Straight Six December 2021

DECEM BER 2021 £5

SHOWSTOPPERZ !

The Club woos the crowds at the NEC Classic Motor Show with a club stand containing a fantastic display of BMW Zed sports cars...

PLUS: MEGUIAR’S CLEANING GOODIES TO GIVE AWAY!

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE. BMW Approved Bodyshop

We know accidents happen. But our trained technicians know every inch of your car and will give it the care and attention it deserves when you visit a BMW Approved Bodyshop.

And, if it needs any repairs, they will only use Genuine BMW Parts with a Lifetime Workmanship Guarantee, to give you perfect peace of mind when you are back on the road.

Find out more or book a visit to a BMW Approved Bodyshop at BMW.co.uk

BMW CAR CLUB

INSURANCE DEVELOPED BY EXPERTS FOR BMW CAR CLUB MEMBERS

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

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

COVER AVAILABLE CAN INCLUDE: Ÿ Classic and Modern Car Policies

Ÿ Multi-Vehicle policies

Ÿ Limited Mileage Discounts

Ÿ Trackday Cover

Ÿ Salvage Retention

Ÿ

Ÿ Like for Like Cover on

Ÿ Agreed Values

modifications

Breakdown Cover

www.BMWCARCLUBINSURANCE.co.uk Call the dedicated members line on 0330 123 0197 and speak to one of the team for all your Motor, Home, and Commercial Insurance needs.

This agreement has been designed specifically for BMW Car Club GB, who have become an Introducer Appointed Representative (IAR) of A-Plan Holdings. A-Plan Holdings is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Registered office: 2 Des Roches Square, Witney, OX28 4LE. Registration number: 750484. To confirm our registration on the FCA website, go to www.fca.org.uk/firms/systems-reporting/register/ or by contacting the FCA on 0800 111 6768.

Formed in 1952 as The BMW Car Club of Great Britain, incorporated 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

20

Members and petrolheads alike were raring to attend the final major car show of the year at the NEC, Birmingham, which saw the BMW Car Club return with a set of Zed and electric cars.

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

26 ' MLife: The Alpina Job

38

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

Straight Six writer, Steve Carter, heads up the Turn&ClipiT drive around the Alps with fellow BMW owners.

32 Creating the Ultimate Garage: Car Storage This new series will help you build the ultimate garage to store your pride and joy, whether you are looking to start from scratch or improve your current setup.

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

20 Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show

38 When 620bhp just isn’t enough

44

Inspired by the G Power M2 Competition featured in the September issue of Straight Six, Club member Kim Wheeler spares no expense in bringing his standard M2 Competition up to insane figures.

44 High Flyer!

Learn about the interesting record-breaking fact about BMW in this nostalgic feature.

49 Another Successful Year The BMW Car Club Racing championship has seen another successful year on track, crowning Ben Pearson as this year’s champion.

Contents

from the editor Welcome to the December issue of Straight Six. I am sure you have heard the same words come out of everyone’s mouth this month, “this year has flown by”. But it truly has felt like that in the BMWCCHQ. At the beginning of this year, uncertainty loomed over us as restrictions still stopped us from getting together and attending events. However, slowly but surely, we saw light at the end of the tunnel and we’ve been fortunate to attend the London Classic Car Show, The Classic at Silverstone and, more recently, the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show with Discovery at NEC, Birmingham. Plus many local shows in between. We have all enjoyed finally getting out of our small office here in Aberystwyth and seeing all of our fantastic members. We now look forward to 2022, to celebrate both the 50th anniversary of M, and 70th anniversary of the BMW Car Club GB, a huge achievement which could not have happened without you, our members. In the coming months, keep an eye out for details on the return of our national festival, now named BMW Sommerfest.

In this final issue of the year, head to page 20 to read the report on the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show at the NEC, Birmingham. Over 68,000 petrolheads attended over this three-day event. This year, we showcased the evolution of Zed as well as representing ‘Green’, with the 1602e and the new iX and i4.

On page 26, we head over to the Alps with Straight Six writer Steve Carter and his Turn&ClipiT crew. On page 32 we help you start Creating the Ultimate Garage.

26 regulars 6

Board Torque

8

Thoughts from the Boardroom

10 Club News 12 BMW News 14 Motorsport News 16 Dan Norris 18 Products 52 Pirelli 54 Crossword/Classifieds 55 Classifieds 56 Regions 69 Registers 81 Your Photos 82 Club Pub Meets

Club member Kim Wheeler has spared no expense on his M2 Competition, with the aim of increasing the power to over 620bhp. Did he manage it? Head to page 38 to find out.

In 1919, BMW broke a new world record with their IV aero engine, find out more on page 44. On page 49, read about the season finale of the BMW Car Club Racing championship, where Ben Pearson was crowned as this year’s champion.

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, Richard Rixham.

Happy reading!

Jeff, Lisa, & Will Straight Six editorial team.

chairmanschat Martyn Goodwin - Chairman

L

ittle did I know that, when I closed off my Chairman’s Chat for the November issue, I would once again be in the chair for the December issue. However, here I am.

At least this gives me the pleasure, the privilege and the opportunity to wish each and every one of you all of the compliments of this festive season. I feel sure that we are all hoping for, and very much looking forward to spending time with our families and loved ones in a more traditional way than we were able to last year. Having said that, the predicted shortages of turkeys, Brussels sprouts, Christmas puds and a multitude of other goods, including toys and games for the kids, is not going to be without a fresh set of challenges. I am sure that we will all manage, that we will not starve and we will enjoy the time to reflect on where we might have been without multiple vaccines being developed and administered over the course of 2021. We have much to be grateful for, despite the logistical challenges presented by whatever the previous and the next shortages may be.

Myself and fellow board members convened our first face-to-face board meeting since lockdowns began in March 2020, in late October. All meetings between March 2020 and October 2021 have been held virtually via Zoom, which has helped us to continue to manage the Club effectively whilst also keeping control of our costs. Since taking over as Chairman, I have introduced a monthly touch point for the board members, which we hold on the third Thursday evening of each month that helps to keep all of the key issues moving forward and focus to be maintained. However, for this face-toface meeting we were hosted for the day by my good friends at Cotswold BMW, Cheltenham where we had the run of the top floor and a conference room that customers would not be aware of. It is a fabulous setting and with the second sales floor now being almost entirely filled with the Cotswold BMW Heritage collection, this includes an impressive and continually expanding fleet of very desirable cars.

As the ongoing shortage of new vehicles to sell and delivery slots for personal specification-ordered cars is out well beyond six months, the business is under constant pressures to sustain itself along with every other BMW and most other brand dealerships. The used car market is consequently as strong, if not stronger than it has ever been.

This thought gives itself to a genuine segue into an agenda item for our board meeting and one which I am compelled to share with you all. Our own personal experiences on a day-to-day basis makes

6 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

us painfully aware of increasing costs, whether it be fuel, energy for our homes or food for our tables, there really isn’t much that is not escalating and putting a strain on our personal and business finances. Unfortunately, this scenario has been and continually putting a strain on the BMWCCGB profit and loss. I am happy to report that the club is fiscally sound and has been well managed by its staff and directors over many years. As a club, the business is essentially “not for profit.” However, it is also managed to be “not for loss”, so the goal is always to aim for a break even where a swing in either direction can be managed if negative or gratefully accepted if positive. The reality is that office rental has increased, salaries for our staff have to be reviewed, our magazine costs versus advertising revenues is improving but is still not yet cost neutral, mailing costs and our participation at major events, have all seen increased costs, to just detail a few items for you to consider. We continue to look at ways and means to address the largest items in our expenditures however.

First and foremost in our minds is not just maintaining but improving the quality of what we offer to you as our members. On the other side of the balance sheet are our sources of revenue, primarily member subscriptions, commissions from our insurance partners, advertising, region partnership and sponsorship schemes.

We regularly hear stories of how much money members have saved through their use of BMW Car Club Insurance. We currently have two preferred partners with either A-Plan or Footman James. I would encourage each and every one of you to take a look at your insurance, we know that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, however if you can find a good fit, please remember that you are not only saving yourselves some cash, you are indirectly supporting the club through this business.

We are looking at our insurance products very carefully so it is not possible to state categorically that this will not change, but if an additional product can be found that provides a more complete offering then we will be announcing this in due course.

So, where is this leading to? BMW Car Club Membership subscriptions have remained stable and unchanged for over 20 years. If we were to look at compounded escalation since 2000 of your basic £40.00 membership annual renewal, it would today be £75.00. At £40.00 in 2021 it represents incredible value, whatever you take back from the club, be it insurance savings, discounts with parts and service at certain dealerships, Halfords, Pirelli, and a host of

other savings opportunities, together with our world class monthly magazine Straight Six dropping through your letterbox every month. We regularly review other car club magazines and membership subscriptions.

BMW Car Club is seen as a leader, with Straight Six providing its strong editorial content and not just rammed with repeat advertising month after month. We have invested heavily in our website to provide you with digital content and its storefront for anything related to your membership.

Please take a moment to review and refresh your personal details, car details, preferred email address etc. Our ability to support your personal needs can only be based on this data so please keep it current.

We both want and need to keep the web platform growing, having recently added the classifieds element. The next initiative under discussion and development is the integration of a BMW Genuine Parts portal together with one of our partners that will make discounted parts available to any member regardless of region, delivered to your door. We are already actively planning some 70th Anniversary limited edition merchandise for 2022, plans for the 2022 BMW Sommerfest are solidifying as are plans with BMW UK for the celebration of 50 years of M. The message (don’t shoot the messenger please) therefore, is that in order to continue to build on our foundation and to grow our offerings to you, our club members, we will need to continue to invest and to do so, we need to make a modest increase across the structure of annual subscriptions and related direct debits to support these investments whilst maintaining our solvency. Effective from 1st January, the current tier system of membership levels, which includes single, family, overseas, MINI, MINI & Straight Six, and digital will increase not to the dizzy levels of post 2000 inflation but by approximately 20%. As an example, the average single membership will therefore rise from £40.00 to £48.00. We want to avoid the complexity of having to deal with odd pennies rather than round pounds, so there are certain levels that will be slightly lower than the 20% to facilitate ease of administration, please feel free to email or call the office if you want to verify how this may affect you personally, Michelle, Lisa and Charlotte will be happy to assist you and to amend or to initiate any direct debits that you require.

So, until the next Chairman’s chat, enjoy your festive season and celebrations, thank you all for your continued loyalty to the Club, we need you all as members, for you to enjoy your membership and as always, to encourage others to join with us. 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 M

Chris Brownridge. CEO BMW (UK) Ltd.

any aspects of our lives are governed by deadlines, some with more serious consequences than others.

Last month publishing deadlines meant that, when it came to my monthly missive, I was unable to write about the season finale in the BTCC or talk about the first press reports on the new BMW i4.

Disappointing, but neither with earthshattering consequences.

Before I move on to more important lines in the sand I would just like to congratulate Team BMW on securing the manufacturers’ title in the BTCC for a record sixth consecutive year, a 100 per cent success record for the 330i M Sport. Colin Turkington was runner up in the drivers’ championship and also won the Goodyear Wingfoot Award at Brands Hatch for ending the year as the series’ best qualifier for a second year running.

All in all, a superb effort from all involved.

On a more serious note, the deadline for significantly cutting carbon emissions is upon us and I was delighted that the Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Oliver Zipse, gave the keynote speech at the Sustainable Innovation Forum at the COP 26 UN Climate Summit in Glasgow. As one of the most sustainable car companies, BMW is a leading provider of innovative mobility solutions in the fight against climate change with Zipse commenting: “The key to sustainability lies in innovation, in innovative technologies, but also

8 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

in innovative thinking that accepts no boundaries. Most importantly, together we must choose and follow a binding path with clear goals. Always according to the motto: No more waiting. No more clever tactics. It’s time to act. Now.” While BMW is looking at every aspect of sustainability, from manufacturing to drive systems and right through the supply chain, it has always been at the vanguard of electromobility. The i3 was the first electric car produced in Germany on a large scale back in 2013, and this year has seen the debut of the iX3, the iX and the i4, with many more new electric models arriving in the coming years. The i4 offers the core BMW attribute of driving pleasure in a sporting style with plenty of space and the practicality of a four-door Gran Coupé and all with zero tailpipe emissions.

While I might be biased, you don’t have to take my word for it as the UK’s motoring press have now sampled the i4 M50, the M Performance model in

the range. What Car? commented: “The BMW i4 M50 is very fast, has a beautifully supple ride and the best infotainment system in the class. Factor in impressive practicality and a plush interior and it’s a compelling alternative to a Tesla Model 3 Performance.” While Top Gear said: “More than just an electric 4 Series Gran Coupé, this is a ‘proper’ BMW.” Autocar was equally effusive in its praise, commenting; “The key attractions to the M50 are its strong performance and engaging dynamic ability. It is an electric car that will appeal to those who delight in driving and seek a sense of sportiness. The real achievement is that it manages this while being highly refined and relaxing when you dial up Comfort and glide along at typical motorway speeds.” It really is an amazing machine and I’m very proud of our talented designers and engineers responsible for the i4.

Of course, it would have been nice to have been able to bring you this news last month, but that’s publishing deadlines for you. And this month I have another quandary: do I wish you all a happy Christmas in this issue, which will hit your doormats at the beginning of December? It seems a bit early. Or do I wait for the next issue when the festive period will be coming to an end? I think we could all do with a bit of Christmas cheer so let’s enjoy what’s left of 2021 and look forward to a happy new year.

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

GIFT CARD!

NORTHAMPTON STORE NOW OPEN!

31496

65SUPERSTORES NATIONWIDE PORTABLE OIL FREE AIR COMPRESSOR KIT

JS180

JUMP STARTS FROM ONLY

69

£ DOUBLE .98

DOUBLE EXC.VAT FOOTER £83.98 inc.VAT

BEST

SELLER 12/24

EXTRA LONG 1m LEADS

ALSO AVAILABLE MICRO JUMP STARTS

MODEL 900 JS1100 910 JS1100C 4000 JS12/24 JS12/24Li

FROM ONLY

NEW

59

30

37

MODELS IN THE RANGE

FROM ONLY

33

£ DOUBLE .99

DOUBLE EXC.VAT FOOTER £40.79 inc.VAT

AC80

HUGE RANGE

INC. AIR GUN WITH PRESSURE GAUGE, TRIPLE HEAD INFLATOR & ADAPTORS

TROLLEY JACKS

HEATERS

MODELS IN THE RANGE

CHARGERS / MAINTAINERS

MONZA

MIG WELDERS FROM ONLY

32

£ DOUBLE .99

DOUBLE EXC.VAT FOOTER £39.59 inc.VAT

15

MODEL SHOWN 135TE

FROM ONLY DOUBLE.98 EXC.VAT DOUBLE £167.98 FOOTER inc.VAT

139

£

ELECTRIC, GAS & DIESEL MODELS IN STOCK

REAR LOCKING SECURITY BARS

LOW ENTRY ONLY 80MM

3 EASY WAYS TO BUY

IN-STORE

SUPERSTORES NATIONWIDE

TELESALES 0115 956 5555

ONLINE machinemart.co.uk

Calls to the catalogue request number cost 7p per minute plus your telephone company’s network access charge. Calls may be monitored.

All prices correct at time of going to press. We reserve the right to change products and prices. All products subject to availability, E&OE.

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

INC.VAT £119.98 £131.98 £155.98 £179.98 £203.98 £287.98

1

149 DOUBLEEXC.VAT DOUBLE £179.98 FOOTER inc.VAT

£ FROM ONLY .98

CTC1300C

MODEL SHOWN CTJ2250LP

EXC.VAT £99.98 £109.98 £129.98 £149.98 £169.98 £239.98

PRO TOOL CHESTS & CABINETS

EXTRA WIDE 56" CHESTS/CABINETS IN STOCK

34

GAS, TIPS, SHROUDS & WIRE IN STOCK

TIGER 16/550 MODEL MOTOR CFM TANK BANDIT IV 1HP 4.5 8ltr 8/260 2HP 7.5 24ltr 11/260 2.5HP 9.5 24ltr 8/550 2HP 7.5 50ltr 11/550 2.5HP 9.5 50ltr 16/550 3HP 14.5 50ltr

TOOL CHESTS & CABINETS MECHANICS’ TOOL CHEST & CABINETS

MODELS IN THE RANGE

FROM ONLY £ DOUBLE .99 DOUBLE EXC.VAT FOOTER £41.99 inc.VAT

99

BATTERY CHARGERS / MAINTAINERS BATTERY

IDEAL FOR CAR/BIKE TYRES

ONLY £ DOUBLE .98 DOUBLE EXC.VAT FOOTER £71.98 inc.VAT

FROM ONLY £ DOUBLE .98 DOUBLE EXC.VAT FOOTER £119.98 inc.VAT

TURBO AIR COMPRESSORS

BUY AND REDEEM: IN-STORE ONLINE PHONE

1.5HP 6.35cfm

39

£ DOUBLE .98

DOUBLE EXC.VAT FOOTER £47.98 inc.VAT STARTING PEAK EXC. INC. BOOST AMPS VAT VAT 400 900 £69.98 £83.98 500 1100 £74.99 £89.99 400 900 £79.98 £95.98 500 1100 £84.99 £101.99 700 1500 £149.98 £179.98 1000 2000 £169.98 £203.98 600 1200 £179.98 £215.98

THE PERFECT GIFT

LARGE CAPACITY LOWER STORAGE WITH LOCKABLE DOORS

289

2

£ FROM ONLY .98

DOUBLEEXC.VAT DOUBLE £347.98 FOOTER inc.VAT

2

CHROME SPOKED WHEELS

FROM ONLY

82EXC.VAT

£ DOUBLE .99

DOUBLE FOOTER £99.59 inc.VAT

MODEL DESCRIPTION EXC. VAT CTC600C 6 Dr Chest £82.99 CTC900C 9 Dr Chest £94.99 CTC700C 7 Dr Cabinet £154.99 CTC1300C 13 Dr Combination Chest/Cabinet £189.98

INC. VAT £99.59 £113.99 £185.99 £227.98

The ultimate in tool storage MODEL DESCRIPTION CBB209C CBB203C 2 CBB217C 1

EXC. VAT 9 Dr Chest £149.98 3 Dr step up £84.99 7 Dr Cabinet £289.98

INC. VAT £179.98 £101.99 £347.98

BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

9

clubnews Free Online Classified Adverts for Members

Last date for ordering any Club Merchandise or Gift Memberships with guaranteed delivery by Christmas is Sunday 12th December.

BMW Car Club has extended the opportunity for members to advertise their cars, registration numbers, memorabilia etc. for free until the New Year on our new Classifieds platform on the BMWCC website. Visit www.bmwcarclubgb.uk/classifieds to view or add your adverts. *Straight Six classified adverts remain at £9.95.

**Any orders placed after 12 December cannot have guaranteed delivery by 24 December**

As we approach the last few weeks of a year that has, once again, been filled with uncertainty, social distancing and face coverings we would like to thank all the Region and Register Chairs and their representatives for their hard work throughout these turbulent times and for keeping everyone connected.

Also a big thank you to all our members for their support throughout the year.

2022 marks the 70 year anniversary of the BMW Car Club GB so we look forward to celebrating this special year with you.

Wishing you all a very Happy and safe Festive Season and look forward to seeing you all in 2022.

Merry Christmas From BMW Car Club HQ

Renewals and Straight Six To ensure members receive all 12 issues of Straight Six we encourage our members to renew their memberships before the end of their individual expiry month.

The Straight Six Magazine mailing list is an automated process and sends over a full list of active members to the mailing house on the 14th of each month. If a membership has not been renewed by the time the mailing list is sent over then you will not receive the following month’s issue.

We do receive additional copies into the office each month, but the amount is very limited. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that members who renew after the 14th of the month following their renewal date will be able to have a copy sent out to them.

10 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

New Members

What’s Planned for 2022…

CENTRAL

EASTERN

NORTH EAST

Greg Taylor

Helen Stanley

Gavin Smith

Andy Bird

Adam Simpson

Sandra Lockey

Dilraj Sagoo

Phil Stapleton

Scott Roworth

Wayne Douglas

NORTH WEST

David Moss

Adrian Parker

Simon Carroll

Jin Iynkaran

Anthony Grainger

Mark Wherrett

June

Andrew Bodman

Christopher Dean

Geoff Cooper-Smith

Robert Pearson

CENTRAL WEST

Daljit Manku

SCOTLAND

Paul Nichols

Simon Bentley

Zaheer Aslam

Jack Gwinnell

5: BM’s on the Lawn

The Show & Shine returns next year on the Westonsuper-Mare front lawns, in memory of late Club member, Robert Scanlan.

Zayn Latif

LONDON

SOUTH EAST

Tony Bridgewater

Nicholas Warboys

Ray Atkins

Graham Thorley

Odys Zwierowicz

Robert Perkins

John Kelsall

Andrew Collinson

Marc Turner

Mohammed Zafar

Yasseen Gailani

Alan Williams

Jago Anderson

WALES - SOUTH

Ball Aujla

Fikret Gorgecer

Mark Bailey

August

Louise Jones

Sukhpreet Randhawa

Mark West

Gary Deakin

Krysztof Ferko

Deepinder Kaylan

WESSEX

CHESHIRE & STAFFS

Rahim Baloo

Keith Walker

Shaun Azam

Richard Cowles

26 – 29: The Classic, Silverstone

The Classic returns on a new date for 2022.

Bookings open soon.

*Provisional dates

David Broadhouse

Ghaleb Rahim

John Briers

Stuart Day

Gary Webb

Amanda Mayich

John Lovett

Roger Turner

CORNWALL

Joseph Gabriel

Peter Barron

Nabil Zarif

WESTERN

Edward Smedley

COTSWOLD Mike Saunders

April 24: Southern Concours

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

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.

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.

EAST ANGLIA David Asplin Sam Main Finlay Webster Robert Ward Gary Cooper Mark Searby Alison Hall Heidi Nelson

Shop online at www.bmwcarclubgb.uk/shop

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021 11

bmwnews BMW supplies V8 to Range Rover Land Rover has launched the all new Range Rover, which counts the BMW X7 as one of its main competitors, along with the Bentley Bentayga, Aston Martin DBX and Rolls-Royce Cullinan. The new Range Rover has been given an all-new platform and a new, sleek design, which may look as boxy as ever but it has given the new RR a drag coefficient of 0.30, making it the most aerodynamic model in its segment.

It may come as a surprise to discover the top-tier engine available for the new Range Rover comes from BMW. It’s the familiar S63B44T4 twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 available in a variety of BMW M models and serving here as a replacement for Jaguar Land Rover’s supercharged 5.0-litre V8. In this new application, it’s been detuned to deliver 530hp and 750Nm (551 lb ft) of torque.

The BMW heart enables the 2022 Range Rover to reach 60mph in a respectable 4.3 seconds, provided the launch control system is activated. Flat out, it will reach an electronically limited 155mph. Land Rover says the V8 engine has been adapted for its installation in the Range Rover, featuring a bespoke

BMWs S63B44T4 twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 will power the new top of the range 2022 Range Rover…

sump that allows the SUV to provide 45° of articulation during intense off-road situations. The air intake has also been modified to enable a maximum wading depth of 900 mm. Range Rover engineers have also fitted a beefier starter motor and heated sump while making other tweaks to ensure the V8 will fire up even in the coldest climates of the world.

While BMW’s X7 comes exclusively with a single wheelbase length, the Range Rover continues to offer short and long configurations with four-, five-, and seven-seat interior layouts. Another difference between the two is the lack of a plug-in hybrid option in the case of BMW’s largest SUV, whereas the RR will be offered with two PHEV powertrains.

BMW Group sourcing green steel…

In its quest to push forward with climate protection, the BMW Group is systematically pursuing its goal of significantly reducing CO2 emissions at their source in the supply chain. From 2025 onwards, the company plans to source steel produced with up to 95% less CO2 emissions and without requiring fossil resources such as coal.

The BMW Group has now reached an agreement to this effect with the Swedish startup H2 Green Steel, which uses hydrogen and only green power from renewable energies for steel production.

Owing to its particularly energyintensive manufacturing process, steel production is considered one of the main sources of global CO2 emissions. BMW’s goal is to reduce CO2 emissions in its steel supply chain by about two million tonnes by 2030.

In addition to the delivery of steel produced using green power, the BMW Group and H2 Green Steel have

also agreed to recycle sheet metal remnants, such as those produced at press plants when panels like doors and bonnets are punched out. It will process these offcuts so they can be shipped back to the plants as new steel rolls. Since it requires less energy to produce, recycled steel lowers CO2 emissions by an average of 50 to 80%, compared to primary material.

Cars like this M8 Competition Coupé could soon be constructed from recycled green steel…

12 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Latest news from the Redux E30 M3 The day when Redux 002 finally hit the rollers finally arrived. To mitigate the risk of scratching anything, the M3 arrived at the Roger Clarke Motorsport rolling road session semi-naked. Even with only the bare essentials fitted, she still drew admiring glances and comments from the few people lucky enough to see her break cover for the first time since being painted.

