of classic parts and classic accessories, as well as sourcing and selling sought-after BMW Alpina models.” The family owned and operated wine business under the Alpina naming is not affected by the transfer of the Alpina trademark and will continue to operate as Alpina Wein GmbH + Co. KG. The purchase of the Alpina brand by the BMW Group and the associated end in 2025 of the current and future automobile product portfolio will have effects on the existing workplaces at the Buchloe facility. In the coming years, the development, production and

distribution of BMW Alpina automobiles will continue unchanged, demand is at an all-time high and exciting new products are in the pipeline. BMW will support Alpina in the coming years with the transformation of workplaces at the Buchloe facilities. This means that by the end of 2025 BMW will offer employment opportunities to a number of employees for whom a continued employment at the Buchloe facility will not be possible, and also co-ordinate with engineering partners and suppliers for possible employment opportunities. Both parties have agreed not to disclose any information regarding financial details. Company shares were not sold.

The new 2 Series Coupé I’ve never seen a paint colour create as much fuss at a launch like Thundernight Purple Metallic. BMW has certainly cashedin on its popularity, with every M240i model seeming to be sporting this purple hue. Mind you, it is a bit nice. Anyway, I digress. BMW’s striking coupé promises to bring exceptional sporting talent to the premium compact segment, fusing classic, three-box coupé style with BMW’s latest design language. The new 2er is equipped with a sporting chassis with near 50:50 weight distribution. And it’s the only vehicle in its segment to offer a six-cylinder in-line engine. The line-up includes the 374hp, all-wheel-drive BMW

M240i xDrive Coupé that not only blows away its predecessor, but also comfortably wins the 0-60mph squabble with its M2 brother, thanks to 4WD traction – take a look at Joe Achilles test on YouTube. On-board technology includes the BMW Operating System 7 and BMW Live Cockpit Professional, with extras like a Head Up Display available on a 2 Series for the first time. BMW’s 2 Series Coupé is priced from £34,980 OTR, with the range topping M240i costing a reasonable £45,795. Pop into your local dealer for more info, or visit www.bmw.co.uk

The new M240i finished in Thundernight Purple has caused quite a stir at launch

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

bmwnews 003 E30 M3 by Redux to get carbon roof Redux has started the build on No 003 E30 M3 and the company has confirmed that 003 will receive a full carbon roof. The mould tools for both the carbon fibre roof and door skins are finished so carbon will be laid down soon to produce the roof and door panels. The donor car’s shell has been fixed onto a Celette jig to ensure no flexing takes place. A triangular metal support frame was also fixed to the A, B and C pillars, and another one in the boot area to ensure 100% rigidity. It is imperative nothing moves when cutting the roof off as it removes so much rigidity once it’s off. The steel rear quarters and door skins are also removed in preparation for the carbon fibre parts to be bonded into place.

After blasting (using crushed glass) to remove the paint, a gas burner is used to dislodge any remaining coatings or debris. Once the steel body panels are

removed, the latest anti-corrosion and paintwork-protection products can be applied, including an under-body coating of hot zinc.

The new 2 Series Active Tourer The new 2 Series Active Tourer features new architecture designed for both electrified and conventional powertrains, while we’ll also see the debut of BMW Operating System 8 in a compact-class BMW. There’s an expanded range of driver assistance systems which set the benchmark sector and an updated engine line-up includes second-generation 48V mild hybrid technology, while electrified options are strengthened with forthcoming plug-in hybrid models. The 2 Series Active Tourer is available to order now priced from £30,265 OTR. To find out more about the new Tourer either visit www.bmw.co.uk or pop into your local BMW dealer.

News in brief from BMW UK The newly launched BMW iX has been crowned the Large Crossover of the Year at the UK Car of the Year Awards. Judges praised the “relaxed, refined and calming nature” of the model, while also commenting “it’s one of the quietest, smoothest and most comfortable EVs I’ve ever driven”. The BMW iX has a WLPT range of 380 miles, is the premiere for the new generation BMW iDrive powered by Operating System 8, which offers the most extensive set of standard driver assistance systems ever seen in a BMW. GQ Magazine awarded the BMW i4 the Saloon of the Year award at the 2022 GQ Car of the Year award ceremony recently. As the first fully-electric Gran Coupé, the BMW i4 has a range of up to 365 miles (WLTP), and is offered in both i4 eDrive 40 and M50 variants with the latter being the first purely electric performance car from BMW M GmbH. The BMW i3 has been named a Future Classic by Autocar and the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, as part of the museum’s 50th anniversary. The BMW i3 was praised by judges from both Autocar and Beaulieu, writing “the BMW i3 symbolises the kind of unshackled, inspired design that ought to have been applied to every car”.

14 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

The BMW iX has won Best Large SUV at the Women’s World Car of the Year. In choosing winners, judges took into consideration safety, quality, price, design and environmental footprint. In 2022, BMWs iX excelled in all of these areas and was selected as the top performer in the Large SUV segment.

BMW’s all-electric iX seems to be popular with the motoring scribes, picking up two awards recently. Here it is in 619hp M60 form, which can sprint silently to 60mph from rest in 3.5 seconds

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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motorsportnews So near yet so far… BMW Motorsport’s M4 GT3s improve hugely in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring race, but ultimately miss out on a podium finish… The performance of BMW Motorsport’s M4 GT3s improved immensely for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring race, after their poor showing last time out at the 24H of Daytona, where they were so far off the pace it was embarrassing! The #24 and #25 BMW M Team RLL M4 GT3’s qualified in 7th and 8th places for the race in the GT Pro Class, while the M4 GT3s of Turner Motorsport and Paul Miller Racing qualified in 2nd and 4th in the GTD Class. Race – The race started uneventfully for the #24 M4 GT3 M4 GT3 as they held their qualifying position in the first couple of hours. The #24 M4 GT3 then started to move up through the field into the podium positions and briefly lead the GT Pro class by the halfway mark. From then on it was involved in a thrilling battle for the lead with a Corvette C8.R and Lamborghini Huracan GT3 as the second six hours turned into a proper sprint race. The car ran like clockwork, the team acted cleverly on strategy as drivers Eng, Yelloly and Wittmann faultlessly completed their laps. Then, while lying in second position and with just one hour before the chequered flag, the #24 suffered a gearbox issue and dropped off the podium positions, finally finishing in

The #24 M4 GT3 looked like it was going to clinch a class win before gearbox problems meant the team had to be happy with a 4th place finish

fourth spot. The sister #25 M4 GT3 raced into the top three in the opening stage of the race, showing great promise but suffered a setback after two hours. A power steering issue resulted in a long repair. This dropped the trio of Augusto Farfus (BRA), John Edwards (USA) and Connor De Phillippi (USA) down the field but they continued the race. They brought #25 home in tenth place. The two BMW M teams in the GTD class also had an eventful 12 hours, but

did not end with the results they would have deserved. At Turner Motorsport, Sebring marked the 500th BMW race for Bill Auberlen and, until the eighth hour, it looked that the Californian would be celebrating that milestone. Auberlen, who shared the #96 M4 GT3 with Robby Foley and Michael Dinan, had taken the GTD lead but then got hit at the rear by another competitor and spun into the grass. This dropped the #96 back to eighth in class. But the Turner Motorsport drivers fought their way back and with three and a half hours to go, Auberlen brought the car back in the lead. The #96 M4 GT3 comfortably held on to top spot before losing ground in the final stages due to a team mistake, crossing the line in fourth place in class. The newest BMW Motorsport family member, Paul Miller Racing, experienced bad luck in the race too. In the first three hours, the #1 BMW M4 GT3 was fighting for the lead with the Turner Motorsport M4 GT3 in the GTD class. But then the Paul Miller Racing M4 GT3 was hit by a prototype racer that was avoiding a spinning car. This was a major setback for the #1 car as it was on for a very strong result in its first race. Madison Snow, Bryan Sellers and Erik Johansson (SWE) eventually finished 16th in the GTD class after the team performed miracles in repairing all the damage to get the car back in the race…

The Turner Motorsport M4 GT3 twice led the race and looked on for a class win until a team mistake meant they came home also fourth in class

16 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

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Roving reporters Jeff Heywood & Paul Kelly

Team BMW 2022 British Touring Car Championship livery revealed

Team BMW are proud to present the definitive colours of the WSR-run BMW 330e M Sport that will compete for British Touring Car Championship glory in 2022 as BMW M celebrates its 50th anniversary. A predominantly white race car is not only inspired by classic BMW race machinery of the past, but also aligns with the BTCC’s move to hybrid-electric powerplants and a push for greater sustainability. Dominating the rear section of the car is the iconic BMW M colours of red, blue and violet created in 1972 by BMW designer Wolfgang Seehaus, which has become synonymous with success in touring car racing across generations. Devised by renowned studio Nick Moss Design, the new creation was unveiled at WSR’s headquarters in Sunbury-onThames. Four-time BTCC Champion Colin Turkington and team-mate Stephen Jelley, with a combined 63 race victories in the series, were present to take the covers off. Having broken the series’ all-time record by winning a sixth consecutive Manufacturers’ crown in 2021, WSR-run Team

George Gamble signs for Ciceley Motorsport, overlooked by team Principal Russell Morgan

BMW seek to extend the record further this year as well as aiming to add the Drivers’ and Teams’ titles. The 64th British Touring Car Championship season kicks off at Donington Park, in the East Midlands, on April 23-24. Dick Bennetts, Team Principal, said: “It’s always an exciting day when we showcase our new livery for the season. It’s no different in 2022 and this year we have two extra factors in both the move to hybrid powertrains and greater sustainability as well as celebrating BMW M’s 50th anniversary. I was involved in several BMW Motorsport projects in the 1970s with Formula 2 and the BMW M1 Procar series, and I don’t think I’d have predicted to still be involved all these years later. The livery combines both the traditional M colours with a modern look and I think fans of the BTCC are going to love it.”

George Gamble tries the BMW 330M for size

Ciceley Motorsport recently announced that Nottinghamshire driver, George Gamble would drive the second 330M, alongside Adam Morgan. George, who has driven in the Ginetta support series, and the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, is looking forward to the task ahead. George said, “I am under no illusion that the racing will be a step up from what I am used to, the level in the Championship is so high and the racing so close, but I feel with the experience of the team and a quick driver in Adam as my teammate, I can have a solid first season and a good run at the Jack Sears Trophy title.”

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BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

dannorris Alpina: Expensive. Unreliable. Difficult. Outrageous. And Flipping Brilliant

his week we received the news that BMW’s alter-ego, Alpina, is to be subsumed, in the not too distant future, into the Mothership. From the start of the 70s right up to the present day, Alpina has played an indispensable part in the evolution of BMW, somehow managing to outBMW BMW, whilst carving out their own distinct image. And, remarkably, all the time managing to avoid being crushed under the weight of the giant upon which it depended on for its very existence. I once got censored by a well-known, widely-distributed BMW magazine for describing Alpina as ‘…possibly the laziest manufacturer in history.’ A comment I repeat here and still stand by, the Alpina B12 5.7, only 57 examples? But their minimalist approach to producing cars is all part of the mystique and oddness that has symbolised the Buchloe Bad Boys more or less from the start. What always made Alpina special was that feeling of, there’s no other way to say it, ballsiness. From the motorsport adventures to the outrageous body kits and decals. To the walrus-skinning torque of some of the 80s specials right up to the recent run of diesels that simply ripped up the rule book. Alpina has always done things differently. And I have this strange feeling that they never really cared a fig what we thought. If you like the cars then you’ll buy one, if you don’t, well, then don’t. Certainly that approach has been reflected in their attitude to the owners of classic Alpinas and the network of specialists who try to keep them on the road. Procuring the simplest of parts, like wheels or badges, to say nothing of vital ECUs and mission critical electronics, has seemed like pushing a piano upstairs. And the Alpina people seemed utterly oblivious to the resentment building up from owners and loyal followers. Maybe you can’t have one without the other. The sort of deranged mind that came up with the B7S Turbo back in the early 80s, one of the most exciting and wonderful classic BMWs I’ve ever had the privilege to drive, is unlikely to be the sort of business manager who sits in board meetings fretting about parts supply. I bet you, when they had that what-do-we-doabout-parts-supply meeting, the decision makers were down in the R&D department sitting in a prototype making imaginary car noises and pretending to execute perfectly

18 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

Alpina E12 B7S Turbo with its M division sibling. You know you want one.

controlled oversteer. At its peak, nobody made sexier cars, and nothing looked better on a bedroom wall than Alpina, unless it was badged with a bull or a prancing horse. And Alpina made these vehicles on a family car platform. I remember the boss of one of my Saturday jobs turning up in his newly-acquired E21 B6 2.8, with all its spoilers and dials and outrageous decals. I remember how utterly exotic, how unearthly, how totally drool-worthy it was. It looked seriously quick even parked up behind the fish shop in Storrington. With an Alpina, you didn’t just have a prestige brand, trumping those 70s staples still ubiquitous throughout the next decade, like the Allegro, Maxi and Marina. You had a hand-tuned one-in-the-county catch-me-if-you-dare special edition of the coolest brand on the road. Only the French came close with their notto-be-confused-with Alpine derivatives and Mr Gordini’s souped-up specials. But their base brand was Renault, and if you looked closely, you quickly saw the difference between the French and German approach to quality. Alpina owners and enthusiasts have always been a special bunch, too. The E65 B7 7 Series was, at one point, heralded as the most expensive car on the road, running cost-wise. Not because of fuel consumption or repair costs, although they weren’t cheap, but because of the catastrophic depreciation. This was nothing new. Alpinas were legendary for losing money like they’d been held up at gunpoint, but what was most remarkable was that people kept buying them. The E34 Biturbo B10 is still one of the coolest cars of its era, putting down torque figures and 0-60 times that were a generation ahead of its

time. But it seems that strapping some turbo stuff onto an engine that was never designed with that in mind can bring a few issues. I’ve seen B10s with a history file that is thick enough to use as library steps, with tens of thousands shovelled into what was quite obviously a money pit large enough to hide a block of flats. Still, the owner just laughed and said “best car I’ve ever owned.” In 2019, we were in the rare position to be working simultaneously on two B7S Turbos, one E24 and one E12. Both cars had terminal ECU issues, meaning that if we couldn’t fix them, the cars would never run again. The alternative was to redesign the whole engine management system, meaning the car would no longer be an original, faithful Alpina. Alpina would not help at all. In fact, they couldn’t have been less bothered. We tried to pull strings. We tried threats. We tried celebrity influence. We tried turning up in Buchloe and refusing to leave without a solution. I think one of our team is still there in reception. So, nobody in their right mind would buy one of these cars, surely? I would, in the drop of a hat. You just have to spend time in the vicinity of a B7S Turbo, and you’ll want one too. So, this is my little tribute to what surely has to be one of the maddest marques ever. Without Alpina, one could argue there’d be no BMW M. And without Alpina, there’d be no alternative to BMW M. But despite the terrible depreciation, the shocking approach to their heritage, the blasé attitude to loyal customers, the technical issues and the comatose approach to vehicle production, we can only thank Alpina. Thank you for some simply brilliant cars, thank you for brightening up our roads and, well, thank you for just being yourself. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

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20 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

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BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

Life Feature - BMW E36 M3 LIGHTWEIGHT

LIFE

The second CSL...? Words - Jeff Heywood Photos – BMW Press/Speedhunters

It’s well known amongst BMW aficionados that the original CSL was born out of the E9 sharknose CS Coupé. It was a move by BMW to lighten the CS racers in their battle against Ford’s Capri on European race tracks. The CSL moniker would then lay dormant at BMW for over 30 years, until it was resurrected to adorn the boot of the E46 M3 CSL in 2003. But nearly ten years earlier, a special E36 M3 model would also become known internally at BMW M at Garching as the CSL… 22 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

et’s not beat about the bush here, when launched by BMW in 1992, the E36 M3 was greeted with a lukewarm reception. BMW aficionados were still coming to terms with the standard E36’s styling, which had moved away from BMW’s conservatively designed saloon models with their more upright front ends and four individual headlights, which had become as iconic as the Hofmeister kink. The E36 was a more aerodynamic car, thanks to its covered headlights, and it was more concerned with its drag coefficient, and the fuel savings that brought, rather than tradition. It was also noticeably flimsier, with regards to the plastics used in the cabin trim. BMW was moving from a quality niche car, the E3,0 to a more mainstream model that was to sell in much larger

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numbers. It didn’t help when the E36 M3 Coupé’s styling looked very similar to a 325i Coupé, with the only changes were the (really cool) aerodynamically styled M door mirrors, different bumpers front and rear, larger wheels and… that was about it. There were good points. It was fast, thanks to the 286hp 3-litre 24-valve straight-six S50 M engine, and because of those aerodynamics, its top speed had to be limited to 155mph. Handling was tidy and steady if slightly dull, but it should have been much more dynamic especially as the E36 was equipped with BMW’s new Z-axle. In comparison, the E30 M3 was delightful, the chassis talking to you through both the steering wheel and seat of the pants, whereas the E36 M3 left you slightly detached from the proceedings. Like I’ve said, on paper the E36 M3 was

quick, it just wasn’t involving enough. The Evo model introduced in late 1995 would help to address some of these issues. It was quicker still, thanks to its twin Vanos 24-valve straight-six, now slightly enlarged to 3.2-litres and producing a very healthy 321hp. The suspension was tweaked but it still didn’t connect the driver to road well enough. To those new to the brand or an M3, it felt okay. To the guys who had lived through the E30 M3 era and owned a few examples, it just didn’t quite cut the mustard. Even so, the E36’s move into a more mainstream market with this 3 Series also brought new people to the M3, with sales totalling over 71,000 when production ended in 1999. That figure was split between 46,525 Coupés, 12,114 Convertibles and 12,603 saloons. BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

Life Feature - BMW E36 M3 LIGHTWEIGHT

BMW’s E30 M3 was a tough act to follow for the E36 M3

Whereas, the total number of E30 M3s sold was 17,970, split between 17,184 Coupés and 786 Convertible models. What we must ask, is that a fair comparison? The E30 M3 was already an icon when the E36 M3 was first launched, a homologation special to enable the car to go racing. And racing it went. Here are some facts; in 1987 an E30 M3 won the inaugural World Touring Car Championship, it twice won the European Touring Car Championship and also took DTM honours twice. It won numerous national championships including the BTCC, the Italian Superturismo four times as well as the Belgian and Australian Touring Car Championships, amongst many more. It also succeeded in winning the Nurburgring 24H Race twice, while taking four wins in the Spa 24 Hour race. It’s not a well-known fact, but it’s reckoned that an E30 M3 won a race for every day of its competition career: 1650 wins in approximately 1600 days, from 1987 to late 1992, making it the most successful touring car racer ever. In comparison, the E36 M3 was first and foremost devised as a road car; it was never designed to go racing. Touring car racing in the early-to-mid

24 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

‘90s had moved to a new 1.8 and then 2-litre formula, using bodyshells that were kept visually more like the road cars to make racing less expensive for the teams. If one looks at the last of the be-winged DTM cars, you quickly get the picture. The E30 M3 benefited from its lightweight, making it nimble and wieldy, with a lighter four-cylinder engine

positioned way back in the engine bay up against the bulkhead.The E36 M3 had evolved into more of a Gran Tourer, with its weightier 3-litre straight-six engine sat right over the front wheels, with a slight detriment to handling. Chalk and cheese. Besides the introduction of the M3 Evo model in late ’95, BMW’s M gurus also added a touch of paprika to liven up the

M3 Lightweight (R) meets big brother the M3 GTR in BMW Team PTG livery. The M3 Lightweight helped to homologate parts for the GTR to go racing www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Here in Europe we received the British Racing Green E36 M3 GT, although the LHD variant, which sold on the continent, is a slightly different animal to the RHD version

original E36 M3 by releasing the E36 M3 GT. This car was based on the European market M3 Coupé and developed to homologate engine and bodywork enhancements to comply with the FIA GT Series and the American IMSA GT Series. A total of 350 were built in LHD form between February and June 1995 and were only available in Europe, all were finished in British Racing Green and fitted with a tuned version of the S50B30 engine producing 295hp and 238lb ft of torque. They also featured numerous suspension and cosmetic changes. These homologation LHD specials shouldn’t be confused with the E36 M3 GT Individual, a special edition of 50 RHD E36 M3 Coupés produced exclusively for the UK market in July of 1995. Though mechanically identical to the standard (286hp) M3, the E36 M3 GT Individual received all the same exterior cosmetic enhancements as the LHD E36 M3 GT and the British Racing green paintwork.

