BMW Club Queensland
March 2020
THE BIMMER MONTHLY March 2020 President’s Message Welcome to what will be a very different monthly magazine. As you know, we are all under strict ‘stay at home’ instructions which is something that we are definitly not used to. As members of a car club, our passion is being social and enjoying our cars, getting out for a drive, or as my boys call it ‘F.A.D.’ This has meant that our club calender is now totally empty, whether it’s drives, social, meetings etc, so this month, and probably for months to come, I hope you will understand that there will not be much news in these eNewsletters. One major concern the committee has is the upcoming AGM which, under the Office of Fair Trading legislation, we must hold prior to June 30, 2020. Obviously our club is not alone under these rules and we have since been notified that ....“in the current circumstances, the Chief Executive will allow associations a grace period of a further 6 months if required to hold its AGM, without the need for an association to make a written application.” We had been investigating the logistics of holding an AGM via a webinar and we were offered help by Motorsport Australia and Sports Community but, it has been decided to defer the AGM for the time being.
Upcoming Events BMWCQ April Club Meeting ............ CANCELLED BUT DON”T WORRY... FaceBook Live Update Friday 17th April @7pm
Check out our Website - www.bmwcq.com.au:
With regard to the Bimmer Monthly, it would be a fantastic opportunity for you to write a story for our club. So, if you have time and would like to tell us about Recently, we have updated our website to include all yourself, your cars and experiences, please let me of our recent eNewsletters, “The Bimmer Monthly”. know. Hopefully we wil see you on the road .. Soon! You will see the latest issue plus all the previous Stay safe... issues HERE. Have a look and also don’t hesitate to Gary Schweikert, President BMWCQ share the page with anyone who you may think is interested in the club and what we are doing. There is also a ‘Blog’ page as well, have a look Still open for business: Please support those businesses that support our club. HERE. Thanks to Russell Dean and his staff at Hype They are still working but like many businesses, they are Creations for their great support. feeling the pinch so please don’t forget to contact them.. Give them a call and check to see if it is OK to drive your car to them, just to ensure that you don’t get into trouble for unnecessary travel.
BMW Club Queensland would like to acknowledge our website provider:
www.sommercarcare.com.au
BMW Club Queensland
March 2020
A View from the USA He was moving to Japan within the next few days, he told me, and found himself with a car that needed care-taking, effective immediately. We all know better than to pass on an offer like that—even if the car isn’t a one-of-126 1995 BMW M3 LTW. When we visited the USA last year for the 50th year celebration of BMWCCA, we meet the some of the staff of their eMagazine, BimmerLife. I read an interesting story by their managing editor Dave Rose in their current issue and he has given us permission to reprint it. Thank you!
Isolation, A-to-A Cars, And The M3 LTW
Until a month ago, my job was a whirlwind of continents and cars, traversing the country and capturing automotive stories. It’s a rewarding career, but I’ll be the first to admit that I took it for granted more than I realized; when I last stepped off a plane five weeks ago, I had no more reason than anyone else to think that society’s susceptibility to a pandemic would bring those adventures—globally, locally, and emotionally—to, one might say, a sickening halt. The unique position of being alone, together, has been captured ad nauseam by everyone from apparel social-media channels to internal company e-mails to appliance-store marketing notices. But days before shelter-in-place laws had reached their peak, I found myself on the phone with a good friend and longtime BMW Car Club of America member who had an offer I couldn’t refuse:
www.rxautomotive.com.au
I’d been familiar with this particular car for some time, and it’s possible that you are, too. This well-loved E36 M3 Lightweight (a model known colloquially as the LTW) spent its life in the hands of enthusiasts, with many of its miles added on race tracks from New Jersey to California. In the past five years, it has made appearances at Legends of the Autobahn and the BMW CCA Festorics in Monterey, and received a considerable refresh in Southern California before returning to storage in Alabama, where it remained until several weeks ago. But the car needed a new home—and urgently. It was decided that my house in Greenville, South Carolina, was the best option.