The rolling road session turned out to be a big success. The Redux guys told us that the sound from 002’s naturally aspirated S14 engine at max revs is incredible. The re-engineered 2.5L S14 engine hit its projected horsepower and torque figures of 300hp and 205ft/ lb torque at 8,000rpm. Based on the mapping data, the team is quietly confident it could potentially pull to 9,000rpm. Most pleasing was the consistency of each run - always within 1hp - and the relatively flat torque curve produced.

Days later and 002 is virtually complete. With the electronics

The Redux 002 E30 M3s S14 engine produced 300hp and 205ft/lb torque on the rolling road – photos were deliberately kept black and white to keep 002s paint colour under wraps…

programming completed, the Alcantara and leather-trimmed components were slotted into place, followed by the cabin’s abundance of bespoke billet parts, which are all anodised, laser engraved (where applicable) and look incredible. Seeing the first interior trim parts fitted was very satisfying. First in was the Alcantara headliner, followed by the Alcantaratrimmed rear parcel shelf. By adding rear seat belts, C-pillar trim and rear

AC Schnitzer suspension goodies German BMW tuner AC Schnitzer has released lots of new suspension kits and other goodies for a plethora of BMW models just in time for Christmas. Why not treat your car to a Schnitzer upgrade this winter?

First up is BMW’s G22/23 4 Series.

Schnitzer offers two levels of kit, the first being a Spring Kit for all 4 Series AC Schnitzer has lots of suspension goodies for a plethora of models, Coupés and Convertibles, with and including a spring set for the new M3… without BMW adaptive suspension or xDrive. Secondly, a Sports Suspension Kit replaces the springs and dampers, currently for cars without BMW adaptive damping only. Similar kits are already available for the 3 Series.

Next up is the BMW F40 M135i. Schnitzer is offering an RS Suspension Kit, which is a set of premium adjustable coilovers. It comes preset with AC Schnitzer’s own ride height, compression and rebound damping settings.

If you own a BMW G30/31 5 Series, Schnitzer offers a spring kit that fits the bill.

Whether your car has adaptive or passive dampers, xDrive or rear wheel drive, a saloon or touring body, the kit suits them all.

For the owner of BMW’s new G80 M3, Schnitzer has a spring kit which lowers the car 15 to 20mm at the front, putting a little more weight on the nose for improved steering response with little or no loss of ride quality. No lowering is necessary at the rear. Schnitzer’s RS adjustable coilover suspension will be available for the M3 soon too, watch this space.

Finally, Schnitzer also has a spring kit for the F60 Mini Countryman.

For more information on these kits etc, contact AC Schnitzer UK on 01485 542000, or visit www.ac-schnitzer.co.uk

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

quarter glass, the initial transformation is incredible.

The car is being tested by Top Gear magazine soon, so it needs to be completed and shaken down, hopefully we’ll have some first impressions next month…

And before we went to press we were informed by the Redux guys that 003’s donor is loaded in a container and waiting to be shipped from the USA.

BMW E24 M635CSi hits $110K… Showing that the heat in the classic car market hasn’t dissipated yet, a 1987 M635CSi sold recently on Bring-a-Trailer for a huge $110,000 or £82,000 sterling. The car in question had covered just 11,000 miles and was finished in Royal Blue metallic with a tan leather interior; both paintwork and interior were said to be in near perfect condition. Unfortunately it was originally a North American market car, so it sported the ungainly federal bumpers.

Even so, it was a stunning example of the classic sharknose coupé, which we’re glad to see is enjoying something of a renaissance at present.

This stunning E24 M635CSi sold at auction for $110,000 (£82K) proof that the market for classic BMWs is still hot.

BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021 13

motorsportnews BMW Junior Team concludes successful first NLS season The BMW Junior Team ended its first season of the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) season with the BMW Team RMG-prepared M6 GT3 on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Even though a retirement in the final race prevented them winning a title, the year was a success for Dan Harper (GBR), Max Hesse (GER) and Neil Verhagen (USA).

The team took two wins and a total of four podium finishes in the BMW M6 GT3, which resulted in a second place overall in the GT3 category in the NLS Speed Trophy. What was even more impressive is the fact that the M6 GT3 that the Junior team were competing in is an ageing race car, which will be retired at the end of 2021 by BMW Motorsport.

The rapid development of the BMW Junior Team, with victories at the fourth and fifth NLS races of the season at the Nordschleife, as well as a second and third place in the second half of the season, have finally proven that Harper, Hesse and Verhagen have arrived in the ranks of the top GT drivers. Promising young talents have become seasoned winning drivers within a very short time, and with the new M4 GT3 flagship of BMW Motorsport awaiting them for the 2022 NLS season, overall victory at the Nürburgring 24 Hour Race will also be at stake.

Ones to watch in the future, BMW Junior Team members (L-R) Neil Verhagen, Dan Harper and Max Hesse

The BMW Team RMG #44 M6 GT3 clinched victory at the Nurburgring earlier this season

BMW M4 GT4 wins ADAC GT4 title!

The Team Hofor Racing/Bonk Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 driven by Michael Schrey (GER) and Gabriele Piana (ITA) cruised to the title in the final race of the season at the Nurburgring. In total, Schrey and Piana achieved five victories during the season in their F82-based M4 GT4, four of them in the first four races. These wins laid the foundation for eventually taking the eventual title. In the end, the two experienced drivers had a lead of eleven points at the race finish, securing the GT4 driver’s title. Hofor Racing/ Bonk Motorsport finished second in the team standings.

BMW wins GT4 title in the Italian GT Championship Monza was the fitting setting for the final round of the Italian GT Championship. In the GT4 category, the BMW Team Italia #215 M4 GT4 driven by Nicola Neri, Giuseppe Fascicolo (both ITA) and Alfred Nilsson (SWE) secured yet another class victory.

The team clinched the GT4 title in their M4 GT4, showing just how competitive the F82 M4 GT4 race car still is. Such success bodes well for the following seasons with the new G82-based M4 GT4 racing car that’s already showing great pace in testing.

The Team Hofor Racing/Bonk Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 driven by Michael Schrey (GER) and Gabriele Piana (ITA) cruises over the finish line to secure the Drivers ADAC GT4 title. The team were also runners up in the team trophy

14 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Roving reporters Jeff Heywood & Paul Kelly

BTCC Season Finale Ash Sutton arrived at the final round of the series, with a 32 point advantage over Colin Turkington. But, as we know, the BTCC can turn up some real surprises, so Sutton was mindful of the fact that one DNF could change everything.

BMW had a brilliant hospitality unit just for BMW owners, with an exclusive viewing balcony and refreshments.

BMW really knows a thing or two about looking after customers.

Qualifying The Norlin Honda Civics locked out the front row of the grid, Senna Proctor secured pole from Josh Cook. Ash Sutton was sixth, but crucially the WSR BMW of rival Colin Turkington could only muster eighth, not the best place to try and get the points back.

Stephen Jelley was ninth, and Ciceley BMW driver Tom Chilton 10th, his best qualifying position of the season. After finally getting to grips with rear wheel drive, Chilton then announced he was to leave Ciceley Motorsport and go back to a front wheel drive car for the 2022 season. Further back was Tom Oliphant in 14th and Adam Morgan 16th.

Race 1 From the off the two Hondas immediately wull out a gap from the following pack. Colin Turkington went up a place and right behind Sutton’s Infiniti. Ditto Chilton who was fighting with the Infiniti of Aiden Moffatt for 8th. The safety car was out on lap five to recover the Ford Focus of Andy Neate. Racing resumed on lap seven, Turkington was still behind Sutton and needed to get a move on to reduce the points advantage. At the flag it was Josh Cook taking the win from team mate Proctor. Crucially though Colin Turkington couldn’t find a way past Sutton in seventh, so an even bigger mountain to climb for race two.

Tom Chilton was ninth, Oliphant 11th, Morgan 15th, and Jelly way down in 22nd.

Race 2 Could Colin Turkington put Ash Sutton under pressure for the second outing of the day? From the start Turkington passed Sutton into Paddock Hill Bend,

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Colin Turkington comes second best to the Infiniti of Ash Sutton in this year’s championship.

rubbing Sutton in the process. At the Druids hairpin, Senna Proctor outbraked himself and went off into the gravel.

And there was big drama though further up the field, as Tom Chilton tried to pass Ollie Jackson, touching the Ford causing it to spin right into the path of Tom Oliphant, who then spun Jackson into Adam, wrecking both cars. Three BMWs out in seconds. The safety car came out for a good few laps to recover the carnage. When the racing restarted, Sutton was still behind Turkington, which is all he needed to do. Another safety car again late in the race on lap 14 meant there wasn’t much chance for Turkington to make up any ground.

He did grab one place bringing him up to fourth, but sixth was enough for Ash Sutton to retain his title. Colin Turkington was the bridesmaid again.

Race 3 The reverse grid draw for the final race put Stephen Jelly on pole in the WSR BMW, with Tom Chilton in the Ciceley BMW second. Could Chilton bow out

with a win in his final BMW outing?

Colin Turkington was sixth, Tom Oliphant and Adam Morgan 28th and 29th after race two’s scrummage.

Jelly and Chilton got their 330Ms off the line well and led the field on lap one. Lap two and Chilton had slipped to fourth, that win was looking unlikely.

Colin Turkington retired. Lap five and new champ Sutton took the lead from Rowbottom’s Honda. Chilton was then back up to third, and a chance at a podium. On lap 10, Jake Hill tagged Stephen Jelly, spinning the BMW out of contention. At the flag it was Ash Sutton, from Dan Rowbottom. Tom Chilton the highest placed BMW in 6th, and his best of the season. Tom Oliphant 15th and Adam Morgan 16th.

Not a great showing for the BMW challenge.

Thanks for reading my reports. Will keep you up to date with off season developments, especially who will be replacing Tom Chilton in the second Ciceley BMW.

Colin Turkington wins the BTCC Goodyear Wingfoot award Awarded to the best qualifier of the season, the BTCC Goodyear Wingfoot award was this year given to WSR’s Colin Turkington. Pictured here with his son Lewis.

BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021 15

dannorris Show me the money! On your Bitcoin dashboard…

F

ilthy lucre, cash, wonga, pound notes, dollar, bread…there was a time when all this vocabulary was as familiar to a car dealer as sheepskin coats and sovereign rings.

Nowadays, of course, real money has all but disappeared from the showroom.

But when did it all change from the basic concept of trade and barter to PCPs, residuals and balloons, government regulations and organised crime? When, and why, did it all get so complicated?

‘How much for cash, mate?’ There was a day when this was music to any trader’s ear, and the deal would be struck with much lip-licking, cheek sucking and the reassuring rustle of a monkey, pony or marmot. Or whatever animal the car cost.

Note to self: do more research for articles.

This would usually be followed by a trip to the pub and the simple calculation of the day’s profits. Which may or may not be mentioned to Her Majesty’s collectors of taxes.

One of my earliest memories at Munich Legends, in my first week, was of being in an accounts meeting and being interrupted by a knock on the door.

‘That man wants to talk to you’ said our receptionist, pointing at a chap clutching a plastic bag as he wandered round the showroom. I sprung into action, keen to meet one of my first physical customers.

‘Can I help you?’ I asked. At which point the man turned around and immediately opened the carrier bag to show me the contents. ‘I have this’ he said, ’and I’d like to buy a car’. In the bag was a huge, untidy mass of bank notes. £50 notes.

‘I’m sure that can be arranged’ I replied.

Of course, even then it wasn’t quite that simple.

In those days, the law said you called SOCA, the Serious Organised Crime Agency. While the customer waited in the showroom, and without telling him or her of your actions, you were supposed to sneak into the office and basically explain that a man had just offered you a big bag of cash. That was it. If they wanted to follow it up, they could. But as you can imagine, mostly they just grunted and said they’d let you know.

Then one day I went to call SOCA and the number was unavailable. Unwilling to lose a sale and having found no information online, I took the cash and banked it. I think it was around £40,000 for an E90 M3 track car from memory.

Obviously, I went to the pub first, but I did declare the transaction, because I

16 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

BMW Press

A Sport Evo, as not seen in Libya

really hate the idea of doing weights in a prison yard.

After a few years in limbo and no one to call when there was a big cash transaction – HMRC and the National Crime Agency (SOCA’s successor) offered no guidance at all – it was our bankers that flagged up a new rule in one of their box-ticking exercises. ‘Are you registered as a High Value Dealer?’ asked our bank manager on one of his pointless visits. It turned out that the new scheme applies to any car dealer who accepted cash – on one or more occasion – totalling more than £10,000.

This makes you an HVD, and you have to register. Someone, usually a director, has to put their name to it, and you can go to prison if you get things wrong. We listened carefully (or at least Karen in accounts did, while I watched some paint dry) to the endless list of responsibilities, tasks, paperwork and obligations that came with being an HVD and immediately decided it wasn’t for us. Cash clients would have to go. But just as the Zoom was about to end, the HMRC people let one utter gem escape, which we hadn’t realised. The obligation to be an HVD, and all that went with it only applies to investment or capital purchases. Like a car. It isn’t relevant for repairs, restorations or services.

We thanked them for their time, and declined the scheme.

Now, the last time we had a big insurance renewal, I read the terms applying to the transport of cash. If the cash we’re banking totals to more than £7000, then it has to be accompanied by three members of staff. More than £10k and it’s four. And they actually stipulate what staff are covered for, in the event they’re robbed and injured.

If you lose an arm, you get £8000. I’m not making it up. You can see why cash has gone out of fashion. For this and several other reasons, I’m not a fan of

cash. It’s now tempting to answer the question ‘how much for cash, mate?’ with ‘that’ll be the usual price plus a 10% surcharge, please sir.’ And that is a shame, because we work hard for our money. Why shouldn’t we be allowed to spend it freely?

Let’s just remember what this is all for. All these regulations were brought in after 9/11 to prevent terrorists from laundering money. I’m not certain Al Qaeda will get very far in their World Domination Plan laundering ten grand chunks through a BMW garage in Chelwood Gate, but you never know, I suppose. The silly part is that if they really want to, they can buy a project car for £9000 cash, ask us to restore it for £70,000 in cash and then sell it on for £79,000, which I can pay directly into their bank account (or maybe a friend’s).

That’s all legal. Even if we’d signed up as an HVD, there’s no reporting mechanism for that. You’d be forgiven for thinking that 9/11 provided a handy excuse for clamping down on tax avoidance, that the HVD scheme is more aimed at catching self-employed plumbers than suicide bombers. To be honest, I’ve not seen many Sport Evos on the front line in Libya.

And this is before we move onto the latest alternative to cash, Bitcoin.

The world is now apparently awash with (usually) young (usually) men who’ve been playing around with crypto currencies and suddenly have (digital) money to (virtually) burn. At my wife’s company, a Bitcoin guy paid €43,000 to rent a car from them for a month while he was in Europe on business. Bitcoin is even less traceable than cash, because you don’t even need to show a human form of ID to make it, store it or spend it. And there’s no need for ML to bother with HMRC and their silly HVD system because Bitcoin isn’t cash so it doesn’t apply. And crypto currencies are scary, because you really can use the system to rinse unlimited sums. Yes, enough to build an army. And there’s next to nothing the established mechanisms, the World’s nation states, or the international banking system can do about it.

On the upside, dealers no longer need those sheepskin jackets, with their deep, cash-ready pockets. On the downside, we spend less time in the pub. Maybe that’s a small price to pay to be able to sell cars to people who want to buy them. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

17

products Buying gifts for the tool and machinery fanatic in your life can be tricky.

Trying to work out what they need, or what they’ve already got, can be a real mystery.

Combine that with the difficulty of buying for Christmas, when you want to really treat them and go above and beyond the usual pairs of socks or bottles of beer, and you’ve got yourself a really stressful situation.

If you’re stuck for gift ideas this Christmas, why not let them choose for themselves with a Machine Mart gift card?

Machine Mart gift cards and E-Vouchers can hold any value from £20 to £500 and can be used in any of Machine Mart’s 65 superstores nationwide, online at www.machinemart.co.uk or over the phone by calling 0115 956 5555.

Available to buy in store, you can also order them online; an E-Voucher can be sent in a personalised email style, courtesy of Machine Mart, whatever the occasion may be.

To find out more about Machine Mart’s gift cards, their huge choice of tools and machinery or to order their FREE catalogue visit your local store, go online to www. machinemart.co.uk or call 0115 956 5555.

Clarke Battery Chargers & Jump Starts It is a nightmare to get stuck with a drained battery, that’s why Machine Mart stock a range of car battery chargers, jump starts, and engine starters to get you moving again quickly. We stock robust and reliable battery chargers from Clarke, whose products have been helping people to get back on the road for over 30 years.

We stock car battery chargers ranging from easy-to-to transport models suitable for personal use through to high-performance models perfect for professional garages and vehicle workshops. We also have heavy duty chargers, suitable for large commercial and industrial vehicles, as well as a range of car battery testers, essential for vehicle maintenance.

Our range of battery chargers are also designed to suit any budget and a customer’s particular needs. The Clarke LA4 is available for just over £20 and has a maximum battery size of 60Ah whereas, at the other end of the scale, the heavy duty Clarke WBC400 is priced at over £250, with a maximum battery size of 1000Ah. The Clarke JSM Jumpstarts are compact and portable but with plenty of power.

Small enough to easily store in your glove box, each model features a handy LED torch. The new JSM180 (pictured) can start petrol vehicles with engines up to 3 litres and can be used approximately five to ten times on a single charge. Elsewhere in the range, the JSM300 has the power to start petrol engines up to 6 litres and diesel engines up to 3 litres. Each JSM unit also has the ability to charge a mobile phone.

For more heavy duty tasks, the Clarke Jump Start 4000 (pictured) is a bestselling product, capable of starting petrol engines up to 6 litres and diesel engines up to 4 litres. It features metre-long leads for easier use whilst an audible alarm warns users if leads are incorrectly attached, avoiding potential damage.

18 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Machine Mart Look For Your Dream Workshops!

Machine Mart are on the lookout for dream workshops for their ongoing video series.

The Customers Dream Workshops video series gives Machine Mart customers the chance to showcase their work spaces to like-minded tool and machinery fanatics.

If there are any Machine Mart super fans out there with an envious workshop or garage, or someone who has an interesting story to tell, we want to hear from them.

Two videos in the series have been released so far and they can be found at www. machinemart.co.uk/dream-workshops If you’re a petrol head in Peterborough, or a woodworker in Whitby, please get in touch and we could be doing a video on you very soon.

Anyone interested in having their workshop featured is asked to contact us on socialmedia@machinemart.co.uk or via social media.

Machine Mart is Britain’s biggest specialist supplier of tools and machinery. Established in 1981 with a growing network of 65 Superstores nationwide with 1000s of tools and machinery on display. Products can be purchased with confidence and ease instore, online at www.machinemart.co.uk or via telesales on 0115 956 5555. Our experienced store and telesales teams are here to provide helpful, friendly advice to our customers, ensuring that they purchase the right tool for the job – every time.

Halfords 3 Drawer Metal Portable Tool Chest • Load rating of 9kg per drawer • Drawers lock when lid is closed • Heavy duty comfort-grip handle • Designed and engineered for the DIY enthusiast • Size: 513mm (width) x 240mm (depth) x 320mm (height) The Halfords 3 Drawer Metal Portable Tool Chest is a great value tool chest, designed and engineered for the DIY enthusiast. The top compartment is great for frequently used tools and each of the drawers lock when the lid is closed, making it safe and easy to transport.

RRP. £39.00.

Members benefit from a 10% discount on in-store purchases. Visit the BMW Car Club website for more information.

Halfords Gift Cards and e-Gift Cards Whether you’re shopping for a seasoned cyclist, a motoring enthusiast or a little one who’s just starting out, a Halfords Gift Card is the perfect way to celebrate those special occasions.

Our Gift Cards come in a range of eye-catching designs, and are redeemable online, in Halfords retail stores and in Halfords Autocentres.

You can buy them in-store, in garages or send one directly to your friends or family by post or email. Whatever option you choose, a Halfords Gift Card is sure to bring a smile to their face and can be redeemed across a range of products including kids bikes, motoring and scooters.

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021 19

Feature

Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show Words: Chaydon Ford & Martyn Goodwin Images: Chaydon Ford

One of the last major events on the club and automotive show calendar, the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show with Discovery at the NEC, was welcomed back after a year’s absence due to the pandemic. An online event was held last year to a high degree of success but, as we all know, automotive shows are always better experienced in person when permitted. With the NEC taking great care to ensure the event was Covid compliant, the mood across the event was positive, with showgoers, traders and club representatives alike all happy to be back.

If you have attended the event in previous years, the show format hasn’t changed a great deal. Before you assume I’m being negative, allow me to explain; I truly believe this is what makes the show so popular. This degree of consistency means that show-goers know what to expect and this is what keeps them coming back.

Clubs attend year after year, always

20 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

bringing a high calibre of cars to display along with their devoted owners, who are all more than happy to talk about the ownership experience and the bond which the clubs have created. Wandering through the numerous halls, it was almost alarming at how many different clubs attend. Needless to say, if a car has been sold in any great number, be they expensive or affordable, there’s a club for it and they were likely at the NEC. For those who favour a more hands on approach to their automotive lifestyle, live workshop sessions covering a myriad of skills ran over the course of the event, while traders displayed enough stock

to fully outfit your garage with every tool imaginable. If collectibles are more your flavour, a huge autojumble provided ample opportunity to spend on anything from pre-war manuals, to scale models or other memorabilia.

Having something for everyone spread across the vast eight halls is what really makes the show special.

Since first opening its doors in 1984, the Classic Motor Show has evolved into a staple of the UK automotive events calendar. If you haven’t been before, you’re missing out. Just be sure to wear some comfortable shoes if you intend to see it all.

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Feature

M

ay I start my report on the 2021 event with my personal thanks to all of those that supported the BMWCCGB participation in the show this year.

With due respect to all of you, our members, it would be all too easy to have a random selection of cars from the BMW product line up and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, this is a prestigious event and, as such, we owe it to ourselves to really put on a show. I like to think of this as an opportunity to tell a story, one that will appeal to a broad audience.

We first broke the random car line-up in 2017 with our presentation of the M5 evolution featuring the BMW UK-supplied F90 M5, hot from its UK launch, flanked by the E12 M535i, E28 M5, E34 M5, E39 M5, and E60 M5.

For 2018, knowing that the G20 7th Generation 3 Series would be close to release, we presented a line-up that represented the gestation and evolution of the M3 starting with the E10 2002

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Turbo (albeit a restomod right-hand drive car), E21 323i, E30 M3 Sport Evo, E36 M3 Evo, E46 M3 CSL, E92 M3 GTS, F80 M3 Competition and a pre-production build G20 from BMW UK which has now of course morphed into the G80 sixthgeneration M3.

For 2019, it was the turn of the 8 Series showing various models with two 840Cis, an 850i and two 850CSis lining up alongside the BMW UK-supplied G15 M8 Competition. Again, a pre-production car, and so hot that nobody had seen the car previously.

As 2020 didn’t happen, the plan for

2021 was actually hatched in January 2021 well before the theme of the show was known. In my routine liaison with BMW UK, I had asked what might be available for the show in November, essentially looking for a key car to showcase. I was told that the iX would definitely be available and possibly the i4, the latter being only a remote possibility, the thought of a green element to the display was in my mind. Knowing that Electric Classic Cars had done early conversions on both an E9 and an E10, way back in March, I reached out through ECC to contact the owners of both cars BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

21

Feature to determine their interest in being part of the show. I never did hear back on the E9, but struck up conversations with Jerry Dhillon, persuaded him to join the Club and secured a green classic (literally as the car is finished in VW Oak Green) as a key exhibit for the November show.

Thank you Jerry for the loan of the car, bringing it to the show and apologies that we were unable to recharge the car on the stand for you, sorry!

To my knowledge, we had never put on a full display of Z cars. So this was next on my bucket list for the show. It is always a challenge to find the right selection of cars for the display, but with the theme for the show being “The Journey Continues”, unknown to me at the time that I hatched the plan to try to do Green and Z, this then fitted perfectly.

So, in terms of my thanks, firstly to the Car Club Members who responded to the call for Z cars for the display. I was overwhelmed by the speed and the number of you that sent details of your cars and wishes to be included in the display. It was my wish to display both the Classic Zeds and Modern Classic Zeds, including the roadster and coupé models from the Z3 and Z4 line-ups. I was like the proverbial kid in the candy store with the opportunity to select options and colours from every model series and hence the final selection and specific thanks to the following members:

22 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

E30Z: Z1 provided by Rob Norton E36/6: Z3 Roadster provided by Dominico Diiorio E36/7: Z3M Coupé provided by Simon Adkins E85: Z4-based Alpina Sportster S provided by Andrew Gallant E86: Z4 Coupé provided by Phil Evans E89: Z4 Roadster provided by Mike Saunders E52: Z8 provided by Barry Vidgeon An extra special thanks goes out to Barry for the Z8, as not only did he allow us to display his car, he very graciously allowed me to visit him at his home near Brighton on the Tuesday before the show. I then drove the car (very carefully, roof down all the way) back to my home and from there to the show to put it on display.