M3 Lightweight BMW’s M Power boffins were also hard at work on another E36 M3 project from late ’93 and throughout ‘94: the M3 Lightweight, which gave rise to many of the parts seen on the M3 GT. This E36 www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

The M3 Lightweight’s spartan interior will be familiar to E36 owners. The seating is upholstered in Hurricane anthracite cloth

project became known as the E36 CSL, Coupé Sport Leichtbau, the same moniker used on the original E9 CSL and which was to again appear on the boot of a BMW again 9 years later on the E46 M3 CSL. Was the CSL nameplate considered for use on the M3 Lightweight? We’ll probably never know, but it is interesting all the same. The M3 Lightweight was to be built for the US market only, but before the dawn of the Lightweight model, we have to delve back to the introduction of the E36 M3 into the US to understand why the US received the underpowered M3. When the E36 M3 made its European debut in 1992 there were no plans to produce a North American version. Sales of the previous M3, the E30 of 1988 to 1991,

had amounted to just under 5,000 units and BMW’s only other North Americanspec M car at the time, the E34 M5, was not selling in large enough quantities to justify the addition of another M model in the American market. However, a letter-writing campaign initiated by the BMW Car Club of America sparked such an overwhelming response by the BMW enthusiast community that BMW of North America decided to reconsider. The main issue was price. BMW NA was determined to keep the MSRP down to around $35,000, about the same as the last of the E30 M3s. The only way to meet this price point was to develop a specific version of the S50 engine without the costly individual throttle bodies and continuously variable VANOS valve timing BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

Life Feature - BMW E36 M3 LIGHTWEIGHT

The M3 Lightweight in its natural environment. Thanks to its lighter weight, BMW’s M engineers injected some communicativeness into the chassis. It feels more alive through the steering wheel and seat of the pants. If you ask any of the racers from the BMW Kumho series, they love the E36’s chassis and how it can be made to handle…

The Lightweight’s interior is bordering on the austere. Here we have a rudimentary cover for the Hi-Fi, while the second photo shows the carbon trim on the centre console. On the passenger side of the dashboard is more carbon trim and a BMW Motorsport International Limited Edition badge

system of the European-spec motor. This new engine was given the factory code S50B30US and it produced 240hp and 236lb ft of torque. The US E36 M3 entered production in February 1994. In 1996, the S50B30US was replaced by the BMW S52 engine in the US and Canada. Anyway, back to the M3 Lightweight. First and foremost, the car was introduced to homologate parts for the IMSA GT Series for the M3 GTR, while BMW NA also marketed the Lightweight as a sop to the enthusiasts who still weren’t happy that the M3 they had protested for ended up being a watered down version of the Euro-spec E36 M3 and not a hard core track weapon. It was introduced as a special track-

26 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

oriented version of the US-spec 1995 E36 M3 Coupé, designed for serious driving enthusiasts. Though BMW of North America originally stated that just 85 M3 Lightweights would be produced, it has been confirmed that exactly 126 were ultimately built: ten pre-production examples came to the US in January and February of 1995, with one arriving in April of 1995, then 115 standard production examples arrived between August and October of 1995. All Lightweights share their VIN sequence with the standard 1995 M3 Coupé and were built in periodic batches on the standard 3 Series assembly line. They retained the stock 240hp S50B30US powerplant, though BMW NA claimed that all engines fitted to the Lightweights were cherry-picked and

tested to make sure they were producing a minimum of 240hp. Subsequent rolling road tests over the years have confirmed power outputs in the 245-260hp range. According to BMW figures, the M3 Lightweight weighs 1338kgs, 102kgs less than the regular E36 M3 Coupé. All M3 Lightweights were painted Alpine White III (BMW PC 300) and included a shortened 3.23:1 final drive for better acceleration. To reduce weight, aluminium doors were specified, the same doors as LHD E36 M3 GT. BMW reduced the amount of sound insulation in the car, the tool kit and console valet were deleted, as was air conditioning and the radio. Although the car was wired for a radio and two door speakers were included. The dash and centre console trim were made www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

I’ve always thought, viewed from the side, the E36 M3 is quite a handsome design. The car’s aerodynamic styling at its best from this angle, the Lightweight’s stance looking more purposeful than a stock M3’s, thanks to the lower ride height

A BMW Motorsport International logo also adorns the Lightweight’s carbon fibre sill covers and badges are set into the protective door mouldings on both doors

This is the letter every customer received who purchased an E36 M3 Lightweight

from carbon fibre and lighter anthracite carpeting from the four-cylinder E36 Coupé was fitted. BMW sport seats with manual adjustment only were utilised, covered in Anthracite Hurricane cloth with red highlights. BMW Motorsport International emblems were affixed on exterior door mouldings, interior door sill plates and on the trim panel above the glovebox. Stiffer springs and shocks from the European-spec E36 M3 Coupé were fitted, along with a BMW M strut brace. Wheels were forged M Double Spoke alloy wheels (7.5x17” front, 8.5x17” rear) to save weight. At the front an adjustable front spoiler lip from the M3 GT was fitted, which paired with a standard M3 rear spoiler with integrated third brake light, although this was usually www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

substituted for the GT wing, see below. Finally, rounding the package off were the BMW Motorsport chequered flag decals on the left-front and right-rear corners of the bodywork. In addition, the following items were offered as specialorder options that could be installed by the dealer or PTG: an M3 GT-style adjustable rear spoiler with integrated third brake light and spacer blocks to raise the wing even higher which every M3 Lightweight seems to have fitted, a lower chassis X-brace for added stiffness, plus adjustable camber plates. Ride-height adjustable suspension could also be specified, while in the braking department cross-drilled brake discs were available. Finally, a BMW M oil pan and dual-pickup oil pump could also be added. All Lightweights were delivered by BMW to PTG (Prototype Technology Group), a racing team based in Virginia who were part of BMW’s racing arm in the US (see Team PTG M3 GTR photo) which was run by racing driver Tom Milner, who handled all the M3 Lightweight sales and most of the fitting of the special order options specified by customers. Some were delivered as complete cars to a customer’s local BMW dealer so they could receive all the pomp and ceremony of a new car handover. All M3 Lightweight owners received a letter from PTG, signed by Tom Milner, which explained that some of the parts specified

for the vehicle couldn’t be fitted by BMW because they were competition parts, so BMW got around any issues of importing cars not homologated for the North American market by having PTG fit them as accessories. Sales were slow, because as one would expect, the price of an M3 Lightweight was expensive, $47,895, compared to the original entry point of $35K. As is usual with these sort of cars, they all eventually sold. Performance was brisk, thanks to the weight saving measures and the fitment of a lower final drive. The 0-60mph sprint was covered in 5 seconds, while top speed had been increased to 145mph from the standard US M3’s 137mph. It wasn’t about the top speed or how fast it accelerated, it was about how the car drove with all the changes to the chassis and, more importantly, with the lighter weight. To that end, BMW knocked it out of the park. Whereas the standard E36 M3 was described as being slightly detached from the driver, the Lightweight was a lot more focused and wieldy, making cornering an enjoyable pursuit. The car was able to dance around a race track or a mountain road just like an E30 M3…but with more power. Result. Motorsport was the Lightweight’s aim, and with the parts homologated by the M3 Lightweight (and also the M3 GT in Europe) it allowed BMW Motorsport to build the M3 GTR. In the US, the E36 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

Life Feature - BMW E36 M3 LIGHTWEIGHT

The M3 Lightweight is quite an eye-catcher, thanks to the BMW M chequered flag decals affixed to the front and rear corners

M3 GTR was run by Team PTG in the IMSA GT Championship. In the 1996 championship, the M3 GTR won four races in the GTS-2 class and allowed BMW to secure the manufacturers’ championship. In the 1997 IMSA GT Championship, the Team PTG M3 GTR won eight races in the GTS-3 class, with BMW winning the manufacturers’ championship again while Bill Auberlen won the driver’s title. In the 1998 IMSA GT Championship, the M3 GTR won five races and meant BMW picked up the manufacturers’ crown in the GT3 class. In the same year, the M3 GTR also won four races in the GT2 class, proving what a potent racing machine the E36 M3 GTR was. As most of you now know, the E36 M3 Lightweight has gone down as an icon in BMW folklore along with the E30 M3 and its Evo models, the E36 M3 GT, E46 M3 CSL and so on. Although it is still much of an unknown in the UK thanks to its US-only sales, it has become something of a cult car in the US amongst BMW enthusiasts, and the following quote sums up their feelings. “The car serves as a true homologated road-going race car that has earned a special place in a large corner of our hearts. It’s more so a short-lived gift given to the people of the US market, where we generally are stuck with the shit end of the stick when it comes to specialty cars.” Nevertheless, you couldn’t miss the hype around the sale of the late Paul Walker’s car collection, who owned five E36 M3 Lightweights and two E30 M3s,

28 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

The European M3 GTR, as raced on this side of the pond by the likes of Johnny Cecotto and Hans Stuck. The GTR was an intimidating beast with its butch wheelarch extensions and resembled the M3 Lightweight more with its M chequered flag livery

Scorned by many, the S50B30US 3-litre straight-six engine may only have 240hp on paper, but engines were cherry picked by BMW’s M engineers for the Lightweight, so many cars have more power than BMW claimed, some up to 20hp more…

The front lip is just one of the parts homologated on the M3 Lightweight

which went to auction in January 2020. One of his Lightweights, with just 4,600 miles on the clock, sold for a staggering $385K. The other four cars, with mileages ranging from 14,000 to 34,000 miles sold for $220K, $242K, $220K and $258K.

fetching a total of $1.325million just for the Lightweights alone. And if we need any more confirmation that anything E36 M3 Lightweight is precious metal, a rear boot spoiler sold recently on (US) eBay for $30K. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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Creating the Ultimate Garage: Lighting and Flooring

Creating the Ultimate Garage: Lighting and Flooring M Words: Will Beaumont

y date of birth dictates that I am a proper, no-nonsense millennial. That is if you sign up to such generational labels. But if you do, you’ll know that there is no such thing as a millennial free of nonsense. Despite falling right in the middle of the age range, I am a pretty shoddy millennial. The last time I tried to take a selfie, a millennial’s favourite pastime according to the internet, I almost punched Niki Lauda in the face. Yes, that’s a terrible name drop. No, it was not on purpose. And no, it was years before he passed away. Don’t blame that on me. I’m not a gamer, I don’t have a gym membership. Carbs are good. Both sorts of carbs. I am emotionally attached to my lawnmower and it’s not a very millennial thing to even have a lawn, apparently. But worst of all, I don’t engage with social media very well. I have an Instagram and Twitter account and might post something once a month if I am particularly motivated. I feel uncomfortable on WhatsApp too, what is with that cartoon background? And I know I am definitely too old for TikTok. Yet still, despite my objections, I’ve seen the short clips from TikTok, filmed in portrait with bass-heavy background music showing stanced-out cars under floating hexagons of light. They’re pretty and stylish, these illuminations. And

32 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

while rushing to turn down the infernal racket emanating from my phone’s poxy speakers, I thought they’d be just the thing to feature in this mag’s Ultimate Garage series. “Hexagon lighting is not a product that we get involved in.” Says Rob Hudson, owner of Garage Concepts, a specialist garage conversion company. “The product is brought over from China and it hasn’t been around long enough for anyone to give a give a 10-year guarantee. Consequently, I will not get involved in it. I don’t want to be driving

up and down the country or get a bad reputation for selling stuff that isn’t tried and proven.” Rob created Garage Concepts because he’s a car collector, he understands what car enthusiasts want and no one was creating the sort of garages he imagined. “The business was born out of passion rather than necessity. I wanted a builder who could come along and understood why I would want to turn my home garage into a showroom. 15 or 20 years ago, people were scratching their heads wondering why on earth a www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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petrolhead would want to turn a 1970s old knackered garage into a showroom.” After years transforming grotty, unloved brick boxes into places worthy of supercars, he’s learnt where best to invest your money when it comes to your garage, and what’s a false economy. “When I’m doing a design for a garage, I tend to look beyond fashion, more at function and practicality. What will last and do the job right.” And that’s why, when there’s nothing to guarantee the staying power of these glistening hexagonal lights will last, Rob won’t install them in one of his projects. So what is the Garage Concepts’ lighting of choice? “We tend to try and spend a bit of time in the customer’s house and I’ll pick out some of the features in their house.” It’s not just about throwing up some fluorescent tubes, far from it. “We are interior designers for garages, ones that actually understand www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

what being a car enthusiast is all about. “My preferred lighting system for a garage is actually to use a suspended ceiling. Often customers like a nice smooth ceiling with plasterboard and LED spotlights. But actually, if you’re trying to future proof your garage, the beauty of having a suspended ceiling is that you can actually still get all of your wiring across it anytime you like. You can move the lighting around by simply changing the LED panels that sit within the grid, too.” A suspended ceiling doesn’t sound very exclusive or high-end. All I can imagine is a dull, tired office from the 1990s. “They are not like the ones you have in an office. They’re vinyl, they’re wipe-down. They also add a degree of insulation themselves. And of course, you can always take that product out if you want to reuse it elsewhere. Or you can add to it if you extend your garage.” You can make a suspended ceiling functional too. “We can put in one massive block of lighting, literally light up the whole garage if you want. Some of the German museums have done that and it does look fantastic. If you’re a car detailer, you’d be looking for a 6500k light, which gives daytime brightness. Or you could have a more mellow 4000k light, which is a bit more moody. Not so painful on the retinas.”

Along with hexagonal lights, there’s a real buzz on social media about epoxy resin floors. They’re modern, high-tech. They’ve got to be the best, surely? Apparently not. “I’ve actually got an epoxy resin in my own garage at the moment. I’ve done it three times. We’re still not happy with it. It looks crap. It looks great the day it goes down. It looks crap six months to a year later. You’ve got tyre marks and you’ve got oil marks that have discoloured the resin.” Not everything that carries the word resin on the tin is a true resin floor. “People are confused when they talk about resin floors. You’ll see products out there called resin paint, which people assume is a resin floor. It isn’t a resin floor, it’s a resin coat. You’re only putting down 0.3 of a millimetre, or whatever, of paint on your floor. People can’t seriously expect that to last 10, 15 or 20 years. An epoxy resin floor is a completely different system; it’s a two-pack or a three-pack system that requires, on day one, your floor to be ground. The next day, after grinding, would be to seal that floor. The day after, you then put down your first coat, your primer. You may even have to put down a damp proof coat as well. And then there’s a top coat that goes over that and there’s even the UV coat as well.” “It’s not the case with a resin floor that we can go and slap it down in a BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

Creating the Ultimate Garage: Lighting and Flooring

day. And we could only do it in certain temperatures because epoxy won’t work below 10 degrees. With an epoxy floor, it probably requires about five visits. The labour costs of epoxy make it a prohibitive product in a garage. Epoxy is designed for warehouses, where you’ve got the meterage to make it costeffective.” There is an epoxy-type floor that can go down much more quickly and at lower temperatures. “MMA, it’s a product that works on a chemical reaction that can be put down in -2 temperatures if you like. MMA is a day’s instalment. The problem with MMA is two things. First of all, if you’ve got an integral garage in your house, the smell of MMA will literally have you running from your house with your eyes bleeding because it’s a chemical reaction. And also the pricing, you’d be looking at approximately two and a half times the price of epoxy resin.” There’s another aspect to consider, too. “Epoxy resin floor systems are designed for an industrial slab of concrete. The slab on a warehouse would be 12 inches or more. The slab on your garage is only six inches. The problem with only having a six-inch slab is that it’s prone to cracking and movement. You will get settlement cracks which will then transfer to the resin and you cannot patch epoxy resin. So unfortunately if you get cracks it’s a case of you’ll have to redo the whole floor.”

