Dear members,  

I hope you all had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year! After our much-needed break, we are back to full swing with lots of events happening in January already.

15 January was the first round of our Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship, and it was wonderful to see all our friends and members out on such a beautiful day. PBs (personal bests) were made and there were a lot of smiling faces on the day.

26 January was our annual Australia Day drive, which I must say was one of the best drives we have done for a long time. Peter Williams excelled himself with brilliant sweeping roads, and Jo Mawson had us fed and watered at two venues. It was also great to be joined by families attend and see so many out in their Australiana gear.

27 January was our first monthly live hook up with BCCM, where we were treated to a presentation celebrating 100 years of BMW Motorrad.

On 29 January a small number of members attended Cruden farm for the AOMC Festival of Motoring. Our club had a prime position and a lovely display of BMWs ranging through the years. It was nice to see the little Isetta make an appearance again along with all the member cars.

This evening is our first round of the Shannons Insurance Simulator challenge and our January members meeting. If you missed out on a place in the challenge, don’t forget you are more than welcome to come along to watch! We welcome and encourage members who aren’t competing to come along and cheer on those who are. It’s also a perfect opportunity to catch up with your fellow club members. These events will be help bi-monthly and will always include a member meeting as well. Remember the simulators are static and not the full motion machines which are prone to making competitors travel sick. The winner of tonight’s event will have their entry fees for next round paid!

Looking ahead to February - we start the month with our annual road trip up to Bathurst for the 12 Hour. It is wonderful that we have members from Gold Coast and NSW joining us too. We have some members attending the 12 Hour Club and a large group camping at the top of the mountain.

7 February will be our February members meeting at SEA Electric Trucks. This event has sold out, but we are taking names for the waitlist and we are hoping to be able to get a few more in on the night.

12 February is Torquay Motor Show which is always a fantastic day out with so many different car clubs attending.

We also have the second round of the Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship on 12 February at Sandown. Entries are out and filling fast. If you are wanting a pit garage, call Brendan at Sandown and let him know you’re with BMWDCM and to be given a garage with all the other BMWDCM members.

19 February is our family fun day at Enchanted Adventure Maze where we will have a private area for you to leave your picnic stuff while you enjoy the park.

On 22 February there will be a midweek twilight drive leaving from Geelong for all of our members over that side of the bay.

24 February is our February hook up with BMW Munich, featuring BMW Group Classic updates and a 2023 season overview.

26 February will be our last event for the month - the British and European Motoring Show at Caribbean Gardens in Scoresby.

Looking further ahead, make sure you register for and put the following events in your calendar:

Our Motorsport and Come and Try dates are out. There may be a slight change in venue for the October come and try but this will be confirmed soon, so keep an eye on your emails and calendar.

Our presentation dinner this year will be our fifth birthday and we will be doing a black-tie event to mark this very special occasion. There will be entertainment on the night, and some great giveaways, but most of all you will be supporting those who have won awards for 2022. Come along join in the fun and have a great night.

Our June SA tour will be also encompassing a visit to Tailem Bend where some of our members will be racing with the E30 Racing club. This should be a great event to come along and watch some of your friends race (and possibly even your club President).

Our friends at the Mercedes Benz Club are organising a trip to Europe in 2024 and are seeking an expressions of interest from members. If you would like to learn more about the trip, please click here.

Jess is putting together the next edition of idrive so if you have something interesting for our members to read, please forward to editor@bmwdcm.com.au with some high resolution photos.

Jo is heading back into hospital early march for a new shoulder and will be out of action for at least two months. She had been flat out setting up events for the year. Please make sure you visit our calendar and check out what has been released so far. There are plenty more to come!

A reminder to have a look at the AOMC Carbon Offset Program that we helped set up. It is a great way to offset the emissions from out older cars and help the environment at the same time.

Lastly, it’s great to see that our membership base is steadily growing. To any new members, welcome - we hope you love what we do as much as we love doing it for you.

It’s great to be back out doing events in the lovely Melbourne summer weather. I look forward to seeing you at an event somewhere soon.

Graeme Bell | President
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc.

PO Box 81, Tyabb VIC 3913
Incorporated in Victoria #A0102695G
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc is a member of: BMW Clubs Australia and the BMW Clubs International Council
Motorsport Australia Affiliated Motorsport Club