What a rare and unexpected privilege and pleasure to capture a treasured memory of an afternoon with a Z8 and a photo opportunity with my two-year-old Grandson sitting on my lap with a grin like the cat that got the cream. Both of us!

The fact, therefore, that we got both the iX and the i4, which were only confirmed literally days before the show, but the plan all came together and my thoughts became reality as I drove both cars into the show and onto the stand on Thursday morning.

My next round of thanks goes out to the volunteers to help with the build-up, the day-to-day manning of the stand and finally the breakdown and completion.

Wednesday afternoon I was alone on the stand to receive Jerry’s 1602e. Jerry drove the car up from his base in Central London arriving shortly before his return train was due to leave. He gave me a two minute lesson in driving the car and left me to it. Simon Adkins was unable to get to the show at all. However, he had his car delivered to, and picked up after the show by professional car transport with Mike Norman. So thanks Simon, not only for the loan of the car but also for bearing the costs of transporting the car just for our benefit. The Wednesday session also gave me a chance to load up my X5 to take other materials needed for stand construction ready for the full day of build-up on Thursday, knowing full well that the Z8 would not serve too well as a delivery vehicle.

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Feature

Thursday morning, I was joined

by Peter Ayres from the Central West Region. Pete was, as always, ready, willing and able to support every day from Thursday to Sunday. I can honestly say that without his help I would have struggled. He even drove me home on Thursday night as I was effectively carless having taken the Z8 in the morning.

As the morning progressed, all of the other display cars arrived with each of the owners being challenged first with preparing their own cars and then, as a gang, assisting each other until all the cars were ready to go on the stand leaving me to build and prepare our array of illuminated logos and backdrop.

This particular job took longer than was anticipated, but additional pairs of hands were soon available to complete the job and to erect the finished panels that exhibition contractors said they were unwilling to provide. I hope that you can see from the photographs that we were blessed or cursed, whichever way you look at it, with a 1.5 metre square reinforced concrete pillar within the footprint of the stand. These pillars support the roof structure of Hall 1 and are impossible to avoid, so it was a question of using it to its best advantage, which, interestingly, we were the only exhibitor to do so. We therefore displayed on three sides of the pillar, illuminated logos to highlight the club brand coverage www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

with the new BMW corporate image logos for the BMW roundel, M, i and MINI, together with the traditional Alpina roundel. Although not all could be seen from a distance, the BMW roundel at the top of the four metre high panel was visible from almost everywhere in Hall 1 and, as such, served as a key landmark.

The gang were also deployed while I managed to erect all of the other features of the stand, nomadic panels and frames, leaving just the BMW Lifestyle welcome desk that proved to be so much better than the cloth covered event tables that we have traditionally used. So, thanks to Pete, Rob, Dominico, Andrew, Phil, Mike and his partner Gill for all of their help in the build-up.

Michelle, Lisa and Charlotte arrived late in the day on Thursday from Aberystwyth, with a van full of merchandise and display materials, that they then painstakingly unpacked and placed on hangers and priced up in order for no mistakes between the old logo’d inventory all marked down to move, together with a strong array of new logo’d merchandise. In the event, we seemed to do exceptionally well with merchandise from both the old and the new rails.

Our office crew do a fantastic job for us year-round and having them support the show with their physical presence, if only for two out of the three days, is a great opportunity for them to meet and greet

our members as well as to recruit and sign-up new members. So thank you for all of your hard work.

Additional help on the stand was provided by Adrian Baker and Gavin Catlow-Hawkins from Cotswold Region, thank you both.

Finally, for the few that stayed on Sunday night to help with the breakdown, fellow Director Dave Evans who worked with me until 22:00 on Sunday night loading up his van to take away as much as possible back to our storage unit, Rob Norton, Andrew Gallant and Phil Evans. Andrew and Phil were also present every day and helped out tremendously, thanks guys.

A final mention to Kevin Royal and Harveyboard. Kevin, a loyal BMWCC member, never fails to deliver upon request, all of our show plates for the cars showing the new club logo and BMW Car Club GB script together with the signs for the welcome desk branding as BMW Car BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

23

Feature Club Great Britain. Thanks Kevin, you are a star.

I am writing this blind of any images that were captured by Chay, so I hope that these will show off the stand at its best. We received countless comments about the display, every vehicle was appreciated and the two new products from BMW, the iX which was launched in the dealer network this same weekend and the i4, which is not yet released, were a constant draw to the stand. Both, I am certain, will be great for sales numbers.

The i4 M50 that we had on the stand with over 540bhp and a usable range of 260 miles (across country with regenerative power conceivably well over 300 miles) looks, feels, smells and, from my limited exposure, drives like a BMW should. It neither looks like or in any way resembles any other electric vehicle. For anyone that thinks that the range is poor, I would remind them that an E60 M5 with 507 BHP has a real-world driving range of 260 to 280 miles on a tank full of Shell V-Power premium unleaded. Admittedly it doesn’t take quite as long to refill the tank as it would to recharge the i4, but in reality, anyone that has driven from full to empty and doesn’t need a personal pit stop of some sort must be superhuman.

Just factor in a slightly longer stop and you would be good to go. The i4 is the first EV that I can honestly admit that I would be more than happy to be seen in and have as a driver’s car, quicker and greener than an M3 or M4, what’s not to like?

I will take any number of negative comments about the inclusion of the i-product on the stand when, in truth, they pulled a lot of visitors onto the stand and the opportunities to chat and stimulate interest for the club and the heritage of BMW, of which we are so proud. Just as the F90 M5, the G20 3 Series and G15 M8 Competition have in the past, they have all served us well in generating interest on the stand and their presence ticks a big box for us with the relationship with BMW UK. The show always provides for unique opportunities, Sunday morning and afternoon were certainly no exception.

Goblin Works Garage cast members Lesley Stanley and Anthony Partridge dropped by. Helen joined the club whilst with us as she has several BMWs in her personal collection, so we welcome Helen to the club.

Gerald McWhinnie had his Individual E36 M3 Evo on the Meguiar’s Showcase stand, which for those of you that have not seen this, is a car show within a car show. Being on the stand is a prize in itself, so although Gerald didn’t win, he was among those few that were interviewed by Mike Brewer to talk about his car. Mike clearly loved the car and

24 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

admitted to wanting to add one to his collection. I therefore grabbed Mike for 30 seconds before he rushed off to his next appointment within the show, thrust him my card and offered the club’s assistance in finding a car. It turns out he has just bought an E36 M3 Evo Convertible that has yet to be delivered, but he promised me that he would be joining the Club.

The show also gave us a chance to meet with potential new service partners for goods and services that our members we hope will appreciate, and also the chance to discuss issues with our peers at other car clubs. We all face the same challenges, although Porsche are somewhat unique in not wanting to grow further, with currently 22000 members they find themselves in the rather enviable position of being oversubscribed at virtually every event that they participate in. However, the rising costs and commercial pressures that are discussed in Chairman’s Chat are just as real

and challenging to other clubs where membership subscriptions are in some cases much higher than ours will be, never mind where they are in 2021.

In closing, may I verbalise on behalf of the Club, a final big thank you to all of the members that came by to chat, those who purchased their tickets using the ticket code on the club website (we get a small commission based on the number of tickets purchased above a certain threshold), to everyone that purchased merchandise, renewed their membership or joined the club and helped to make the show the resounding success that it certainly felt and will no doubt be reflected in the accounts when we summarise the daily totals and get the final numbers. I for one am already looking forward to November 2022, 11th - 13th, put the dates in your diary, planner, phone calendar or whatever your chosen media may be and we will see you there. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

I-328809

OUTDOOR CUSTOM WATERPROOF FROM £285 CUSTOM INDOOR COVERS FROM £279

READY TO WEAR WEAR AND AND BESPOKE BESPOKE COVERS COVERS FOR FOR ALL ALL CAR CAR MODELS MODELS

.co.uk .co.uk

www.carcovershop.co.uk www.carcovershop.co.uk || t.01780 t.01780 654088 654088

REVEAL COVERS FROM £159

READY TO WEAR AND AND BESPOKE BESPOKE COVERS COVERS FOR FORALL ALLCAR CARMODELS MODELS

Soft Stretch Indoor Indoor Covers Covers from from £119 £119

.co.uk .co.uk

Waterproof Waterproof&&Breathable BreathableOutdoor Outdoorfrom from£185 £185

PROTECTOR4 PROTECTOR4 FLEECE FLEECE LINED LINED BREATHABLE BREATHABLEFROM £115 £115 www.carcovershop.co.uk || t.01780 654088 www.carcovershop.co.uk t.01780FROM 654088

$LU&KDPEHUV &7(. %DW HU\ &RQGLWLRQHUV 'HKXPLGL²HUV +DOI &RYHUV +DUGWRS 6WDQGV OUTDOOR OUTDOOR CUSTOM CUSTOM WATERPROOF WATERPROOFFROM FROM£285 £285 CUSTOM CUSTOM INDOOR INDOOR COVERS COVERSFROM FROM£279 £279 REVEAL REVEAL COVERS COVERS FROM FROM£159 £159

$LU&KDPEHUV &7(. %DWWHU\ &RQGLWLRQHUV 'HKXPLGL²HUV +DOI &RYHUV +DUGWRS 6WDQGV $LU&KDPEHUV &7(. %DWWHU\ &RQGLWLRQHUV 'HKXPLGL²HUV +DOI &RYHUV +DUGWRS 6WDQGV

9.indd 1

11/02/2021 11/02/2021

Life Feature – The Alpine Job

LIFE

The Alpine Job Editorial by Steve Carter Photographs by Dean Grossmith

26 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

I

t’s been just over 12 hours of laborious driving to get here, but here we are.

Heading along the Route Napoleon the altitude starts to climb, the glorious and lush valleys give way to the first sight of those imposing grey-coloured mountains.

My Motorola Walkie Talkie crackles into life through my earpiece. But the dulcet tones are not of one of my fellow drivers. No, this time it’s something altogether more soothing and it puts an immediate grin across my face. Someone’s playing Matt Monro’s On Days Like These. Of course,

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Matt’s only allowed to sing a few lines before the cheering and laughing comes across the airwaves. We’ve finally made it to The Alps.

That opening scene of the 1969 film The Italian Job is as memorable for that charming song as it is for the fast rate at which the sunglasses-wearing driver is turning the black leather-wrapped steering wheel, the sonorous V12 of the Lamborghini Miura making a wondrous if all too brief appearance before the song takes centre stage. There may not be any

Lamborghini Miuras with us today, but there’s certainly a lot of steering wheel turning going on right now. My M3’s V8 is screaming up ahead to keep me entertained and bright eyed. Welcome to the 2021 Turn&ClipiT Alps Drive.

The fact that we’ve made it to The Alps at all is a minor miracle. Expectations of a Covid quarantine on our return home along with the cost of two-day and eight-day testing, plus advanced PCR testing before we depart and whatever other tests we have had to book and

BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

27

Life Feature – The Alpine Job

plan, made it touch-and-go whether we would all be able to get here at all. But just weeks before our looming end of August departure, the driving Gods shone on us as the British Government lightened the ever-baffling rules in our favour. And it’s just as well they did. Lockdown has given all of us far too much idle time to spend thinking about our cars and what we’d like to do with them. And so here we are months later, with virtually every car having been finely fettled and modified to provide the very best driving experience for its owner, it’s like 2020 and 2021 have turned into a Munich badged automotive arms race.

And what better proving ground to try our modifications than the French and Swiss Alps, and the Route Napoleon as our warm up. Over the next five days we have a number of carefully planned routes mapped out to give our cars the ultimate test drive. Every day will be a dark o’clock early start, the only way to get these awesome driving roads clear enough to enjoy ourselves properly, and all stitched together with tactical high RON fuel and coffee stops. On our route will be some of the best driving roads known to man, not least the Col de la Bonnet, the Col du Mont-Cenis, the Grimsel Pass, the Furka Pass and the Susten Pass. Bring it on.

The cars and their modifications So, to the stars of the show, our cars.

Amongst us we have a wonderful mix of Munich’s finest as well as a V8 tearaway from Blackpool. There’s a 1M, an M2

28 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

Competition, an M240i, an E46 M3, a TVR Cerbera 500, an E60 M5, a Z4M and my E90 M3. With such a variety of cars, no two the same, the modifications made to enhance the drivability and reliability all differed. Although suspension alterations have been a popular upgrade.

Starting with the Valencia Orange 1M. The changes here with such a great and rare base car, are very subtle and as much focused on improved reliability and robustness, as any significant gain in driving dynamics. To improve oil cooling for that turbocharged straight-six N54 engine, a beautifully finished Mosselmann Thermostat has been fitted, cutting in 20 degC lower than the OEM version. Also, the OEM Plastic Charge Pipe has been dispatched and a new Cobb aluminium version put in its place, improving both air flow and reliability. And lastly, the ride, which can be a little spikey on the limit, has been addressed by the fitment of Bilstein B6 dampers and Pilot Sport 4S tyres. With no change to the OEM ride height, these B6 units fitted by Balance Motor Sport / Works really add a level of subtlety in the ride and brings enhanced confidence at the limit.

The M2 Competition painted in Hockenheim Silver, which is a pretty lairy beast out of the factory has been taken to another level after a visit to the folks at Litchfield Motors. Often the OEM suspension is criticised for being overdamped, so this particular example, that is only just the right side of its running in service, has had the highly rated Litchfield Bilstein M2 kit fitted. Based on the Bilstein

B16 PSS10 design, this kit has bespoke valving offering far better ride comfort in addition to providing better body control, making it much more fun and predictable at the limit. And the way this M2 was able to smear its sticky Michelin Pilot Super Sports out of every corner certainly suggested the modification was living up to expectation.

The M240i has had more overall upgrades than any other car here, which has turned it into an animal of a motor.

But an animal that retains all of the right kit to keep it stuck to the Alpine tarmac.

Suspension and a limited slip differential were fitted by Kevin Bird (Birds), so this means their bespoke valved Bilstein based B Series Sports Suspension and Quaife LSD. Whilst stronger Ferodo DS2500 and high temp ATE Dot 4 brake fluid help in the stopping department, which is needed, because under the bonnet that unburstable B58 straight six has received Litchfield’s Stage 2 engine remap upgrade, taking power to 450bhp and torque to 440lb ft, all exiting through a rather lairy carbon fibre-tipped full www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Remus exhaust system.

The E46 M3, arguably the best-looking car here with its near perfect proportions and painted in Laguna Seca Blue, has a straight-six exhaust sound to die for thanks to a full Eisenmann exhaust system. Never has that sonorous S54 sounded so great and it becomes a pleasure to follow up the passes. Keeping everything firmly on the black top is a set of Koni Sport dampers and H&R Springs, Turner Motorsport anti-roll bars and rear camber arms. In addition, Powerflex front lollipop bushes and rear top mounts are fitted. Tweaked for fast road, this set up really suits the M3 and has been developed well by Koni, and it shows in the corners, with body roll kept www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

well in check.

The E60 M5, The Boss as it’s known to us all, never ceases to impress on our organised Turn&ClipiT drives. For a car that weighs the wrong side of 1800kg, the way it can be hustled along is a true testament to the team that originally designed and built it. No significant modifications here, other than some wheel spacers which really fill the wheel arches nicely and some new Pilots Sport 4Ss out back. And with the rod bearing shells recently being replaced, the performance of the engine can be fully used without its owner worrying of impending doom. Although, like all of the naturally aspirated cars on the trip, the high altitude does squeeze the V10’s lungs on the higher climbs.

The TVR Griffith 500 is without doubt one of the loudest cars on the planet. I swear that people were jumping out of their skins in Paris when the car started every morning from the other side of France. It’s an absolute beast. With its 5-litre Rover-sourced V8 pushing out over 300hp and a lot of low-down torque,

sticky Toyo Proxes tyres and only 1100kg to drag along, the car was brilliant through and out of the corners. The main modification following its recent rebuild and paint was to switch from its leaking AST dampers to a new Bilstein set up.

The main benefit was an improved ride plushness and a little more roll, but grip was strong.

The Z4M looks totally standard and unassuming in its Silver Grey Metallic paint, but it’s anything but. Lockdown led to this car getting some serious modifications to aid both robustness, driveability and performance. Chassiswise the car has been fitted with strong strut braces under the bonnet and at the rear, making a surprisingly stiff chassis even stiffer. On each corner, AST’s 5100 coilovers have been fitted by Balance Motor Sport / Works offering epic cornering performance. They keep the car extremely flat, yet enable an initial plushness which really lets you know where the car’s grip is. Brake-wise, Performance Friction pads and high temp Dot 4 fluid have been added to OEM BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

29

Life Feature – The Alpine Job calipers, whilst an epic sound is created from the carbon fibre Eventuri intake.

And last, my V8-engined E90 M3.

For a long time, I kept this car to factory spec, not wanting to tweak and ruin what is an extremely well set up chassis with strong performance out of the box.

But now at 11 years old, with its role as my daily driver being semi-retired (the i3S taking on that job), and my fast road driving demands evolving, it was time to make some subtle improvements.

The most significant and costly change was the fitting by Balance Motor Sport / Works of the Öhlins Road and Track suspension. This was a big decision for me as it also meant that I would be deleting the Electronic Damper Control fitted as an option to the car when new.

But, and this was an important but, when pushing on during our driving trips, I was really struggling to find that happy medium between the Comfort, Normal and Sport settings. Comfort felt too soft, Normal and Sport just too jiggly, meaning I was losing grip and the associated confidence at the adhesion limit.

After reading and re-reading an old Evo magazine article on fitting Öhlins to an E92 M3, and after talking with Julian at Balance Motor Sport / Works, the Öhlins became the obvious choice combined with a Bilstein EDC delete kit.

Best of all, the Evo article went through a whole bunch of different set-ups, settling on a fast road set up that I have emulated. So far, and with what I’ve tried, Icannot beat it. In addition, the steering wheel has been wrapped in Alcantara by the folks at Royal Steering Wheels, with the only other changes being service items; Pagid RSL19 brake pads all round, ATE high temp Dot 4 brake fluid and a BMC air filter. Perfect tweaks for driving around the Alps.

Driving Over the five days, the scenery that accompanied our driving was breathtaking, travelling through the valley towards Valberg in France on our second day, and standing on top of the Col de la Bonet at 2,800 meters were particular highlights for the group. But there was little time to take in the breath-taking landscape as we often left our hotel in the darkness. Temperatures during the trip were as low as 2.5 degrees celsius on the Grimsel Pass Hotel one morning, remember this was August. They also got to as high as 29 degrees celsius in the lowlands. Rain, sleet, dense fog and sunshine, we had it all, but generally the conditions were perfect for fast road driving.

30 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

We all had our favourite drives and passes. The Grimsel and Furka passes were obviously right up there for us all.

Both had really technical switchback sections, which rewarded strong braking on entry for a clean line, clipping the apex and fast exit. And going down them was even more fun than going up them. The view of the lakes on the way down the Grimsel Pass was one of our favourite vistas, although the brakes on my M3 took an absolute pounding and grumbled for a little while afterwards. Although, satisfyingly, very little brake fade was reported across the group.

My personal favourite was the Susten Pass. It was longer than any of the other drives we did and there was a greater mixture of flowing high-speed elements in the valley and blind switch backs as we carved our way up the mountain. It was just fabulous, a real test for both the drivers and cars alike. And there is immense satisfaction when it all comes together around the hairpins. Being in the right gear with the right entry speed, and then being just a little greedy on the throttle on the way out to kick the back end out in a little drift. Then rinsing every last horsepower from my oxygen starved normally aspirated V8 engine on the short straights, before reaching the braking zone for that next corner. Brake, turn, accelerate, repeat. Truly great driving fun.

Best of all, there was generally enough

space to overtake safely when the need arose on the Susten, tightest sections aside. Also, being less popular perhaps than the Grimsel and Furka, we could make the most of the driving time we had available to us. Of course, as soon as it reaches 9am everything slows down as the cyclists and the camper vans, or mobile chicanes as they became known, flock to see the stunning views afforded by the altitude. Then it’s time to unwind and just take in those stunning vistas.

Summary Getting time away from family and commitments to indulge in such an awesome experience is not easy and, I suppose, the thank you for this article really should go to those that we left at home. But the thank you also needs to go to all of those that took part in this Turn&ClipiT 2021 Alps driving experience.

During each day we looked out and trusted each other’s driving, overtaking and WAZE/Mapout skills (for the most part), the self-preservation society if you will. And in the evening, we shared our stories and driving experiences. We ate schnitzel with risotto (who knew that was a thing?), and convinced ourselves, if not everyone else, that our man maths-inspired car modifications were outstanding choices and had proven themselves well and worth every penny. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Insurance solutions for BMW Car Club members.

At Footman James we understand that every classic vehicle owner is different and with FJ+ enthusiasts can build their policy from a range of cover options including breakdown, agreed value, salvage retention and spare parts.

Whether you prefer to transact on the phone or online, FJ has you covered, including access to our online document portal, allowing you access to your policy documents digitally at all times.

Call our friendly UK team on

0333 207 6066

or visit footmanjames.co.uk All cover is subject to insurers terms and conditions, which are available upon request. Footman James is a trading name of Towergate Underwriting Group Limited. Registered in Eng;land No. 4043759. Registered address: 2 Minster Court, Mincing Lane, London, EC3R 7PD. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. FP.ADGE.2192.05.21

Feature

32 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Feature

Creating the Ultimate Garage: Car Storage Words: Will Beaumont

What is the most important criteria when buying a house? A fancy kitchen? A lovely garden? An impressive frontage? Even, just simply a roof? Or, maybe, more important than all of that, a garage.

N

ot all garages are born equal, however. We’ve all seen pictures of bright spaces with slick floors and crisp white lights, places that look cleaner and more clinical than sterile operating theatres, that some very lucky people call their garage. Perhaps you’re more of a fan of the cosy spaces with walls adorned with old garage signs, vintage fuel pumps and where rust is called patina.

Yet, because most housing developers don’t consider their cars vital members of the family as we do, most of us make do with dingy, cold and cramped boxes tagged onto our houses like a tumorous afterthought.

It’s about time that changed. It’s about

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

time we treat our cars to a lovely, pretty place to live. Because we probably haven’t already spent enough time and money on them. Or was it too much time and money? I can’t remember what exactly I’ve been accused of, if there’s any spare cash it must be the former.

Over the forthcoming months, we’re going to delve into every aspect of garage life to find out how to create the perfect space for your car. We’ll find out what the ideal flooring is, and where to get those charming decorations.

But first, we need to tackle the important and pressing issue of storing your car over winter. The weather has turned, the roads are muddier than ever BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

33

Feature

and, horrors of horrors, corrosive rustinducing salt has been scattered all over the tarmac. Out there is not a place for delicate classics and pristine motors.

They want to be tucked away in a garage. But rolling your pride and joy into a brick box and forgetting about it until April is not the best way to care for your car.

There’s preparation to be done first.

You’ve got to clean your car. You don’t want it sitting there dirty, salt or mud built up in the arches and brake dust caked on the wheels. It’s worth taking the opportunity, when cleaning your car, to protect it too. Mark Wibberley, Managing Director of More Than Polish, who knows a thing or two about paintwork, adds: “I’ll be making sure my own car is fully protected with a couple of coats of RaceGlaze 55 wax and the wheels also waxed. I use a product called RaceGlaze Nano Wheel Sealant which is made for the job.” Plus he has this helpful tip: “liberally spray all touch surfaces within the car with an anti-bacterial spray, wipe down then respray again. Steering wheels, gear knobs, paddles, door handles, indicators and other areas you touch will have grease from your hands on. Airborne bacteria will grow on that and mould can form.”

James Files, Director of JFL Car Nest,

34 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

a premium car storage facility that makes it their business to know how best to store cars properly, has this to add: “Something that people believe the best thing to do is run the fuel down. That’s never a good idea. If you have very little fuel in your tank, all the gases fill the space and these are the most ignitable. Should there be a fire, it’s gonna go off quickly. So actually, a full tank is better.” But as we know with new ethanol-based fuels, an additive to neutralise the corrosive effects of the hygroscopic ethanol is a good idea on a car that sits around.

With your car ready to be stored, you need to start making the environment, the garage, suitable. And the cold is what James Files is most concerned about: “I wouldn’t want to have outdoor conditions, or very cold conditions or even conditions where it gets hot and cold. Because you get condensation and moisture buildup.

Therefore, your brake discs start getting rusty, and, obviously, corrosion also gets to loads of components that you can’t even see. It’s ideal to have underfloor heating or just really a well-insulated building.”