34 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

Plastic and rubberised tiles, they’re not going to crack and move with the concrete base. And they can’t take too long to fit. What about those? “Plastic tiles, I avoid. We’ve had a number of instances where they swell and they lift. They can also harbour damp because customers haven’t sealed their floors.” What Rob recommends to cover your garage floor comes as a surprise. “My preferred choice is to use porcelain tiles with a degree of anti-slip. People think they’ll crack. That’s an old wife’s tale. Yes, they will crack if you drop a brick on them or a lump hammer, but they’re not going to crack if you drive over them or walk on them. Or even move an engine hoist or a trolley jack over them, provided they are laid properly. What you can’t do is just lay the tiles straight onto adhesive, because you are creating pockets of air. What you need to do is what we call buttering. You spread the floor with adhesive and butter a smooth skin of adhesive on the back of the tile. When you drop the tile on the floor, you can hear it almost suck in and what you’re then doing is getting rid of any pockets of air. You need porcelain tiles too, because porcelain tiles are frost resistant so they won’t crack. I wouldn’t recommend glazed tiles because if you come in with wet tires, you’ll end up going through the back of your garage wall.” It’s the stability and longevity of porcelain tiles that Rob is a fan of. “With

tiles, once they’re down they’re down for a lifetime. We’ve got jobs that we did 15 years ago, and they still look as good as the day when they went down.” And if there is an issue, it’s easy to rectify. “It’s very easy if you damage a tile to lift that one tile and replace it. Whereas, if you knacker a resin floor you have to redo the whole job.” If it’s the best, surely it’s the most expensive. Tiling your garage floor sounds expensive. “Resin will cost you as much money if not more, and there’s a chance that the product can fail. Cracks in concrete don’t transfer to a tiled floor. You don’t even need to use expensive tiles, if you go to Walls and Floors they have tiles that will do the job and they’re only probably £10 to £12 a square metres. The skill is having it professionally laid.” Porcelain tiles and suspended ceilings are not what you imagine when you think of the ultimate garage. The image is a long way from those garages seen in the quick-cut bass-laden flashy social media videos, too. But in the pursuit of true quality and functional slick design, rather than just superficial glitz and glamour, Rob and his company have found solutions that last for decades and that he can be proud of and build a solid business reputation upon. For a 5% discount with Garage Concepts, use the code GC001 when you inquire 0800 0872 444 www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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Totally Frank Words: Will Beaumont Photos: Chaydon Ford

Frank Stephenson worked in BMW’s design department for over a decade, he penned some of the company’s most influential cars and witnessed the creation of even more. Who better to talk us through the 70 years of BMW design that the club has been around to witness?

can’t pretend that being a motoring journalist is the most stressful career, it really isn’t. But there are moments before any job that can spike the anxiety of any motoring writer. Before any feature with a classic car, will the owner turn up? So far, I’ve never been stood up. It’s similarly nerve-racking before an interview. Will the guest arrive? Will they arrive on time? So far I’ve been lucky on both accounts. Will they be pleasant and amiable, or will they be a demanding diva with a complicated coffee order that requires milk squeezed from exotic beans only found at the foothills of the Andes? Sadly, that situation isn’t as rare as the others. Not even the swanky café area at the heart of Cotswold BMW’s sprawling dealership can completely calm my nerves as I wait for ex-BMW designer, Frank Stephenson, ahead of our live broadcast that evening. And I’m still anxious when his car pulls up to the door. Take a look at Frank’s career and you can see why. He’s a big deal. After studying automotive design at Art Center College of Design in California he was employed by Ford. He then moved to BMW and worked for the Munich company for over a decade. Stephenson can take credit for two of the most influential BMW designs of the past 30 years, the first generation

36 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

X5 and the new Mini. Simply being here is all well and good, he certainly has the credibility and authority to talk me through BMW’s design history, but the success of the night really depends on just how engaging and charming he is. And more worrying for me, how well we get on. As soon as he steps out of his taxi, halfway through having a joke with the driver, all my tension evaporates. His huge smile, open posture and deep chuckle are captivating and I know the event is going to be a success. To top it off, his coffee, no make that his drinks order is wonderfully simple: pretty much anything with caffeine. Cotswold BMW is full of cars, far more than we had anticipated. The plan was to have eight, one per decade from the 1950s up to today to celebrate the Club’s

70-year lifespan so far, but there’s half a dozen more than that. Next to the superrare 1957 BMW 503 is a 1M, an E92 M3. There’s an immaculate AC Schnitzer-tuned E39, an Alpina B3 Touring, two E9s one of which is a CSL, a Z8, a Z3, an E46 Coupé, an E30, a 2002 and an E24 M635CSi. That’s before we get to the brand new cars. Where to start? There’s an obvious choice, an early E53 X5. Frank’s design. As this was BMW’s first offroader, SAV, SUV… whatever you want to call it, you’d expect that a lot of time was dedicated to the task of getting the design correct. Apparently not according to Frank: “We were told we had six weeks. I assumed that was how long they were giving our design team for the sketch period.” Which is a tight timescale to come up with some resolved sketches. “The six weeks was www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

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actually for us to create a full-size scale model. The sketch time was my flight out to Italy. We had to go to Italy because no German unions would allow us to work the hours we’d need to put in to create a full-scale model in such a short space of time.” So who got to see the sketches that you created before you got into the modelling process? “No one. Just me. Not even Chris Bangle, who was head of design at the time. I turned up to this industrial area just outside Turin in Italy and was met by an Italian translator and three rather old modellers. None of them was younger than 70.” Tasked with turning his freshly-penned X5 design into a model in a matter of weeks, Frank was uneasy. “I was a bit unsure and asked, ‘Are you sure these guys are up to working 18-hour days for six weeks?’ I was then told that it would be absolutely fine and these were the same guys who created the design model of the gorgeous Lamborghini Miura back in the late ‘60s. For me, it was like working with Michelangelo, Rembrandt and da Vinci. “In Italy at the time, they still created models traditionally with plaster. Not clay. So the entire time we were in the studio, there were puddles of water on the floor from the fresh plaster and dust in the air from where they’d carved and filed away at the model. “They worked so well as a team. One guy slapping on new plaster, one guy would get the shape right and another one was all about the details.”

38 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

Despite the unconventional and truncated process, Frank’s design for the X5 was signed off for production. Much of that success is down to Frank’s understanding of BMW’s design history. To create an all-new model, one that’s still distinctly a BMW, you have to be a scholar of the brand. Thankfully he had a helping hand when he was younger: “My mother had a 2002tii, so I spent a lot of time as a kid in that car. I have a real affinity with BMWs.” But what defines a BMW? “Traditionally, the cars are athletic and sporty. They look like an athlete that has just put on a well-tailored suit. They’re lithe. They’re well-engineered, but they‘re engineered to be light with nothing extra or

over the top and that’s reflected in the way they’re designed. That sportiness comes from their stance and attitude, things like the shark nose that slants forward make them look like they’re moving when they’re not. “They have a line that continuously runs down the side, that’s often unbroken. The proportion of the glasshouse to body side is large, too, and that makes them look light.” A red two-door E30 provides the perfect example to illustrate most of Frank’s points, then we move on to the E39. “Some of the sportiness and intent comes from a very small distance between the top of the front wheel arch and the bonnet, and a big distance from the front of the door and bulkhead to the front wheel.” Beautiful and elegant it may be, but the 50s 503 doesn’t exhibit many of these BMW traditions. It was before BMW really galvanised its signature look, Frank explains. Still, even without a shark nose and BMW proportions, there’s plenty to admire: “With older handbuilt cars like this, you get really subtle lines. Like this one that reaches along the top of the fender. It appears and disappears and you can’t quite tell where it begins or ends. It has such smooth uninterrupted panels, too. If this were a modern, mass-produced car, there’d be a panel gap here.” As he describes the graceful panels of the 503, one word keeps popping up, surfacing. You hear car designers mention it a lot, but what does it mean? “Surfacing

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In 2002, Frank left BMW to work at Ferrari, “It was a dream. You don’t say no to the pope if he invites you to the Vatican.”

is what we call the treatment of the panels, the curves and the tension that create the shapes. For example, you won’t ever see a straight line on a car, except maybe on a Cybertruck. There’s always a slight curve or a bow to every line or surface.” It’s this understanding of how to treat the lines and panels of a car that separates car designers from other disciplines. “Product designers don’t make very good car designers, it’s not in the practice of any other part of design to get a sense of movement like you need to with car design. You have to be more conscious of light and reflections and how they hit and flow along the panels.” Frank is using the shape of an E46 Coupé to help me understand his description, running his finger down the line of the car and the back of his hands to show me the curves. He has to make a comment on the car before we move on: “I really think this version of the 3 Series will go down in history. It’s one of the last www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMWs to really embody traditional BMW design elements.” In 2002, Frank left BMW to work at Ferrari, “It was a dream. You don’t say no to the pope if he invites you to the Vatican.” While working in Italy, thanks to his success with the Mini, he was given the task of designing the new Fiat 500. But creating supercars was what he really wanted to continue doing, who wouldn’t? And he moved to England to become Design Director at McLaren Automotive in 2008. In the early 2000s, after he’d left, BMW’s design language began to change. Frank’s boss at BMW, Chris Bangle, introduced a brave new look which was given the title, Flame Surfacing. Many of the attributes Frank identified as typical BMW attributes were abandoned in favour of this radical new look. It’s not one he’s much of a fan of. “I don’t like lines for lines sake. Or unnecessary vents.” We’re poking around a 1M. “I bet if I put my hand

in there, it’d go nowhere. Who wants a saggy bulge here?” Frank points to the lower sill of the little M car. “It looks like whoever sat in the car has buckled it in the middle.” Critical, certainly. But it’s so plainly his view that, even though it comes from a position of authority, it doesn’t sound disrespectful. Perhaps, because he’s willing to pick fault with designs he does like too, that any criticism rarely feels too negative. For example, many of the details on a late E24 really aren’t to his taste: “The bumpers, they’re too much. These fins on the B-pillar, you don’t need those.” There are even elements of the 3.0 CSL, a car he admires deeply, that he finds fault with. “There are lots of things we wouldn’t do now. These stuck-on grilles, the stripe and the chrome arches. Modern cars have their details integrated into them. But this is how it was done back then. And it doesn’t matter, because the design and proportions of this car are so perfect. It’s the result of one man’s vision.” After we’ve both taken a moment to appreciate what a stunning car the CSL is, we wander over to the Z8. I want to call it a retro version of BMW’s 507, but that’s the wrong term. Frank tells me why. “Retro suggests that something actually looks old. And the Z8 looks modern, or it did in the 2000s. Yes, there are similarities to the older 507, but it’s not replicating an older car.” Thanks to the Mini project, Frank BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

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Frank Stephenson with Will Beaumont and Club Chairman, Martyn Goodwin

understands what it’s like to create such a car. “When I did the new Mini, I didn’t look at an original Mini at all. I knew what one looked like, it was in my mind but I wasn’t constantly referring back to it. What I did was design the ‘69 Mini, the ‘79 Mini and the ‘89 Mini, as if it had been updated over the decades rather than staying the same, then I designed the 1999 Mini.” It’s a great point. We don’t call the latest Porsche 911 retro because every iteration from the original to the latest version has existed. With cars that didn’t get redesigned for every decade, like the Mini, the Fiat 500 and the Z8, the designers didn’t have the luxury of a recent model to play off, they had to fill in the gaps. When it comes to the Z8, the result was simply stunning. “I was at BMW while Henrik Fisker was designing the Z8. It’s a really beautiful car. The quality and the tolerances are so tight. You can see it in the way the exhaust comes through the body at the back. Most cars you see today that do that, you’re not seeing the actual exhaust but some tips that aren’t even connected to the system. But this is the actual exhaust and that’s difficult to do.” Such achievements aren’t just the work of the designer, but the engineers who work with them to realise their concepts. It’s refreshing to hear Frank talk so enthusiastically about engineers. The stereotypical engineer is one that stifles the creativity of a designer, tells them their ideas aren’t feasible and are too expensive. One of Frank’s designs, the Escort Cosworth, was famously altered by Ford’s finance department. The wild rear wing on the rally homologation special was meant to be even more outrageous, it should have had three tiers to it. Sadly, the finished car made do with just two: a boot spoiler and the big wing that followed the

40 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

roofline. According to Frank, however, it was a very different story in Munich. “At BMW, an engineering and design-led company, the culture is totally different to one like Ford’s. At BMW the engineers work out a way to make your designs happen. In fact, there were times when I was able to improve designs based on the engineers’ input. On the X5 I had designed it so the spare wheel was mounted on the back behind a sculpted panel. It wasn’t exposed, but you could tell it was there. The engineers developed the car so that the spare didn’t need to be mounted on the back and we were able to make the back-end cleaner.” Even aspects as important to engineers like aerodynamics take a back seat to design. “No one buys a car because its drag coefficient is 0.03 better, they buy the one that looks better. So aerodynamics does not play a significant role in car design, it’s something engineers worry about. They might make slight changes to a design to improve certain aspects but design is king.” Next to the Z8 is a collection of BMW’s latest cars. If you thought Chris Bangle’s flame-surfaced cars were controversial, they’ve got nothing on the gargantuan grilles of the new cars. We head for an i4 and, just for a minute, I think Frank might be lost for words. Thankfully, he isn’t. “I’d say to the new design team: ‘step back, think about the emotional design direction you really want to go in.’ It’s like two different designers were working on the car, one on the front and another at the back. And they didn’t get on well. There’s no real Hofmeister Kink.” The angled line on most BMWs that connects the bottom of the rear pillar meets the lower window line. “It feels like such a shame to have lost such a strong design element.” It’s not all doom and gloom. “Some

Frank with the Cotswold Motor Group team

Frank Stephenson and Club photographer, Chaydon Ford

of the surfacing, and the way that’s been treated, has been done with skill. The subtle crease on the rear bumper quarter and the line down the side is crisp.” Frank might not think the results of BMW’s latest design decisions are ideal, but he is sympathetic to the challenges that the designers face. “How do you create a strong identity when things like grilles aren’t so necessary on electric cars? It’s an even bigger challenge for interior designers, there is a lot of great work being done by UX and UI designers for the screens in cars. But when a car is turned off and they’ve just got blank screens, how do you make that look interesting?” Life for the designer isn’t getting any more straightforward, then. I am not about to make things easy for this designer, either. I ask what I think will be the trickiest question of the night: if you had to choose just one of these BMWs, which one would you take home? I am wrong, it’s far from difficult. Immediately Franks responds: “The CSL.” www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

COTSWOLD CHELTENHAM.

At Cotswold we work hard to deliver the best customer experience we can. From Sales, to Aftersales and our group Bodyshop, you can be assured of a 5 star service. If you’re in the area, why not call by and view our selection of 17 classic BMWs, including a stunning BMW Z8? When you check- in, visit our customer café where our hosts are on hand to greet you with complimentary bean-to-cup lattés, refreshments and freshly baked pastries. Cotswold Cheltenham - where customer service matters. To get in touch call 01242 335 335 or visit cotswoldcheltenhambmw.co.uk. Cotswold Cheltenham Corinthian Way Cheltenham GL51 6UP

BMW CAR CLUB’S 70th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS - KEITH BRIDGE Keith (L) and his mate Albert sat on the bonnet of Keith’s Mk2 Jaguar at Santa Pod in 1973. Not bad for a starter car (lovin’ the 70s hair and big flares – Ed)

xxx

Flying the Flag! How did I get involved with the BMW Car Club? - Let’s go back to 1970...

started work in 1970, at age 17, in a BMC parts department, knowing I wanted to do something to do with cars. I was offered two parts jobs, one with a VW agent or one with BMC. Remember, Volkswagen only really had Beetles around at that time, while BMC had Morris, MG and Wolseley. I learned all the different aspects of the job over six years, but then saw an advert for a BMW dealer requiring an experienced parts man. So late summer 1976, I started with BMW. I remember the M.D. had one of the last 2500s as his company car... Total number of staff in the dealership? 15 or 16! Yes, total. Sales, service, and parts. Compare that with today, which could be around a hundred including a body shop. It was 1976, so no computers and no printers. Although in Parts, I had a microfiche reader for the small, laminated, flat exploded diagrams. You’d slide these cards under the glass plate of the reader and they’d be magnified onto a large screen. At the initial dealer, I was the whole parts department, but as a parts manager I had a new E21 316. ENF 527Y, where are you now? After the move to my second dealer, I then had an E12 518i (a part-ex), then an E28 525i (ditto),

42 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

Flying the flag. Keith’s beloved Carmine Red (1 of 1) E28 M5 at the Sharknose Meeting, Holland, in 2019. Keith is a true club stalwart, always selling the club to BMW owners and flying that Sharknose club flag at events like the Sunday Scramble at Bicester

amongst other swappers. At the third dealer, I had new cars, including two E34 520i Saloons, an E30 320i Saloon and an E30 316 Touring. I have never owned a new BMW, but have driven quite a few.

I could never afford one, with mortgage, family (wife and two daughters), holidays… I bought my first BMW, a 1987 E28 520i manual, around 1997, and second and current BMW, a 1986 E28 M5, in 2004. The 520i left us in 2006 and it was still running well at 180,000 miles. Again, E802 TBA where are you? Around 2000, Jeff Heywood, the BMWCC Chairman at the time, asked me if I would allow for my name and work phone number to appear in Straight Six as a Parts Problem Solver, for Car Club members’ parts queries and problems. Because I saw it as being a part of my daily job normally, which I still enjoyed, I agreed. Quite often I’d receive calls from members from all over the country ringing for advice. Questions like, “does this part fit this model?” If I solved the problem I could sell the genuine parts to them - a win-win situation for everyone (and an invaluable service – Ed). The Club was a different animal when I joined in 1987. Malcolm and Kay Firth were North West area chairs. We had a regular monthly meeting and visited various places of interest. Some of the best were at Manchester Airport behindthe-scenes tours. At different times, we visited the Airport Fire Station, with two www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Feature huge fire engines for us to explore, with a central steering wheel so the driver could enter and exit from either side, and be sold on to both RHD/LHD countries. They could blow water and foam more than 100 feet, perfect for all the detailers out there! Another trip to the Airport took in the Maintenance Hangar where they repaired aircraft and carried out resprays. I have a photo taken from the top of an aircraft tail fin, looking forward, taken from scaffolding erected for a respray, which required something like three tons of paint! The wiring loom in the cabin roof would give an auto-electrician a nightmare, too; it must have been about two feet in diameter. One of the most fascinating trips was to a sub-contractors for in-flight food, just on the outskirts of the airport perimeter fence. Talk about organised chaos. They made a choice of meals. Not just vegetarian, vegan or halal options, but also for different classes (business, economy, etc.) with different crockery and utensils for different airlines. while at the same time trollies come in with the remains of meals to be emptied, washed, dried and refilled, and all done just-intime. Absolute bedlam. We went to Oktoberfest 1999 at Donington, Woburn Abbey National Rally in 2002, the National Festival at Gaydon numerous times (helping out in the Club Shop for a number of years), local runs

Keith pictured at Woburn Abbey in 2002 for the club’s Golden birthday celebrations. Keith often manned the club stand and shop at National events where his experience working in parts came to the fore. To the right of the photo is the Mobil Oil million mile E30 325i that we used on display at a number of events

and visits around Cheshire, Lancashire, and even changing our money to go into Yorkshire! Dealer visits, Tatton Park Festivals (sometimes sharing with Porsche), Harewood House, museums, weekends away including the Bicester Sunday Scrambles with fellow NW members, Sharknose Festival in Holland 2019. I still enjoy them. I hear that only about 10-15% of Car Club members go

to rallies, runs and visits. The other 8590% need to get out more. They might even enjoy it. Lynn and I have had a great time with the Club. With plenty more to come. We have visited places not previously on our radar, met plenty of lovely people and seen lots of lovely cars, both standard and modified. We hope to be around for a few years yet.

CADWELL PARK TRACKDAY Thursday 30th June Members Price: £195

Call 01970 267 989 or visit www.bmwcarclubgb.uk/shop to book www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

Green hell. Less than 2 hours’ drive from AC Schnitzer’s headquarters in Aachen lies the Nürburgring, winding its way through the Eiffel mountains and affectionately known to some as “The Green Hell”. This is one of several locations, along with public roads, used by AC Schnitzer to test and develop AC Schnitzer suspension, performance upgrades and other components. Extensive R&D combined with real world testing is why AC Schnitzer upgrades feel the way they do. Sure footed, but agile. Comfortable, but precise. Thrilling, but still perfectly suited to everyday use. And all backed by our industry-leading warranty solution. Get in touch to experience our latest project, the “Green Hell” Edition ACS1 35i, or for the location of your nearest AC Schnitzer dealer.

*Images show BMW M135i 2021 model. BMW dealer enquiries welcome. E&OE. Finance available subject to status.

