Dear members,
February came and went in a flash but what a jam-packed month of fantastic events we had.
3 February was Shannon’s Auto Caffeine where some of our members featured in the display. We always love these days as the variety of cars that turn up is always amazing and we love interacting with all the Shannon’s staff.
10 February was our Pre-Torquay-Show Cruise. We had a great selection of cars and members attending and it was also great to have some stay behind and dine with us.
11 February was, of course, the Torquay Motor Show. For the second year in a row, one of our members David Pye won Best European car, this time with his Gull-Wing Mercedes. Shame it wasn’t a BMW, but this is the diversity of our club, we accept all marques, and our members love it.
On 13 February we had our members meeting at Melbourne BMW, which was almost cancelled due to the horrendous storms which hit most of Melbourne. For those that braved the elements, we got to see some amazing vehicles on display and some of our members walked away with lucky door prizes. Thank you again to all the staff at Melbourne BMW for staying back to host us.
On 15-19 February a large group of members from Melbourne, Gold Coast and NSW took the annual trip to the Bathurst 12 Hour. This has always been on our calendar and always a great event, but this year was even better with Jo organising all the guests special BMW Gift packs, special VIP tours and several driver visits. We also had the heads of BMW Motorsport pop in to join us throughout the weekend. It was a pity the two BMW GT3’s missed the podium, one having a race ending crash and the other being unlucky after fighting for second place in the last few laps. There is always next year! Both cars were real contenders. It was so exciting to have the pole sitting driver share the moment with us after qualifying. We also had Sunil Vohra, CEO of Motorsport Australia, join us for a chat on Saturday, which was very informative. For those who don’t know, Sunil is also a club member and a very proud one too. We also had one of our club members, Jesse Bryan, driving a McLaren in the GT4 category, finishing on the podium in his class. Jesse visited our suite several times over the weekend and donated some lifestyle products for our Peter Mac raffle, which we raise $415 over the weekend.
The 12 Hour gets bigger and better each year. We have already reserved extra rooms at our favourite motel in town and put our name down for a private suite again in 2025. As soon as the event date is released for next year, we will put out an expression of interest. It was excellent having our own suite and great having friends and family drop in to say hello too.
20 February saw members from the west head off on a Twilight Cruise from Geelong and dine after which is always a lot of fun for those who attend. These Geelong based events are going great and allow those down that side of town to get together regularly without battling the dreaded West Gate roadworks.
22 February was another Twilight drive, but this time heading into the hills leaving from Ringwood BMW. The staff here treated all our members to a great tour of the facilities and all who attended had a great time. As per normal the drive was fantastic and ended with dinner at the Coldstream Brewery.
24 February was our Coffee, Cars and Devonshire Tea event at Black Rock House. Wow! I grew up in this area and never knew this was here. The history behind this little house is incredible and the scones and tea/coffee at the end were just brilliant. What a great place and what an amazing morning, with so many cars on display. Thank you to all that came. We will be booking some ghost tours of the historic house, so watch out for the events, as they will be very limited in numbers for each one we do. Black Rock House is reported to be Melbourne’s second most haunted building, only coming after the Old Melbourne Jail, Pentridge.
25 February was the first round of our Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship for 2024, at Sandown with an amazing day for all attending. It was great to see everyone back on track for the year. We love these days and Jo and I were honoured with a thank you trophy from the AROCA committee for all of our hard work helping them over the years. This was not expected but much appreciated. A very proud moment, but it is not just for us two. It is recognition of the time and effort all the members of our club but in to help at their events when required, so thank you all.
Jo was not there as she was prepping for her surgery on 26 February. All went well with her surgery, and she is now back at home recovering. Please respect Jo’s recovery and if you need anything in the next few weeks, please call Lawrence.
27 February - Happy Birthday to our very own Jess Bell. Editor of idrive and our website, and all-round amazing wonder girl. How she does what she does for the club and manages to work full time as a lawyer astounds me. Thank you, Jess, and Happy Birthday.
It was a very busy month and sets the tone for the year to come. As you can see, we are a very busy club, we offer our members and friends a very wide variety of events to choose from and we don’t expect everyone to come to every event. We do ask that you do register on our portal though, so that we can let our hosts know how many to expect. Similarly, if you register and then can’t come, for whatever the reason, please do us the courtesy of letting us know you can’t come. Some of our events are limited by the venue or we cater for the number registered and if you simply don’t turn up, you are depriving someone else of enjoying the event in your place or we waste food and money in catering for you. It also works in reverse, if you just turn up on a whim, you may be refused or go without, simply because you didn’t register. It’s not hard to do, just respond to the event email via the link to register.
Looking ahead, 3 March will be our first family fun day out for 2024. This time at everyone’s favourite, Puffing Billy. This event sold out very quickly so, as above, do not just turn up expecting to get a ticket.