Warmth is to counteract moisture, so humidity is something to be aware of as James explains: “We have two sections in our storage, non-dehumidified

and dehumidified. Even in the non dehumidified, we’re at a humidity level that would mean that your car is never going to rot away, we’re not going to get a buildup of moisture because it’s a dry building. Then in the dehumidified section, we keep the humidity between 50 and 53 per cent, which is perfect even for old cars with woods. At that, the wood doesn’t dry out, but it doesn’t absorb more moisture either. So that’s the perfect level you want the humidity to be. That can’t be controlled in just a garage, because you have to have quite expensive dehumidifiers.”

You might not be able to control the humidity in your garage to that level, but a cheaper non-professional dehumidifier still has its uses, as Mark explains: “A lower relative humidity will mean that condensation should not form on the metal of tools and car or bike parts. Your cars will benefit from the lower humidity in that the mould and fungus will not form on the cloth and leather, too. But you need a dehumidifier with a humidistat so that you do not over-dry the air which could crack the leather, rubbers and veneer. Provided it’s a fairly well-built garage, and thus airtight, you can keep rust at bay without working too hard.

“There are two types: desiccant and compressor dehumidifiers. A good rule of thumb is to use compressor dehumidifiers above 16°C and desiccant dehumidifiers below this point. Seal the garage up so that you have as few air changes with the outside as possible, too.”

One part of your car – well four parts, actually – that don’t like to sit still are the tyres, they can deform. Nigel Winfield, Pirelli’s service engineer, knows how to look after your tyres. “The best way to store tyres is to remove the wheels and keep them in an area that doesn’t suffer from extremes of temperature and away from direct sunlight or UV light, because of the corrosive effect of ozone on rubber.

Storing them in black plastic bin liners can help with regards to UV exposure, but you need to ensure the tyres are dry before storing. Also, remove any excess air in the plastic bag to prevent further build-up of dust and moisture. However, tyre covers are good and now readily available.”

If you aren’t lucky enough to have a spare set of wheels purely for parking, there are still solutions, like tyre savers that cup the tyre. “Tyre savers are good but can be difficult to position, however, they do help eliminate deformation and take the weight off the units. Please note this is not a complete solution, the car still adds pressure to the tyre. A simpler solution is to over inflate the tyres on the car, an additional 20 to 25 per cent extra pressure is suggested. It’s a good idea to make a note in the car to remind you that www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Feature

the tyres are overinflated, especially before setting off to drive. Another simple way to keep the tyres from deforming is rotating them by moving them a quarter or half turn every couple of weeks.”

Your choice of garage floor can help your tyres too, as the guys from Garage Style Ltd, fitters and creators of high-end garages, explain: “Our tiles are better for your vehicle’s tyres than a bare concrete floor, as they help to prevent flat spots if the vehicle is not often driven. They also help to insulate your garage so help to keep your vehicle in a warmer environment over the winter.” Two birds with one stone, as they say.

The next thing you need to worry about when your car is dormant is the battery.

One thing everyone is sure about is that a battery conditioner is best. Mark explains: “Battery conditioners are much preferred over simple chargers as a conditioner will respond to the battery rather than just pump in current. There are plenty available now for not much money though reputable brands are best and will pay themselves back in extended battery life.”

In James’s experience, such devices are much better than disconnecting the battery. “All that really does is stop the battery from keeping the car ticking over.” www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Not the engine ticking over, but all its systems. “Even disconnected, the battery still drains naturally, just sitting there. I would say on any supercar, anything modern, anything that has computers and electronics, if you can leave them connected, just don’t disconnect them at all. We recommend CTEK conditioners, because they are the best that we’ve used, and probably one of the best on the market.”

So your car’s clean, its tank is full and it’s in a warm and dehumidified garage. You’ve taken precautions to look after the tyres and it’s hooked up to a battery conditioner. There’s one more step, a cover. If it’s inside, in this perfect environment, why do you need a cover too? Mark knows: “Indoor covers will keep dust off, prevent knocks, scrapes and accidents, but they won’t keep cats off. Breathable materials are usually best, so I recommend our Peachskin covers or Soft Stretch covers as they won’t scratch and will allow air to get to the car. I don’t like cheap nylon ones for these reasons.”

And with that, with your car all tucked up, you can guarantee it will be just as lovely when you take it out as when you locked it away.

But what if you don’t have a garage?

There are a few options. An outdoor cover is one, but beware it needs to be breathable; it’s not worth using a cheap one. Even better is a temporary garage.

Machine Mart supplies a range of Clarke bolt-together durable structures with waterproof covers that you pull taut with a ratchet.

Or there are bubble-like pods that can be used outside. Mark approves of them, but says you need to be cautious: “You need to take care it doesn’t scratch when you inflate them for the first time as you have to lay the material on your roof. It’s best to stick a blanket on the car temporarily. Rigid frame alternatives like AirChambers cost about £450 but are only suitable for indoors. You will also need to allow a little for running costs.”

But, honestly, the ultimate solution to a lack of garage is professional car storage.

In fact, there are advantages to sending your car away even if you have a perfectly nice garage and all the kit. James gives us a run-through of what JFL Car Nest provides: “All cars are constantly monitored in a dry environment. They’re valeted so they’re perfectly clean when they go in and valeted on the way out. We do twice daily checks for our Carcoons.” The indoor inflatable bubbles.

“As well as on the CTEK conditioners.

We make sure they’re constantly working because you can have a fuse blow and if you don’t check it for a month, you might not know. We’ve got round-theclock CCTV monitoring and a fire system that is linked to the police or fire brigade.

Should anyone try and steal a car, we will know about it before they can even get in the building. Unless you spend millions or a lot of money I should say, BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

35

Feature you’re unlikely to have that. Our buildings are fully insulated and, as mentioned before, we have two sections, nondehumidified and dehumidified. We have insurance, as well. Obviously for cars when they’re in the storage facility, and also on the road. Something that we can do is drive the car on the road to get all the oil and fluids circulating, allow it to get up to temperature nicely, go through all the gears and just make sure the car is running perfectly. So when someone wants to use their car, we’ve done all our checks, everything we’ve noticed we’ve reported back so it’s ready to go off and you can be confident to just drive away.”

Clearly, this solution is going to be more pricey than running a dehumidifier and a battery conditioner, but it’s not as wildly expensive as you might imagine.

“We start our pricing at £35 plus VAT a week. Which again, is fully insured.

Because that’s part of the process as well, our insurance covers your car whilst it’s with us, so you don’t have to insure it, so you’ll save on that. We offer a discount for club members, too. It’s five pounds per weekly package.”

The fact it’s not at your house isn’t much of a problem, either, it seems.

“Given a day or two’s notice, we’ll be able to bring a car out of storage. We can transport cars in enclosed transport to the customer’s house or wherever they want it. So they literally don’t have to lift a finger.

We do all the checks, give it a clean, pop it in the enclosed trailer and deliver it back.

So I guess one thing I’m trying to say is, we can basically save you loads of time.”

I don’t know about you, but all this advice and knowledge solves many problems. You can store a car happily in your garage, keeping it pristine. While at the same time storing another one, or more, hassle-free somewhere out of sight.

Somewhere where no one knows you’ve bought yet another car…

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/ info@classicmotorhub.com 01242 384 092

5.

3. JLF Car Nest 4.

3.

2.

1.

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.vo.uk Olly: 07521 568 881 Josh: 07856 952 383

36 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

4. Store My Car

Professional, discreet, secure car storage.

Located in the South Liverpool area, covers the North West Region.

Weaver Car Storage Limited.

Weaver Industrial Estate.

Blackburne Street Garston Liverpool L19 8JA www.weavercarstorage.co.uk info@weavercarstorage.co.uk 0151 329 3390 Anthony Weaver: 07534 101 504

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

ENJOY 10% OFF

IN-STORE PURCHASES with Halfords Rewards vouchers

rewards

As the UK’s leading cycling and motoring retailer, Halfords is your one-stop shop for exclusive brands in bikes, high quality car parts, and accessories, as well as the latest sat navs, and travelling equipment.

Halfords has over 460 stores nationwide offering more than 115,000 different product lines plus many extra services like WeFit.

Visit www.halfords.com to browse the full ranges.

Terms and conditions apply.

Modified BMW M2 Competition

38 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Feature

When 620bhp just isn’t enough…

Words Kim Wheeler/Jeff Heywood – Photos Kim Wheeler

Club member Kim Wheeler loves his fast BMWs, being a self confessed petrolhead and serial modifier. We have already featured his amazing supercharged E92 M3 within the pages of Straight Six, but it seems that sending 620bhp through the rear wheels of an M3 just isn’t enough.

Would the feisty M2 Competition, equipped with the eminently tuneable S55, be the correct choice for Kim to replace his M3? Here’s Kim’s adventure in his quest for even more brake horsepower.

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

39

Modified BMW M2 Competition

Kim’s M2 Competition is a handsome beast, the F87 shape suiting the Hockenheim Silver paint finish and smoke silver wheels

I

am guilty on all charges of loving fast BMWs, and this is my story of building a very fast BMW, along with the triumphs and disappointments that go with these projects.

My passion, because that’s what it is, initially started with an E92 M3. I had extensively modified the M3, and with the aid of an ESS Supercharger, the car was producing 620bhp and was very quick. The car was featured a few years ago in Straight Six after I submitted an article about the build. Unfortunately, the car’s peak power was in the higher rev range, thanks to the nature of the S65 V8 engine. To add 99 octane onto the controversy fire, the S65 isn’t very torquey at low RPM either…

When BMW launched the M2 Competition with the twin turbo S55 engine, as fitted to the F80 and F82 M3 and M4, I sat up and took notice. As did the motoring press, who lauded both its performance and handling over the original M2. Having a twin-turbo forced induction system, the M2 Competition is very torquey lower down in the rev range.

It can be easily tuned to eye-watering power levels, too. It’s a totally different power delivery compared to the S65 in the E92 M3, making the M2 Competition more ‘driveable’ for some, as it produces quite a bit more power lower down in the rev range. No more wringing the neck of the V8 to over 7000rpm to get it going.

I had already been interested in the new M2 Competition over a year ago, but I wasn’t really in a position to change my

40 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

car at that time. However, as time moved on my situation changed, I decided to part with the E92 M3 and started looking for an M2 Competition. As usual, finding a nearly new car with the right spec and in the right colour was proving difficult. And anything remotely suitable was located in the outer reaches of the UK. I therefore decided to buy new, and went off to see my local BMW dealer in Norwich.

I sat down and talked business with the same salesman who sold me my E92 seven years ago. To cut a long story short, after a test drive, the spec was chosen and the order was placed. I went for Hockenheim Silver with smoke finish alloy wheels, DCT gearbox and the (larger) M Sport brake set up. Then the wait began for delivery. Six weeks later there she was in the showroom, looking fabulous. I fired up my M2 Competition and drove home like I was Driving Miss Daisy, worried about stone chips and other drivers colliding into my brand new car. Fortunately, I made it home in one piece with no problems.

My first job was to remove the little black plastic wheel arch trims. These were not fitted to the car I test drove and I was surprised to see them on mine.

Apparently, they were a last minute retrofit by BMW to meet TÜV regulations as the wheels protruded too far beyond the arches. They completely spoiled the look of the car, so off they came.

After figuring out how they were fixed in place, it was an easy job to remove them. Each was held on with just three

The view 99.9% of motorists will see of Kim’s M2 Competition, those quad Akrapovic cannons give a clue to the potency of this M car

screws. The next job was to sort the stance and fill the wheel arches out.

I had some wheel spacers that were from my E92 and fortunately they fitted, 15mm fronts and 12mm at the rear.

They filled out the arches nicely and after fitting Eibach lowering springs the car’s stance was perfect. The only downside was that the car now sat lower than the minimum height of my jack, so I had to buy a new low-entry jack to get under the car. The final task in sorting out the M2 Competition’s cosmetics was to get paint protection film (PPF) applied to the front, to lessen the effects of stone chips and gravel rash. I chose a reputable installer, and the front was duly protected with paint film. I also had the paintwork protected with a ceramic coating, which makes the car far easier to clean. The paintwork beading is impressive after washing.

I then drove the car carefully during the 1200 mile running-in period, after which an oil service was carried out by the dealer. It was then that I could start www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Feature

Under the bonnet of Kim’s M2 Competition is where the magic has taken place, although the engine bay looks pretty stock bar the Wagner Tuning intercooler…

Kim has kept the M2’s interior stock, although the little button to the left of the gearlever tells you this is no ordinary M2 Competition

The carbon tips on the tailpipes of the Akrapovic Evolution titanium exhaust fit in nicely with the black trim of Kim’s M2

The Wagner Tuning Intercooler is a large but stealthy addition under the bonnet of the M2 Competition

to use the car to its full potential. The car felt quick and the low down power and torque was very welcome after my M3, but coming from a 620hp car, I felt it lacked a little overall oomph. In standard form, the M2 Competition has just over 404bhp and 405lb ft of torque at its disposal. Not bad, but room for improvement. However I was aware that as soon as I carried out any modifications to the car the warranty would be void, but I was prepared to take the risk in pursuit of more power.

I had already had a discussion with Aaron, the proprietor of A Reeve Performance, about upping the power levels. He had done numerous upgrades to many S55-equipped M3 and M4s, so we agreed on a course of action for my car. The first thing to address was the crankhub issue, which is a well known S55 weak point and becomes worse with higher powered cars. Basically, the timing sprocket is just clamped to the crank and, with no Woodruff key to stop them turning independently, the front gear

has been known to slip and cause timing misalignment. One fix is to install a solid one piece hub which can’t slip, which is what Aaron fitted onto the crank.

The next step was to install an Akrapovic Evolution titanium exhaust along with cat-less downpipes and an ECU tune. The Akrapovic system and downpipes were fitted, but we needed to bypass the Otto Particulate Filter (OPF) as the car would go into limp-home mode.

This was achieved with a clever little device which fools the engine ECU into thinking the OPF filter is still operating, so no limp-home mode. Aaron then plugged in the laptop to initiate the dyno tune of the ECU…but oh no, disaster!

Unbeknown to any of us, Aaron included, the later cars from June onwards had been fitted with an encrypted ECU which was locked and couldn’t be accessed.

Extensive trawling of the forums confirmed that no one could access these later ECUs, so credit to Bosch engineering for some excellent encryption work. But it was back to the drawing

board for us.

The short-term solution was to fit a JB1 piggyback tuning box, and then wait to see if any of the tuning wizards could crack the ECU. The box was duly fitted and the car was noticeably quicker, we achieved 465bhp and 453lb ft torque at the flywheel. The sound from the Akrapovic exhaust was fabulous, too. Months passed and it seemed that no one was having any luck with the encrypted ECUs. Then a few months ago, Straight Six magazine did a feature on the 720bhp G Power M2 Competition. Wow, the car was a later model like mine and somehow they had succeeded in tuning the car to crazy power levels. I was in like Flynn.

Numerous emails and WhatsApp chats subsequently took place with G Power’s sales manager and they confirmed they could tune my car. The downside was that a) they needed it in Germany (G Power’s located near Munich in Bavaria) and b) they wanted my M2 for at least a week. I looked into various ways

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

41

Modified BMW M2 Competition

The tank and brains for the methanol injection system are stored in the boot

of getting the car to them, but in the end I decided against it as the logistics were too complex and costly.

So, thinking cap on again. What if we could swap out the encrypted ECU for a non-encrypted one from an earlier car? Could we tune it then? The question was posed to Aaron and he said it was possible, but would need a lot of other work and other modules changing.

Basically it was a huge task. Having come this far I thought “in for a penny, in for a pound” and I sourced an earlier

ECU along with various other modules associated with the engine ECU. The strip out and rebuild could then commence.

We enlisted the help of a coding expert and between us everything was changed over to the new modules and we ensured they all talked to each other in the CanBus system. Well, nearly all of it…

So, would it start? Yes, it did. Would it drive? No it wouldn’t. More work needed.

The DCT’s ECU wouldn’t talk to the car, so therefore it wouldn’t budge. More coding, would it drive? Yes, it would.

Success, we had done it.

We impatiently hooked my car onto the dyno, ECU accessed and a tune to 532bhp and 494lb ft torque was achieved. The car was now very quick.

But can we go higher like the G Power M2 Competition? Yes we can.

On recommendation from Aaron, I ordered an upgraded air charge cooler from Wagner Tuning, along with a larger than standard Forge Engineering charge cooler radiator. Keeping the charge air as

42 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

cool as possible is crucial to achieving a higher power output on a turbo engine.

Larger surface areas of cooling fins help to keep the charge air temperatures lower than what the standard equipment can achieve. I also ordered larger charge pipes and a larger intake J-pipe, colder running plugs, upgraded ITG Profilter drop in panel air filters, hybrid turbos from TTE and a methanol injection system. Well I did say in for a penny in for a pound. Hybrid turbos increase boost beyond what the standard turbos produce and the methanol injection system helps to lower combustion temperatures even more, preventing knock or detonation. The larger charge pipes allow more air to flow from the bigger turbos as does the larger J-pipe inlet. The TTE turbos are built to order so there was a bit of a wait before I received them. They are basically the original turbos completely re-machined and enlarged. A whole three months later and they finally arrived back from Germany and the car was back in the workshop and all the parts were fitted.

Well, what will all that work and expense produce? Onto the MAHA MSR 500 dyno again at A Reeve Performance and this time my M2 produced 665bhp and 502lb ft of torque on Map 1 with methanol. When switched to Map 2 with no methanol for more sedate driving, it still gave an impressive 560bhp and 516lb ft of torque.

The S55 engine is a fantastic piece of engineering to take this level of power, it’s

insanely fast and the acceleration literally pins you back in your seat. It is quite breathtaking. To extract much more power you need forged engine internals, but near 700bhp is within the engine’s capabilities. We ran out of time, so by the time you have read this the car will have been back in for more fine tuning with the aim of seeing a genuine 700bhp and 590lb ft of torque. Why? Because we can, and because we are BMW tuning enthusiasts.

Was it worth it? Yes it was. Did it cost a lot? Yes it did. My missus is just about still talking to me. We did it as a project to show you can overcome obstacles with persistence, time, a great knowledge pool, and achieve fantastic results. I can see myself owning this car for many years to come and for as long as I keep my licence.

Here is the dyno printout we received just as the article was going to press, showing Kim’s M2 Competition achieved a corrected brake-horsepower figure of 719.8bhp, 610.2bhp at the wheels

What’s next?

Maybe some coilovers to keep it in a straight line and help it go round corners on track. Next year, possibly. I won’t suggest this at the moment to she who must be obeyed, I want to stay married for at least a few more years. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed reading about my build and it encourages others to have a go.

Further update: A few weeks after the initial power runs, Kim took the car back to A Reeve Performance for another session on the MAHA dyno.

Kim’s M2 Competition achieved 719.8bhp (corrected), so I think you can safely say he has well and truly achieved his 700bhp goal! www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Feature

High Flyer!

Words - Jeff Heywood ~ Photos – BMW Classic

On the 17th June 1919, Franz Zeno Diemer piloted the Deutsche Flugzeugwerke F 37/III biplane to a new world altitude record. The F 37/III was powered by a special engine, the BMW IV aero engine…

T

he cruising altitude of modern airliners ranges from 10 to 12 kilometres. It is hard to imagine then, that a pilot managed to broach these heights a full 90 years ago. It was a BMW engine which, on 17th June 1919, propelled Franz Zeno Diemer to an altitude of 9,760 metres, 32,000ft! No human had previously piloted an aircraft to a greater height. This flight, in the summer of 1919 at Munich’s Oberwiesenfeld

44 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

airfield, proved the superiority of the ingenious yet simple concept of BMW’s high altitude engines.

Diemer set out on his record flight from the Oberwiesenfeld on 17th June, in his DFW F 37/III, an altitude aircraft specially developed by Deutsche Flugzeugwerke. It was powered by the 23-litre, six-cylinder, two valves per cylinder water-cooled overhead camshaft BMW IV aero engine. The motor was

based on the tried and tested BMW IIIa, yet the new BMW IV engine had its bore and stroke increased by 10mm (taking it to 160mm x 190mm). With its extra capacity and a compression ratio of 5.5:1, the output went from 185 to 230hp, with a maximum continuous output of 250hp.

Glorious flying weather saw the engine deliver consistently excellent performance on that Sunday, enabling Diemer to make

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Feature

Zeno Diemer (right, facing the camera) with the record breaking DFW.F 37/III BMW powered biplane

a steady ascent to ever greater heights.

After 87 minutes in the air he had reached 9,760 metres or 32,000ft. No other aeroplane had previously attained such an altitude. Later Diemer announced that the engine still had reserves in hand, but that he himself had reached the limits of his capacity. After all, in his open pilot’s seat he not only had to contend with temperatures as low as -50° Celsius, but the low oxygen levels at high altitude took

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

their toll on him physically.

The challenge Diemer faced during his world record flight was the same underlying problem with which all aircraft engines had to grapple with during the First World War: loss of power at altitude.

Normally an aeroplane requires maximum output on the ground in order to take off at all. But with aircraft now forming a separate military arm, the requirements changed. Engine output also became

crucial to survival at high altitude, for example for rapid climbing to escape hostile combat squadrons.

With increasing altitude, however, air density steadily diminishes, and this leads to power loss in engines. Two different concepts were pursued in an attempt to counteract the loss of output in the thinning air. Some manufacturers – such as Daimler – turned their attention to charging, whereby air was forced into the

BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

45

Feature

Diemer pictured with A Klemm L 25 sports aeroplane fitted with a BMW Xa radial engine

BMW radial flight engine BMW Xa as seen in the photo powering the Klemm L 25 aeroplane. BMW was an early pioneer of radial aero engine technology

carburettor by means of a supercharger.

But this technology was too complex to bring to use within the short space of time of the war, and it only established itself in the 1930s. BMW’s head designer Max Friz, on the other hand, opted for an oversquare, high-compression unit for the first BMW aircraft engine, the forerunner of the BMW IV world record engine. This design principle involved an enlargement of the cylinder volume as well as an increased compression ratio. To avoid engine overload, it had to be throttled back at take-off and low flying altitudes.

To meet the demands of a highaltitude engine, Max Friz had designed a special carburettor which was to deliver a

46 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

The renowned BMW IIIa engine from which the record breaking BMW IV engine was developed. This photo was taken in the Deutsche Museum, Munich

steady feed at high pressure and ensure a consistent air and fuel mixture ratio. The carburettor was controlled by two levers, one for normal operation and another for high altitudes. By means of these two levers, the pilot could control the throttle valves of the BMW carburettor in such a way that the optimum mix was prepared to suit the aircraft’s altitude at any time.

The throttle valves were only opened fully once an altitude of 3,500 to 4,000m had been reached. This configuration meant that the loss of power of the BMW IIIa at altitude was less than in other engines.

One of the first advocates of this concept was WW1 hero Franz Zeno Diemer, an experienced flyer who

The legendary 23-litre OHC, straight-six BMW IV aero-engine that powered Diemers’ DFW.F 37/III to a world altitude record.

The photo of the immaculately prepared engine was taken at BMW Classic’s HQ

obtained his pilot’s licence in 1913.

During the First World War he served as a test pilot in the Bavarian Flying Corps.

It was in this role that he came into www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Feature

A copy of the Barogram of the record altitude flight by Diemer on 17th June 1919 showing the altitude reached

Another period poster showing an advertising stand with an advert proclaiming that “A BMW engine powered Diemer’s aeroplane to a new altitude record!”

contact with BMW in 1917 when testing its IIIa aero engine. His record flight in the summer of 1919 won international acclaim, even though it was denied official recognition. All aviation records had to be confirmed by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) in order to be ratified. Although Germany was a founding member of the organisation, it had been excluded from the FAI as a result of the First World War. That is why Diemer’s record never entered the official record lists. But even without a certificate, the ascent to almost 10,000 metres was a sensational testimony to the potential of BMW’s aero engines.

At the time, BMW engines were www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

A period BMW poster acclaims the “World altitude record of 9,760m”

compelling for their outstanding performance. The first BMW IIIa featured lightweight components in its design; its crankcase and pistons were made of aluminium, giving a weight of just 285kgs and a weight-to-power ratio of 1.54 kg/ hp. Diemer’s record-setting engine, the BMW IV, boasted an even more impressive 1.24 kg/hp.

Performance wasn’t the engine’s only forte, fuel consumption figures demonstrated the superiority of the BMW engine over the competition too.

During throttled operation, in the region of 1,050 rpm, the BMW IIIa consumed 200 grams per hp an hour, which was more than a third less than an aircraft engine

in this performance class. In practice it meant that, with a supply of around 200kg (about 260 litres) of fuel an aircraft powered by the BMW IIIa engine had an operating range of 1,200 kilometres, while the same amount of fuel in a normal unit was good for only around 730km.

Indeed, the BMW IIIa also had the edge over another form of transport.

On one of his test flights, Diemer flew from Augsburg via Leipzig to Döberlitz in just under four hours, with the BMW IIIa engine powering his aircraft getting through just 84 litres of fuel. Over the same distance, a car at the time took 16 hours to complete the journey and consumed 120 litres of petrol.

BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

47

Expert Repair & Restoration of All Vehicles

We Aim For Perfection Every Time

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

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

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

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

Tel: 01246 864803

www.bodymotorworks.com

Feature

Another Successful Year Words: Neil McDonald Photos: Jon Elsey

The BMW Car Club Racing Championship has recorded another remarkable year with a record number of drivers and new champions in every class. Most importantly, however, we had fun. At the end of the year, as restrictions relaxed and the social side returned, drivers and supporters received a fantastic send off. The championship is a credit to club racing.

F

or the drivers, it was a year to remember. There were some ups and down, but as they say, that’s motorsport. As a club we are incredibly proud of the group we have who race together as one big #BMWFAMILY and helped one another. It’s their championship and together we can make it even better year on year.

We managed to get 14 races in this year thanks to the support of 750mc. We started at Silverstone, then onto Castle Combe, Donington Park, Brands Hatch, Silverstone International, Oulton Park and Snetterton. We covered many of the

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Ben Pearson - Class 6 & Overall 2021 Champion

Club’s regions and it was great to see members who were able to attend and display their cars.

As a multi class club championship all the drivers started the year with a good chance, and reliability and consistency is as important as outright speed. Those drivers who had both during a season were going to be in the mix for a win at the end of the year.

We welcomed many new drivers this year, too. It was good to also witness them integrate into the club ethos and support the championship and fellow drivers.

In M1 it was very close and competitive but also fair. The drivers of that class included Niall Bradley, Brad Sheehan, Mike Cutt, Rick Kerry, Lee Piercey, Paul Cook, Mike Eustace, Mark Culmer, Mark Havers, Kaz Singh and Colin Whitmore, who became our oldest entrant at 76 years young. The outright wins were shared between Niall, Brad and Lee, while Mike and Rick also lead races.

It went down to the last race between Niall and Brad, with Niall claiming his first BMWCCR Championship Class win and second overall and Brad third overall BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

49

Feature

Karl McMillam - BMWcup Champion

with lap records tumbling along the way.

Rick Kerry claimed third in class after an emotional year with mechanical woes, but credit to his team on sorting the issues.

In M2 class it was a year that would be judged by reliability, as the early leaders Wayne Lewis and Adrian Williams suffered failures and allowed Gary Burstow in his E46 M3 to claim the most class wins and take the hard won class award.

Adrian was second and Shaun Jackson took a very creditable third in his non-M powered E36 following some close battles with Rahim Balloo, who claimed fifth in class. Wayne was fourth and Steve Schweikhardt was sixth after swapping to Class 6 later in the season.

In Class 6 we were entertained by some close battles in the largest class in the championship, with ex-Ginetta driver Ben Pearson in close company with Jim Benson and Bill Reddrop. The other drivers of the class included Paul Travers, Dan Harborow, Clive Watson, Cavan Grainger, Tom Singleton, Saranga Sothisrihari, Stuart Pywell, Sergei Mineev, Jordan Saywood, Rob Lyons and James Dalzell. It was a busy grid with many closely matched cars and drivers.

It was Ben Pearson who took the class win and overall championship for

50 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

Niall Bradley - M1 Champion

Niall Bradley M1 Champion & 2nd Overall

2021 at the last meeting after finishing every race and winning the most races all season. After Jim’s engine failure at Brands Hatch it was Bill Reddrop and Paul Travers who took the class battle to Ben, eventually finishing second and third respectively. Dan Harborow claimed fourth, and Clive fifth.

The BMWcup Class was dominated

by Karl McMillan and Paul Laramy this year, with Dave Morris being a front runner when he entered. Karl took more wins and fastest laps during the year to win the Cup, but Paul rued having to miss one round as he had to self-isolate. Karl and Paul finished fourth and fifth overall and it was new driver Sam Walton in the ex-Matt Page Compact who claimed third

in class. Paul also took the 2021 Gripper Differentials top novice to go with his 2019 Automac Rookie award. The fourth place driver was Gareth Thomas with David Morris in fifth and this year’s Rookie award went to William Lake.

We missed several drivers during the season due to the pandemic and car issues, but it was great to welcome back Rob Davidson and Dave Kempton to the last meeting. We have awarded the highly-prized Whizzo award that is in memory of former club patron Barrie ‘Whizzo’ Williams to Dave for his help assisting with driving standards and mentoring many of the drivers during the season. The Russ Cockburn award this year went to Steve Schweikhardt for his www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Feature

Dave Kempton - Whizzo award Winner

Gary Burstow - M2 Champion

Steve Schweikhardt - Russ Cockburn Award Winner

Paul Laramy - Gripper Novice Winner

William Lake - Automac Rookie of the Year

car prep and also the way he behaved on and off track.

Those drivers who topped the tables were checked throughout the season to prove they were deserved winners and we must congratulate them on their driving all season.

This season, whilst we had our oldest entrant we also welcomed our youngest, Olivia Martin. At 18 she was our youngest driver and we hope she will enter the full season next year. Already we have new drivers wanting to join all of the classes.

The Cup has also seen a new lease of life in part as the leading drivers are moving up to Class 6 and our overall champion Ben is planning that his next car that will likely be entered in M1. It’s all getting very www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

exciting for next season, even though we are still celebrating this year.

As mentioned, towards the end of the year the restrictions became more flexible allowing us to entertain and offer hospitality to guests and club members with a special treat. At the last round our club patron Colin Turkington offered his support and handed out the trophies to all the drivers.

Apologies for not giving detailed articles on each race meeting through the year for those who follow the club’s racing, but the dates and events made it difficult to publish regular articles and images. You can catch up on the @BMWCCR Facebook page at any point or come along with your region or register to next year’s meetings. Dates of each race will be on the club calendar soon.

The drivers will now enjoy some time to relax with their families and then we will be organising an awards event that all members are welcome to attend in February.

BMW BMW Car Car Club Club Magazine Magazine December December 2021 2021 51

HOW TO CHOOSE BETWEEN WINTER AND ALL SEASON TYRES WINTER OR ALL SEASON? Is the best option an all-season tyre that stays on the car all year round, or a dedicated set of winter tyres? There are many options, but the right solution depends on how much distance the car covers and how it is used during the winter, where the driver lives, and, of course, the type of car itself. All these considerations come into play. All-season tyres are a result of a precise balance able to function all year, but a specific winter tyre remains preferable for the most severe weather conditions. The most important thing is to ensure that there’s an M+S or 3PMSF marking on the sidewall that denotes the tyre is suitable for winter conditions, avoiding fines in certain countries and guaranteeing safety even in winter.

WINTER FOR THE DYNAMIC DRIVER Winter tyres are preferable for drivers who cover big distances during the winter and are looking for the best possible performance in all cold-weather conditions. Thanks to their softer compound, which performs strongly even when temperatures are very low, winter tyres guarantee excellent road holding, optimal traction and safe braking on any type of surface, even with low grip.

The chemical characteristics of winter tyre compounds allow shorter braking distances on snow-covered roads, where braking improves by over 50% compared to a summer tyre. The specific tread pattern of a winter tyre also contributes to performance. In particular the sipes, the main purpose of which is to collect and retain the snow inside them, improving grip with the ‘snow-on-snow friction’ effect. This allows maximum mobility without using snow chains. On top of that, the generously-sized grooves allow

52 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

for rapid and effective water dispersal, eliminating the danger of aquaplaning and maximising safety.

Pirelli offers a complete range of winter tyres. For the most powerful cars, the P Zero Winter is available, while the new Cinturato Winter 2 is aimed at drivers of city, urban and crossover cars.

The Winter Sottozero 3 is an original equipment tyre aimed at high-end premium cars, while the Scorpion Winter is available for the latest-generation SUVs and CUVs. ALL SEASON FOR THE EVERYDAY URBAN DRIVER All season tyres have become the preferred choice for many motorists who live in cities with temperate climates away from mountainous regions, and who aren’t particularly looking for sporting performance. Thanks to a unique

design and make-up, an All Season tyre represents a targeted balance capable of operating at both high and low temperatures, as well as on wet and dry asphalt, delivering versatile overall performance. This type of tyre doesn’t offer the ultimate performance of summer tyres in summer, or winter tyres in winter, but still represents an excellent compromise in a wide variety of situations.

Pirelli has an ample range of All Season tyres, covering every category of car. The new Cinturato All Season SF2 meets the needs of car owners with tyre sizes between 15 and 20 inches, who want a year-round solution mainly for urban areas. The Scorpion Verde All Season SF is available for crossovers and SUVs, while the Carrier All Season tyre is dedicated to vans and light commercial vehicles, completing the All Season family.

Pirelli Pre-Paid Mastercard Offer BMW Car Club members can benefit from an exclusive offer of a Pirelli pre-paid 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: Rim Size

Two Tyres

Four Tyres

16” and below

£10

£30

17”

£30

£70

18” and 19”

£50

£100

20” and above

£60

£120

Where can you get your tyres fitted?

Visit pirelli.co.uk/bmwcarclub for nearest participating dealers.

Terms and conditions apply.

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

CLAIM UP TO

CHOOSE PIRELLI AND BE REWARDED

BUY 2 OR MORE PIRELLI TYRES FROM A PARTICIPATING DEALER AND CLAIM UP TO £120* Find your nearest dealer and full details at www.pirelli.co.uk/bmwcarclub

*Terms and Conditions apply

£120 R E WA R D

crossword Across 1.

BMW Car Club GB Crossword

8.

9.

10.

12.

1

2

3

8

4

5

6

7

9

10

11

13

14

12

15

16

17

18

21

22

19

20

24

25

27

23

26

28

29

30

Winner of last month’s crossword James Thomson

December 2021 All entrants for Crossword the December issue’s crossword must be

received into the office by 11th December. Winner will be announced in next issue. The first correct crossword chosen at random will receive Meguiars Goodies.

Please email all completed crosswords to office@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk or post it to BMW Car Club GB, Unit 5h, Glan Yr Afon, Aberystywth, SY23 3JQ

Answers to November 2021 Crossword Across: 1. Pendragon, 9. Inchcape, 10. Jeremy C(larkson), 11. MA (Massachusetts), 13. Oro, 14. EB (Ettore Bugatti), 16.

HR Owen, 19. ERA (English Racing Automobiles), 21. Net, 22.

Sytner, 23. SC (South Carolina), 25. EFO, 26. Yo, 28. Souslik, 32. Marshall, 34. BMW Retail Down: 1. Pierre, 2. Enroots, 3. NCE (Newport Convertible Engineering), 4. DHM, 5. RCY, 6. AACE, 7. GP (Grand Prix), 8. OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer), 10. Johnny, 12.

Amarok, 15. Benelli, 17. ES, 18. NY (New York), 20. Refill, 24.

CSRR, 27. OMM, 29. Ose, 30. UHT, 31. SAA (South African Airways), 33. AW

54 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

You might come across an ordinary snowman at this time of year, but hopefully not one of these! (10) The opposite end to "Hi" on some cars' heater controls (2) Not exactly a BMW, but the pride of Tolyatti (4) British car-maker taking this name in 1963 and subsequently acquired by Reliant who continued to use the brand until 1974 (4) David Dunbar…: Arbroath-born automotive pioneer who established and gave his name to what is currently the oldest US car brand (5) Initials for analogue radio that pre-dates FM. Dropped by BMW on the i3 (and since other models) because of interference from electric powertrains (1,1) Unit of measurement in typography, equivalent to the point size (2) Postcode for BMW dealer Halliwell Jones North Wales (1,1) BMW Car Club Region of which Issy Phillips is Regional Officer (8) Christmastime (8) Shortform / initials for our favourite vehicle manufacturer (1,1) Postcode for BMW dealer Snows mainland location (1,1) Initials for zone whose flag you might still be showing on your number plate if fitted before 2021 (1,1) Wayne and Kevin…: NASCAR-racing brothers born in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Hint: Without the last letter a type of securing screw (5) German car manufacturer acquired by BMW in 1966 (4) Bill…: Inventor of the 8-track cartridge audio tape, best known for founding a manufacturer of business jet aircraft, that still carries his name today (4) Initials used to designate the full suspension and electronics package on the latest BMW R1250GS motorcycle models (1,1) A reinforced plastic that has been used by some manufacturers (including 10. Across) for car bodies (10)

Sponsored by

Across suspension and electronics package on the 1. You might come across an ordinary latest BMW R1250GS motorcycle models (1,1) 14. snowman at this time of year, but hopefully 30. A reinforced plastic that has been used by 16.

17. not one of these! (10) some manufacturers (including 10. Across) for 20.

21.

8. The opposite end to “Hi” on some cars’ car bodies (10) 22. heater controls (2) 23.

9.

Not exactly a BMW, but the pride of 24.

Down Tolyatti (4) 26.

27.

1. BMW of…: BMW dealer in the Georgia, US 10. British car-maker taking this name in 29.

1963 and subsequently acquired by Reliant city of the same name. Also a UK car brand 30. who continued to use the brand until 1974 1971-1997 modelled on an Edwardian-style (4) veteran (6) Down 12. David Dunbar…: 1.

BMW of…: BMW dealerArbroath-born in the Georgia, US city of the same name. Also a 2. A loud, deep, resonant sound or period of UK car brand 1971-1997 modelled on an Edwardian-style veteran (6) automotive pioneer who 2.

A loud, deep, resonant soundestablished or period of rapid and economic growth (4) rapid economic growth (4) 3.

BMW's terminology for injection, long-wheelbase gave his name to what is currently the(1,1) 4.

Could be National Association of Broadcasters (1,1,1) 3. BMW’s terminology for injection, long5.

Not a puppy (5,3) oldestCivic US officer car inbrand (5) 6. the local government of Scotland (6) wheelbase (1,1) 7.

Rudolph's North American cousin!

13. Initials forlarger analogue radio that(3) pre-dates 11.

The last month of the year (8) 4. Could be National Association of FM. Dropped

by BMW on the i3to(and since 15.

Something your BMW probably needs pass every year if it is greater than 3 years but less than 40 years old (1,1,1) other models) because of component! interference Broadcasters (1,1,1) 17.

Mercedes-Benz coupe lighting (1,1,4) from 18.

Something you might be inclined to give to your car valeter or window electriccleaner, powertrains 5. Not a puppy (5,3) particularly at (1,1) this time of the year (3) 19.

Buildings for human habitation (6) 14. Unit of measurement in typography, 23.

Informal term for light food or snacks (4) 6. Civic officer in the local government of 24.

Acronym a lossless file format equivalent toused theforpoint size (2) for images, both still and moving (3) 25. …Systems: British multinational arms, security and aerospace business.

Scotland (6) One of its latest the AMPVHalliwell (Armored Muliti-Purpose Vehicle) 16. Postcode forproducts BMWisdealer (1,1,1) 28.

BMW dealer JonesPostcode North for Wales (1,1)Inchcape (formerly Cooper) in Reading (1,1)7. Rudolph’s larger North American cousin! (3) 11. The last month of the year (8) 17. BMW Car Club Region of which Issy 15. Something your BMW probably needs to Phillips is Regional Officer (8) pass every year if it is greater than 3 years but 20. Christmastime (8) 21. Shortform / initials for our favourite less than 40 years old (1,1,1) vehicle manufacturer (1,1) 17. Mercedes-Benz coupe lighting component!

22. Postcode for BMW dealer Snows (1,1,4) mainland location (1,1) 18. Something you might be inclined to give to 23. Initials for zone whose flag you might your car valeter or window cleaner, particularly still be showing on your number plate if at this time of the year (3) fitted before 2021 (1,1) 19. Buildings for human habitation (6) 24. Wayne and Kevin…: NASCAR-racing brothers born in Mechanicsville, Virginia.

23. Informal term for light food or snacks (4) Hint: Without the last letter a type of 24. Acronym used for a lossless file format for securing screw (5) images, both still and moving (3) 26. German car manufacturer acquired by 25. …Systems: British multinational arms, BMW in 1966 (4) security and aerospace business. One of its 27. Bill…: Inventor of the 8-track cartridge latest products is the AMPV (Armored Mulitiaudio tape, best known for founding a Purpose Vehicle) (1,1,1) manufacturer of business jet aircraft, that 28. Postcode for BMW dealer Inchcape (formerly still carries his name today (4) 29. Initials used to designate the full Cooper) in Reading (1,1) 13.

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

classifieds FOR SALE: E28 525e Manual, one owner, purchased June 1983. Lapis Blue, V.G.C., interior as new. 147,202 miles. Alloy wheels, tyres circa 50%, new battery. Full MOT history to Sept. 2022. Regrettable sale. Based in Surrey.

Offers welcome. Call Derek 020 8763 2642 or email dwnoad@gmail.com

FOR SALE: 1986 BMW E24 635CSi Auto.

This car is in impeccable condition, inside and out, especially underneath which has been protected. New interior carpets front and rear. Old original carpets available. Only three owners from new. The last owner had it from 1988 to 2017 (29 years). I have had it since then. I am very reluctantly selling it because of health reasons. Lots of pictures available upon request.

• Much sought after red exterior.

• Valuable registration included: IBZ 635 • Cream leather seats.

• Original BBS wheels with new Michelin TRX 220/55/vr 390 tyres (including the spare) costing £1,600.

• Complete protection underseal.

• MOT’d every year.

• Average 3,500 miles per year from new.

• Serviced by the same BMW specialist mechanic from 1988.

• Original radio.

• Full tool set.

• Itemised repairs parts list by BMW from 2005.

OFFERS OVER £27,500. Email: jimmy@conlon.f9.co.uk

Two sets of genuine BMW wheels in very good clean condition overall with only slight minor scuffs offered for sale.

BMW GENUINE 15” X 7J STYLE 27 ALLOY WHEELS + CENTRE BADGES + TYRES - 5 OFF Set of 5 wheels off a BMW E36 but compatible with Z3 & Z4 cars (please check).

205/60R15 91V tubeless tyres with lots of tread left – One is an odd identical sized tyre.

Genuine realistic offers welcome.

BMW GENUINE 16”x 7J STYLE 30 ALLOY WHEELS + CENTRE BADGES + TYRES - 4 OFF Set of 4 wheels off a BMW E36 but compatible with Z3 & Z4 cars (please check).

225/50R16 92V tyres with lots of tread left – One is an odd identical sized tyre.

Genuine realistic offers welcome.

Collection ideally nr High Wycombe. Insured postage at your cost.

Jeff Leeks – jeffleeks007@gmail.com or 01494 563188 for more info and photos.

BMW GENUINE 16” X 7J STYLE 48 LIGHT ALLOY SPOKED RADIAL WHEEL + TYRE-1 OFF This wheel and tyre are both new/un-used/ un-marked, stored continuously in the dark so no degradation. Suitable only for E39 5 Series cars. The tyre is a Continental Contieco Contact 225/55R16 95W. Genuine realistic offers welcome.

BMW E36 N/S TWIN HEADLIGHTS + INDICATOR This integral E36 N/S unit of twin headlights + indicator complete with bulbs is in great condition, costs new today £525 from a BMW Dealer, so make me an offer I can’t refuse. If you’d like to view before you buy then I am near High Wycombe and I’d prefer you to collect with cash.

Genuine realistic offers welcome.

Jeff Leeks – jeffleeks007@gmail.com or 01494 563188 for more info and photos.

Classified adverts

>>Website: FREE until 1st Jan £4.99 thereafter

BMWPress www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

>>Straight Six: £9.95*

*Contact officeadmin@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk for more information BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021 55

ROYTHORNE THE BMW SPECIALISTS

Roythorne

www.roythorneandson.co.uk • All servicing and repair work undertaken • Menu service pricing (please ring for a quote) • Autologic diagnostics

• MoT testing • Air conditioning servicing, repairs and re-gas • Bodywork estimates and SMART repairs undertaken

Roythorne & Son Ltd 01553 673000 / 672213

Nursery Lane, North Wootton, Kings Lynn, Norfolk PE30 3QB

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX BMW UK ......................................................................................... 2 BMW Car Club Insurance ................................................................. 3 BMW Car Club Ireland Tour ............................................................. 7 Classicline Insurance, Machine Mart .............................................. 9 ADRIAN FLUX Insurance, JAYMIC - Classic BMW Parts ................. 19 Car Cover Shop ............................................................................... 25 Footman James ............................................................................. 31 Carvault Co., The Classic Motor Hub, JLF Car Nest, Store My Car, Weaver Car Storage Limited .................................................... 36 ARM MAPFREAKS .......................................................................... 43 Body Motorworks .......................................................................... 49 Pirelli .............................................................................................. 53 Linwar Motors, Roythorne - the BMW Specialists, Autospray, Balance Motor Works ................................................................... 56 Classic Heroes, Spit & Polish, Opie Oils, Woods Motor Company .... 80 Meguiar’s ...................................................................................... 83 BMW UK ........................................................................................ 84

56 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews Central & Thames Tony Skerrett Central Region sponsored by

Barons Bedford

We had an interesting Regional meeting last month with nine members present, plus East Anglia members Stu and Lizzie Blount in their E28 M5 all the way from St Ives Cambs. Stu and Lizzie have also kindly supplied this month’s My Car article. Also present were Alan and Christine Matchett who have been very much missed for most of the season; it was good to see them again.

Deputy Chairman Peter Collison was in fine form ensuring we had a place to park and, of course, we all behaved ourselves.

Past Events No real events to report on, but I’m very grateful for the support received, particularly at the Rousham House and Delapre Abbey events as they were announced with short notice. As it turned out, the weather was sunshine all day!

Future Events Our Christmas Dinner has been set for December 13th at Aviator Hotel, Sywell. Meet in the bar at 7pm. Menu and booking have already been circulated, but if in doubt please contact me at central@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk for further details.

Incidentally all members are welcome.

Central AGM is now fixed for Feb 14th 2022 from 7pm. All positions will be vacant on the night so if interested please add your name via letter or an email to central@bmwcarclubgb. co.uk Members who have any recommendations on which venues to visit in 2022, please let me know as soon as possible. First on the list will be Delapre Abbey in spring time and also their major classic event held on the Battlefield (1465) site late August.

My Car by Stu and Lizzie Blount – an E28 M5 Having seen in Straight Six that the Central Region was holding a meet at the Aviator Hotel at Sywell, and that the car needed a good run out, we duly headed away from St Ives on a fine evening. We were warmly greeted by the members on arrival and Tony showed up… eventually. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

07879 404648 central@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

01234 362 400

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

A little about our car; Liz and I have been the custodians of D602 NYG, an E28 M5, for 28 years. Purchased in the spring of 1993 from Murketts BMW Huntingdon, it was used as a daily driver until 2013.

During 2007 a front end overhaul was required, so a new pair of wings were fitted and the whole of the front end was resprayed.

In 2014, it was pointed out during the MOT inspection that, whilst not a failure, the underside was getting a little tatty and could do with a refresh. The car was duly booked in with a local restorer to undertake the work over the winter of 2015.

However that was when fate stepped in. Before it went to the bodyshop, whilst on a touring holiday in northern Scotland, we were seriously rear ended by a Land Rover. Amazingly, neither of us suffered any injuries. How good is the three box system? The medics first question was “did the airbags deploy” to which the reply came “what airbags?” Not one piece of glass was broken but the whole of the rear end was destroyed, even the roof was rippled.

After months of quibbling with my insurance company a payout was eventually agreed and a cheque duly arrived. So off to the local dealer to see what £20k would buy, unfortunately not a lot. A used 118d? No thanks. So I made up my mind and bought back the salvaged M5 to throw all the pay out money and more at it.

The work was entrusted to Elite Motor Services of Foxton and I can’t speak highly enough of them. Their attention to detail was heartwarming considering I must have made their lives a misery over the two years the rebuild took.

If you would like to read a little more and see a few more pictures please go to: www.hillstart.blog/features/e28-bmw-m5-a-28-yearownership-experience Regards Stu and Liz Blount BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

57

regionalnews

Central West Dave Evans Central West Region sponsored by

07800 616500 centralwest@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

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

Rybrook Wolverhampton 01902 457000 rybrookwolverhamptonbmw.co.uk

Ho Ho Ho! Well, it’s time to conclude 2021, which turned out a lot better than we feared considering the rocky start to the year. I hope you have all enjoyed the events you have attended and it’s been great to have a few new faces at our monthly pub meets. We are looking forward to 2022, especially the new national Sommerfest planned to be held at Donington Park in the summer. It will be a two day event with live action, parade laps, concours, trade stands, entertainment and much, much more.

The Central West team would like to wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Christmas. We are looking forward to meeting more of you in the New Year.

Dave Evans – Central West Regional Chairman Recent Events With the season of limited car shows coming to an end, a few Regional members went to MAC’s last Shelsley Walsh breakfast meet of the year. A sunny morning and good attendance with some interesting cars to appreciate. After a short wait, bacon baps and coffee were the order of the day followed by a walk up the hill. This, however, seemed a good idea at the time, but it took a week for the legs to recover. Next time I’m using a car.

The last WOW (Wheels on Wednesday) Sunday breakfast meet of the year at Spetchley Gardens near Worcester was next on the remaining events. After heavy rain in the early hours, the sun came out later in the morning and that meant so did a lot of cars and bikes. Another great mixture and plenty of memories to discuss. A different highlight was the arrival of several paragliders, who landed in the adjacent field missing the cars and trees.