Performance upgrades Sports exhausts Aerodynamics

Suspension upgrades Alloy wheels Interior accessories

AC SCHNITZER G80/2/3 M3/M4

Sweet Schnitzer Music! Words – Jeff Heywood – Photos – AC Schnitzer

Power and elegance need not be mutually exclusive, the G82 M4 Coupé and the G83 M4 Convertible modified by AC Schnitzer prove this in an impressive and irresistible way. Ever since the Aachen-based AC Schnitzer started tuning BMWs 35 years ago, petrolheads have grown to appreciate that there is further potential to be extracted beyond the standard BMW Series models, and nobody does it better than Schnitzer...

he AC Schnitzer performance upgrades for the new G80/2/3 M cars are a perfect case in point; with the standard 510hp/650Nm M3/M4 Competition you can go down Schnitzer’s Stage I route that will see your M3/M4 producing 590hp and a hefty 750Nm. If the owner chooses the Stage II tune, a sports exhaust back box (with 110mm carbon sport tailpipes) is included to reduce back pressure while helping to raise power to 610hp. Both tuning steps include a warranty for up to five years or 80,000kms (depends on home country) while a homologation certificate is also provided. Matching the performance upgrade, both M4 models from AC Schnitzer have the option of a sweet sounding exhaust system constructed from stainless steel, complete with quad carbon sport tailpipes, each sized at 110mm diameter. If you decide to just go with a purely visual conversion, preferring to leave the engine stock yet still desiring a sporty exhaust note, the full Schnitzer sports exhaust is available to order separately, as are the AC Schnitzer carbon sport tailpipes. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

AC Schnitzer also offers a full kit of aero accessories and trim parts, including a front splitter and the front winglets and blades, design elements for the bonnet, while custom blades attach where the BMW side gills are on the car’s front wings…

Flexible, infinitely variable settings are possible with the AC Schnitzer RS coilover suspension for both rebound and compression, guaranteeing agile and sporty handling; the kit also lowers the car front and rear by approximately 30 to 40mm. Alternatively, AC Schnitzer also produces a spring kit, which lowers the M4 by approximately 15 to 20mm compared to the standard car, whilst also improving driving dynamics due to the lower centre of gravity. Two different sets of Schnitzer wheels, AC1 and AC3, are available for the M4 Convertible and Coupé in three

The AC Schnitzer sports steering wheel offers the driver optimum control and comfort of his M3 or M4, thanks to a luxuriously trimmed rim in perforated Nappa leather and Alcantara with exquisite light grey stitching. An AC Schnitzer badge at TDC provides you with the info you need when pressing on as to where the wheels are pointing and the Schnitzer carbon paddles are deeply desirable BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

Feature AC SCHNITZER G80/2/3 M3/M4 colourways. AC1 light alloy wheels are available in bi-colour Silver and Anthracite, Anthracite or optional gloss black finish, with the front wheels sized at 10.0J x 20” (with 285/30 R 20 tyres). The rears are also sized at 10.0J x 20” (with slightly wider 295/30 R 20 tyres). The 20” AC3 lightweight forged wheels have partlypolished and partly-painted surfaces and come in silver with anthracite details, anthracite with silver details or an optional gloss black finish. When it comes to aerodynamic components, AC Schnitzer always seems to come up with the goods, working both dynamically and aesthetically. AC Schnitzer has a front splitter (additional downforce of 40kg) for both the M4 Coupé and Convertible. The AC Schnitzer Design Package with deflector set for the front wings (four pieces) and design elements for the bonnet (two pieces) as well as the side skirt protection show that AC Schnitzer helps provide the show to match the go… For the Coupé, AC Schnitzer also offers a carbon racing rear wing which adds additional downforce of an extra 50kg to the rear, while a gurney flap for this same wing is available. That raises downforce to 70kg. Also available exclusively for the Coupé is the AC Schnitzer carbon boot spoiler which provides 20 kg additional downforce. The Schnitzer rear roof spoiler completes the range. The M4 Convertible by AC Schnitzer also benefits from some aero additions: a carbon rear diffuser, rear skirt protection foil, AC Schnitzer emblems (left and right) are also available for open air fans. All aero products can be seen in the various photos. The interior design of the M4 models is stylish and functional. One of the main

46 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

AC Schnitzer provide three options when it comes to providing downforce at the rear in the shape of three wing and boot spoilers. The first is a raised GT style wing that provides 50kg of downforce (not shown), while the same spoiler with a gurney flap raises the downforce to 70kg – see photo. They also offer a more discreet lip-type boot spoiler, which provides 20kgs of downforce

AC Schnitzer supply these engine covers for BMW’s S58B30T0 engine found in the G80/2/3, providing the engine bay with a real optical lift

controlling elements when driving is the steering wheel, so AC Schnitzer offers a sports steering wheel that is a delight to use as well as being visually stunning. The steering wheel rim is made from perforated black Nappa leather and black Alcantara. A light grey cross stitch seam provides that touch of class to go with the sporty feel of the wheel. With recessed grips on the right and left for the driver’s thumbs and the light grey motorsport indicator with AC Schnitzer logo centred for perfect orientation when on the move finishes off this wheel a treat. AC Schnitzer also provide exclusivelydesigned high-quality accessories for both the M4 Coupé and Convertible. An

AC Schnitzer have an RS coilover suspension kit (as shown in the photo) for the G82 and G83 M4 that lowers the car by 30 to 40mm. They also offer a set of sports springs that lower the car by 15 to 20mm

– AC Schnitzer offer the AC1 alloy wheels and AC3 forged wheels both sized at 20” and both offered in three colour choices

aluminium gearshift paddles, aluminium pedals, aluminium footrest, an aluminium Black Line cover for the i-Drive controller and an aluminium keyholder round off the goodies from Schnitzer.

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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THE IMPACT OF ETHANOL IN PETROL

Why my M5 drinks a lot… Words – Robert Walton Sharp Photos – Jeff Heywood/BMW Press

Although the ethanol content in fuel is diluted to 10%, I’d still be wary of using it long term in the engine of a classic car like the E30 M3’s S14, E9’s M30 and the E28 M5 and E24 M635 CSi’s M88/3

Following the introduction of E10 petrol in September 2021, plus a few articles and comments in Straight Six, it is possible that some readers, contributors and, sadly, politicians, are still confused about the pros and cons of ethanol in fuel.

thanol has a lower energy density, it is bad for some plastics and rubbers and it absorbs water. The latter means it can corrode bare metal and eat away at fuel lines. However, at 10% dilution with petrol, the corrosive effects are only just noticeable, and this, perhaps, is why the 10% level was chosen. There is a lot of scientific research behind this, which I reference and you can check it out online, see below. The key thing you should do is read the Owner’s Handbook that came with your car. I dug mine out (there have been a few other purchases since 1988) and it said no more than 3% methanol. The car was probably fine before, as petrol was “up to” 5% ethanol, but with the change to E10, I was concerned. So, I did my research and decided in October to switch some of my cars to Esso Supreme (at 147.9p/L) as it is 0% ethanol in my part of the UK. See www.esso.co.uk/en-gb/fuels/petrol for more information. The other car on the road, my E66 760Li with BMW’s finest (when it left the factory, at least) N73 V12 can take E10 fuel. In fact, the manual says its sensors can cope with 91-100RON or higher. Great! It is getting supermarket regular from wherever is cheapest, because when I tanked up with Sainsbury’s regular yesterday it was 145.9p/L. As I type this, Esso Supreme shot from 168.9p/L to 178.9p/L and who knows where the price is going. The PetrolPrices website has been invaluable, but the app crashes occasionally from high demand. Further research on ethanol in fuel to write this article unearthed from www.iopscience.iop.org/ article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac2e35/ meta and www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/ pnas.2101084119, which basically lay

48 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

Robert’s stunning Monaco Blue E61 M5 has also been switched over to Esso Supreme 99RON, which contains no ethanol in much of the UK

bare the true environmental cost of bioethanol in the US. These investigations reveal that 10% ethanol in fuel does not produce the desired 20% reduction in CO2, it actually increases CO2 by 24%. Yes, yes, crops take CO2 from the air and when cars burn it, crops can use it over again. However, the change of land-use to corn means an increase in ploughing, more fertilisers and that releases vast quantities of CO2. It also increases crop prices by 20-30%. Funny that. So, this research shows that the original decision to go for bioethanol was not clearly thought through. A 20% reduction in CO2 sounded great, but at 10% dilution the reality is only a 2% reduction on paper after 28 years. As they got it wrong, the world suffered the land-use CO2 penalty and won’t benefit at all. The US Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is up for review and maybe this time they’ll get it right. Although, when you see the next great idea from politicians, ask how many of them have an engineering or science degree, or did a lobbyist make up their mind at a business meeting.

The Heywood’s M850i runs much smoother and is definitely more economical running on Esso’s Supreme 99RON petrol…

Meanwhile, the E61 M5 has also gone on the wagon. Its tank is full with Esso Supreme because it is 99RON and has a higher energy content. For many years I believed the much repeated hype surrounding Shell VPower, but now that has 5% ethanol while in much of the UK Esso 99 doesn’t. Your mileage, performance and belief systems may vary. I must admit our G15 M850i has run much cleaner/smoother on Shell Synergy Supreme 99RON since I switched over last September and on a long run, the fuel economy savings have been quite noticeable. - Ed www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Feature

The E46 330Ci (Coupe Injection) Words – Richard Stern Photos – Richard Stern & BMW Press

recall being invited to the launch of the E46 Coupé back in 1998. The saloon version had been launched a year before and this new 3 Series Coupé was the next best 3 Series to buy. There’s just something so right with the styling of the E46 Coupé; curvaceous arches, proportions just right, and build quality better than the previous generations. Of course BMW saved the best to last with the silky smooth straight-six threelitre engine, the first versions were the 316Ci, 318Ci, 320Ci, 323Ci, 325Ci and 328Ci. Plus the diesel versions, of course. Typically, the Sports styling looked better than the Special Edition version (SE) thanks to its larger front lower air intake and rear black lower valance. The body shell of the E46 was claimed by BMW to be 70% more rigid than its E36 predecessor. Aluminium was used for an increased quantity of suspension components to reduce the unsprung mass and give the car a 50:50 weight distribution. The E46 was the first 3 Series to be available with an engine using Valvetronic (variable valve timing). Various electronic features were also introduced to the 3 Series in the E46 generation, including satellite navigation, electronic brake-force distribution, rain-sensing wipers and LED tail-lights for the facelift models. The 3.0 Litre petrol engine is silky smooth, with an instantly recognisable www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

engine note and effortless power. 0-60 mph was 6.5 seconds and on a gentle run you should easily achieve mid-thirty mpg. That 3.0 Litre 228Bhp petrol engine is one of BMW’s finest engines still today, it was used across the range and in other partnerships BMW had at the time. Fast forward twenty odd years and now these 330Ci Coupés are getting hard to find, of course the dreaded rust has now surfaced on many, especially the front wings, boot lids and rear arches. Many have gone to BMW Heaven and others converted into track day racers or just modified. Some tastefully, some not. I am now seeing dealers demand nearly

£10,000 for a good sub-100k mileage 330Cis, and this price is only going to continue upwards. It’s getting difficult to find good straight original E46 M3s now too, and with the prices of the M car increasing, the next best thing is the 330Ci. The non-M coupé actually makes a good daily driver with the slightly softer suspension than the M3 and it’s certainly more economical. Most seem to be automatic rather than manual cars, of course there is the slightly small 325Ci and these can be found in similar conditions to the 330Ci, but priced lower accordingly. Maybe an Individual 325Ci would be the better investment? BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

Feature Williams F1 The other even rarer version of the was an extremely limited run of special called the Williams F1 to celebrate the partnership. These cars featured a fantastic deep Le Mans Blue metallic paint with contrasting grey and blue leather seats, needlework of the William’s logos on the head rests, William’s F1 stickers on the front wings and an official numbered plaque on the dash.

Alpina B3 and B3S

The Clubsport 600 330Ci Clubsport models were manufactured, with only a handful left now. You’ll struggle to find a good one now as it’s near impossible. I have seen a mint dealer low mileage example for £1 under £20K. The Clubsport model sits neatly between the 330Ci Sport model and the legendary M3 Coupé. Easily distinguished by its distinctive new rear M spoiler, other exterior additions include sports suspension settings and exclusive 18-inch double spoke alloy wheels. Acousticsalo underwent a change, 20kgs of insulation material was removed to increase the engine’s sound. The interior reflects the sporty character of the exterior. Leather and Alcantara sports seats, shortened M gear lever, door sill with Clubspor’ model designation and special silver aluminium cubed interior trim were fitted as standard and create a sense of supreme driving precision. The 3 Series Clubsport

Coupé was available in three colours: Titanium Silver, and two individual colours Estoril Blue and Velvet blue.

Of course, who could forget Alpina’s versions of the E46 330? The B3 Coupé developed a healthy 280bhp and hit 60mph in 5.7 seconds. While the B£S had 305bhp and was 0.3 seconds faster to 60mph. Prices for these seem to sit between the Clubsport and M3 depending on condition and mileage. When I searched for Alpinas I did find more E46 Convertible versions than the Coupé in the adverts.

Conclusion Above BMW’s silky smooth 3.0 Litre straight six The E46 received a facelift in 2004 with different lights, restyled front wings, larger kidney grilles before manufacturing finished in 2005. There are some very late registered 06 cars around with higher UK road tax, sadly. But whether you are looking for a pre-facelift or not, the choice is getting harder and harder to find a good one of this classic E46 3 Series Coupé.

50 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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P ZERO Experience Returns - Get ready to take to the track! ™

n 2022 the exclusive P ZERO™ Experience returns to the United Kingdom for not one, but two adrenaline-filled events. Join Pirelli at the world-renowned Silverstone Circuit on 17th and 18th May 2022 for a truly unforgettable experience as you bring your own supercar and get out on track. You will also test drive the latest models from the world’s top car manufacturers, complete with lunch in the BRDC Clubhouse. Why not top off a great summer and join us at Donington Park as it hosts P ZERO™ Experience for the very first time on 20th and 21st September 2022. More information and booking details coming soon!

Experience some of the most iconic circuits in your own supercar thanks to Pirelli. Exclusive one-day VIP passes are £850pp, with companion passes also available for £150. Secure your place for Silverstone today at pzeroexperience.pirelli.com. See T&Cs for eligible car list.

Pirelli Pre-Paid Mastercard Offer BMW Car Club members can benefit from an exclusive offer of a Pirelli prepaid Mastercard. Available only when purchasing Pirelli tyres from a Pirelli Performance Centres or official BMW dealer, the card’s value depends on the size and quantity of tyres purchased as follows: Where can you get your tyres fitted? Visit www.pirelli.co.uk/bmwcarclub for nearest participating dealers. Terms and conditions apply.

52 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

Rim Size

Two Tyres

Four Tyres

16” and below

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crossword BMW Car Club GB Crossword 1

Across 1. 9. 10. 11. 12. 14.

16. 19.

Winner of last month’s crossword Pete Evans All entrants for the April issue’s crossword must be received into the office by 11th April. 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

April 2022 Crossword

Answers to March 2022 Crossword Across: 1. Vengeance, 8. EVE, 9. XCE, 10. NOx, 11. Ariel, 13. Celtic, 15. Owzat, 17. No, 18. RA (Riders Association), 19. Turku, 21. Alonso, 25. Klein, 26. Nos, 28. VNU, 29. Ino, 30. Raikkonen Down: 1. Ventora, 2. Evo, 3. Next Z, 4. Exact, 5. Acre, 6. Neil, 7. Enlink, 12. ET (Einpress Tiefe), 14. Coulson, 16. Walker, 19. Ton UK, 20. Ronin, 22. OL (Oldham), 23. Nevi (iVentures), 24. Sink, 27. One

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Across Down 1. A type of rock and BMW grey metallic 1. BMW silver [code A83] and light green 21. paint [code 237] colour (7) metallic paint [code 334] colours (7) 22. 9. Concerned with, operating by, or producing 2. Initials for UK company founded in 1989 23. 24. electricity (10) to research and develop space propulsion 10. The exchange of something for money (4) engines for future hypersonic travel (1,1,1) 26. 11. Could be twin carburettor (1,1) 3. Café just off London North Circular 28. 32. 12. Postcode for the Central England location historically used for motoring events, including Down of Jardine BMW (1,1) BMW Car Club meets (3) 1. BMW silver [code A83] and light green metallic paint [code 334] colours (7) 14. Commonly-used initials for the largest 4. Initials for Australian region of which Darwin 2. Initials for UK company founded in 1989 to research and develop spacecontainer propulsion engines for futureline hypersonic (1,1,1) shipping shipping sincetravel late is the capital city (1,1) 3. Café just off London North Circular historically used for motoring 2021events, (overtaking Maersk) 5. Commonly-used initials / shorform for including BMW Car Club(1,1,1) meets (3) 4. Initials for Australian region of which Darwin is the capital city (1,1) forinitials air-conditioning systems (7) infrared (1,1) 5.16. Shortform Commonly-used / shorform for infrared (1,1) 6. Suffix for E10 BMW 2002 with fuel injection, launched in 1971 (1,1,1) 19. BMW have in total recorded 72 rostrum 6. Suffix for E10 BMW 2002 with fuel injection, 7. Executive branch of the European Union, responsible for proposing enforcing EU laws and directing race administrative operations placeslegislation, at this famous motorcycle since launched in 1971 (1,1,1) (1,1) 8.GeorgCould be term used Meier’s for a group of battery victory powered vehicles “Schorsch” 1939 (1,1)(9) 7. Executive branch of the European Union, 9. More general term for what BMW describe as Touring (6,3) 20. Initials to designate responsible for proposing legislation, 12. A greaterused or increased amount (4) the full 13. Past of know (4) suspension andand electronics package on440]the 15. A type of cloud BMW grey metallic paint [code colour (7) enforcing EU laws and directing administrative 17. Commonly used unit of engine displacement volume, SI symbol cm latest(1,1) BMW R1250GS motorcycle models operations (1,1) 18. be software (1,1) (1,1) Could 8. Could be term used for a group of battery 25. Something you might shout out by way of a sign of disapproval (3) 26. Could be Martin Racing (based (1,1,1) 21. Could beAston description on place of powered vehicles (9) 27. Initials for term that is typically lower for mid-engine cars and therefore enhances their (1,1,1) 2002 product manufacture) formanoeuvrability a pre-August 9. More general term for what BMW describe 29. Could be throttle position (1,1) of what is now BMW’s most prestigious as Touring (6,3) 30. Country code for Holland (1,1) 31. be Optional Accessory (1,1) brandCould (5,1,1) 12. A greater or increased amount (4) 21. A small amount of energy, in fact 10-7 13. Past of know (4) joules or 100 nJ (3) 15. A type of cloud and BMW grey metallic 22. A lot of power, in fact 1018 watts or paint [code 440] colour (7) 1000 PW 17. Commonly used unit of engine 24. Commonly used initials for what BMW displacement volume, SI symbol cm3 (1,1) regard as an “integral element in the process 18. Could be software (1,1) of digital transformation” to enable data25. Something you might shout out by way of driven decisions (1,1) a sign of disapproval (3) 26. Could be Advanced Manufacturing 26. Could be Aston Martin Racing (1,1,1) Technology Centre (1,1,1,1) 27. Initials for term that is typically lower for 28. Term for a self-driving or driverless mid-engine cars and therefore enhances their vehicle (10) manoeuvrability (1,1,1) 32. Classic BMW silver paint [codes 57/60] 29. Could be throttle position (1,1) colour (7) 30. Country code for Holland (1,1) 31. Could be Optional Accessory (1,1) 20.