BMW Club Queensland
It would be a race against time and performed with minimal social contact; we had both been isolated, either with family or alone, for at least two weeks, but weren’t in any mood to risk external contact. Still, we had a slight advantage: namely, that the car was stored in an aircraft hanger alongside a convenient tool of social distancing—a Cirrus SR-22. We decided that the best move was to fly round-trip in the Cirrus, and I could depart, solo, in the LTW before noon, avoiding nightfall and returning home by the end of the day—the perfect curfew-beating pair. It was the sort of logistical gymnastics we usually dealt with while arranging press launches, except this time it was a viral outbreak, not the press cycle, driving our urgency.
March 2020 And then there’s that monstrous wing, a presence that dominates the rearward view and stirs the soul in ways that I can hardly describe. Stops were minimal, pausing for photos and just to appreciate the car. Fueling was routine—gloves on, sanitize credit card, fuel, gloves off, repeat—and in every mountain town, the brilliant Alpine White M3 shone like something from another planet. Crisp, aggressive, and pristine. Perfectly alien. The mountains of the Southeast glowed as day turned to late afternoon. The car sang through the hills, pulling in crisp spring air through a subtle intake with one of the most beautiful induction noises this side of an E46 M3 CSL. The engine hums, revs high but steady, turning the wide Michelins through the limited-slip differential. I routinely went five minutes on divided highways without seeing another car. The sensation was one of unease, abated by the stunning machine and its intake and exhaust and massive wing. The roads were empty. The drive, surreal.
There’s a term that comes to mind every time I think of this car. The Lightweight is, in every sense, an A-to-A car. There are some cars that, during more peaceful times, one might have taken out on special occasions, or to drive to the gym, or parallel-park for a nice dinner The day of the trip was moderate, and starkly downtown. But those things are verboten now, and the bright—a perfect day for flying. But as we climbed up M3 LTW laughs in their face. It laughs with its to 7,000 feet over the Great Smoky Mountains, the obnoxiously aggressive front spoiler, its burbling reality set in that it would be months before we aftermarket exhaust, and the deep, guttural roar of the would take another trip like this. By the time the intake as the tachometer sails past 5,000. It laughs Cirrus touched down in Alabama, I had decided to because the M3 LTW was never a car for those days. make it count. As the LTW and I rumbled out of the Huntsville, Alabama, airport, the serenity of the day turned to unease. This wasn’t a normal trip; my essentials were Clorox wipes, a healthy supply of nitrile gloves, and onboard sustenance. The goal was minimal social interaction, and an arrival before nightfall. For once, it mattered. But as the car came up to temperature and I began to acclimate to the tight shifter and polyurethane suspension bushings, that M3 magic kicked in and the tension washed away. The planning, the isolation, the six-hour drive— despite it all, I was still in one of the most brilliant driver’s cars ever built, with no senses dulled by stereo, air-conditioning, or traffic. Despite the humbling context, it was driving bliss. I’ve driven a handful of special-edition cars, and whether by engineering or marketing necessity, there are always a few things the manufacturer leaves in to remind you that this is not your dentist’s weekend car. The LTW has these in spades. It’s the little things, like the ultra-light doors that feel like you’re stepping into an IMSA GT car; the glint of sun off the carbon-fiber glovebox trim; the moment when you catch a glimpse of your reflection in a truck or passing window.
This is a car that you take out early on a Saturday morning to blast through the hills and pull back into the driveway three hours later, front wheels covered in brake dust and track pads squealing, before your neighbors have even had breakfast. It’s a car for acceleration pulls that don’t end with second or third. It’s a car for hunting the apex of every corner, and feeling the wind through the open windows as you do. You can listen to the radio later; there are other cars for that. The M3 LTW doesn’t have patience for your phone and your music; should your mind wander to such temptation, the M3 LTW would scoff. Dusk fell over South Carolina as I arrived home. I was windblown, and I hadn’t noticed the temperature drop. I rolled the windows up and tucked a sunshade onto the dash before I realized that the car was still on, humming away. I powered it down, but still felt the vibration from six hours of that beautiful motor.Someday we’ll be able to leave the house and drive again. We’ll go to work, and to the gym, and to dinner. We’ll have nice cars, all of us, someday. But even once it’s not mandatory, I implore you to take a moment of isolation for yourself. Find the empty roads. No radio, no climate control. Let the screens go dark, and make the car sing. And if not for me, do it for the M3 LTW. — David Rose
BMW Club Queensland
BMW World News
Businesses worldwide are doing what they can to support their customers and community during the Covid 19 pandemic and BMW are out front. They are even making our isolation a little easier to bear by providing some fun for the children who are stuck at home. Check out their website and download some BMW’s to colour in and cut out. ...www.BMW.com
LINK HERE
March 2020
A collapsible steering wheel is being developed by BMW for autonomous cars, patent drawings reveal. German car maker BMW appears to be in the process of inventing a collapsible steering wheel for autonomous cars. Patent drawings obtained by a BMW owners forum show the steering wheel is designed to change from a perfect circle to the shape of a football. The idea, apparently, is that the more compact design gives those in the driver’s seat more knee room once the car takes over. The first image below shows the steering wheel in its normal format. The second image below shows the steering wheel when collapsed.
