Dear members,  

Welcome to the latest edition of my summation of the Club’s activities over the last month. As you can see we have been very busy again this month and not much sign of that slowing down anytime soon.

From 2- 11 June we started June with our big 10 day South Australian Adventure for some, with others joining us at the end of the week for 5 days.

This is the first time BMWDCM have travelled west to South Australia, and we will definitely do it again.  With a small but friendly group, including a couple from the BMWDCNSW, we travelled through some amazing countryside and caught up with members from BMWDCSA. It was so nice for both clubs o come together. We joined 30 odd members of BMWDCSA for dinner on our first night in Adelaide and then a few of their members joined our adventures over the week that followed. At the end of the week some of us met up with the E30 Racing club to race at The Bend.  Jo and I decided we will be doing some club sprint events here and we will definitely be doing another trip to SA in the near future.  Lots to see, such a beautiful state.  

6 June saw some of our members catch up at the Daniels Donut night which has turned out to be a great night and the numbers are growing each time we do this.  Thank you to Lawrence for putting this on over the other side of the bay for our west-side members.  Its great to do something on both sides to accommodate members from all parts of Melbourne and beyond.

On 20 June we had our members meeting at Sonax Australia. Although it was a freezing night, we had a great turn out and everyone walked away with great knowledge of how to use their products and also arms full of products to use on their vehicles.  Thank you to Stephan and Peta for putting on a great night.  Remember if you are wanting to order stock on-line use our clubs discount code. BMWDC10.

24 June was our first Come and Try day at Broadford for 2023, which well exceeded our expectation of entrants - we have over 60 registrants.  Broadford is a great track to teach new and inexperienced drivers (and also new officials) some new skills.  This was also the Alex Baxter memorial round and with Alex’s partner and family in attendance, it was a very emotional day. Richard Van Essen was the lucky recipient of the Alex Baxter Memorial Award.

July is going to be another busy month. Jo has been keeping very busy arranging events!

1 July is Round 4 of our Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship at Phillip Island.  There will be a lot of BMWs out on the track, and we are hoping the weather stays nice for the day.

4 July is Round 4 of the Shannons Simulator Challenge. We have a very close first, second and third in the championship at the moment, it could be anyone’s championship!  Be sure to come along and watch if you don’t want to ‘drive”, join us for pizza and a warm drink and catch up with the others that just come to socialise.  There are still spots left for this round, so get your name down and come have some fun. 

9 July is Christmas in July at Phillip Island, with a great drive planned by Peter Williams, a stop off at the chocolate factory and then lunch at the Foreshore in Ryhll.  Registration closes on 4 July, so make sure you don’t miss out on this fun event.  Christmas novelty clothing competitions will be held, and all small children will go away with a Christmas something. This event is strictly by bookings only, so if you have not registered by 4 July you can join us for the drive but unfortunately not for lunch. GET YOUR REGISTRATIONS IN NOW! We want to see your ugly Christmas jumpers!

12 July will be another drop in donuts night in Geelong, so watch out for that in your emails. These meet ups are becoming popular. We may have to start something over this side of the Bay, so we can all enjoy some donuts and casual meet ups of an evening.

23 July we will be doing our first Driver Training/Motorkhana at Calder Park.  Entries are open now for our first visit to Calder Park. This is going to be a lot of fun and we look forward to seeing you all there. It will be a bit of a test run to see what we can do at Calder, so come along and join us for some fun. Get your entries in quick as there are limited numbers for this one.  There will be tea/coffee/cold drinks available, and we will also be doing a sausage sizzle type lunch which is included in your registration fee.

Other dates to remember:

• 27 August - German Auto Show. This event will be huge! We need lots of cars/bikes/donations/officials, so make sure you have it in your calendar.
• 12 October is our AGM at the German Tivoli Club. We are always looking for people to come on board and help the executive run the club, so if you are interested in helping out, come along and let us know. We are all volunteers, so any time or help you can offer would be greatly appreciated, and if you have some skills that might help the Club, then please let us know.
• 25-26 November - Challenge Bathurst. Registrations closing very soon, only a handful of spots left.
• 10 December - Christmas Show and Shine at Cruden Farm.

We are after officials to help with Challenge Bathurst.  If you think this is something you might link to help with, please contact Jo via events@bmwdcm.com.au and she will send you the registration forms.

We have a new winter windcheater which we are trailing to see how members like it. It will be pre orders only so have a look on our online store to see the new garments and specials.  We also have in our store, for a limited time only, a book called ‘Telling my Story’, which is very inspirational.  Get your copy now.

We have had an update from BMW Clubs Australia and have been advised that the recently elected Chair has decided to stand down with immediate effect after only three months in the role. So, Craig Florence (BMW Drivers Club South Australia Delegate), who was elected to vice-chair cars at the last Clubs Australia AGM, will take over as Chair until the next Clubs Australia AGM in 2024. At this stage we are unsure what will happen regarding the vacant position on the Clubs Australia Executive. Congratulations and thank you for stepping into the role Craig, we look forward to working with you going forward.

For those that don’t know, as an Official BMW Club, we are a part of a world-wide network of some 800+ car and bike clubs that is overseen by BMW in Munich through BMW Clubs International. Our regional Umbrella organisation is BMW Clubs Australia, which is made up of delegates from each on the car and bike clubs in Australia. Being a member of an Official BMW Club has its benefits, like personal tours of BMW Classic in Munch. For more on BMW Clubs Australia see here. 

Our welfare team have been working away in the background, helping where they can and being an ear or a shoulder when needed. Remember, if you need anything at all, there is always someone to listen or call on if you need anything. We are one big family and are there for any of our members that need assistance. Check our website for contact numbers or email welfare@bmwdcm.com.au.

With winter now a month down and the winter solstice just past, we can start looking forward to longer days and dreaming of warmer weather, but whilst we are in the grip of winter, remember to drive to the conditions wherever you are and take care out there.

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