A type of rock and BMW grey metallic paint [code 237] colour (7) Concerned with, operating by, or producing electricity (10) The exchange of something for money (4) Could be twin carburettor (1,1) Postcode for the Central England location of Jardine BMW (1,1) Commonly-used initials for the largest shipping container shipping line since late 2021 (overtaking Maersk) (1,1,1) Shortform for air-conditioning systems (7) BMW have in total recorded 72 rostrum places at this famous motorcycle race since Georg "Schorsch" Meier's 1939 victory (1,1) Initials used to designate the full suspension and electronics package on the latest BMW R1250GS motorcycle models (1,1) Could be description (based on place of manufacture) for a pre-August 2002 product of what is now BMW's most prestigious brand (5,1,1) A small amount of energy, in fact 10-7 joules or 100 nJ (3) A lot of power, in fact 1018 watts or 1000 PW Commonly used initials for what BMW regard as an "integral element in the process of digital transformation" to enable data-driven decisions (1,1) Could be Advanced Manufacturing Technology Centre (1,1,1,1) Term for a self-driving or driverless vehicle (10) Classic BMW silver paint [codes 57/60] colour (7)

yourletters STOLEN CATALYTIC CONVERTER This might be of interest to members. My wife took our E39 2.5 Touring to work. It’s 20-years old on the 1st of March. She normally takes our 1 Series but I said I would clean it for her. She phoned me around 5.30pm to say the exhaust was blowing when she was leaving work, I said it should be alright to drive it home. I couldn’t believe it when she got it home. You could hear the car for ages before she arrived. I looked underneath and could see where it had been cut and the catalytic converter stolen. Seeing the pictures from the security camera, two guys pulled up with high-vis jackets on, jacked it up on the side and took 10 minutes to cut it off and disappear. I thought it might be of interest to show that they are targeting older cars. I didn’t think for a minute they would sort these cars! Ian McAuley

54 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

For sale: 2000 BMW E36 Z3 Roadster Rare individual paintwork in Mora Red Metallic, with an individual leather interior in Champagne and black with Mora Red piping. Electric heated seats, M Sport steering wheel and gear lever. Extensive remedial work carried out including new roof, undersealed, new brake pipes, professionally detailed. Much more receipts to show if required. 2016 Regional Concours d’ Elegance award winner, has featured in the Straight Six April 2019 issue and again in May 2021. MOT until 09/22. 74,500 miles. Original purchase documents available. £8,000 ovno. If interested call Neil on 07579 036865 for more details

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The AGM held at the Aviator Hotel, Sywell on Monday the 14th February was a fairly quiet affair with some 12 members present. In spite of frequent requests for volunteers for potential vacant positions, the Chairman spot for example, no applications were received so we are unchanged for ’22-’23. Chairman – Tony Skerrett Deputy Chairman – Peter Collison. Future Events March – We hope to visit Coventry Motor Museum. March – Proposed visit to Meguiar’s in Daventry. March 27th – Hopefully a visit to The Belge Café, Nash Rd, Beachampton, Milton Keynes MK19 6FW. Time TBA. April 17th – Delapre Abbey nr Northampton including Tea in the Orangery and Tour of Abbey. ETA 1300hrs. May 1st – Waterperry Gardens Display in the Gardens. Meet up at noon. Above events are now on BMWCC website under events. It was suggested that the following events be considered for trips: • Caffeine & Machine, Stratford-upon-Avon. • Sywell Aero Museum. • Gaydon British Motor Museum, Warks. • Le Mans. • Chiltern Hills Vintage Rally, opens Sundays from 10am. • Classic Motor Hub nr Cirencester, Sunday AM Coffee Mornings from 4th April. Russell Wyatt has offered to check out some of these venues and report back. My Car by Niek Nijsen Hello All BMWCC Members Thankfully I’ve been able to do a bit more than last month so hopefully, I’ll have a better update for you this time. BRÜNHILDA & PROJECT C.A.R.™ I’ve been able to spend a little bit of time in the garage and this time I had the help of my dad who was here for a few days. Since the only item left at home is the engine, this is where we focused our attention on. With all the goodies arriving over the last few weeks and months, we were now able to install the new Alpina airbox. It soon became clear that the carburettor mounts would have to support a lot of weight and with the intention of rallying the car, we decided that a support brace would be a welcome addition. This was fabricated from two stainless steel tubes that we welded into a triangular frame which is mounted at the bottom of the engine block and underneath the airbox. A set of rubber shock absorbers are mounted between the box itself and the frame to reduce vibrations and allow a bit of movement for the entire assembly. The body shell is nearly finished and ready to be re-coated and primed in the next few weeks, so hopefully we’ll have a car again by mid-April. I’ll write a more detailed progress report on the website in the next few weeks to give you a better idea of what’s been going on (I’m aware of the lack of detailed updates from my end), mini-Brünhilda has also been completed and has been a great success with my little girl. Once the weather has improved a bit and she’s learned how to steer, we’ll be taking it out for many trips. More info on E9 Brunhilda next month. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

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Central West Dave Evans Central West Region sponsored by

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As Sommerfest plans are now stepping up a gear, we are looking for volunteers to marshall and help with display parking, and also setting up and breaking down of show equipment. If this is something you would be able to assist with please phone or email me (Dave 07800 616500). Any volunteers will be given free admission to the show and marshalling duties will only be for a couple of hours on the Sunday morning. Recent Events After what seems like ages, some local events have now started. All Sundays in February and March have been busy. Several members ventured down the M5 to attend Footman James Coffee and Chrome at Impney Estates. There was a good turnout, considering the poor weather forecast, however the rain held off but the wind was bracing to say the least. The variety of the hundreds of vehicles and motorbikes was amazing. Second Sunday and yet again another wander down the M5 this time a further junction to attend the first Winter Wheels of 2022 at Six Ways Stadium, Worcester. The weather was rather inclement to say the least, but still a good attendance which proved not many garage queens. A great mixture from McLarens to Fords and the majority of manufacturers in between. Third Sunday was a total change of direction, across the country to a Shelsley Walsh Breakfast meet. There were more sporting cars in the parking areas this time, but also a fabulous mix of amazing classic and modern exotica. It even stopped raining so some members decided to walk up the Hill in the bracing wind. However, I was sensible and went for a coffee instead. Another Sunday and a complete motorway change, this time the M42 to Solihull Sports and Social club for Coleshill Auto Breakfast meet. Well, you need to keep eating the bacon butties to stay warm. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. There was a great selection of vehicles from American muscle cars, pickups, sedans and hot rods to British classics with a sprinkling of modern. The snippiets of conversations I picked up were amusing. “I remember my Dad had one of those… I wish I had kept mine… the whole family of four and luggage fitted in an A35 like that one for summer holidays… look at that, you don’t see many of them anymore.” Brian Elliot

58 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

Future Events There will be plenty of events for this year, here are the provisional dates planned so far. 24th April – Southern Concours Sherborne Castle, Dorset 29th May – Bromyard Festival of Speed We are hoping to have a car club presence at this event - more info to follow 5th June – BMs on the Lawn Weston-Super-Mare 12th June – BMW Show Santa Pod 7th August – BMW Sommerfest Donington Park Circuit Our National Show for this summer Make sure you visit www.bmwcarclubgb.uk for up to date event information. Monthly Pub Meet We gather at around 7.30pm on the second Tuesday of every month at The Three Horseshoes, Alveley, near Bridgnorth, Shropshire, WV15 6NB. All welcome just turn up and join in, friends and family are always welcome. Don’t forget we have Regional Facebook and Instagram to enable us all to stay in touch and up to date with events. Best wishes Central West Team

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Cheshire & Staffs Steve Cooper Cheshire & Staffs Region sponsored by

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cheshireandstaffs@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

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Cumbria James France Hello to all Cumbria Region members, Well, the weather’s on the turn and I will be looking to do a Sunday morning meet at Cocklakes just off the A66 between Keswick & Penrith on Sunday 27th March 10:00 am. I will book a couple of tables for those that want to eat. We have a few dates for local shows already. The Holker Hall Classic 17th July, Dalemain 12th August, there will also be Hutton in the Forest and possibly Hayscastle, which is in the west of the county local to me and has not run due to Covid for a couple of years now. I have applied for spaces for club attendance at Netherby Hall, Longtown Carlisle for Saturday 6th August, which is the sports and performance car day. Sunday is for the classics. I have applied for entry for the Sunday with my 944 Turbo. If you have not been, what a fantastic setting this is. The rear of the house looks right over the Solway. On a personal note, I sold my Mini R53 and my Alfa 159 as I have been given a very low mileage full dealer history Audi S3 8L from my mum has given driving, in time gearbox oil in my who hair along with up a full swearit’s box, too. warp condition. Hope to catch up with you, if you are a new member please feel free to come along to our meets and events.

KathyJemfrey Jemfrey Devon DevonKathy

Devon Region sponsored by

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

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The intention was to behave and have my X3 E83 daily and the Porsche and Audi as hobby cars, but I have kept looking at E60 5 Series. I went to take a look at a 3-litre petrol M Sport that was quite scruffy and would have been thirsty, that put the idea out of my head until a Carbon Black and Sand Beige 535d M Sport popped up locally with sensible miles on it. It was filthy and needed some TLC but has the potential to make a good car. It’s currently on axle stands in its hanger as I call it the Panzer. The wheels have been redone with new OEM badges, the missing body trim bits have been replaced, the interior has been deep cleaned but needs another going over, there’s some paint required because of some scuffs and chips. After all that, it will be very presentable. Then a stage 1 map is on the cards to produce even more torque. Be careful, stay safe and be kind. Phone 07799 620 381 or email jimfrance1@hotmail.co.uk Regards Jim. Be careful, stay safe and be kind. (It’s free!) Phone 07799 620 381 or email jimfrance1@hotmail.co.uk Regards Jim.

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01626 330436 330436 01626 devon@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk devon@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk INDEPENDENT BMW & MINI SPECIALISTS

Spring is on theCar way and, has hopefully, the return however to good weather The Sidmouth Show been cancelled, if anyone Sunday 10am until 4.00pm. Come and go as has come27th for aSeptember new chairperson. wishes attend, we will be attending the Crash Box End of you please. is interested in taking on the role please do not to enjoyto the car show season. If anyone Season Car it isdiary at Lady’s Holiday Park, Dawlish, on Taketocare you soon. As you willShow see our datesMile have started. If you know of hesitate giveand me see a call or all join me for this forthcoming season any other car shows going on in the area, please send details to see what is involved in running the Region. 07514 216660 and we can see what we can include. George Champ eastanglia@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Our pub meets continue to be held on the last Thursday Dates for your 2022 Diary Barons offers members www.barronsbmw.co.uk of East each month the Haresponsored & Hounds, Kingskerswell, 7 for AngliaatRegion Generous discounts off the new BMW and MINI range Castle 24th April – •Southern Concours, Sherborne 7.30pm. It is not compulsory to have a meal if all you wish is • A minimum discount of £500 on approved used cars in stock Cambridge : 01954 784 500 by Barons Cambridge • 15% discount on parts and accessories 10% off servicing, excludes Value Line Servicing which : 01279 755 9065th June – BMs On The Lawn, Weston conversation with like-minded friends who Stansted share your interest Super Mare applies to cars over 4 yrs old. & Stansted in cars. 26th June – Rover P4 Classic, Blue Ball Inn, Sandygate The February meeting saw a few more members returning car but I always felt the BMW was a bit ‘sportier’ and less Hi everyone, after the last of the restrictions were lifted, it was uplifting to 9/10th July car’. – Powderham ‘company To say 2020 has been a strange and difficult year would be an see the table at full capacity of existing members. Hopefully the local and papers I found an interesting understatement, but nonetheless I am delighted to say we still 24thScouring July – Torbay Oldmagazines Wheels, Paignton Green the lighter see the the Club, returnso of welcome others and looking E34 540i for sale near Watford. The advert mentioned an have new evenings memberswill joining tomaybe you all,we the shall over Garden Room again. as I remind you all every 17th September – Sidmouth interesting previous owner butCar did Show not give any more details. A goodtake times willthe return. In the meantime

East Anglia

month, keep up to date with your respective Facebook pages Vacancy and enjoy reading the contributions and think about sharing your Itstories is my and intention to stand down asas Devon photos with everyone well. Region Chairperson in September 2022. I feel after 12 years the helm the time We have a little glimmer of hope thatatwe 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 www.bmwcarclubgb.uk me you all miss shows and events. Personally I have found it

phone call was made and aBMW, trip toBeaulieu Watford arranged. 18th September – Simply 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 BMW Car Club Magazine Aprilmassive 2022 59 V8 engine under the bonnet and thinking to myself that while I

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East Anglia George Champ

07514 216660 eastanglia@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

East Anglia Region sponsored by

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At the time of writing, if you include all the breakfast and pub meets this year, you will have received details of over 50 events to enjoy by means of these pages, emails and through Facebook. I hope you have found something to sign up to. Therefore, for a refreshing change, Brian Bale has kindly answered my call and provided us with a story and photos of his BMWs. “It was interesting to read David White’s article in the November issue of Straight Six and his history of BMWs. What made it more relevant was that I purchased his 1984 Henna Red 635CSi in 2010 and I am sure he will be pleased to know it is still on the road today. It was a totally unplanned purchase as my son Christopher and I had actually been looking for an E30 Baur. However, A7 PNX joined my 1985 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z and Christopher’s 1982 DeLorean DMC12. The 635 has just passed another MOT, although the advisory list seems to grow each year. New fuel lines have just been fitted at a cost of £100, and arrived within three days. However, I was quoted £1,200 for a new exhaust back box and then was told none were available in the UK or Germany. Probably a good thing so the old exhaust now has a few more patches. I still need to sort the chrome inserts for the front bumper and have the pieces refurbished. I continue to enjoy driving this car more so than the 1989 Dolphin Grey 635CSi Shadowline that I acquired in 2014. Incidentally, we did actually buy a 1989 red E30 Baur in 2010 for a modest £2,400 and continue to have much fun driving this throughout the summer months.” As always it is great to hear similar stories about your cars, even if it is a photo of your pride and joy which we can feature as our Car of the Month. If any of you still need details of our events please send me an email and I will send you the information.

Eastern Paul Rice

eastern@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Events 2022 Things are looking promising on the events side for this year, with many making a return for 2022. We are still awaiting news on a couple of favourites, but it’s great to see a return of so many. With the Club celebrating its 70th Anniversary, we plan to have the Eastern flags flying throughout the region and beyond at as many events as we can. Further details can be found on the Eastern events calendar at the BMWCC website or on our Eastern Facebook page.

Sunday 10th – Why not join our friends from the North West at The Motorist, Sherburn (further details on the North West events page).

Coming Soon

If any member has a show or event they are attending and think it may be of interest to fellow members please contact us at eastern@bmwcarclub.co.uk

April Sunday 3rd – Breakfast meet at the Happy Café, Sandtoft, followed by a drive to Hemswell Antiques. Saturday 9th – Visit to the Great British car journey, Ambergate, Derbyshire.

60 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

May Monday 2nd – Thoresby Hall Classic Car Show. Sunday 8th – Newby Hall Sports Cars in the Park. Not forgetting our regular pub meets, details at the rear of Straight Six.

AGM Unfortunately, the planned AGM had to be cancelled at short notice due to the venue being unable to host us due to staff www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews for four enjoyable years. In 2019, however, I felt I should move up a generation so I purchased the turbocharged M135i with an 8-speed ZF automatic gearbox. After six months the novelty had worn off. It was a car I liked, but not one I would ever fall in love with. “This time I knew my next car had to be one with real character and drama. One where the engine was the absolute star of the show and, for that, I’d need even more than six cylinders. “In 2020 I part exchanged my M135i for an M3 E92. I was very lucky to find a well cared for low mileage and low owner example. On a 2013 registration it’s one of the last produced and is a two-door coupé in Silverstone Metallic with a 7-speed DCT twin-clutch paddle-shift transmission. “It’s an absolute joy to drive. It’s sharp, wonderfully precise and is totally addictive. And then there’s the noise from that glorious naturally aspirated 4-litre V8 soaring all the way to the redline at a dizzying 8300 rpm. It’s exciting and intoxicating in equal measure. Without a turbo you work with it and the rewards are great. Build the revs and that V8 howl is as subtle as an air raid siren. “The S65 V8 is, without doubt, a very special engine and one which would be impossible for BMW to replicate under today’s regulations. Increasingly, ownership is a now or never decision.” Many thanks to Jayne for the write up and image. If you would like to have your vehicle included in our car of the month feature please send a good quality picture, details and history, in no more than 300 words to eastern@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

shortages (Covid). After contacting various possible alternative locations, it came apparent there is still caution on holding such meetings. It has been decided to postpone this year’s AGM till later in 2022. If any member has any issues or suggestions they would like to discuss before the AGM please contact at eastern@bmwcarclub.co.uk. Car of the Month Jayne Elam and the E92 M3. “It wasn’t until 2015 after several decades of driving that I got my first BMW and it was always going to be a straight-six-powered car. I decided on the 130i with its naturally aspirated 3-litre engine, which is a pure melodious delight and it kept me hooked

London Anthony Mason London Region sponsored by

london@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

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Mid Wales & Shropshire Phil Pinnington Welcome to April’s edition of the Mid Wales & Shropshire news. It’s been awhile since I popped something into the magazine. Last year we did do a few shows, but not as many as we would normally do. However, this year we do have a few more events lined up, including some of our favourite ones. Thank you to everyone who has come along to our Super www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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Sunday gut busting carvery pub meets. It’s a great time to go over events and offer suggestions for things to do throughout the year. As well as the static shows, there will be breakfast meets and some lovely drive outs around the Welsh roads, which some members have enjoyed. BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

regionalnews Mid Wales & Shropshire Region Show List 2022 Note - for www.classicshows.org and wwwclassicmotorevents.com events you must enter under ‘Club’ when booking and enter ‘BMW Car Club - Mid Wales and Shropshire’. Some further dates may be added through Phil so watch the Whatsapp chat... Sunday 17th April – Weston Park Motor Show – www. classicshows.org Sunday 1st May – Spring Motorfest, Chetwynd Deer Park – www. classicmotorevents.com Sun 15th May – North Wales Classic Car Show, Bodrhyddan Hall – www.classicshows.org Sun 29th May – Cheshire Classic Car Show, Capesthorne Hall – www.classicshows.org

Sun 3rd July – Cars in the Park, Lichfield. Book through Tim in advance (15 spaces available, but pay me on the day £5) Sun 10th July – Shrewsbury Classic Car Festival, Longden. Book through Tim in advance (17 spaces available, £5 on the gate) Sun 17th July – Cheshire Classic Car Show, Capesthorne Hall – www.classicshows.org Sun 24th July – North Wales Classic Car Show, Bodrhyddan Hall – www.classicshows.org Sat 30th and Sun 31st July – The HSCC Oulton Park Gold Cup (15 places available through Tim in advance) Sun 28th and Mon 29th Aug – Cheshire Classic Car Show, Capesthorne Hall – www.classicshows.org Sun 18th Sept – North Wales Classic Car Show, Bodrhyddan Hall – www.classicshows.org

North East Nick Thomas

northeast@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Easter is just around the corner, and I will be getting my two classic BMWs out of storage ready for the summer. I hope you have a good Easter and will see you at one of our Region’s events soon.