Future Events Nothing planned as yet. Going forward we will be discussing our plans for 2022 at the January pub meet, which will go ahead as usual.

Monthly Pub Meet Our monthly pub meet is held at 7.30pm on the second Tuesday of every month at The Three Horseshoes, Alveley, Nr Bridgnorth, Shropshire, WV15 6NB. Everyone is welcome, just turn up and join in. Friends and family are always welcome, too.

Best wishes Dave, Dean, Brian & Jan

Cheshire & Staffs Steve Cooper Cheshire & Staffs Region sponsored by

Blue Bell

cheshireandstaffs@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Knights

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

Cornwall Jim Husband

Blue Bell Fourth Avenue, Weston Road, Crewe Cheshire. CW1 6XH. Tel:01270 212525 Knights Bede Road, Radial Park, Stoke on Trent Staffordshire. ST4 4GU Tel:01782 572100

cornwall@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Hello to all members of the Cornwall Region. I hope you are all well. It has been a mixed year on the events front. We have been able to hold some drive outs, attend some events and the pub meets have resumed. Hopefully 2022 will see more of the same and a return to normality.

If you have any ideas for events, or need any information on meets or activities, please contact the club office or the Cornwall Region chair.

If you are a Facebook user please check out the BMW Car Club GB – Cornwall page. Details of meets and events are

58 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews posted on this page along with any last minute changes or updates.

Please also check the Cornwall page of the club website for details of events, this will be updated as events are confirmed, and everything will be printed in Straight Six as deadlines allow.

I am standing down as the Cornwall Region Chair at the end of 2021 so this will be my last update. I have enjoyed my three-and-a-bit years in the role and meeting with new and existing members. I will continue to be a member of the Club and attend meets and events, so I will keep in contact. At the moment no one has come forward to take on the role, so if anyone is interested in taking up the position and in keeping the Region going please either contact me or the club office.

Recent Events The monthly pub meets have resumed and details can be found below. I have entered the date for the January and February meets so hopefully these will continue for the time being.

As there have been no other events, there is not a lot else to report.

Events and Monthly Pub Meets.

Pub meets – The second Monday of the month at the Plume of Feathers, Mitchell at 7:30pm.

Dates: December 13th, January 10th, February 14th

Car of the Month If you would like to have your car featured please send the Cornwall Region Chair details with a maximum of 100 words and a good quality photo. Even if you have had your car featured previously but have since modified it, an updated report would be good.

Photos If you do have any photos of past events or of your cars that you think would be suitable for the magazine, please send them onto the Region Chair.

Cotswold Martyn Goodwin Cotswold Region sponsored by

Cotswold Motor Group www.cotswoldgroup.com Corinthian Way, Cheltenham, GL51 6UP Roman Road, Hereford, HR1 1LN

cotswold@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Cheltenham BMW Cheltenham MINI Cheltenham Motorrad Cheltenham Parts Cheltenham Service Hereford

01242 335 335 01242 335 345 01242 335 355 01242 335 365 01242 335 375 01432 375 555

Cumbria James France

to the condition I intended. It’s already booked in for some more cosmetic paint. It’s good to know it has gone to a good home.

With Christmas approaching, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a Merry Christmas.

Be careful, stay safe and be kind.

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

Be careful, Phone 07799 620 381 or email jimfrance1@hotmail.co.uk Regards Jim.

regionalnews

KathyJemfrey Jemfrey Devon DevonKathy

01626 330436 330436 01626 devon@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk devon@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Devon Region sponsored by

INDEPENDENT BMW & MINI SPECIALISTS

Our saw members attend our monthly The October Sidmouthpub Carmeet Show has12been cancelled, however if anyone meeting the Hare Hounds at Kingskerswell. wishes toatattend, we&will be attending the Crash We Boxshall Endbe of there on Car Wednesday December at 7 for Park, 7.30pm for theon final Season Show it is15th at Lady’s Mile Holiday Dawlish, meeting of this year, please try and come along and join us.

I’d like take this opportunity toGeorge wish everyone a Merry Champ

East Anglia & Stansted

Available to members presenting current valid membership card

cumbria@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Hello to all Cumbria Region members.

Again there’s not much to report, unfortunately. I see we have recently had a few new Cumbria-based members join the club, so if you are reading this here’s a warm Cumbrian welcome to you. I hope that we will see you at a few events next year. I may even look at a Sunday morning meet in the winter months, should we get some decent weather. Watch your mailbox. gearbox oil in my hair along with a full swear box, too.

I Hope have sold my Mini Cooper a friend who member will finishplease it to catch up with you,Sif to you are a new feel free to come along to our meets and events.

East Anglia Region sponsored www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

by Barons Cambridge

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)

Christmas andSeptember a Happy New Year and 2022 will Sunday 27th 10am until 4.00pm.

Come and go as possibly you please.see a return to some normality and perhaps make plansTake for summer care and2022. see you all soon.

Take care and see you all sooner rather than later.

www.barronsbmw.co.uk Cambridge Stansted

: 01954 784 500 : 01279 755 906

07514 216660 eastanglia@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Barons offers members • Generous discounts off the new BMW and MINI range Carused Club December 2021 • A minimum discount of £500BMW on approved carsMagazine in stock • 15% discount on parts and accessories 10% off servicing, excludes Value Line Servicing which applies to cars over 4 yrs old.

59

regionalnews

East Anglia George Champ

07514 216660 eastanglia@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

East Anglia Region sponsored by

www.group1auto.co.uk/bmw

Barons Cambridge & Barons Stansted

Cambridge: 01954 784 500 Stansted: 01279 755 906

Barons offers members

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

EXCEPTIONAL STORAGE SOLUTIONS Fully insured, secure car storage, with the latest car care and maintenance packages located in Norfolk. Covers all of the UK.

Packages start from £35 + vat. Special Offer £5 off all package prices for BMW Car Club GB Members. www.jlfcarnest.co.uk info@jlfcarnest.vo.uk Call Olly - +44 (0)7521 568 881 Josh - +44 (0) 7856952383

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and New Year, please stay safe and well.

Something different this month, mainly a selection of photos.

Images from The Castle show Sarah, Amy and Rick with his new rare manual M4. Plus Bobby and her modified E28, and Tony’s similar 2002 Touring with a future potential club member once we can wean him off his Land Rover.

Little Easton: yet another Land Rover, a six-wheeler this time, plus Hollywood stars Lightning McQueen and Race Team Mater and some great BMWs.

Ipswich Air Museum line up. Much more to follow next year, hopefully, so watch this space.

Photos rather than text will be a future feature as we have some excellent photographers amongst you, so please send any snaps you have from the whole Region to me so we can all enjoy them. For example, Bobby and her modified E28 have recently joined the club and her photos can only be described as exceptional. I will feature a selection from her Facebook page next time as she has kindly agreed to be our photographer whenever possible.

60 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews

Eastern Paul Rice

eastern@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Events Classic Car and Motorcycle Show, Thoresby Hall This was our second visit of the year to Thoresby Hall, Well, not quite. Located in an area some distance from the Hall in a field and, as stated in previous issues, this spot doesn’t quite have the sense of occasion that previous shows with the Hall as a backdrop had.

We didn’t manage to get 76 cars together like we had at the Spring event. This time there was a much smaller number, nine. For me, this made it an easier day to organise. Holding an event in October can be a gamble, fortunately we had dry weather leading up to the show and even the sun made a showing on the day. It’s possibly the last event of the year for many, and that could explain the high attendance of nonBMWs. There was a great mix of vehicles exhibiting at the show and it proved, as ever, a big draw for the many visitors.

It turned out to be a very enjoyable event thanks to the good organization, a great mix of cars and an entertaining gathering of motoring enthusiasts.

2021 Events Although we have been under varying restrictions throughout this year, we did get to meet up at some very good events.

In addition to the regional pub nights for members to get together, we have had quite a few good days out. Starting with the mammoth showing of BMWs at the May Thoresby event that we visited in Beckingham. Although a similar format, the addition of commercial vehicles, motorcycles and rally cars made for a really interesting and enjoyable day. October had us visiting Thoresby once again. We also had a meet at NY500 followed by a run through the Yorkshire moors. This was one of our new addition breakfast meets, visiting several locations around the region. These are proving very popular linking up with other events and drives from some great locations. Sure, we will see these grow through 2022. On a sad note, several

events including Doncaster and Sewerby were again missing this year, hopefully these will be back on the 2022 Calendar.

Regional meets We will be holding our AGM early next year, hopefully on the first Sunday in February. The date and location will be announced in next month’s Straight Six. Car of the Month Unfortunately there’s no car of the month in this edition. Would anyone out there like to have their car included? All BMWs or Minis, any model or year.

All you need to do is just send in a picture and a few words.

It can be about the car, your ownership and any history about its life to date.

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 (don’t worry if only a few words) to eastern@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk And finally…

As this is the last Straight six of 2021, may I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See you all in 2022.

London Anthony Mason London Region sponsored by

london@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

BMW PARK LANE

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

Barons Watford 01923 700 217 and Barons Borehamwood 02089 512 600 www.baronsgroup.co.uk/bmw

North East Nick Thomas

northeast@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

This is my last Straight Six report for 2021, a year which has turned out to be a bit odd again. It started with the Region having to keep contact via virtual monthly meetings, and ending with us all tucked up the Black Horse enjoying Christmas dinner.

Thanks to the NE committee for keeping it all together, plus to all NE members for joining in so enthusiastically at our events.

By the time you read this we will have held our AGM via Zoom. However, due to print deadlines, I am writing this before it happens. I do hope it went well. I will give an update on our plans for 2022 in the January Straight Six. Until then I wish you all a good festive season and a happy new year.

Recent Events Our October monthly meeting was very well attended, with some late summer weather bringing out the convertibles. There were a good number of new attendees, welcome to you all. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

We seem to be branching out into Mercedes, Seat and Lamborghini enthusiasts as well, so we may need to rename the Region; send me your suggestions!

BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021 61

regionalnews Car of the Month The October COTM award sponsored by The Polishing Company went to Nathan McMillan Smith with his white M4. All BMWs are eligible to win COTM and a goodie bag supplied by The Polishing Company. Join us at our next monthly meet to be in with a chance of winning.

Many thanks to Mike Dickinson for organising the Route 66 Run in late October. After meeting for a quick breakfast at Scotch Corner we headed over the hills on the A66 to Cumbria.

After some damp and spirited driving we arrived at the Lakeland Motor Museum. After a pleasant lunch, we toured both the main part of the museum and the exhibit dedicated to Malcolm and Donald Campbell, and the various Bluebirds.

Forthcoming events Events are subject to last minute changes, so keep an eye on the NE Region Facebook Group for the latest information.

• Sunday 12 December – Monthly Meet • Saturday 18 December – Christmas Dinner

North Wales David Allen

northwales@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

I am probably not alone in SORNing my car at the end of September for the winter months and yes, there were regrets as the warm sun continued into October… but then the rain poured.

There is little to report so I’ve used the space to tell a rather nice story.

Following on from my visit to the classic show in Rhos on Sea, where I met up with a couple of Classic BMW owners, I have pursued the story of David Hulse and his BMW 2002 Automatic.

This is David’s story: In 1976 my Grandad, Thomas Frederick Clough, bought a one year old BMW 2002 Automatic. I was also 12 months old at the time. During my childhood I used to wash the car and had fond trips to Abersoch in it with my grandparents. One day my Grandad gave me an old chipped registration plate off the car as he was replacing it. I put it in my room. Unfortunately, my Grandad had a stroke and the BMW was too much for my Nan to drive so she sold it in 1997, despite me asking if I could have the car.

As I had the precious registration plate, I thought about the car many times and tried to look for it. Sadly, nothing came up so I presumed the car had been lost. During the lockdown in 2020 I decided to take the registration plate from my garage and hang it up in our pub room. I also asked my wife to see if she could find the car. This time it came up as having been MOT’d within the last year and that sparked the urge to find it.

With some help from my wife’s cousin we finally found it on the internet at a Classic Car Show site, the car having appeared at an event in Skipton a couple of years previous. My wife contacted the show organiser and explained our story, who in turn got in touch with the car’s owner. This was late on a Saturday evening. Sunday morning, we had an email from the owner and his phone number. I explained my story to the owner, Ian, and he said that the car wasn’t for sale but that I was more than welcome to come and see it. He rang back later and said that on the back of my story and connection to the car that he’d

62 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

changed his mind and would sell it.

I went to see the car in Keighley a week later. It was 23 years after I had last seen it, and a deal was done. It was back in the family. To have the car back means so much, I cannot thank Ian enough.

The car had belonged to Ian’s father-in-law and he had owned it for a number of years, during which time the car had appeared on Celebrity Antiques Road Trip. The car had also been to live in Spain for a while being driven there and back.

The following week we went off with a trailer to bring the BMW 2002 back home to North Wales. My wife has named the car Mr Fred.

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews The BMW spent the first five weeks of its new life in the garage having welding work done and is now sound underneath. I have had the seats restored and the carpets replaced and have renewed all the door cards.

I am now enjoying the memories of the BMW both old and new. My main aim was to take the car to show my Nan. Unfortunately she has age related dementia and despite the worries of Covid and restrictions, I managed to get to see her on her 97th birthday. Initially she didn’t remember the car but then the memories all came flooding back.

We also went on a drive around my Grandad’s old stomping grounds in Nantwich, Cheshire, and we called into a little deli where the owner remembered the car as being Mr Clough’s. Yes, more memories after all those years.

A car of this age always turns heads wherever it goes, Mr Fred has returned home and will not be leaving us.

North West Jeff Heywood

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

Tally’s Valeting Service Experienced mobile valeting service covering the North West region.

We offer a range of valeting services for your BMW to give it that ‘good as new’ look inside and out, using the best products.

News Welcome to December’s North West News. Our October visit to Fireground, the regional fire brigade museum, was a success. We had a great turnout of club members who enjoyed a fascinating visit, see the report below. November saw our penultimate visit to the Kilton Inn for one of our pub meets, here’s hoping many will return for the Christmas lunch in a couple of weeks.

Talking about Christmas, there are still a couple of places available as we went to press for our Christmas Lunch on Sunday 12th December, please see below for more details.

As we move into January we have two pub meets for you to enjoy, the local Manchester meet on the 11th and our first Kilton meet of 2022 on the 23rd – hopefully you all make the effort to support these meets in 2022.

Just a quick reminder for those who are on Facebook, let’s see more of you visiting the NW Region page. It is always updated with photos of cars and snaps from every NW club event. Also, if anyone would like to visit and friend my own Facebook page (Jeff Heywood) please feel free to do so, there is always plenty of BMW content.

That just leaves me to wish everyone a very happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year. Let’s hope we all have an excellent time after all the lockdown and Covid issues.

Trade Recommendations Darren Wood BMW Specialist, Bredbury, Stockport SK6 2QB.

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

For more information visit our website www.tallysvaletingservices.co.uk Visit our FB Page for offers.

Call Ian on 07397 516149.

Tallysvaletingserices@gmail.com

Offering BMW repair, servicing and engine tuning etc. Facebook – Darren Wood Ltd – Independent BMW Specialists. www. darren-wood.com / 0161 425 7403.

Class Alloys. Mobile service, repairs and refurbs alloy wheels. All finishes, including perfectly matched chrome shadowline. Covers most of the North West. Discount given to club members – contact Steve on 07594 018525. Facebook Class Alloys.

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 bodywork. Speak to Simon Robinson on 0800 998 9828 or 07767 832255, or visit www.express-dent-removal. co.uk 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 Swades Elite Transport offer a covered, secure transportation service for all cars, from a Ferrari to a FIAT! – 07563 029712 – www.swades.co.uk – Facebook – Swades Elite Transport Tallys Valeting Services for detailing and valeting. Mobile service, covers most of the North West Region. Give Ian a call on 07397 516149. Facebook – Tallys Valeting Services, or visit www.tallysvaletingservices.co.uk New NW Members – Please Read We’ve signed up quite a few new members during the Covid pandemic, so first of all I’d like to welcome you all to the club and the NW region. Secondly, we’d love to see you all at the events and meetings we organise. There are no cliques, you will be made very welcome. So why not come along and share in your passion for BMWs.

BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021 63

regionalnews Forthcoming Events 7th December – Manchester Meet at Sheldon Arms Let’s see a crackin’ turnout for the final Manchester meet of 2021 at the Sheldon. Join us for a shandy and some BMW banter.

The meeting starts at 7.30pm and is an informal get-together. All contact details, addresses, etc. are in the Club Pub Meets section at the rear of this magazine.

12th December - NW Xmas Lunch + Pub Meet at Kilton Inn, Cheshire There are still a few places left for our Festive Fayre three-course lunch at the Kilton Inn, as I write this in early November. The lunch will be served in the Kilton’s conservatory, which is reserved for club members. The lunch costs £21.99 per person and there are vegetarian options. Please book with Jeff soon to avoid disappointment. I’ll then email you a copy of the menu so you can give me your choices in good time. Thanks to the generous support from Darren Wood BMW Specialists, we’ll be giving away a wonderful Xmas Hamper plus there’ll be prizes for everyone who attends.

We’ll be dining from 12 noon and we’ll also be holding the final round of the NW Quiz for 2021 with the league winners taking home a nice bottle of champers. We’ll also be choosing the Kilton Car of the Month, sponsored by Swades Car Detailing.

Make sure you give those BMs a good shampooing.

For example, hoses didn’t piece together because they had different fittings. It was all a bit of a shambles, really. So once the war was over, the government moved quickly to form a National Fire Service in 1941. This existed until 1948 when fire services reverted back to local authority control, but this time with far fewer brigades; one per county or county borough.

We also learned of the lessons learned in the horrendous Woolworths fire in Manchester, and more recently the IRA bombing in 1996 and the recent terrorist attack at the MEN Arena.

We all enjoyed a thoroughly entertaining morning and a smaller group of us then had a ride over Saddleworth to the Kingfisher in Greenfield village to enjoy a hearty lunch. A big thank you to everyone who joined us on the visit.

11th January – Manchester Meet at Sheldon Arms All the meeting details such as the address and time are in the Club Pub meets section at the rear of this magazine.

23rd January - Pub Meet at Kilton Inn, Cheshire Blow away those winter blues at our bi-monthly pub meet at the Kilton. There’s lots going on including a prize Quiz League and we’ll also be handing some goodies over to the winner of the Kilton Car of the Month, sponsored by Swades Car Detailing.

These Sunday meetings always kick off at 12 noon, all the contact details and addresses are in the Club Pub meets section at the rear of this magazine.

Event Reports 23rd October – Visit to Fireground A decent number of NW members joined us for our fascinating visit to Fireground, the Greater Manchester fire service museum.

We were met on arrival by our guide who gave us an informative tour of the museum. As well as viewing all the amazing exhibits, we also learned how the national fire brigade formed from a madmix of smaller forces. It was explained that up to and including WW2, the UK’s fire service was made up of 1600 small brigades, with one for each city and town. Even some villages had their own fire brigade, often manned by volunteers. It was WW2 that brought home the futility of having so many independent brigades.

When the blitz started, brigades from outside London were called in to help but it was found that everyone had different equipment.

64 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

The Fireground Museum visit was enjoyed by all. The museum is a treasure trove of fire service related items and exhibits, including hand and horse pulled appliances, early motorised appliances and a selection of appliances from the ‘50s, DennisMetz tender to appliances from the ‘60s to the ‘90s and up to a 2002 Volvo FL6/Saxon water ladder. The visit also captivated youngsters like 8-year-old Alfie Messina and a decent number of women, including (the only slightly older) Timps and Katie

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews

South East Ian Bryant South East Region sponsored by

Chandlers Brighton 01273 423 312

Following the flurry of events last month, we managed to settle back into the regular micro meetings. We plan to resume around March 2022.

The October Sussex micro meeting had very good attendance at Billy’s on the Road, great to see new faces and cars.

Last month I attended the 78 Members Meeting at Goodwood, after two years of trying…

What a fantastic event this is, seeing classic cars being driven how they were intended. I particularly enjoyed the group B rally cars (RS200s, Audi Quattro’s, Metro 6R4s…). Bruno Senna was out in Ayrton Senna championship winning V12 McLaren, what a glorious sound. Gordon Murray T50 Supercar was also out on the track and that sounded pretty much like an old school Formula 1 car with its normally aspirated 4.0 litre 650hp V12 (pic of engine attached).

The highlight for me was the Edwardian race cars, the Darracq picture attached is a fine example built in 1905, V8 200hp engine, capable of 105mph with no front brakes. They are all one-off cars and seeing them race wheel to wheel is something special.

We will soon commence planning for next year, if you have any ideas, please contact me.

With this being the last update of the year, thank you for your continued support, I wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Details of all events can be found on the BMW Car Club site under South East Region homepage. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk/ regions/south-east/

South Wales Jonathan Bamford

southeast@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

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

BARONS CC20133 =

15% discount code

Kent Micro Meeting – The George, Taylors Lane, Trottiscliffe, West Malling, ME19 5DR Sussex Micro Meeting – Billy’s on the Road, Stane Street, Billingshurst, RH14 9AE

southwales@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Welcome to our South Wales Region news. I hope that everyone is safe and well. If you are new to the club and this is your first issue, then welcome. Our monthly meetings have now finished for the year and will start up again during 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 meetings before then come along.

It is a great opportunity to meet other members and share your passion for cars. I will notify all members by email prior to the meetings starting again and I will confirm times and location.

Please ensure the club has your correct email address so that you don’t miss out on any future announcements.

We will continue to arrange, depending on the weather, 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 during the winter months. 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.

You would have received an email regarding our Christmas party. If this is of interest to you then please contact me to book your place. If it’s not too late, as currently I am unaware

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021 65

regionalnews of final numbers. It will be your traditional festive menu with entertainment at Blancos Hotel and Restaurant in Port Talbot.

If you have already booked your space, then I look forward to seeing you there.

One final event before Christmas will be our AGM. I will send the details for this out in a separate email. It would be good to see you there and give your input to plans and future matters for our region.

With no real events to publish this month, I have attached a few photos from some of our runs and shows from 2021.

Thank you to all who attended organised events over the last 12 months. I hope that next year is just as successful.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year. Until next month, as always, stay safe and hopefully see you soon.

Thames Tony Skerrett Come November onwards, Thames members mostly hibernate.

Not this year as we will be holding Regional Meetings at the Littlebury Hotel Bicester up to the end of the year. This was voted on and carried at the last meeting held in October.

We aim to have our Christmas Dinner at the Chequers Inn, Weston on the Green, 9th December 2021 meet 7pm. www.chequerswestonthegreen.co.uk/ Where: Weston-on-the-Green, Northampton Road, Bicester, Oxfordshire, OX25 3QH Menu and booking form available from thames@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

thames@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

My Car Restoration

BRÜNHILDA & PROJECT C.A.R.™ I’ve been at work for most of the last month and, as such, I haven’t been able to get any work done on the car. Thankfully the guys at the body shop are working hard and, as it stands, they think the car will be back in early December. That also means that early next year, you’ll be receiving new episodes of Project CAR more often. I’m currently working on a brief update on what’s been going on with the aim of having it online early next week.

In the meantime, I’m working on mini-Brunhilda, which is now ready for the final clear coat before assembly can begin. I’ve also been spending a lot of time on the web and flipping pages in various brochures, trying to complete the list of items I still need to purchase and add to the car. Somehow, the list doesn’t appear to become any shorter...

See you all next month with more news.

Diary Dates 25th November 2021 Regional Meet at the Littlebury Hotel, Bicester 7.45pm

66 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

regionalnews

Wessex Julian Pickering

Snows BMW snows.co.uk/bmw

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 Although it is early November as I write this report, I am wishing you all a very merry lockdown-free Christmas, as I know that there will be only a short time to go by the time you read this. In particular, I sincerely hope that we can all say a permanent goodbye to Covid in 2022 and resume our car club activities without the restrictions we have endured in 2021.

With the dark evenings on us and the poor weather we have experienced in the last few weeks, Wessex group has had a quieter month, with only our regular Bournemouth and Basingstoke club nights happening. So it is back to a Car of the Month, as I need some material to entertain you all in this report. This month I am very grateful to Phil Stevens for his account of his fantastic M2 Competition. Phil writes: “Back in early December 2018, I was sitting at the computer on the BMW Configurator, as you do, looking at the M2 Competition and ticking the boxes of dreams. I always liked the standard M2, but it didn’t seem like a true M car until the Competition version came along.

Leading up to Christmas, we visited Dick Lovett at Hungerford for a look around and a coffee.

Two M2 Comps were sitting in the downstairs showroom, one in Hockenheim Silver and one in Sunset Orange. Both nice, but not for me. The salesman then told us that there is an Alpine White M2 Comp upstairs. I quite like white cars. Sitting inside the car, I saw all the options that I had put together on the configurator, as well as up-rated brakes and a sunroof. This must be destiny.