4 March, another very, very special Happy Birthday, to Jo. This club wouldn’t be as fantastic as it is without her drive, dedication and passion for everything BMW and especially everything DCM. We all have a great deal to thank Jo for, and everything she does for the club. Happy Birthday Darl! We are all wishing you a very Happy Birthday and a speedy recovery from you operation.
5 March is our members meeting at Sonax Australia. This is a great night, always very interesting processes and products and Sonax are great, long-term supporters of our club, so it is great to visit them again and show our support in return. Again, we need to know numbers for catering, so be sure to register.
9-10 March has our club at the Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport for the Shannon’s Car Display. You can display for both days or just the one, either Saturday or Sunday. Please make sure you register for this, so we book enough room for us all to have our fantastic display, as usual.
17 March is our first Kaos Custom Bikes/Women’s Introduction to Motorsport, Come and Try Day for 2024. Now this is not just for women, all are welcome to enter, but there will be specific groups for women on track and in training groups, so that it is a little less intimidating for those that think the boys can be too overbearing on track. Men, boys, girls and of course women are welcome. We are keen to show all ages the fun we all have at these events and hopefully you will go away with a newfound interest or skill.
19 March we will be bumping in our cars for the display at the Australian F1 Grand Prix. With all club display areas cut in size this year and with over 55 expressions of interest received, it was hard for us to pick the cars for display. Pop by and say hello if you are at the Grand Prix, it will be a fantastic event as per normal and we usually have someone manning the display to talk to people and visitors.
29 March our Good Friday Wheels and Coffee morning is on again in Beaumaris. Come join us with your pride and joy, car, bike, BMW or not, it is more than welcome. All funds raised go to the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal and we will have plenty of raffle prizes for some lucky members to take home. Have a coffee with Christopher George too who is a club member and owns Flavours Patisserie which will be keeping us all fed and watered (coffee’d) during the morning.
Some other events you need to keep an eye on and put in your diary:
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13 April – A very special night at Doncaster BMW to welcome them on board as club sponsors
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4 May – Presentation Dinner – A touch of pink - fundraising for Peter Mac
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20 July - Christmas in July – Winter Wonder Lights (was very popular last time we did this, so get in quick tickets are selling very quickly)
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23 – 24 November - Challenge Bathurst, limited spots still available, but filling fast. Get on board for the best club level racetrack driving event in the country, on the best track in the country and one of the best in the world!
Members would have received a yearly planner last month so keep these dates in your diary to not miss out.
Jess is finalising the sixth edition of idrive now and if any of you are still sitting on articles, she needs them NOW. All hi-resolution photos to be sent to photos@bmwdcm.com.au so we can share them on our gallery for all to see and possibly use them in the next magazine.
Those with CPS cars would have received an email last week explaining the new way we would like you to process your CPS renewals. Jo is in hospital then will have a long recovery, you might see her out and about at some events but we need to respect her recovery and by using cpsrenewals@bmwdcm.com.au works out easier for everyone concerned. Any questions please call Lawrence, and he will be happy to help you.
We have a new Motorsport top in our store which has been selling really well. Click here to place your orders, as well as check out all our other merchandise. We still have some of our summer tops on sale, so have a look and buy some whilst they are still there.
We have another new and exciting sponsor coming on board very soon, wait till you see who it is! After discussions at Bathurst, and with Jo out of action, Jess and I had a very productive and informative meeting with them yesterday, and once we have some details tied up, we will be able to make the formal announcement. When we do our first meeting at their premises you will be amazed at their services and what they can offer members at very competitive prices. Can’t wait to grow our partnership with them going forward. Very exciting indeed!
As always, our Welfare Team is working away in the background helping club members if and when they need support of any kind. I wish we could share some of the stories, but that is what makes this part of our club so special, we help out without sharing it to the world. Which is what we put this Team in place for. One I can share is the love and support shown to Jo through her most recent operation. We would like to wish Jo a speedy recovery and we look forward to having her back, out of pain soon. A very special thank you to one of our members, who actually did the operation on Jo’s back to fix the chronic pain she has born for years.
If you have any suggestions or ideas, or you’d like to help out with any of the events or positions in the club, please let us know. We are always looking for new events to add and this is your club, so get involved in any way you’d like.
Membership continues to grow steadily. We are close to 800 members now, so thank you all for joining us and we hope you find what we have all grown to love about the best BMW Club in the World.
Just a note on our events. There is an ever-increasing number of spammers listing ‘tickets’ for sale to our events on Facebook. Always remember that registration for our events is always handled trough our website. If an event is limited by numbers, there will always be a wait list to register on and we will let you know if there is space. Never, under any circumstances, buy tickets for any event off someone posting on Facebook. It is a scam. We do try and keep ahead of them and delete and block them but sometimes we miss them or take a while to see them. So just be careful.
Another reason it is good to register for events when you get the event email, not when you see it on Facebook.
Please take care out there, be safe and enjoy your Ultimate Driving Machine and I look forward to seeing you at an event somewhere soon with the Ultimate Driving Club.
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