•

Sunday 22 May – Holy Island

Forthcoming Events On Saturday 9th of April we will be joining BMWCCR at Croft to watch some of the racing and display our cars in the paddock. Then on Sunday 24 April we will head out for a run to Cumbria. Watch out on the Club website and Facebook for details of both these events. We are attending Sports Cars in the Park at Newby Hall again this year on Sunday 8th May. The show will be held at Newby Hall and is one the larger meets in the area. It attracts a fabulous range of about 1000 exotic sports cars to admire. There is also the option to visit Newby Hall itself, 25 acres of award winning grounds, an enchanting woodland walk and a miniature railway. Younger visitors will also enjoy the exciting adventure gardens. There will also be a number of related stalls and catering on the day. Display cars can arrive from 8:15 until 12:00. Tickets for a driver and a display car (£7.50) are available from the SCITP website, with each extra occupant costing £7.50 extra. Display tickets are only sold in advance. To get your tickets go to www. sportscarsinthepark.co.uk, login and then click on ‘Tickets’. Remember to select ‘BMW Car Club GB’ as part of the process, or you may end up parked amongst Audis and Volkswagens. On Sunday 26th June, Greg Frost will be hosting us at his Business Centre for Dent Day. We have arranged for a Dent Doctor to be on-site to straighten out bumps and dents (approximately £35 per panel depending on the damage). We are also organising catering for the day (£8 per person) so it will be a nice relaxed time chatting, eating and looking at cars. Please let Mike Milbourne know that you will be attending, and if you want a dent sorting on the day - mikemilbourne@icloud. com. We have just had the news that after the cancellation of the Great North Classic Car Show at the Aston Workshop, Black Horse Beamish for the last two years, it will be returning this year on Sunday 11th September. We plan to have a club stand again, please contact me if you would like to display your classic at this great event.

•

Sunday 12 Jun – Monthly Meet

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Sunday 12-Monday 20 Jun – Autofahrt Munich

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Sunday 26 Jun – Dent Day

•

Sunday 10 Jul – Monthly Meet

Right now 2022 plans for the North East are: •

Saturday 09 Apr – BMWCCR at Croft

•

Sunday 10 Apr – Monthly Meet

•

Sunday 24 April – Cumbria Run

62 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

Saturday 07 May – Pre-SCITP overnighter

• Sunday 08 May – Sports Cars In The Park & Northern Concours

• 31 Jul - Doncaster Classic Car & Bike Show (jointly with Eastern Region) • Wednesday 03 Aug – meet up with the Spanish E21/E30 club •

06/07 Aug – Sommerfest at Donington

•

Sunday 14 Aug – Monthly Meet

•

Monday 29 Aug – Durham Car Show

• Sunday 11 Sep – Great North Classic Car Show (note – no Monthly Meet) •

Monday 12 Sep – Croft Trackday

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TBD Sep – NECPWA/Beamish Show

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Sunday 09 Oct – Monthly Meet

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Sunday 23 Oct – Kielder Picnic

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Sunday 13 Nov – Monthly Meet

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Wednesday 23 Nov – NE Region AGM

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Sunday 27 Nov – Dealer Day

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Sunday 11 Dec – Monthly Meet

•

TBD Dec – Christmas Dinner

Events are subject to last minute changes so keep an eye on the NE Region Facebook Group for the latest information. Information on some events only goes out via email, so check that the club has your correct details, either by logging into the website or phoning the office. Car of the Month Congratulations to Chris English on winning February Car Of The Month with his Bright Green Driving Machine and also joining the Club after attending his first meet. All BMWs, Alpinas and Minis 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.

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews

North West Jeff Heywood

07801 506632 Search for: BMW Car Club GB North West Twitter: @BMWNW northwest@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

News Welcome to April’s North West News. My report should be full of the joys of spring, but as I write this in early March it seems like we have endured nothing but incessant rain for what feels like the whole of winter. Here’s hoping March brings some relieving sunshine. As I mentioned last month, with the Club celebrating its 70th birthday in 2022, we are looking to organise some extra special events throughout the year, including the NW Show & Shine in September. So keep an eye on NW News. This month, we’ll be embarking on our first special 70th birthday event, a run over to The Motorist which is situated East of Leeds. Hopefully we’ll meet up with members from the Eastern Region. There’s space for everyone at the venue so please make the effort to join us.

New club member Martin Broadbent’s immaculate E90 M3 at the Sheldon meet

New NW Members A warm welcome goes out to our new NW members this month, Sara Halstead and Mel Young. We’d love to see you all at the events and meetings we organise. There are no cliques, and you will be made very welcome so why not come along and share in your passion for BMWs. Forthcoming Events 5th April - Manchester BMW Meet at Sheldon Arms We had a couple more in attendance at the March meet, which is encouraging, including new member Martin Broadbent in his E90 M3 and it was good to see Steve and Elaine Brolan back in the fold, so let’s see more faces at the April meet at the Sheldon (OL6 7UB), which starts at 7.30pm.

10th April – Run out to Aston Martin Day at The Motorist Early start this one. As part of the Clubs 70th anniversary celebrations we’ve organised a run over to The Motorist, a venue that holds regular themed Car & Coffee events. On this occasion Aston Martin is the featured marque, so we’ll be able to enjoy a great day out with the Astons plus many other fantastic vehicles. The Motorist is well worth a visit, with a classic car centre with a classic showroom, workshop and a great motoring themed café. Take a look at www.themotorist.com to whet your appetite. We will meet in the layby at Junction 22 M62 (Saddleworth exit) at 8.00am prompt (we’ll be setting off immediately), rejoining the M62 until we reach the M62/A1M, taking the A1M then turn off the first junction on A1M and follow A63 for Monk Fryston. Then turn left onto A162 towards South Milford. Carry on past South Milford and you reach Sherburn-in-Elmet. Turn right onto B1222 towards Cawood, but look for signs for Sherburn Aero Club. You will then see signs for The Motorist. Turn right off the B1222 onto Lennerton Lane then pull in on the left just past where the photographers stand so we can regroup and arrive in convoy so we’re all parked together. We’re also welcoming our friends from Eastern Region to join us on this visit. Can I suggest you meet us on Lennerton Lane at 9.00am-ish so we can all park together. If anyone can bring a club flag that would be great. If any Eastern members want to meet up at Saddleworth Moor for the full run you are more than welcome, meet at 8.00am prompt. The show starts at 9.00am to 4.00pm so we should arrive around opening time. Once we arrive, the day is yours to enjoy and leave when you want.

Club members cars at the Sheldon meet www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

regionalnews everything within the museum, but suffice to say that it makes for a fascinating place to while away a couple of hours or more, and entrance is free. Most of our group then made the short drive over to the Castlefield district of Manchester to enjoy a tasty lunch in Dukes 92, a well-known Castlefield bar and restaurant. I apologise for the lack of photos of club members and their cars; the weather was way too monsoon-like to be stood outside taking photos.

15th May – NW Natter at the Kilton Inn Our usual NW Region pub meet at the Kilton. 4th & 5th June – Classic & Performance Car Show at Tatton Park We’ve applied for a club stand. Fingers crossed our application is accepted, we hadn’t heard back from the organisers when this report went to press. Event Reports 20/2/22 – Visit to IWM North + Lunch at Dukes 92 Our visit was well attended seeing as we were greeted by monsoon like conditions for most of the day, although there were a few no-shows. The Imperial War Museum North (IWM) is one of five branches of the Imperial War Museum, and the first to be located in the North of England when it opened in July 2002 at Trafford Park overlooking the Manchester Ship Canal, an area that was heavily bombed in WW2 during the Manchester Blitz in 1940. Designed by Polish architect Daniel Libeskind, the museum has won awards for its architecture. Permanent exhibitions are housed in the museum’s first-floor main gallery space. These consist of a chronological display that runs around the gallery’s 660ft perimeter, and six thematic displays in silos within the space. Within this hall, a large number of artefacts are displayed; they include a Russian T-34 tank, a United States Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier jet and a 13-pounder field gun that fired the British Army’s first shot of the First World War. Obviously I can’t report on

A United States Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier jet makes for a dramatic display just a few metres above visitors’ heads

This is the 13-pounder field gun which fired the British Army’s first shot of the First World War…

Trade Recommendations Darren Wood BMW Specialist, Bredbury, Stockport SK6 2QB. Offering BMW repair, servicing and engine tuning etc. Facebook – Darren Wood Ltd – Independent BMW Specialists. www.darren-wood.com / 0161 425 7403. Swades Car Detailing. For car detailing/valeting/alloy wheel refurb. Highly recommended. Give Darryl a call on 07415 945979. Facebook – Swades Car Detailing or visit www.swades.co.uk David Tully Bodyshop (Tully’s), Rochdale, for all body/paint requirements, comes highly recommended – 01706 643866 www.davidtullyltd.co.uk Facebook – David Tully Ltd Express Dent Removal for those niggling dent/dings to your BMWs panelwork? Speak to Simon Robinson on 0800 998 9828 or 07767 832255 – or visit www.express-dent-removal.co.uk Class Alloys mobile service, repairs/refurbs alloy wheels. All finishes, inc chrome shadowline. Covers most of NW. Discount given to club members – contact Steve on 07594 018525 – Facebook - ‘Class Alloys’

A Russian T-34 tank on display at IWM North

South Wales Jonathan Bamford Welcome to our South Wales Region news. If you are new to the Club and this is your first issue, then welcome. Our monthly meets started up again in March 2022. They are currently held at the Twelve Knights Pub in Margam, SA13 2DB, and are held on the third Wednesday of the month. If you haven’t been to one of our

64 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

southwales@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

meetings before then come along. It is a great opportunity to meet other members and your passion for cars. Please ensure the Club has your correct email address so that you don’t miss out on any future announcements. I have already communicated the shows that are lined up by www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews email to members. In case you have missed them then please look at the following and see if you would like to attend any as part of our stand. This offer is open to all Regions. German Performance Day – Castle Combe, Saturday 23rd April South Wales Car Festival – Chepstow Racecourse, Sunday 15th May BMW Show – Santa Pod, Sunday 12th June Classic & Supercar Show – Sherborne Castle, 16th & 17th July The above are in addition to the Club’s National show, BMW Sommerfest at Donington Park. We will also be attending BMs on the Lawn on Sunday 5th June. Details for this are yet to be arranged. I will confirm later. If you would like to attend, then please drop me an email for more details. We continue to arrange meetings and small run outs most Sundays. We will continue to have our cars and coffee meet at Unit 7 in Llanelli. It’s a couple of hours out of the house and a great opportunity to meet up and stay in touch between monthly meets. If you are not involved in our WhatsApp groups, then please contact me to be added. It is here that last minute runs and meetings may be arranged.

South East VACANT South East Region sponsored by

Chandlers Brighton 01273 423 312

This year we will be holding several events to raise money for Maggie’s. They are a charity providing free cancer support and information in centres across the UK and online. They have support specialists, psychologists, and benefits advisors if you or someone you care about has cancer. They are there for people to share experiences with others in a similar situation around the kitchen table in a centre or in one of their support groups. To find out more, visit their website at www.maggies.org. I hope to see many members at specific events to help raise money for this great charity. At the end of February, some members took a trip up to Bridgend for a German Car meet at PINK Supercars. It was a rare dry day, so we were all eager to get our cars out. Although it wasn’t a busy event, there was a good number of German cars on display. I’ve included a few pics for you to see and hopefully you’d like to join in on our next run out. Until next month, as always, stay safe and hopefully see you soon.

southeast@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Hailsham 01323 844 032 Worthing 01903 784 147 www.baronsgroup.co.uk/bmw

BARONS CC20133 = 15% off*

BMW Servicing at Barons & Chandlers BMW

*Offer must be quoted upon initial enquiry. Excludes Value Service.

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

regionalnews

Thames Tony Skerrett This month, following an agreement with and the kind permission of Classic & Sports Car Magazine, we are able to print an article on the BMW E9. It’s a fascinating article and will almost certainly be of great interest to members, particularly with those with the E9 Coupé. Buyer’s guide: BMW E9 Coupés By Malcolm McKay (19/07/2019) www.classicandsportscar.com/features/buyers-guide-bmw-e9xxx coupes xxxxxxxx Why you’d want a BMW E9 Coupé BMW was on a roll in the 1960s, introducing bigger, more sophisticated models. Its recovery began with the 700, followed by the sporty Neue Klasse saloons. For the NK coupés, the 2000 C and CS of 1965, design chief Wilhelm Hofmeister and Manfred Rennen took their cues from the Giugiaro-penned 3200 CS. The shape was deftly facelifted on a longer wheelbase to become the E9, launched as the 2800 CS in ’68. At full capacity making mainstream saloons, BMW decided to have the low-volume coupés built by Karmann. The E9 CS was nicely finished and expensive – indeed, the 3.0 CSA cost more in the UK than an Aston Martin DBS or a Jensen Interceptor. Good though build quality and equipment levels were – there was even a drop-down tray full of tools and spares in the panelled bootlid – under the skin the news was not so good. Karmann’s rust protection was minimal. Values fell to rock bottom in the 1980s when many cars were neglected. Finally the rare, homologation-special CSL began to attract attention. Just 1265 were made, using thinner steel throughout, plus aluminium bonnet, bootlid and doorskins. It is now highly collectable, the ultimate being the 3.2-litre ‘Batmobile’. Outside the UK, left-hookers had Perspex side windows, polycarbonate bumpers, plus no power steering or soundproofing and less trim – but many were specified with normal glass and even steel doors. Alpina-modified cars are even more soughtafter. As CSL prices surged, interest increased in the svelte, highly usable coupé from which it was derived. They all cost much the

66 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

thames@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

same to restore: roughly £35,000 for a professional bodywork rebuild, and c£50k for the mechanicals plus trim. Some CSLs have been reshelled into standard bodies: carefully touch the roof to see how thin it is. Sourcing a rot-free E9 from the US is tempting, although it will need other work; the engines were lower compression, and had power-sapping emissions equipment from late 1972, plus 5mph impact bumpers from late ’73. Most exterior trim is available, but some items can be difficult to fit, so assess what is missing if buying a project. Build details are available from BMW Classic; the VIN should be on the heater bulkhead, on a plate in the engine bay, on the ring around the starter and on the transmission case. CSLs begin 2-275- (2-285- RHD), bar the first 169 (2986cc engine), which were in the 3.0 CS range (2-210- to 2-212-). See e9driven.com/E9_Vins.asp for more information. BMW E9: what to look for Engine Given regular maintenance, the M30 single-overhead cam engine is long-lived but corrosion in the alloy head passages can lead to blowing gaskets, and head cracks from plug hole to exhaust seat. Check for emulsion on the oil-filler cap and overheating: a blown gasket means potentially very expensive engine work to avoid recurrence. Suspension Look for leaking struts, broken springs and worn suspension bushes that will wreak havoc with the poised handling. Steering box should have minimal play. Authenticity Be meticulous when checking CSLs for authenticity: numbers should match the chassis plate and pattern of spot-welds on the inner wing should be as seen here. Wheels The correct 14-inch wheels are often swapped for 16-inch items; confirm that the originals are still with the car. The all-disc braking system is complex, so check it is in good order.

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews Fuel injection Bosch D-Jetronic injection is reliable and all parts are available; faults are usually caused by misinformation. Twin Zeniths on carb models can be overhauled. Interior Standard CS trim was vinyl or cloth, with hide a desirable option. The CSL had Scheel seats that are prone to sagging. The pieces at the sides are unique to CSL and often lost. Gearbox Sturdy Getrag four-speed manual ’box lasts well; worn synchros/ noisy bearings will only manifest on high-mileage cars. A five-

Wessex Julian Pickering

Snows BMW snows.co.uk/bmw

Future Events Subject to weather we aim to reopen Regional Meetings at the Littlebury Hotel, Bicester from March. Actual timing will be advised by the Office as soon as the weather permits. April Visit to Broughton Towers Tea at Waterperry House and Gardens 1st May (firm date this). Cotswold Motor and Classic Car Museum Bourton on Water in May. Tour of BMW Cowley Mini Factory if possible, awaiting a reply from BMW Cowley. xxxxxxxxx wessex@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Our parts department is open 7 days a week. Portsmouth: Eastern Road, Portsmouth, PO3 5FF 02392 657500 Isle of Wight: Forest Road, Newport, PO30 5QJ 01983 522555

Barons Farnborough 01252 518 185 The Wessex Region has had a busy month. We held our AGM on Saturday 26th February at the Sir Walter Tyrell Pub, near Lyndhurst, which was attended by over 20 members. Not too bad a turnout for an AGM, or maybe it was the good pub lunch afterwards that drew the crowds… I was duly re-elected as Region Chair in a rather unnoteworthy battle against zero other candidates and my colleagues Eric Thompson and Tim Maltby will continue their roles of leading the Bournemouth and Basingstoke groups respectively. The main discussion point was the 2022 programme, which is now developing nicely, with a good selection of driving events, car shows and socialising opportunities. The following day saw our second winter breakfast meeting at the Rushmore Golf Club, Tollard Royal. What a beautiful location. We are all grateful to Eric for arranging this meeting as he has been a member at the Club for over 10 years. While some members met directly at the golf club, others went on an organised convoy drive starting in Verwood (see photo) at 8.45am and arriving at the golf club at 10am for the Breakfast meeting. The drive went through lovely Dorset and Wiltshire countryside taking in Zig Zag Hill, known unofficially as the bendiest road in the UK. When we all met at the golf club, we were given a private dining room and were treated to a magnificent English breakfast. We have just held our first Technical Evening – last night as I write this report. We invited three speakers from local BMW service suppliers, who are used widely by Club members, to talk about the services they provide to support our cars. Unfortunately, due to some last minute illness problems, we dropped down to two but that was not a problem at all and it was evident that two presentations in one evening, with energetic question and answer sessions, was sufficient. Ryan David from RPM Valeting and Detailing delivered the first presentation and gave us a wealth of information about caring for the internals and externals of our cars. I learnt a great deal about intensive cleaning, polishing, waxing and ceramic treatments in a fascinating 45 minute presentation. As you might imagine, he was bombarded with questions at the end of his talk. This was followed by an equally stimulating talk by Andy Bruce from Bromspec Motorworks. Andy’s knowledge over the range of BMW models is incredible and for me this was summed up perfectly by a question to him from the audience “Have you ever considered going on Mastermind with BMW as www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

speed Getrag was a rare option. Part 2 to follow in the May 2022 issue.