We pondered a lot over Christmas (2019) and came to the decision to change two cars and become the owner of the M2 Comp. Then, in my usual fashion, I decided a few more extras and some pinstriping would be required to personalise it.

So it wasn’t long before a carbon splitter, Alcantara steering wheel, Alcantara centre console trims, carbon exhaust tips, carbon engine cover and the pin striping were added... then it was complete.

I took it on a European trip with a group of friends in mid 2019. We visited Austria, Switzerland and The Dolomites in Northern Italy. The car performed perfectly and was a joy to drive around the mountain passes.

Various car shows and UK trips were attended later during 2019 but then dreaded Covid arrived and curtailed any more major journeys. We now look forward to Summer 2022.

Although, in our two and a half years of ownership, we have still managed to cover 21,000 miles of enjoyable motoring.

Here’s to some more outings very soon.”

Forthcoming events At this time, events can be added and cancelled at short notice because of weather conditions and prevailing restrictions on social gatherings. All events will be advertised on the club www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Barons Hindhead 01428 605 000

website and notifications sent out through our WhatsApp group and Facebook pages.

On Wednesday 5th January we have planned a technical evening at the Sir Walter Tyrell Pub, Brook (near Lyndhurst).

We have invited some of the regular suppliers to our local members to give short presentations describing their services, including some interesting anecdotes. These will not be a sales pitch, but will provide us with an opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at what is really involved in caring for both older and newer BMWs. The presentations will be followed by an informal question and answer session.

BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021 67

regionalnews Definitely something to look forward to as a New Year treat.

December/January • C hristmas Dinner – At Tyrrells Ford Hotel, Wednesday 15th December, 6.30pm with dinner served at 7pm.

Menu details to be announced soon.

This will replace the Bournemouth club night in December. Please register attendance with Eric Thompson.

• W inter breakfast meetings – We plan to hold a few of these informal get-togethers over the winter period at different venues. Details will be sent out on WhatsApp and Facebook.

Western Nigel Smith Hi everyone, I hope we are all keeping well and welcome to any new members.

As you may or may not be aware, we are now back into the swing of our pub meets, which is nice. It’s also nice to see some new people and old faces again, it’s definitely been a while.

We have also held our first group activity, this was a drive around the Mendips and Cheddar ending with a pub meal. We had a good turnout of cars and the weather also held for us, which was a bonus.

Our AGM was held at our November pub meet, we were slightly low on attendance and had a shorter than normal AGM. We still have the same committee as before and hope we can provide an interesting year ahead.

Our annual members of the year trophy (The Ray Croxhall Sheild) this year went to Brian and Cara Penny for taking the initiative to organise a club drive for us this year, which was a delight after so many events had been cancelled.

We have our Christmas meal this month, too. Sorry to those who missed the post regarding this, I will report on this next month.

We have a few dates for you to put into your diaries for next year’s events. We look forward to seeing record numbers at them, especially considering they have been cancelled the last two years. I’m sure many of you are itching to get back onto the show scene again. As far as Southern Concours is concerned, we are looking at putting previous winning cars forward into a masterclass. This is to enable new and previous entrants to enjoy taking part in Pride of Ownership class without feeling like they are up against cars that often win, hopefully this will be a welcome change by many. The usual winning cars will be combined to compete in one class together.

Please note our next Pub meet will be 2nd February 2022.

That’s me signing off. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, roll on for a better year in 2022 2022 Show dates for your diary After two seasons of cancelled events we are pleased to announce dates for our 2022 shows.

2nd February – Pub meets reconvene at The Woolpack, Weston Super Mare 7.30pm.

28th March – date tbc Sunday Drive 24th April – Southern Concours and Show & Shine at

68 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

western@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Sherborne Castle, Sherborne, Dorset. This is also a general gathering of BMWs and usually a bouncy castle for the children.

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.

9th and 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.

September date to be confirmed – 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 Happy Christmas and have a wonderful New Year. Keep 02ing.

02s at a Dealership near you! Sadly not new ones, but due to the shortage of new cars dealers are now happy to display our cars in their showrooms. My 02 is at Specialist Cars Stevenage and I know Mike Milbourne’s Fjord Tii is also at a dealership. I found at least two others at dealers around Europe as well. Why not ask your local dealer if they want your car in their showroom for winter?

07770 443373 02register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Cotswold BMW Cheltenham have a superb collection of classics all on display in their showroom, a fantastic dealership that obviously still cares for the classic BMWs. If you’re passing, it’s certainly worth a visit.

Recent News. A Barn find Turbo No.0375 has been found and now with 02 restorer in The Netherlands. Also watch this space for a one-off original Golf Yellow 2002 Turbo. Yes, Golf Yellow.

Other news member John Paulding recently discovered that Red Hammerite is a near perfect match for Verona red cars, ideal for under arches and any other areas prone to stone chips and rust.

2022 – We are planning big things for next year and will be joining the clubs 70th Birthday and 50 Years of M Power so watch for more news on this soon.

Jaymic now has late grilles in silver plastic. A few more of the brightwork parts are now available aftermarket as well, B-post mouldings, rear window lower mouldings and gutter mouldings.

Maximillian in the USA now has complete chassis rails, early and late: classicbmwparts@gmail.com Don’t forget shipping costs and import duties, though.

We want to hear from you, any 02 related tips, stories, interesting related topics or just questions and answers, please contact your 02 Register at 02register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Tail Pipe. A recent classic car newspaper published that governments were going to outlaw modifying cars. This, of course, will impact the classic car and restoration business massively, never mind the loss of jobs and manufacturing. I shall look into this for next month and I hope, should this ever come into effect, that classic cars will be exempt. Although I do doubt it will happen at all, there is a huge global business for aftermarket items, from exhausts to trim and plenty for new cars too. I suspect there’ll be an online petition against it. More next month. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021 69

registernews

3 Series E36 Michal Michalski Pick your poison In December I wanted to appeal to E36 drifters. I have seen many E36 cars, some with Japanese engines such as Toyota’s 2JZ, some with giant turbos sticking out of the bonnet, and rarer ones with a V8 swap from a 5 or 7 Series. I am sure there are more variations, but I hope you get the point.

Beginners out there tend to start with a 328i, which has plenty of power and a manual gearbox. However, as some drifters say, “you can’t have enough power!” Hence, once you have mastered your 328i and noticed that the expensive K&N filter doesn’t really make much difference, you have to make more drastic choices.

This brings me to Tadas Klimantavicius. He started with an E36 328i as his base drift car. Today he owns an E36 with M50 (non Vanos) turbo build and one with a V8 swap.

e36register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

What’s better for drifting; turbo power or V8 torque?

“Both cars are very different from each other. I really like the V8 as it’s basically the standard M62b44tu engine, and the torque helps with low rpm. An M50 turbo engine has more power, but let’s not forget about turbo lag, so you need to keep your revs higher. So, I think it’s all down to driver preference.”

What are the advantages of V8 swap vs turbo build?

“The biggest advantage for the V8 build is that it’s totally a standard engine. Of course it’s being well used, but it’s running on its own factory ECU, injectors and stuff like that, not like the M50 turbo.”

Which build has a bigger ‘cool factor’?

“Both are good fun, both sound great. V8 with its low, fat roar and turbo with its flames, pops and bangs.”

Why E36 for drifting?

“I fell in love with the E36 chassis many years ago. My first drift car was an E36 328i. I really liked how simple everything was to modify and the car felt light and easy to control in the practice runs.”

What’s easier to build, turbo inline-six or V8?

“There is plenty of information on the internet”, according to Tadas. However he admits that the turbo build is probably easier as you don’t have to modify as much as you do to fit a V8.

What is your personal recommendation for drifting, a inline-six turbo or V8 swap?

“It all depends on where your car will be used. Let’s say, on a nice chill drift weekend with your friends, I would say V8 and for more advanced race tracks I would go for the turbo build.”

Which setup lasts longer?

“Being a naturally aspirated V8 engine I think will last longer, but again, nothing lasts forever. An M50 turbo, if it was built right, should last too.”

If you have more questions, or some technical ones Tadas is super friendly, so find him on all social media under TK Garage, Instagram t.k_garage or send him a direct email klimantaviciust@gmail.com. Happy drifting!

4 Series Paul Roberts Well it looks like winter is now upon us and, as a consequence, nothing is happening as far as the BMWCC is concerned here in Norfolk. I would hope that, as soon as we get Christmas out of

70 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

4series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

the way, we can plan some events in 2021.

Personally, my car is due for an MOT shortly and it is booked in. However, a couple of days ago the horn stopped working. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

registernews This repair will be carried out under warranty the day before the MOT. I just hope nothing else goes wrong and that the test is successful.

I have been thinking about another scenic and continental break away for 2022, and I’m looking at a short break to the Peak District. I will let you know if this goes ahead.

Sadly, that’s all to report this time. I just thought I would attach another picture from our Wales trip.

Until next time.

5 Series E28 Tim Maltby So, was the 520’s MOT a formality? I don’t know about you, but even if I’m pretty sure that the car is okay I always feel a tad apprehensive as to what the MOT tester might find amiss. The sight of a clean pass sheet and no advisories is always a welcome feeling, especially when the exhaust emissions, for both the CO and HC, are well under the max limits. All that’s left now is to take the car over 100k miles.

The M5, on the other hand, decided to throw a spanner in the works as I was going through the usual checks ahead of booking its MOT. It decided that neither the front nor the rear fog lamps were going to work.

Nothing so simple as a dodgy fuse I’m sorry to say, I just hope that the switch is at fault.

With winter officially underway, I am guessing that a common thought is whether to hibernate or not? I am, of course, referring to our E28s. The DVLA doesn’t make it easy for us with the taxing options being for 6 or 12 months. Ideally I wish we had an 8 month option so that a car could be SORNed between November and February.

As the 520 is on winter tyres all year round and is my daily driver, hibernation is not an option. But I am torn as to what to do with the M5.

Do you have any winter projects in mind or is it just regular fettling in readiness for getting out next year? For what it’s worth, and at the risk of repeating myself, I will finally embark on finishing the much neglected M535i. I have accumulated all the parts needed, including some new front wings, hammer, sheet metal and a new reel of MIG welding wire.

To help brighten up the pages of SS over the next few months, do you have any uplifting images of your E28 or interesting locations to share with us? Images would need to be a minimum of 1MB.

5 Series E34 Manj Sandhu I was re-reading Malcolm Borg’s article from last month about his plans for the 530i you saw in the pictures. It got me thinking about two things, firstly how passionate he must be about the E34 to restore the car to its former glory. And secondly, how many cars are not so lucky to have an owner like Malcolm and are sentenced to the scrap heap or become parts cars.

Speaking of reading, it was with great interest that I read the ethanol article in the October issue of Straight Six magazine.

Since the rise of the E10 and E5 fuels, I have been getting emails from members to advise on the approach to take with their www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

e28register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

To get the ball rolling here a couple, one of the M5 at Nürburg in 2010 and the other of the 520i emerging from a Scottish loch in 2018.

This just leaves me to wish you all a very happy Christmas and best wishes for 2022.

e34register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

E34s. The article was superb and very informative, a must read if you did not do so. Unless you drive a diesel, as they are not affected. On a personal note, I have tried to use E5 wherever possible especially for the more powerful engines in my line up.

Recently, I purchased a lead replacement additive as suggested in the article and will let you all know how I get on with it and whether I notice any change in engine performance.

Speaking of the 525iX, it has gone in for the oil and coolant leak assessment. The issues have been around long enough with the previous mechanic failing to resolve them, so I have BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021 71

registernews

asked for a thorough investigation. Sam the mechanic has been busy looking under the bonnet this week and he has discovered some worrying developments (see pictures); 1. The rocker cover gasket that was replaced by the previous mechanic still appears to be leaking oil. Not a good start.

2. Spark plug number three is also stuck in place and is difficult to remove. It will need some extensive heat to get it out and inspect it.

3. One of the steering rack gaiters has perished so will need replacing More on this next month as we get deeper into the issues on the car. It is important I get this sorted with Mrs Sandhu (the better half) using it as a daily and for all the kids taxiing duties.

Thanks to all of you who contacted me regarding my comments in the October 2021 issue on whether or not to increase the size of the alloys on my 535i from 15s to 17s. I am not denying the pressure from my friends may have enticed me to ponder the question. Nevertheless, I will go with my initial approach for now which is: the less you show the more

8 Series Debbie Blythe Hi everyone. Well, after a long period of nothing happening we have had a busy few weeks. Our first meeting at Weston on the Green (WOTG) in August was then followed by three of the four weekends in September where we took both of our E31s out.

Some of them with other 8 Series owners and then another with car enthusiasts from our local Pride and Joy Club in Hampshire.

Our first meeting of September was at Lichfield, see below, and followed by a visit to Caffeine and Machine in Ellington the following day. We then took part in the Simply BMW day at Beaulieu Motor Museum the next weekend and then a very pleasant day in Middle Wallop with our local car club. We also have another WOTG at the end of October to report on. So 2022 will soon be with us and I have already started to think about events for the club. There is a list of possible events and dates in the future events section below, please come back to me if you might be interested in any or if you have some suggestions yourselves, my email is 8series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

you know. So the 15s will stay. Even if only from a financial perspective at this point, especially with a potential big bill for the 525iX looming. Maybe I should put the original 16-inch fivespoke sport alloys back on? In the meantime, the rear tyres were a little dubious during the wet conditions recently, so I decided to order another two of the budget ones from Blackcircles. Only yesterday, I got an email telling me that the mobile fitter would not be able to attend, which is disappointing. I may need to venture out locally to get them fitted instead. I do not recall a mention of the rear tyres requiring replacement on the last MOT, but it may have been close to the wire. Either way, it made sense to face the situation again especially with the winter months on their merry way. Once again, I will score some much-needed points with her indoors with the penny pinching.

Update on the electric throttle body assembly for the 535i.

It started really well. To be fair the car ran like a dream with the new front tyres too. The budget ones are working out well, so far. However, after a few weeks the idle dropping issue is back.

Sam has a plan to review all the auxiliaries around the area including the dizzy cap, which I think we did not replace. As a result, I am back doing the gaffergate process. It’s really not ideal, but it’s a minor inconvenience. More on that when we get the car in after the 525iX.

8series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

which was then postponed for a year due to the pandemic.

The new date was then postponed again due to the lockdown restrictions being extended past the July 2021 date. Eventually, a new date was set for September. This show has been running for a number of years and is organised by the Rotary Club of Lichfield. It is a charity event and takes place over two days. We had booked to have our stand there on the Saturday and had a great turnout of 12 owners who all enjoyed some great weather, a car show of around 500 cars, various food stalls and some in

Cars in the Park, Lichfield – 11th September 2021 At last, we have been waiting to attend this one for well over a year. I originally booked to have an E31 stand there in July 2020

72 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

registernews field entertainment, this year a Falconry display. I think they all flew back after being released, but there was a long wait for one large Eagle who decided he wanted to have a much longer fly around before eventually being tempted back by a tasty morsel in his handler’s glove.

Back to our stand and we had a great mixture of 840 and 850 models on display, showing the wide variety of colours that BMW used back in the 90s. There were many great colours including Dakar Yellow, Velvet Blue and several shades of red, green and blue. They cars were, as follows: Ray’s Black 850CSi, Angus’s Imola Red 840Ci, Geoffrey’s Silver 850i (na ex Sultan of Brunei car with just 17k miles on the clock), Sarwar’s Santorini Blue 840Ci, Ravi’s Estoril Blue 840Ci, Maggie’s Atlantis Blue 840Ci, Les’s Laguna Green 850i, Phil’s Helrot 840Ci, Tony’s Estoril Blue 840Ci, Gary’s Marina Bay Blue B12 homage, Paul’s Barbados Green 840Ci, and my Helrot 840Ci. The event was open to the general public as well as car owners, so we had a constant stream of visitors and people wanting to talk about the cars. Paul was kept extremely busy chatting away to numerous admirers. A quick shout out to Si who brought an immaculate E38 735i to the show and came over to see us as he has just got an 840 that he is beginning to work on. The rest of the show consisted of many car clubs with all manner of marques, way too many to mention them all. Overall it was a great show and venue and a place we intend to book again next year. I hope to see more of you E31 owners there.

Simply BMW, Beaulieu Motor Museum – 19th September 2021 As a club we have been attending the Vanity BMW show at Beaulieu over the past few years, but this has now come to an end and the Motor Museum have now organised one of their own called Simply BMW. The weather on the day was very warm and sunny and in all there were over 800 cars at the event. There was everything from classics to modern cars, including a white M1 and a new M8 Competition. The 8 Series Register had ten cars in the display and there were a further three E31s parked amongst area club displays. So a quick callout to the owners as some had travelled quite a distance to attend the event and, as mentioned to me by one person when he left his home, it was pouring with rain. He was pleasantly surprised that we had sunshine all day.

So thanks to Harry, Rob, Colin, Chad, Michael, Chuck, Balraj, Angus, Paul and also to Gary, who had travelled all the way from Milton Keynes but unfortunately had to return home just before the

Caffeine and Machine – 12th September 2021 Following on from the Lichfield Show, Paul and I visited Caffeine and Machine the very next day as we stayed up in Sutton Coldfield for the weekend and it was on our route home. I had to purchase tickets in advance for the weekend and chose the 12.30-3.30 slot on the Sunday afternoon. We arrived there just on time and managed to bag one of the best parking slots near the front entrance, close to the cafe and with a great view of all the different machinery arriving. They included several Ferraris, Aston Martins, Jaguars, a McLaren, a couple of Audi R8s, a Cobra, some great classics, many hot hatches and lots more.

This being our first ever visit I can see what the appeal is, a great motor friendly venue and lots of genuine enthusiasts milling about around the cars and having interest in not just their own cars but others as well. As usual Paul managed to keep chatting to several individuals over the afternoon and showing all the features of the cars, including the pop up headlights that seemed to get a lot of photographic attention. We may try to include this on our list of events next year, watch this space. www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021 73

registernews event started. We had been given a prominent display area within the grounds and were able to see all the cars arriving. They could also see us, so we had quite a number of visitors speaking to the owners and also a couple of prospective owners asking about the plus and minus points of owning an E31. The entrance ticket also gave each person access to the museum, the stately home, the grounds and also the monorail and most of our group took advantage of this. This event will be in our plans for 2022, so hope to see even more of you there.

Pride and Joy, Middle Wallop Army Air Museum, 16th October 2021 This club is a local car club to us in Hampshire and caters for any car, no matter what the make or model. As the name suggests, if you cherish your car and it is your pride and joy then bring it to an event and share it with everyone. We have been attending these events for a couple of years and you always get a very varied selection of cars, from vintage Austins right up to a brand new Jaguar E-Pace and a great range of motorcycles. There is always a good selection of classic Fords and American muscle, Porsches, Cobras, along with quite a few BMWs. This event we saw an E46 Alpina Convertible, a couple of very nice E39s, an i8 and our two E31s, of course. What is nice about these events is that you get to talk to lots of enthusiastic petrolheads about your car and theirs.

Alpina Simon Alcorn

Written by Norman Burnham Several members have referred to the lack of information concerning ALPINA in the magazine.

I have agreed with Simon Alcorn the Alpina Brand Officer to

74 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

Future Events This list is just some of the events we hope to organise or attend during 2022, 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.

10th April - Sunday morning meeting at The Chequers Inn, Weston on the Green, near Bicester.

Late April / Early May – How about a road trip? A few of the group have shown interest in the NC500, around the north coast of Scotland. I am looking into this and hope to have some plans soon. The initial idea is a four to five day trip starting near Glasgow, up to Inverness and then back to Ullapool, across to Skye and back to Glasgow. This is just provisional and may change. Let me know if you are interested as I may need to limit numbers due to available hotel space.

May – South East event – to be confirmed.

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

2nd July – Lichfield Cars in the Park.

July – Caffeine and Machine visit, date to be confirmed.

7th August – BMW Car Club national event at Doningtson Park (provisional).

21st August – Sunday morning meeting at The Chequers Inn, Weston on the Green, near Bicester.

September – Simply BMW at Beaulieu Motor Museum, date to be confirmed.

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@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

write the articles and assist members and owners with information.

Firstly, we need to point out that thealpinaregister.com is not part of the BMWCCGB and is run separately. Not all people who are on that register are BMWCCGB members. The Alpina register does not organise events, it does however allow those who are www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

registernews approved by the administrators of the register to advertise events from time to time. thealpinaregister.com, this is not managed or maintained by the BMWCCGB. This is owned by Neil Whitehead & Charles Lovibond.

When we refer to Alpina activity within the BMWCCGB we refer to the Alpina brand as opposed to the ALpina register to avoid confusion.

Alpina activity with the BMWCCGB If you have an Alpina and are a Club member you are equally entitled to attend any event the same as other members with whichever BMW they own. You will probably find there is a mixture of Alpina and other models’ owners at most Club events.

We are currently in ongoing discussions with the Club Chairman to look at more inclusive Alpina exposure within the Club and will notify members in this monthly review when we have more details.

Alpina Archive This is owned and maintained by Kees Den Hollander and Bob Whiffin. Bob has kindly contributed with the following information: For facts about the full model range, with information on specs and production volumes, the archive is the primary resource. It is significantly enhanced when used in conjunction with member knowledge and ownership experiences, which have accumulated over 250,000 posts on the register forum.

After that, use good reference books, the community elders and generally be cautious about accepting some of the perceived wisdom found on wider public forums, particularly Facebook.

A note from me adding to this, especially those who do not own an Alpina, but claim to do so or prefer to remain anonymous using pseudonyms to claim their expertise.

1. The Alpina Archive, which holds band and model specific in, is in no way associated with Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH & Co. KG or Sytner Group. It has been collated based on information available at the time of publication.

2. Reference books, such as OAL BB-50, Brooklands Books BMW Alpina Performance Portfolios 1967-1987 & 1988-199 and James Taylor’s BMW Alpina.

3. The more traditional internet forums, which are either Alpinadedicated (www.thealpinaregister.com/forums) or the various BMW and motoring forums (PH,BMW5,Z4-Forum, etc) which have sub-forums dedicated to ALPINA models.

E3 Tony Wilkes

4. The Alpina community elders who Bob personally considers an essential source of historical information, particularly with regards to the cars built by Sytner. These people are found primarily in the forums.

5. Note from me, it might seem obvious and sensible to contact Sytner Nottingham asking for information.

However, this may not produce the result that you are looking for. Many of the original records are missing, lost or have been removed without Sytner’s knowledge. They do not run any archive records, so following Bob’s advice is your first route.

6. Finally, the myriad Facebook groups and pages dedicated to the Alpina, be that for owners, buying and selling activities or specific to models, ranges and ages and with varying geographical spreads from UK to Global.

7. I personally have a Facebook group, it is called ALPINA 2014 (the year it started) and is a closed group by invitation only. This is to ensure only vetted members who own an Alpina vehicle are involved, as stated there are many other groups for the curious and new owners. It is aimed at social activity with like minded owners.

Alpina Archive links: Main Site: www.alpina-archive.com Vehicle Archive: www.alpina-archive.com/?page_ id=3413&nmt=Add-to-Archive Facebook page: www.facebook.com/AlpinaArchive If you own an Alpina, have recently acquired one or are considering owning one, I trust this information will be of some use to you. Sytner Nottingham has been the sole importer of Alpina since 1983 and new Alpina cars can only be purchased via Sytner BMW/Alpina and no other BMW dealership. The Brand Manager is Gary Lott based at Nottingham.

Pre-owned Alpina cars can be purchased from any main BMW dealership or car dealer, trader or individual. Approved used Alpinas via any main BMW dealership come with a 12-month comprehensive warranty.

Currently there are no Alpina meets or gatherings at any Sytner Alpina dealership, this was suspended due to the impact that approximately 80 cars had on the dealership daily business. However, we are in constant dialogue with Sytner and if any change should come about it will be published in the magazine with specific details of how to attend and any criteria.

e3register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

I was inspired to conduct an audit of E3s that we hold on the Register by the recent E9 Register update on a similar theme.

Ably assisted by one of our members, the ever-enthusiastic John Hamilton, I have been pleasantly surprised by the survival rate of some models. Sadly, others have not fared so well. I shall leave you with that suspenseful thought however, as the full results will be published in the next edition of Straight Six. Another one of our members has, with much regret, decided to sell his lovely 1972 2500 which he’s owned for over 30 years.

It has covered just over 73k miles and has been very well cared for. Have a look at the attached photos, and if you would like to chat to the owner, please drop me a line at e3register@ bmwcarclubgb.co.uk and I’ll be happy to put you in touch.

My own 3.0Si went off to the body shop last month and the big strip down has now commenced. So far, so good, with only a few frilly bits being exposed. I’m quite sure that plenty more will present themselves as the work progresses. However, I’m not www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021 75

registernews feeling too smug just yet. I deliberated for quite some time as to how I wanted the shell to be bare metalled. After quite a lot of research, I decided against chemical dipping, instead going for media blasting. Whilst this is of course very messy, I’m just not convinced that following any dipping process, the neutralisation process can be thorough enough to get rid of every last trace of corrosive chemicals from every nook and cranny of the car. The thought of these chemicals then rotting their way from the inside of a freshly restored and painted bodyshell to the outside sends a shiver down my spine.