There is no guarantee the collapsible BMW steering wheel will go into production; car makers regularly apply for patents for technology they might one day use but which could be years away from production – or discarded altogether. The BMW fan website BMWX2forum which unearthed the patent drawings has speculated the revolutionary steering wheel “could also change shape in a driver's hands to alert the driver faster than a voice or sound notification”. BMW of course is remaining tight-lipped about the secret steering wheel but it demonstrates some of the lateral thinking being considered for autonomous cars of the future.
LINK HERE
BMW Club Queensland Membership Monthly New Members since 1st Feb 2020
March 2020
The Ultimate Pastime: BMW At Home While we are in uncertain and difficult times, sometimes it is necessary for us to take a short respite from helping others and to look after ourselves. For car enthusiasts, this usually means blowing off some steam at the track or attending a local Cars & Coffee show with our friends—but just because we may not be able to do those things does not mean that we stop being enthusiasts.
In an effort to combat enthusiasts’ boredom, promote socialdistancing, and encourage healthy habits during these times, the BMW Lifestyle team at BimmerLife has recently taken it upon themselves to make sure that BMW aficionados have plenty to do—and naturally they had to sprinkle in some of their own recommendations HERE.
REGISTER for any event or JOIN
BMW Club Queensland Bimmer Classifieds 1987 BMW E30 ALPINA C2 2.7 Race spec head with Tighe cam, custom extractors and Hitech exhaust, cold air intake with pod filter. 190kw at the flywheel, 161 kw/ tonne power/ weight (1180 kg kerb weight).
Delco 808 programmable computer. limited slip diff with 3.91 ratio. quick uptake clutch. short shift gear selector. Alpina B6 big brake package. Bilstein shocks. Recaro front seats. Alpina 20 spoke alloy wheels. Adjustable front and rear suspension. Racing Dynamics front strut brace. Mongoose alarm. Alpine stereo with sub woofer. Complete engine rebuild at 138,345 km. Tom Somers tomsomers@iinet.net.au 0438 323 629 $60,000 PHOTOS 2004 E46 325Ci PHOTOS First Registered 2005, Automatic, black with beige interior. 56,000 km genuine. Two owner, good condition, new Michelin tyres. Jeff Pinchen 0417 050 335 jpin@bigpond.com $10,000 ono
March 2020
QTCC Round 1 Lakeside 14th-15th March 2020 Motorsport has not been imume to the Covid 19 pandemic, but before our world changed, round 1 of the QTCC was run at the Lakeside Tribute meeting last month. There were a substantial number of BMWs there on the weekend and as you can see, the podium was well represented by our fellow racers. Well done, a great start to the year.
Congratulations to Lance Jurgeleit who topped the podium for Group B in his E46 BMW Super Tourer with 637 points, just 1 point ahead of Andrew Knight in his E36 BMW Super Tourer, 636 points! Piers Harrex came home 4th in his E30 with 830 points in Group A1. John Swarbrooke - E46 BMW Super Tourer and Chris Begg - E90 BMW Super Tourer came in 4th & 5th with 1300 and 1093 points in Group A2. Full results are available HERE on the QTCC Website.
Number plate MMM140 Brand new. never used, sold car.... Slimline White on Black $400 Vaughan Wishart 0419 936 025
Number plate 633 CSI $3,000 ONO Michael 0408 715 729
https://youtu.be/zXmDIkgP4Wk
Thanks to the team at Fifotos Motorsport Media, Fiona Carmichael, Peter Lougheed and commentator Zak Caban for allowing us to post their video highlights. Also check out their PHOTO GALLERY HERE.