Barons Hindhead 01428 605 000

your specialist subject?” Andy performed from a list of subject headings on a piece of paper with no slides at all and, as you may imagine, the questions were coming thick and fast. We will plan to have a further Wessex Region Technical Evening, with different presenters, in the Autumn. BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

regionalnews Forthcoming Events For details of all events, please see the club website. Notifications are sent out through our WhatsApp group and Facebook pages.

and friend Ray Powell. The event will include a fish and chips meal and maybe even a beer.

April • Southern Concours – Sherborne, 24th April. See BMWCC website for details.

June • Thruxton Historic – Thruxton Circuit, 11th-12th June. Details to follow. Book tickets through www.thruxtonracing.co.uk/tx-hist-car-clubs-2022

May • Ray’s Day – Swanage Steam Railway, 22nd May (provisional). A celebration event in the name of our sadly departed member

July • Classics at the Castle – Sherborne, 17th July. Details to follow.

Western Nigel Smith Hi everyone, I hope we are all keeping well and welcome to any new members. We are now on the doorstep of the Southern Concours later this month, don’t forget to come along and get back into the swing of the shows and events we have for you. As said before, this year the Club celebrates the 70th Anniversary of BMW Car Club and it’s the 50th anniversary of BMW M Power so let’s hope we see a good number of cars and people at our events. Once again, I will tell you all that we have decided that entrants to 2022’s concours will be slightly different than in previous years. We will still have our normal concours classes, but any car arriving that is a previous winner will be put into a separate class called Past Masters, this will hopefully encourage more to take part in concours and will not feel that they are up against previous winning cars. Cars taking part in Concours or Show & Shine will be allowed on site from 8am and non-competition cars from 9am please, we will also have an early set up of food and drinks for the early arrivals, club shop, raffle and bouncy castle and assault course for any children arriving to keep them occupied as well. We have been informed that the castle itself will not be open to the public this year but the grounds are. We may need some help on the day, any members wishing to get involved on the day with any marshalling will be much appreciated. All we need to do is hope the weather is kind to us We look forward to seeing if we get record numbers this year at all of our events. Get cleaning those cars and we will see you soon. Please note our next pub meet will be 6th April. If anyone has an article that they would like put into the magazine please let me know and we can see if we can get it put in for you. 2022 Show dates for your diary Pub meets at The Woolpack, Weston Super Mare 7.30pm – 6th April 4th May 8th June 6th July

3rd August 7th September 5th October 2nd November (AGM)

24th April – Southern Concours & Show & Shine at Sherborne Castle, Sherborne, Dorset. This is also a general gathering of

68 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

western@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

BMWs and usually a bouncy castle for the children. 15th May – Sunday Drive Somerset and Dorset start from Ham Hill, long view car park, Stoke sub Hamdon TA14 6RW. 5th June – BMs on the Lawn, Weston super Mare sea front lawns, Show & Shine event. This event will also be in memory of our previous organiser Rob Scanlan. Please contact scottwalters@hotmail.co.uk 9th & 10th July – We will also be sharing a stand with the Devon Region at Powderham Castle, classic vehicle gathering, numbers limited, please show your interest if you would like a place on the club stand, either or both days. 4th September – Sunday Drive TBC. 18th September – Simply BMW, Beaulieu Motor Museum. Please keep an eye out for any further events listed or any updates. We look forward to seeing you at our events and hopefully have a record attendance.

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

registernews 02 Richard Stern Auction news USA One of the 2002 Tiis owned by the late Texan car collector, Rudy Mancinas, went up for auction in early March and fetched a whopping $99K, including costs. The car was a stunning Atlantic Blue with a tan interior that had gone through a documented restoration completed under a previous ownership. Tastefully upgraded with European bumpers and indicators, it was also fitted with a later five-speed gearbox and Dtechparts air conditioning system.

07770 443373 02register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

the group headed even further north (33 miles), to the Tominé Dam, located in the municipality of Guatavita, a sacred place for the pre-Columbian Muisca culture, and where the legend of the El Dorado was born. There, the group of people was able to enjoy a picnic in the best Colombian style, integrate with other BMW 02 owners and have a good time relaxing around the BMW 02.

Volvo’s electric vehicle division, Polestar, has called its new concept the O2. Built from an evolution of the aluminium architecture announced recently for the 5 GT, and with a design inspired by the Precept, the new roadster is billed as “Polestar’s vision of open-top performance and a thrilling driving experience - with all the benefits of electric mobility.” Given that one too

02 Celebrations in Colombia from Juan Carlos González, who receives the electronic version of the 02 Newsletter and enjoys it every month. Here is the Colombian celebration of 20/02/2022. In Colombia, as in most countries in the Americas, they write dates in the Month/Day/Year format so February 20 (20/02) has become the day of the BMW 2002. On this occasion, a parade of 12 BMW 02s went to the Aerospace Museum of the Colombian Air Force, located a few miles north of Bogotá, the country’s capital. Here the owners of the cars and their families had the opportunity to learn about the aeronautical history of Colombia and take some pictures next to the aircrafts. After this, www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

registernews many EV concepts are SUVs, with or without a sloping roof, it’s a more compelling vision of a zero-emission future than we’re often treated to. Polestar says the O2 “is designed to be lively, light and full of confidence”, thanks to its use of the bonded aluminium tech that will underpin the 5 GT. Tail Pipe Don’t forget lots of events are now starting, I hope to see many of you at the Southern Concours. For more events check out; www.bmw2002.co.uk/upcoming-events/ and don’t forget the big celebrations 7th August at Donington. We’ll be running our Best of Class and Autojumble where it will be free to sell 02 parts out of your boot.

3 Series E36 Michal Michalski

e36register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

I hope, as you are reading this register in April, your E36 is back on the road and you have some plans for the rest of the year. I will be taking my E36 to Scotland for the famous NC500 and I will report back on the trip in May’s register news. As I am writing this news it’s the end of February and I am doing some very early spring cleaning in the garage. I had some spare parts for sale and when I listed them a very interesting person reached out to buy some of them. He is known by his business nickname as MrRetrofit, but his real name is Mitchell. I have heard of his business before and the feedback is very positive. I believe he is serving a very important role in the E36 community. Most garages these days want to make quick profit and move on. Mitchell is not scared of taking on the frightening electronic jobs. So, I took this opportunity to ask him a few questions about him and his business. Here are some insights: Would you say retrofitting original equipment is a DIY job? I guess that depends on what options you are thinking about. Some are certainly a great starting point for a self-installer, such as under bonnet light or PDC, where there are not many wires involved. I would advise taking on cruise control and electric vent windows on a coupé as an intermediate retrofit. Mitchell is 27 and lives in Leicestershire, as he admitted he has a BMW obsession, which he has acquired from his dad. When he was young his dad had a 1993 325i coupe and Mitchell loved that car. At 8 years old, he told his dad that one day he will have one. Fast forward to today and Mitchell has already had a decent car portfolio. How many readers currently own a 1996 Alpina B3 3.2 Coupé, a 1995 328i AC Schnitzer with an S50 swap, a 2000 316i Compact with only 23k miles and 2012 F11 530d M Sport on air suspension? Just to remind you he is 27 years old. Three years ago, Mitchell started a business called MrRetrofit. Initially, his main focus was on fitting genuine OEM equipment to the E36 but he has done a lot more interesting projects. As mentioned earlier he is willing to work with customers in order to find a solution.

70 BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

What tools do you use? I use a range of brands such as Snap-On and Mac tools. My most regularly used tools are butterfly crimpers, wire cutters and depinning tools. What sort of retrofits are available for the E36? There are quite a few. Cruise control, heated and electric seats, PDC, www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

registernews electric vent windows, headlight washers, under bonnet light, on board computer, telephone, HiFi Audio, electric rear blind from the E46. What’s the craziest job you have done? I had an Alpina B8 4.6 (1 of just 221 cars ever built) in for various interior fixes and to diagnose a wet carpet. I ended up finding rust on the bulkhead due to a failed heater box gasket. This resulted in the V8 engine and heater box coming out, along with the interior in order to get proper access to the areas that needed attention.

3 Series E46 Simon Maskell Hello to you all and welcome to this month’s E46 register news. Firstly, our fine vehicles have a 25th birthday this year and we are going to celebrate this at this year’s Sommerfest (new Gaydon if you will) being held on the 7th of August 2022 at Donington Park Circuit. Let’s show the Club just how well we can represent the model, which we did very well at Gaydon for the 20th anniversary. If you have any suggestions and ideas, send me an email please. I will give more details that I have in next month’s communication. Since we last spoke I have done very little in the way of mechanical fettling, mainly due to being too tired. My 330d Touring, project Polizei Interceptor, has had some new rear suspension purchased, but I have yet to fit it. One thing I have noticed is that under hard acceleration I get a small cloud of smoke. Yes, I know it is an old diesel. But as the revs rise it is no longer there, so I will be looking to trace the cause. I am also planning on thinning down the herd, as I have too many cars. A very first-world problem, I know. My awesome, highly-optioned 1998 328i Saloon will be going, as will the 330Ci Convertible. That leaves me with three cars. Enough for now. Friend of the register, Steven Jaye, wrote to me last month, as he been inspired by a fellow 46er, with an Alpine White Saloon about which he wrote the following: “In February’s E46 Register News I was very interested to read about David Mills’ JDM-import Alpine White 330Ci and his comments about wanting to upgrade the cloth interior to red leather. My car is also a 330i JDM import, in Alpine White, but a saloon rather than a Coupé. It does, however, have the factory fitted red leather interior with electric, heated and memory front seats, so I thought I would send these photos in to tempt David a bit further and also to show the other members. When I bought my car in 2020 (fresh off the boat from Japan) the interior, especially with the wood effect trim, was what sealed the deal for me. I will have owned my car for two years in May and it is very much a pampered weekend toy, having only done around 2000 miles since purchase and it currently has just under 79,000km on the clock. It has been off the road since the middle of October, under a cover in the garage, to avoid the winter roads as my car has never seen salt. I am now looking forward to getting it out again in March and have actually just booked

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

How did you start with the business? I got my first E36 in 2013 and it was a base spec car, I modified it quite a bit with air suspension, wheels and the usual bolt ons for 323i. I then got hooked on the OEM retrofits and six years later decided to leave my job and have a go and make a living from it. Mitchell has recently taken a step back with MrRetrofit due to a new family addition, but he is still undertaking various jobs and still supplying the headliner fabric for 90s cars. You can get in touch with him on Instagram under @mrretrofits. e46register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

it into our local BMW Main Dealer for Mid-March for Inspection 1 service, brake fluid and MOT so it will be ready for the better weather. Fingers crossed. On a comical note, you have to wonder about the car knowledge of the people on the BMW booking line when they asked if my 330i was petrol or diesel.” That is it for now, remember to put Sommerfest in your diary, your register needs you. Until next time, bye for now.

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5 Series E28 Tim Maltby The strip down continues. Well, at least with the 535! I am used to removing the front ends of chrome bumpered-cars, so this time I was looking forward to seeing how easy the aero MTech body kits would come apart. As many of you may know the MTech front bumper and valance that houses the indicators and fog lamps is a one piece plastic based moulding. This is bolted to the more conventional three piece chrome bumper which, in turn, is bolted to the front end of the chassis rails by two 17mm bolts and to the trailing end of each corner section by a 10mm hex self-tapper. I was rather hoping, what with the scarcity of good chrome bumpers, that mine would be in good condition as they’ve been sheltered from the elements by the body kit. No such luck. Plenty of corrosion, flaky chrome and a substantial ding in the centre section. That, at least, explains why the top surface of the moulding below the kidney grills was distorted, but I was surprised that there is no visible damage on the outside. Taking off the wings is normally a straightforward unbolt job, but in this case removal of the sill side skirts makes life a lot easier. Despite their removal 10 years ago, and plenty of waxoyl when refitted, some more fasteners sheared off even with the 10mm OEM plastic nuts that are used. The nearside wing came straight off, but the offside less so. The bumper and wing bracket, welded to the inner wing, was on its last legs and as I didn’t want to tear it off and lose its positioning, the trusty tinsnips were deployed. Now here’s an observation insofar that the offside wing, brackets and jacking point have suffered far more corrosion than the nearside and in my opinion the body kitted cars suffer more than the chrome bumpered models. With wings removed, the full extent of the extra holes at

5 Series E34 Manj Sandhu Last month I mentioned the plan was to get the 525iX to the garage for its slight coolant leak. More on this and recent events below. As far as I can see, it appears that the oil leak has finally disappeared with the engine bay finally looking clear of any leaks and oil splashes. It is running a lot better than before, but the coolant leak remains along with a few small niggles to be looked at. More on that later, I first need to get the car over to Sam, which is not as easy as it was before. With Sam over in Stratford now, I need to decide on the logistics. I have a few options at my disposal. I could drive all the way to Stratford, drop it at the garage, and get a lift back with Mrs S. That means taking two cars. Another possibility is that I can drop it at the garage and get an Uber back home; or I could drop it off at Sam’s house half way on the journey in Leamington Spa and kindly ask Mrs S to bring me back. Finally, I could take it to Sam, get him to bring it back to my house and I drop him home.

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the bottom of the wheel arches, footwell and fronts of the sills became depressingly clear, along with some dubious handiwork of previous owners. I feel extra cutting discs and another reel of MIG welding wire are needed. The good news is that the top and front of the inner arches show only a few areas of surface rust and are almost as good as the day they left the factory. That’s enough from me. Looking ahead to the Sommerfest at Donington Park in August, I am hoping that we can have enough E28s to showcase our steeds on Sunday the 7th. It would seem that current club statistics show we have 97 E28s registered, some of which are assigned to the M Power register. Either way the more E28s present the better, and I look forward to meeting you all then, if not before.

e34register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Either way, this time that decision was taken away, see below… just get on with it I hear you say. My original plan for this month, and last month for that matter, was to give you some history and background on the 525iX. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

registernews Despite the slight coolant leak I have been enjoying the car and how smooth and refined it is. However, another depressing and frustrating event has taken that opportunity away. One day a week, Mrs S usually takes and parks the 525iX at our local train station on the outskirts of Coventry when she has to travel to the office in London. On returning home one evening, as she set off, she noticed the exhaust sounding a lot louder than usual. She could also hear a loud metallic dragging noise from under the car so she stopped after only few yards. On inspection, it transpired that some unscrupulous idiots and had grinded off and stolen the catalytic converter, see pictures. On research, it appears this does happen a lot on some newer cars, on Hondas I believe. But the older E34s (I am sure on other BMW models too) had precious metals in the cats that make them worth a few bob, anything up to £1000-a-piece. I quickly got over to Mrs S and brought her back. Unfortunately, the RAC refused to recover the car because my policy (free through our Barclays account) did not include theft or vandalism. How annoying. We temporarily left the car at the station and recovered it via Sam directly to his garage. We logged the crime with the police and contacted the station car park security, but do not hold your breath on any further developments. There is more, that is not the end of events. Finally yet importantly, I have had to temporarily SORN the 535i Sport. Yes, really. Sad news and with a heavy heart, I had to do it. With such a big bill looming (this after the big 525iX bill and more to come as mentioned above), Christmas, and some additional house and further gym (please do not ask!) spend. With pockets empty, I talked it over with Sam and he agreed to let us hold off doing any work on it for a couple of months (the MOT was in January) and then hit it hard with all the jobs later. I have pulled the E39 M5 out of the garage for some daily work, which has been nice.

Nevertheless, I do miss the 535i. Once again, take care of yourselves and more importantly your E34s, I will be doing so with the 535i shortly. I promise. Finally, I am planning a mini E34 get together for those interested at the BMW Car Club national event, the BMW Sommerfest 2022 at Donington Park on Sunday August 7th. Let me know if you are interested in attending. The more the merrier, I hope to see you all there.

5 Series E39 Mani Singh Hayer & Dan Bull Hello all! I am proud to represent the E39 Register and look forward to helping, engaging and meeting fellow E39 owners at future events. My thanks to Dan Paskin for running the register over the last few years. Whilst my own 2003 E39 530i Sport Champagne Edition II has been covered here previously with updates (and more to come in the future), I would like to feature fellow owners’ cars so please do get in touch with me if you would like your car featured. To kick things off, here we take a look at Michael’s stunning 2002 E39 530i Sport Individual in Techno Violet. Michael purchased the car in January 2020 at just 58,000 miles and like me, the intention was / is to use it as a daily so it has (and still is) undergone a refurbishment project. During 2020, Michael wasted no time and embarked on a mammoth refurbishment project including replacing the transmission electric gear selector switch, air intake bellows, lights control module, aux electric pusher fan, viscous fan coupling and blade, and also took it to BMW for the air-bag recall. Further work in 2020 included replacing the radiator grills, bonnet alarm, windscreen washer pump, petrol filler cap, four door entry sills, door side moulding, window moulding, cigarette lighter and ashtray, interior courtesy light, traffic module switch and had the air conditioning system checked and re-gassed. Quite some work! Cosmetically, Michael had the interior detailed and refurbished the seat belts in 2020 too. Keen to continue the excellent progress on the refurbishment programme, in 2021 Michael undertook an Inspection II which included replacing some of the fluids and also replaced the front www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

e34register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

anti-roll bar D bushes, links, and ball joint covers, headlight bulb, indicator bulbs, power steering reservoir, hoses and ATF fluid. He also had Pirelli P Zero front tyres fitted all round and replaced the BMW bonnet badge. Later in 2021, it was time to keep the car running cool so attention turned to refurbishing the cooling system which included replacing the water pump and pulley, v-belt pump/ alternator, thermostat housing and thermostat, radiator, expansion tank, coolant level sensor, coolant hoses (top, bottom and lower), coolant temperature sensor, coolant/antifreeze, hose clamps and metal vent screws with some of those parts shown in the photos. It really is amazing the amount of effort Michael has spent on refurbishing the car and undertaking a lot of preventative maintenance work aligning with my ethos of replacing common failure points now on the M54 engine rather than wait for them BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

registernews to fail. It is also so delightful to see so much passion going into this project and further extend the life of this stunning machine. We will check back in with how Michael is progressing with his refurbishment project in a few months’ time, but the tasks

lined up for 2022 include repairing the instrument cluster pixels, resolving issues with the PDC system, replacement of the transmission fluid and undertaking a suspension refurbishment. Next month we’ll introduce the register’s second new volunteer, Dan Bull.

5 Series F10/11 Dave Routledge Hello my fellow F10 and F11 enthusiasts. Hope this article finds you all safe and well. I apologise that this is my first article for a while, I got side tracked with work, Christmas and catching The Bug. Anyway, enough excuses, let’s get back to the main topic, our beloved F10s and F11s. Nothing much to report on Boris, except the fitting of black M5 style mirror covers, which I hope you agree finish off Boris nicely. Also, after much deliberation and asking Mrs R nicely, I finally took the plunge and had my instruments upgraded to the 6wa variant, which has greatly improved the driving experience. Not that it wasn’t good already. I’ll include photos and details in my next article. Going completely off track, allow me to introduce you all to the real reason we have an F11, Elliot, our nine month old German Shepherd who loves riding around in his BMW. I’ve lost Boris already to him. We have a number of adventures planned with Elliot and Boris this year, so will keep you all updated.

f10register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Finally, at the moment, I know I keep nagging over this, but please send me details and photos of your own F10s and F11s so that we can include them in future articles. Anyway, that’s it for this month, catch- up again next time. Happy and safe motoring. Dave, Boris and Elliot.