The plan for the car is for it to be restored to factory specification. Whilst the original colour of Sierra Beige may not have been my first choice, it’s incredibly rare and therefore that’s what the car will be finished in. Having done a bit of research, it appears that mine was the only right hand drive E3 that was specified in this colour. The German E3 Club only has two Sierra Beige E3s (a 2500 and a 2.8L) on its books today.

As the nights are now well and truly drawing in, I’m sure that you are all placing your cars into winter hibernation. Hopefully with a few little jobs planned to keep you busy.

E9 Nick Hull

e9register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Following the piece on the amount of surviving E9s, I thought I ought to follow it up with an update on the second big question I’m usually asked: how many examples of my E9 are the same colour? As before, keeping track of cars changing hands, including being exported or of examples going into long-term restoration and disappearing from the radar, means it’s never an exact science but here’s my latest tally: RHD CSL Colours Current surviving cars records we have: 14 Polaris Silver, 13 Chamonix White, 12 Fjord Blue, 13 Verona Red, 9 Taiga Green, 3 Golf Yellow, 5 Inka Orange, 2 Ceylon Gold.

Also 2 Nachtblau, 2 Black.

76 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

registernews CSA and CSi Colours Blue and silver were definitely the most prominent colours for this car. Examples featured in adverts, brochures and launch material were often in these hues. Blue remains the most popular colour of surviving examples, with 56 examples shared over five original colours offered: Fjord, Baikal, Nachtblau, Riviera and Atlantic. Also listed are 31 Polaris Silver, 9 Verona Red, 8 Turkis Green, 2 Black, 5 Taiga Green, 5 Inka Orange, 5 Golf Yellow, 7 Granat Red, 6 Ceylon Gold, 9 Chamonix White, 2 Anthracite Grey, 2 Siena Brown.

The three BMW staple colours that lasted throughout the E9 production life were Polaris Silver 060, Chamonix White 085 and Nachtblau metallic 040, which was the E9 launch colour and remained a unique colour for the CS coupe model, complementing the other three blues offered. Indeed a wide range of blues was always a notable feature of the E9 colour palette.

For the 1972 model year and the revised 3.0 CS range, BMW introduced a series of much brighter BASF paint colours. Fjord Blue 037, Taiga Green 072, Ceylon Gold 008 and Verona Red 024 replaced the older 2800CS colours, while two very bright high visibility solid colours were offered for the first time: Inka Orange 022 and Golf Yellow 070. These were part of a Swedish and German colour trend in early ‘70s, pioneered by Volvo, Mercedes and VW safety research programmes. The idea was that yellow and orange colours were deemed easier to detect in poor visibility, hence a rash of violent orange and yellow colours

i8 Clive Neville When I first bought my Honda NSX, all those years ago, I was astounded that the list of personalisation options that would have been available to me, had I bought it new, was limited to a set of over mats and a CD changer in the boot. Given that Honda was trying to compete with Porsche, this was a mistake in my view.

People at that end of the market invariably want to personalise (or option up) their cars and there is serious money to be made from it. I mean the German manufacturers are famed for it, including BMW. Showering a car with a sprinkling of ticked boxes from the options list can add well over 20% to a car’s cost. And, often a lot of these options were, at least then, essentials. Honda did well to ensure that the NSX came packed with everything you could need, the fact that it only came in four colours at launch and that you had to buy it from a Civic garage is what would have put a lot of people off.

Nowadays, because of the fierce competition in the market from the likes of Hyundai, companies like BMW have to provide the essentials in the standard car. Still, the options list can be vast and the opportunity to personalise cars, particularly higher up the range, remains. This allows customers to build very highly spec’d and wonderful M3s and M6s and create cars where the number of examples on the road replicating each other might be very small indeed. We like this, as the regular reports in Straight Six on Individual cars attest.

So, what’s this got to do with i8s? Simply that, and counter to BMW’s usual policy, the opportunity to personalise the i8 was extremely limited. As I mentioned a few articles ago, the colour choice was effectively restricted to no more than five colours at a time, reducing to only three from 2019 onwards. And, the potential to opt for Individual paint was only available from late www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

on rather dreary Volvos, VW Beetles and Mercedes W112s. They still look wonderful these days on CSLs, however.

E9 Windscreens BMW E9 specialist Cotswold Garage near Moreton in Marsh has recommissioned a batch of E9 windscreens. Normally only available through a couple of German specialists, these new laminated screens are green tinted with the desirable blue or green sunstrip at the top are now available for a very reasonable £350 + VAT on a supply and collection basis only. For more details contact Domenic Surdi on 01608 674947.

i8register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

2016 to 2017. That said, the reason for the lack of any real options on the i8 (the only options available for my Roadster were carbon fibre trim inside, laser lights, different wheels, and an aero kit) was that the car had everything fitted as standard. Pretty much everything that was available technologically speaking at the time was fitted, as were all the accoutrements of luxury, such as extended leather. One thing that BMW did was to introduce the concept of Interior Worlds. Rather than specifying an interior colour, you opted for a type of interior habitat. Whether or not you regard this as nothing more than marketing nonsense I will leave to you, but it did mean that a prospective owner could choose a sporty environment, a dark and cosy theme, a bright and airy one, or a naturally hued one. As you might expect, the brochures used rather colourful language to explain how this would change your life. By the time of the Roadster and LCI Coupé, the Worlds had been streamlined to Carpo Black (the black one), Carpo White (the white one), and Halo (the natural one). Replacing Neso (the sporty grey one) was Accaro, which was bright coppery orange and black. Each of these had different facets to demonstrate your taste. The grey one was standard and was the most boring, but the black interior (using Amido Black leather) had contrasting double row blue stitching and two different shades of black. The Accaro was a riot of colour and was not for the faint hearted, whereas Halo was the one for those that like their interiors in dark chocolate and clotted cream, dotted with little flashes of blue (the wheel, seat belts and stitching). The leather was actually called Dalbergia Tan and Carum Grey but there you go. Just for the record, and to make this slightly more complicated, the Worlds were termed differently in other markets. For example, the USA gets Tera World which is BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021 77

registernews the same as Halo World.

A couple of issues ago I promised you some statistics on interiors. Here they are. I haven’t added this up, but it should add up to the 3111 cars sold by BMW UK. By car type, the interiors of the launch Coupés came in Amido Black (736), Carum Grey (688), Dalbergia Tan (402), and Ivory White (567). The Special Editions of the Coupé, including the Protonic Red Edition and all of the Frozen cars, were in Black (49), Grey (2), and White (2).

These cars could also feature a slightly different stitching and cloth theme and there were 53 of these. The LCI Coupé came in Black (64), Dalbergia Tan (43), e-Copper (12) and White (26).

Finally, the Roadster came in Black (206), White (although this was actually a black and white scheme unique to the Roadster)

M Power Anthony Shilson On 8th October BMW issued a Service Information Bulletin (SIB) for M cars built with the S58 engine (F97 X3M, F98 X4 M, G80 M3 and G82 M4). Due to issues with the big end bearings for cars produced between 13th July and 23rd September, delivery had to stop. Affected cars already delivered will have to be recalled and buyers are being contacted by dealers, but as of now there is no ETA. Andy Hodgson sent me a video review by Auto Express of the new BMW i4 M50 electric vehicle. Impressive straight line performance, big screens and lots of tech, but a bit of a soulless driving experience. “Synthetic” was a word used often by the reviewer… not Andy’s cup of tea. To reduce CO2 by solutions that do not kill the planet, such as mining for lithium and other heavy metals required for batteries, hopefully we’ll continue to see proper M cars with real engines using hydrogen or e-fuels for years to come, but perhaps not in our country. Our foolish government is only permitting one option.

On a brighter note, the panic buying of fuel has calmed down as I write this on 14th October. I will try and buy some Esso Synergy Supreme (which is ethanol free in East Anglia) and go for a drive at the weekend.

Back to Ben Shaw’s E46 M3 that we featured previously with a few mods and replacement parts carried out. The first being the clamp bolts for the power steering pipe.

Ben writes, “I stole this solution from a fellow member and replaced the standard poor bits of rubber that BMW charge £10 each for, with a combination of nylon washers, nuts and bolts.

(161), Dalbergia Tan (25) and e-Copper (75).

Make of this as you will, but it seems to me that there are no real winners or losers here in terms of uniqueness. But, having examined a number of cars (and this applies to most cars of course), some interiors are better suited to certain exteriors. For example, my Roadster is in Donington Grey (a very smoky grey) with Dalbergia Tan. The grey and brown theme works very well. But perhaps it wouldn’t go so well with Crystal White.

Before signing off, it would be really good to hear from other i8 owners in the club, including perhaps sending me a profile and photo of your car so that it can be included in a future issue of the magazine.

essex@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Next were new lens seals to eliminate the water ingress into the headlights and some new side repeaters on the recommendation of a friend. The side repeaters are Depo branded, off eBay. As much as I’m a stickler for OEM, the genuine BMW items are just not good enough in this instance.

They started developing moisture inside not long after I bought them, which seems to be a common issue.

Next was the addition of a weighted gear knob and handbrake from Storm Motorwerks, the latter v2 version comes in at a weight 450g! And yes, you definitely notice a difference. The Autosolutions kit is very notchy (in a good way) and the extra heft makes it go in just that little easier to achieve the satisfying clunk. I opted for the titanium finish as I felt the aluminium would clash with the identical interior trim, and chose the M style emblem. My only complaint is that the silver holographic lettering and M stripe colours almost disappear in low light and, as such, photograph poorly. However, in bright light they look spot on. The items themselves are beautifully made and easy to fit, though I have had to re-tighten the grub screws on the gear knob.”

78 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

registernews Back in September I received an enquiry from fellow member Kaush Patel who was actively searching for a V10 M5 Touring and looking for some advice on what to look for and whether any members had one. I gave Kaush a few pointers, but if you do have one for sale please get in touch with our wonderful office team and they will pass your details on.

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

Z3 Register Alan Jones

z3register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Welcome to the December edition of Straight Six, this month I have finally managed to replace the outer sills on my car. I bought the sills before Brexit, just in case there were any problems getting parts. But I’m sure you all know that life just gets in the way of doing these jobs, even more so when you are in no hurry to complete the job.

Those of you with good memories and have been a member for a few years may remember that, in May 2015, I was lucky enough to have a piece published in Straight Six detailing the removal of my sills. If you do remember, I just put some antirust products onto the original sills and reattached them back onto the car. So I knew that the internal structural part of the car, under the outer sill was in good condition in 2015, but you always have that question in the back of your mind: will it be in the same condition six years later? Also there was a small rust area on the front edge of my outer sills, and also a small patch on the front wing so I decided to sort it all out with the replacement of the sills.

As you probably know all the panels on the Z3 simply unbolt, which is great for doing repairs. Unfortunately you cannot simply unbolt the sills and nothing else, you have to remove other panels to allow you access to the bolts to allow the sills to be removed. So first of all you have to remove the plastic inner wheel covers. I jacked the car up using a trolley jack in the middle of the sill, and then lowering the car onto axle stands placed on the jacking points. I had both of the wheels off the ground to enable me to remove them and the inner plastic wheel liners. Once the wheel is removed it is just a case of finding all of the small bolts and removing them too. Once done, the inner liners should come out with a little persuasion. Once both of the inner liners were removed, I replaced the wheels and put the car back onto its own four wheels. Next is the front wing to be removed, as you have removed the inner front wheel arch this gives you access to the front bolt, then there are two bolts on the top of the wing and one hidden one in the door jamb beside the hinges. The plastic trim on top of the sill is next. This is to gain access to the securing bolts on the top of the outer sill.

There is a large grommet on the driver’s side of the car, which needs to be removed first, and then the plastic trim can be just lifted away, after breaking the hold of the small plastic fixings.

Now it is just a case of removing the bolts for the sill itself.

There is a bolt inside the rear wheel arch to be removed. I thought it would be easier to remove with the wheel off, so I then removed the rear wheel and removed the bolt, and then replaced the wheel. After removing all of the bolts the sill didn’t seem to be moving at the rear. After closer inspection I realised that there was still a bolt in a small gap within the front part of the rear wheel arch, so off with the wheel again to allow much better access to the bolt. This bolt was quite fiddly to remove, luckily I had a ratchet spanner which I got onto the bolt head, and although I was only able to get one or two clicks on the ratchet, it was coming out. Then with all of the bolts now removed the sill came off with a little pulling and pushing.

As I was doing both sills, I was only half way done as I had this to do all again on the other side of the car. But with the knowledge gained especially on the two bolts in the rear wheel arch, the other side was much faster to remove. Plus, as I type this, the new sills are at the shop being sprayed ready to be attached to the car, more of that next month.

Finally I would just like to wish you all a Happy Christmas and a Covidfree new year.

Concours Dan Wood Concours sponsored by

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

concours@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

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

http://www.megulars.co.uk/

BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021 79

SALES SERVICING RESTORATION

Engineering excellence has always been our priority at Classic Heroes. Whether it is a routine annual service or a full scale restoration project we give every car the same level of love and attention as if it was our own.

We also provide day to day practical advice on how to keep your BMW in turnkey working order.

Whether you need a full scale written report or just some help preparing a budget to cope with the demands of the next few years motoring. We are delighted to offer BMW car club members 40 plus years of experience dealing with every modern classic BMW from E9 CSLʼs to E46 CSLʼs and everything in between.

Classic Heroes. Classic motoring without classic car headaches.

www.classicheroes.co.uk - 01825 732817 info@classicheroes.co.uk

Independent

BMW Specialists

Service Repair MOT Bodyshop Diagnostics

01400 261616

www.woodsmotors.co.uk Byards Leap Garage, Cranwell Sleaford, Lincolnshire NG34 8EY 80 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

woods_quarterpage.indd 1

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

19/11/2020 09:40

yourphotos

Sponsored by

The very best of our readers’ photos will be published every month with exclusive Meguiar’s products up for grabs for our top contributors.

Please send a high resolution image along with a caption to officeadmin@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Photo of the Month

Richard Rixham - Hoping to find some car parts at the end of the rainbow

Rob Hughes - Quick military history lesson

David Heydorn - B12 Right Hand Drive for my Alpina www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

Matt Vann - M is for Motorsport!

Anthony Mason - Six mile bottom, Cambridgeshire

Tom Davis-Reason - Autumn drive BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021 81

clubpubmeets Please check with the event organiser before attending a pub meet. This section is for those regular pub meets that are on-going within the Regions. You will always be very welcome to attend any of these events, so pop along and introduce yourself.

CENTRAL: Central Regional Meet – Second Monday of each month at Aviator Hotel, Sywell, Northampton, NN6 0BN. 13th December (Xmas dinner), 14th February (AGM) CENTRAL WEST: Second Tuesday of every month at 7.30pm The Three Horseshoes, Alveley, Bridgnorth, WV15 6NB. CORNWALL: The second Monday of the month at the Plume of Feathers, Mitchell at 7:30pm. 13th December, 10th January, 14th February COTSWOLD: Second Wednesday of each month 7.30pm at The Swan at Coombe Hill, Tewkesbury Road, Coombe Hill, Gloucester GL19 4BA. CUMBRIA: 7.30pm – The Sportsman, just off the A66, CA11 0SG. Feel free to contact me beforehand if you have not been to one of our meets.

DEVON: Last Wednesday of the month at 7.00pm for 7.30pm at the Hare & Hounds, Torquay Road, Kingskerswell, TQ12 5HH. For further information, contact Kathy or Derek on 01626 330436 or 07971 871739 or email: devon@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk. 15th December EAST ANGLIA: Pub Meet Contacts – all members are welcome at any meet. ALWAYS double check with your Branch Rep. as some Pub meets are suspended or venues changed for a variety of reasons.

Suffolk Pub Meet – White Horse, Stoke Ash IP23 7ET Contact – David Adams (Suffolk Branch Rep.) bmwccsuffolkrep@btinternet.com 0777 466 8596. Also follow us on Facebook BMW Car Club GB Norfolk and Suffolk Branch.

Cambs/Beds Pub Meet – The Royal Oak, Barrington, near Cambridge CB22 7RZ – Recommences April to September, Fourth Tuesday evening of the month. Contact – Matthew Hunt (Cambs/Beds Branch Rep.) matthew.hunt13@btinternet.com 07973986525.

See details of coffee mornings on Facebook facebook.com/groups/1795515350724518?ref=bookmarks Norfolk Pub Meet – Last Thursday of every month. Contact Richard Howard on bmwccnorfolk@gmail.com.

Also follow us on Facebook: BMW Car Club GB Norfolk and Suffolk Branch.

Essex Pub Meet – The monthly meet will recommence in April 2022. Contact Anthony Shilson essex@ bmwcarclubgb.co.uk NW Norfolk, South Lincs, Peterborough Pub Meet – The Sandboy Pub, Gayton Road, Kings Lynn, Norfolk PE32 1EP. Contact Aaron Reeve on westnorfolk@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk.

EASTERN: Breakfast Meet – Saturday / Sunday of each month between 9am – 12noon. For further information date, venue etc., please visit our Facebook pages or contact eastern@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Peak & South Yorkshire Pub Meet – Second Tuesday of the month from 7pm at The Elm Tree Inn, Mansfield Road, Heath, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S44 5SE. Yorkshire & Humberside Pub Meet – Last Tuesday of the month at 6pm at The George & Dragon, Doncaster Road, Whitley, Goole, DN14 0HY. North Nottinghamshire – The Reindeer Inn, Sturton le Steeple DN22 9HQ on the second and fourth Thursday of the month. April to September.

LONDON/HERTS: The Crooked Chimney: Second Monday evening of the month from 7.00pm, Lemsford, Welwyn Garden City, AL8 7XE. Ace Café: First Monday of the month.

NORTH EAST: Monthly breakfast meetings are held on the second Sunday morning of each month, from 10.00am to 11.30am at Black Horse Beamish, Red Row, Beamish, Co. Durham, DH9 0RW if allowed, or virtually if necessary. 12th December, 18th December (Xmas dinner) NORTH WEST: North West Region Sunday Lunch & Quiz – Sunday of alternate months (all at 12.00 noon) at The Kilton Inn, Hoo Green, Cheshire, WA16 0PZ. Contact Jeff Heywood northwest@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk / 07801 506632. 12th December (Xmas lunch), 23rd January Manchester/NW Local Branch Meeting – First Tuesday of the month at 8:00pm. Sheldon Arms, Ashton under Lyne, M34 5QL. 7th December, 11th January, 1st February SCOTLAND: See Scottish Region news and Club forum for more information or contact Issy on bmwccscottishregion@gmail.com.

SOUTH EAST: Kent Micro Meet – The George, Taylors Lane, Trottiscliffe, West Malling, ME19 5DR first Sunday of month 10:00am - 12:00pm.

Sussex Micro Meet – Billy on the Road, Billingshurst. Contact Nigel to register interest.

THAMES: Thames Regional Meet – Last Thursday of every month at Littlebury Hotel, Bicester, OX26 6DR. 9th December (Xmas dinner) WALES - NORTH: For more information contact northwales@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk.

WALES - MID & SHROPSHIRE: TBC at 12PM, Hanmer Arms, Hanmer Village SY13 3DE. WALES - SOUTH: Third Wednesday evening of the month at 7.00pm (6.30pm for food) at The Twelve Knights Pub, Margam, Port Talbot, SA13 2BN. WESSEX: Bournemouth Pub Meet – First Wednesday of the month. 7.00pm onwards. Regular vanue Tyrell’s Ford Country Inn, Avon, Christchurch but varying during summer months. See Wessex events on Club website for details. Contact Eric Thompson 07722 835930. 15th December (Xmas dinner) Basingstoke Pub Meet – Third Tuesday of the month. 7.00pm onwards. The Fox, North Waltham, Basingstoke RG25 2BE. Contact Tim Maltby 07885 252448.

WESTERN: First Wednesday of the month: 7.15pm at The Woolpack, Weston-Super-Mare. 2nd February

82 BMW Car Club Magazine December 2021

Your Region & Register officers Regional Officers BMW Car Club Central Central West Channel Islands Cheshire & Staffs Cornwall Cumbria Cotswold Devon East Anglia Eastern Ireland London North East North West Scottish South East Thames Wales - Mid & Shropshire Wales - North Wales - South Wessex Western

Tony Skerrett central@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Dave Evans centralwest@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Jonathan Harris channelislands@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Steve Cooper cheshireandstaffs@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Jim Husband cornwall@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk James France cumbria@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Martyn Goodwin cotswold@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Kathy Jemfrey devon@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk George Champ eastanglia@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Paul Rice eastern@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk VACANT ireland@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Anthony Mason london@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Nick Thomas northeast@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Jeff Heywood northwest@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Paul Rice scotland@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Ian Bryant southeast@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Tony Skerrett thames@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Phil Pinnington midwales@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk David Allen northwales@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Jonathan Bamford southwales@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Julian Pickering wessex@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Nigel Smith western@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

Register Officers BMW Car Club Classic Sam Lever classic@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk E3 Tony Wilkes e3register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk E9 Nick Hull e9register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 2002 Richard Stern 02register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Sharknose Richard Baxter sharknose@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk M Power Richard Baxter, mpower@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

John Denny/ Tristan Glass ALPINA Simon Alcorn alpina@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 1 Series Anthony Mason 1series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 2 Series VACANT 3 Series Simon Maskell 3series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 3 Series - E21 Kyri Nicolaou e21register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 3 Series - E30 Neil McDonald neil@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 3 Series - E36 Michal Michalski e36register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 3 Series - E46 Simon Maskell e46register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 3 Series - E90/91/ VACANT e90register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 92/93 3 Series - F30/31/34 Katie Littler f30register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 4 Series Paul Roberts 4series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 5 Series Stephen Coulson 5series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 5 Series - E12 Pat Tremain e12register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 5 Series - E28 Tim Maltby e28register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 5 Series - E34 Manj Sandhu e34register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 5 Series - E39 Dan Paskin e39register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 5 Series - E60/61 Christina Kostova e60register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 5 Series - F07 VACANT 5 Series - F10/11 Dave Routledge f10register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 6 Series Mani Singh Hayer 6series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 6 Series - E24 Konstantinos Loizou e24register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 6 Series - E63/64 Mani Singh Hayer e63register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk 6 Series - F06/12/13 VACANT 7 Series - E23, E32, Matthew 7series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk E38, E65 Swanborough 7 Series - F01, F02, VACANT F03 onwards 8 Series Debbie Blythe 8series@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Z Series - Z1 Jamal Blanc z1register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Z Series - Z3 Alan Jones z3register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Z Series - Z4 Tom Singleton z4register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk X Series Greg Lyons & xseries@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

James Brigginshaw i. Series Julian Odulate iregister@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk i. Series - i3 Tom Singleton i3register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk i. Series - i8 Clive Neville i8register@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk MINI David Young mini@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Concours Dan Wood concours@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Track Days Neil McDonald trackday@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk Modified Bobby Pepelyashka modified@bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

www.bmwcarclubgb.uk

ADVANCED SI02 HYBRID CERAMIC BOOST INSTANTLY GIVES YOU HYBRID CERAMIC PROTECTION WITH EXTREME WATER BEADING AS YOU WASH! WASH & WAX

Gently washes away dirt & grime from paint and clear coat without removing pre-existing wax while adding an additional layer of Hybrid Ceramic SiO2 protection.

WATER BEADING

Delivers an extreme water beading action, instantly.

VERSATILE

Hybrid Ceramic Wash & Wax is ideal for use with Meguiar’s Hybrid Ceramic Spray Wax and Hybrid Ceramic Liquid Wax, but is compatible with all Meguiar’s washes and waxes.

Discover more at…

MEGUIARS.CO.UK

BMW ACCIDENT SUPPORT. DEDICATED EXPERTS. EXCEPTIONAL CARE. BMW Accident Support Should an accident happen, BMW Accident Support will assist you with everything from arranging recovery and insurance claims to repair at your preferred BMW Approved Bodyshop, guaranteeing that your BMW receives the care it deserves.

All you need to do is call us on 0344 335 0284, so be sure to save the number in your phonebook.

Repairs at your preferred BMW Approved Bodyshop will be performed by BMW Trained Technicians using only Genuine BMW Parts and the latest approved BMW repair techniques to restore your car and its Euro NCAP safety rating. What’s more, you’ll be covered by our Lifetime Workmanship Guarantee*.

Find out more at BMW.co.uk/AccidentSupport

*Lifetime Workmanship Guarantee Ts&Cs apply. For full Ts&Cs see: https://www.bmw.co.uk/en/publicPools/terms-and-conditions/accident-repairs.html BMW Accident Support is a service operated, administered and provided by Enterprise Rent-A-Car UK Limited on its own behalf. Enterprise Rent-A-Car UK Limited is a company incorporated in England & Wales with registered number 2946689, whose registered office is at Enterprise House, Melburne Park, Vicarage Road, Egham, Surrey, TW20 9FB.