8 Series Debbie Blythe Hi everyone, I hope you are all keeping well. By the time you would have read this we would have had our first Sunday morning meeting at The Chequers Inn, Weston on the Green, at the time of writing this I had 10 confirmed cars with 15 people stopping for lunch, and hopefully a few more will have joined us on the day. A report on that and any other events in March will be in next month’s magazine. There is always space in this column for Car of the Month or technical tips and advice, or even a short piece on how, when and why you got your 8 Series. Both E31s and G15s are welcome, so get those emails sent to me at 8series@ bmwcarclubgb.co.uk. There have not been any other meetings to report or post photos from yet, so I have added a couple from our outing to Lichfield in September. So here you will see some great 8 Series cars owned by Phil Starr, Les Irving, Maggie Walker, Sarwar Hussain and Ravi. Future Events This list is just some of the events we hope to organise or attend during 2022, unfortunately I have had to postpone the proposed

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NC500 tour this year due to lack of interest, but I hope we may be able to revisit it in the future. Please feel free to email with any suggestions you may have, no matter where, we are always up for a trip. Any excuse to get behind the wheel of the 8. •

0th April - The Ultimate BMW Meet at British Motor 1 Museum, Gaydon. If you want a place on our E31 stand then email me your car and reg number ASAP so I can reserve a place with the organisers. Tickets will be £10 each and available directly from the Motor Museum website. At www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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nd July – Lichfield Cars in the Park, Beacon Park, 2 WS13 6RA. I have booked a club stand again this year for 15 cars, tickets are £5 per car, please contact me to reserve your place.

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3rd July – Possible Caffeine and Machine visit, to be confirmed.

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7th August – BMW Car Club national event, BMW Sommerfest, at Donington Park, near Derby. Details on the club website.

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14th August - Sunday morning meeting at The Chequers Inn, Weston on the Green, near Bicester.

the time of writing this in February I am nearly full, so please check with me if you are interested.

• 18th September – Simply BMW at Beaulieu Motor Museum.

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May 2022 – Any ideas or suggestions welcome

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th June – BMs on the Lawn, Weston-Super –Mare, North 5 Somerset, BS23 1AL. Entry price is £10 per car payable on the gate. Let me know if you are thinking of joining us there.

• 12th June - Sunday morning meeting at The Chequers Inn, Weston on the Green, near Bicester.

23rd October - Sunday morning meeting at The Chequers Inn, Weston on the Green, near Bicester.

Also if you are not on my mailing list and wish to be please email me with your name, car details and location to 8series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk.

Alpina Simon Alcorn (words by Norman Burnham)

Future Events The limit of 80 cars for the Alpina day at Sytner Nottingham on 24th April 22 has been filled. There is also a waiting list, and this has now been closed. Please note this is an invitation-only event and restricted numbers as due to limited space, a desire to minimise disruption to Sytner’s business, health and safety regulations and catering requirements. Please do not attend if not registered, with or without a vehicle. The Classic at Silverstone – reminder There are two choices for Alpina owners, you can display with the Car Club to celebrate 70 Years of the Club by following the guidelines in Straight Six using the Club code or you can access the Alpina-only separate stand code by visiting thealpinaregister.com. In 2021 some people were confused, it is a straight choice, you cannot swap display passes and no cars other than Alpinas will be accepted onto the Alpina stand. We did have a request from someone who has an Alpina, but wishes to park with an M3 owner. Sorry it’s Alpina only. BMW Sommerfest 7th August – Donington If you are entering the Concours it’s on the 6th, all details, I am sure, will be in the magazine, otherwise it’s Sunday 7th August.

i8 Clive Neville With the depths of winter firmly with us and the prospect of even more storms to follow Dennis, Eunice, Franklin and Gladys, then it’s perhaps lucky for me that I have been in Spain for the last two weeks. While I am informed by my neighbour that our house and garage are still standing and that the i8 is still there (thankfully), I have been driving around the roads of the Costa del Sol in our Z4. Clearly, this is bliss in comparison to the UK’s weather. We www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

alpina@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

I have requested a separate Alpina display area, but this is yet to be officially confirmed as the Club is still making some plans, there are several people involved. I have received about 25 requests for more information and their indication that they wish to attend, unfortunately Simon Alcorn will be unable to be there due to other commitments. I have volunteered to coordinate anything for the Alpina group, I shall not be there on the 6th of August. Details are posted in thealpinaregister.com, the Facebook 2014 Alpina Group (not public), and various Alpina social media. The latter are not controlled by me and I cannot verify their content. Torque Café – Horsham, West Sussex We are having a first meet at this venue after scoping it out recently, it is on Sunday 3rd April, Graylands Estate, Langhurstwood Road, RH12 4QD from 10.00 am. It has a very nice café and plenty of adequate hardstanding car parking in a secure location. The French Date – May 2022 If anyone is interested in attending this event in the North of France at the end of May, please let me know by email to norman947@btinternet.com. The organiser has requested more Alpina vehicles, although it is open to any BMW vehicle.

i8register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

have high teens daytime temperatures and fairly constant blue skies. Indeed, it hasn’t rained of consequence since we arrived. However, driving here isn’t all good. I consider myself a seasoned European driver and have driven all over Western Europe (with the exception of Italy) and I’m not easily scared. At least not since I started driving here. Luckily, most roads outside of cities are relatively traffic free so the chances of altercations not of your own making are slim. But, you have to keep your BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

registernews wits about you all the time. It’s not usually on the very technical mountain roads where there are problems. There, it is a matter of hanging back until the straight bit and flooring it to get by the old lorry lumbering up or down the hill. No, it’s on the normal fast slightly twisty roads where the trouble starts. We have had two near escapes. First was on the brow of a hill to find that a car was in the process of overtaking another and was in our lane. We thought he would pull back, but not at all, the driver just carried on and we had to pull over into the gravel to get by. A few holidays later we had become used to this; we were placed two cars behind an artic and we could see away in the distance because I was holding back, biding my time. However, the driver of the car in front of me was up close and proceeded to overtake on a (to him) blind bend. Unfortunately, he had not seen that there was a car only 100m coming towards him at speed. The expectant collision would have been at well over 100mph. I was so perturbed by this that I started to do an emergency stop as I had no intention of being involved in the wreckage of someone else’s accident. But, again the lorry and car parted to the far edges of the road to allow it through, while simultaneously spraying dirt and gravel everywhere. It’s as though the drivers here believe in divine intervention to keep them safe. What it means for all of us though is that you have to assume the

worst at any time and that you might be involved. It tends to dilute the pleasure somewhat. In the urban areas it’s worse if you value your car. I have not seen any car over six months old (or obviously expensive and looked after) that hasn’t got body panel damage. Most, quite extensive too. Not just a little dents but scrapes running right down the side of the car. Indeed, my neighbour had a red 208 and, over the course of a year, I saw it slowly being demolished. This is not unusual. We spent a long time trying to work out how this happened so frequently. Over time, we found our answers: overtaking and crashing into the sides of lorries on the infamous A-7 by not looking first and using cars as battering rams when trying to park. We witnessed this first hand near to us when travelling around our local roundabout when a driver stopped dead in the middle of the road, forcing me to make an emergency stop. Thinking this was a bit rich, he then proceeded to back towards me aiming obliquely towards a parallel parking place and crashed into me. I was so stunned I didn’t even have the time to beep the horn and he just drove off. Luckily the damage was a black scuff that I could T-Cut out. So, come to Spain. It’s great, but make sure you take care at all times. We will be bringing the i8 in May, but will be carrying our St Christopher at all times...

M Power Anthony Shilson How many of you find the Register Section typically the most interesting part of the magazine? It’s normally what I read first and that’s because some of the writers work on their own cars or have interesting information to share that benefits the rest of us. So please keep your articles and interesting news coming in. Appropriate for me was Clive Neville’s piece on his car that had not run for months. Over the winter my M3 is stored, but once a month it is exercised. I love that word for cars, it’s from the classic car world. Exercising a car is essential, many things can age prematurely or can start to malfunction when a car is parked up for too long. I don’t drive mine on the main roads, which are covered in salt, but just up and down my close, which is fairly long. The brakes, steering, gearbox, diff, electrics, tyres and engine all get a little workout. As the Vanos is driven off the crank, it needs 2000+ rpm to work properly. Evolve explained this to me many years ago, hence why it’s not good to drive the car at less than 2000 rpm. Driving up and down my close, performing several three point turns and getting the engine up to temp for a full 15 minutes is good exercise. I then tuck it away in the garage and cover it up. Now that I use Esso Synergy Supreme, I don’t need to worry about the fuel absorbing water

essex@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

or going off because it does not contain any ethanol. By the time you read this, the roads should be salt free, the days longer with more sunshine and I’ll be properly enjoying my M car’s performance again with the DTC fully off. If you’ve never done this, I recommend you try. It’s a more engaging and rewarding drive. In my car it feels more natural, especially when using the throttle as the rear of the car helps to steer and turn into a corner. There are rumours that BMW M is going to make an M4 GT H that will be similar to the M4 CSL but with a manual transmission. To save even more weight, rear seats, comfort access, parking sensors and electric front seats won’t be offered. The wheels will also be forged. The steering may still be electrically powered, but perhaps they may have understood how to bring back the feel, sadly lacking since their switch to EPS almost a decade ago. That’s it for this month. I was hoping to include more of Raif’s M3 but sadly, there is not enough space remaining to do it justice. Do you have anything interesting to contribute to this section? Please email me your own M Power mods, fixes, tips or stories to essex@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Modified Borislava Pepelyashka - @bobby_shark_attack Sometimes, on a day like today, I look back and reflect, that all things considered, I have had a fortunate life. All the incredible people I’ve met who share the same passion and have unconditional love for BMW. The stories they share remind me that dreams come true. I am excited to share with you an interview with Henry Phull, owner of this immaculate 1995 BMW E34 540i Touring. Tech specs and modifications ENGINE: 540i M62B40 V8 with a custom stainless exhaust with Supersprint back box. TRANSMISSION: Auto SUSPENSION: BAGS Suspension struts and Air Lift Performance 3H management BRAKES: EBC Big Brake kit WHEELS: AC Schnitzer Type 2 rebuilt to 18x9 with 3.25 lips

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(fronts), 18x11 with 4.25 lips (rears) INTERIOR: Sport interior fully retrimmed in red leather and Alcantara dashboard and roof lining. Re trimmed smaller diameter M-Tech 2 steering wheel from an E36 AUDIO & SECURITY: No audio mods yet. Clifford alarm system EXTERIOR: Full respray in Range Rover Carpathian Grey Metallic with all new trims from BMW. Custom rear arches were fabricated to allow the car to air out flat and achieve arch-to-lip fitment. Touring roof rails deleted, Sport bumpers front and rear, front number plate delete panel, door locks removed. THANKS: Kustom Kolors for building an incredible car. How did you happen to acquire this car? This car was originally built to showcase my good friend’s Kustom Kolors automotive bodyshop business, as well as the brand I founded, Slam Sanctuary. They originally purchased the car as a www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

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one owner, completely stock vehicle which was the perfect base for our plans. We wanted to take our dream E34 on a road trip to Wörthersee (Austria) back in 2019 to promote both the companies. It also travelled across the UK and Europe for the remainder of the year to all the big car shows. Kustom Kolors built my dream spec E34, and once they had done the rounds with the car for a season, it simply got parked up in their unit, as they started a new project. Deep down, I knew I needed to purchase the car one day. That day finally came, when Colin at Kustom Kolors mentioned he was considering selling the E34 to continue with his newest project. Of course, a deal was done. Why the E34, why a Touring? The E34 is my dream car. I have previously owned a few, including a couple of 525is and a 530i V8, but I never had the chance to own the 540i, which is the one I’ve always wanted. You don’t see many E34s on the road these days, let alone a Touring. To me, they are super cool and completely understated. Most people just look at them as an old crap 5 Series, but once you change the stance and the wheel these cars can look completely different. I’ve also always been a wagon guy, having had countless E46 Tourings and a few Audis and Volkswagens too. All estates. What was the most challenging thing about modifying the car to the state it is today? The biggest job on this car was the custom rear arch fabrication. We wanted the car to sit perfectly with arch-to-lip fitment once aired out. With these classic BMWs, the rear arches tend to sit quite low and have a flat shape to them. Naturally this gives the car a lot of rake when you lower it, which I personally don’t like. We wanted this to be done to an OEM+ level, so that the ordinary person wouldn’t even realise it’s been done. But if you’re an E34 fanatic, then you’ll notice something different about the rear. Two new front arches were used to create this, modifying them accordingly, cutting the original rear arches off and and attaching the new front ones to the rear. This modification raised the arch position to match the arch line of the front, which meant that the car would sit completely flat once aired out, and achieve that all-important arch-to-lip fitment. Pros and cons of air lift? There are zero cons to running Air Lift, especially on big cars like the E34. It rides better than the factory set up, I can clear any hazards on the road, and it protects the underside of the vehicle. The struts are also completely adjustable like a coilover, including damping all round. What’s not to love?

What is your ultimate dream car? Believe it or not, this is my all time dream car. Supercars do nothing for me… give me a unit full of classic BMWs and I’ll be in heaven. The E24 635CSi comes in at a close second, which I have also been lucky enough to own previously. Were you into cars from early on? My dad always had BMWs when I was growing up, notably an E28 M535i and an E24 M635CSi which he used to take me to school in; a major highlight of my childhood. What car shows are you visiting this year? I will be at all the big UK shows like Players, Fitted, and many more. Plus some European events such as Wörthersee, XS Carnight and Ultrace. What’s your day job? I am the Creative Manager for Car Audio & Security, I handle all their social media accounts, photography, graphic design and much more. Slam Sanctuary, tell us more. Slam Sanctuary is a brand that I founded way back in 2013, which started with a love for modified cars and photography. I attended my first car show, Players Classic back in June 2013, and took some photos which started to get some attention online. From there, I decided to create the Slam Sanctuary blog to showcase my photography. Long story short, I eventually developed the website into an automotive streetwear brand, my passion for cars, photography and fashion all came together. Who inspires you in your career? Numerous other photographers and creatives in the automotive world, there are far too many to list. But as a creative, I’m always learning and trying to improve my skill set as much as I can. StanceWorks and Speedhunters were always a huge inspiration when it came to building the Slam Sanctuary brand. What advice would you give to anyone who wishes to follow your career steps? Do what you love, you can make a career out of it. Keep practising, keep getting yourself out there and don’t give up. It’s not always easy, but we do now live in a time where social media and content is key for most businesses. So, develop your skill set and approach people. The worst thing they can say is no. If you want to see more of the E34, check out my Instagram: @henryphull_photo

What is the best memory you have with your E34? It was before my ownership, but when I travelled with Kustom Kolors and the car to Wörthersee in 2019. The car managed the 1,600 mile round trip with ease, fully loaded with four adults and luggage inside. Photographing it in scenic locations, with lakes and mountains, was just unreal. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

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X Series Greg Lyons & James Brigginshaw Welcome to the April edition of Straight Six and this month we bring you another member write-up in the shape of Simon Buckley’s story: Out with the newer X2, in with the older X3. Take it away Simon… “What is a BMW? Or, possibly, what is the essence of a BMW? I’m not absolutely sure, but I don’t think that the X2 fits into my idea of what that essence is. It’s a front wheel drive for goodness sake. “Our manual X2 1.8 Sport S Drive was a lease car. I chose it because we prefer manual gearboxes, it was on special offer and could just about tow trailers. We had the car during lockdown, and we didn’t really go anywhere much. I was paying for 10,000 miles a year, but when the lease period was up after two years, the X2 had done less than half of that, just over 9,000 miles. Certainly the engine was wonderfully smooth and quiet, so much so that it was easy to drive on a motorway in a lower gear than 6th without realising. The car proved itself to be comfortable, everything worked as it should have done and it was relatively frugal with petrol. “But, but… shouldn’t a car which calls itself a 1.8i Sport have a 1.8, not a 1.5 turbo engine, and shouldn’t it be at least be a bit sporty? I didn’t know what the car was trying to be. I know that BMW model numbers don’t represent the engine size any longer, but isn’t that a bit of a shame? The X2 looked like a sort of streamlined SUV, but without four-wheel drive. I found it difficult to judge the width at the front of the car and difficult to see out of the low offside rear window when accessing a motorway from the slip road. But my main complaint was the thrumming from the front wheels on the less than smooth roads, making long journeys tiring. I have heard that Minis, with the same underpinnings, are the same. “By now you will have guessed that I didn’t particularly want another X2. What next? It had to be a BMW, it had to be able to tow and I had to own, rather than lease it. Somehow leasing didn’t feel right any more. “The replacement was going to have to be pre-owned, pre-cherished or whatever the current euphemism is for used. I thought of an older X5 or even a newish X1, but Darren Davies of DMW in Shotton, where I get my Z4 serviced, suggested that I would find an X5 a bit bi, and an X1 a bit lacking in power. He suggested an X3. “I happily Autotradered and Pistonheaded for weeks and, going over budget of course, found a dark blue 2017 diesel X3, with leather, at our local BMW dealer, Halliwell Jones in Llandudno Junction. And unusually, it was a manual. Although it was diesel I was entranced. My son once told me that I am like a child in a sweetshop when

xseries@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

buying a car, and in this case he was right. Balancing out the high price, the dealer guarantee was bulletproof and the car had recently had the big service. Additionally I paid for an extra couple of years’ cover and some kind of bodywork protective coating. I trawled the internet and found an article which suggested that the 2017 X3 was the most reliable of the model range, which was reassuring. “We have had the X3 for four months now and we love it. My wife enjoys driving it because of the commanding driving position and the consequent feeling of security, and she also likes the manual gear change. The car goes about its business efficiently and quietly, it tows perfectly, doesn’t do anything dramatic and, so far, has turned out to be the perfect choice. “But, but… shouldn’t a BMW be exciting? Is our X3 exciting? I suppose that the answer has to be no, but that is why we have our 2007 Z4. Six-cylinders, rear-wheel drive, sporty, fast and exciting enough, what a real BMW should be!”

Z3 Register Alan Jones

z3register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Welcome to the April edition of the Straight six, I’m sorry to say that this will be my last entry as the Z3 Register, as I am stepping down this month. I have been doing this a while now, as I started with the Z Register back in March 2014 and then took over the Z3 Register in December 2018. I have enjoyed my time doing the Z3 Register and being more involved with the Club, and I

would like to thank many club officials who have helped me over the years, especially the staff in the club office. I will still be a member of the Club, but not hold any sort of office within it. I feel that it is time is right to give someone else a chance to run the Z3 Register, with new ideas and drive.

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BMW Car Club Magazine April 2022

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Straight Six April 2022

Articles inside

Registers

Your Photos

The E46 330Ci (Coupé Injection

Why my M5 drinks a lot

Crossword

Sweet Schnitzer Music

Flying the Flag

Club News

BMW News

Board Torque

Dan Norris

BM-Wednesdays: Totally Frank

Motorsport News

Products

Thoughts from the Boardroom