Dear members,  

As I am sitting here writing this, ready for the end of month newsletter, I have received an email advising us of the passing of the immediate past President of the BMW Motorcycle Club of Victoria, Bob Leggatt, over the weekend. It's such a shock to hear. Bob was a lovely man, and as President had helped us to bring the Car and Bike Clubs together at some of our events.

Our very next event, in fact, is a joint event with the Bike Club at Doncaster BMW. Bob stood down as President at their AGM last month, after three years in the roll. It's very sad news and Bob will be missed by all who knew him. I have passed on our sincerest condolences, both personally and from our Club.

It is a reminder again, to hug those you love a little tighter and cherish the moments you spend together with family and friends. You never know what the future will bring.

The month that was

With July done we are not only a month into the second half of the year but also halfway through winter, so the days are becoming longer again and a little warmer, when the sun is out. It has been a cold and wet winter so far, but this has not stopped us and our members enjoying our cars.

We started the month on 6 July with Round 4 of our Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship at Phillip Island.  It was lots of fun and an unusually sunny day, for Phillip Island in winter! It was a great day out, as always and it was great to get out and check out the new surface after the track was shut for resurfacing works through May and June.

On 9 July BMW Group Australia invited Jo and I to the launch of the new M5 at their Mulgrave headquarters. It was a lovely evening and great to get up close and personal with the new M5 before it was released to the public. An amazing car, of course, 730hp, 1000nm of torque from its hybrid petrol/electric power plant through all four wheels, it’s just a pity we live in a nanny country where you can’t drive it like it should be driven. It will be great to see one on a track next year. Read more about it here. 

On 14 July we attended Karting Madness at Braybrook with a large group, who enjoyed some fun inside and out of the cold with some great lap times and a lot of fun by all that came. Read Lawrence’s write up here. 

On 20 July we had a weekend away with a great bunch of members for our Christmas in July at Winter Wonderlights at Sovereign Hill.  If you have never been, this is something young and old can enjoy. It is really spectacular. The weather even played along - although it was rather chilly, the light rain stopped in time for the light show.  After the show we had dinner at the Robin Hood Hotel in Ballarat. We ran a raffle with some nice prizes, raising $275 for Peter McCallum Cancer Centre. Sunday then saw us explore the area before meeting up for lunch at the Lake View Hotel for a delicious lunch before heading off in our various directions home.

On 30 July we had our regular Drop in Donuts. This is always a greatly attended casual event with members joining together to just catch up for a chat about all things cars and donuts of course!

Looking ahead

August starts with a joint meeting at our newest BMW dealership partner, Doncaster BMW. On 6 August, BMW Drivers Club Melbourne and BMW Motorcycle Club Victoria will be doing a joint event at Doncaster BMW.  This is a spectacular dealership which hosts BMW, Mini and Motorrad.  Join us for a tour and to find out what great offers they will be sharing with all our members.

11 August is Round 5 of our Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship at Sandown.  This is a joint sprint and Kaos Custom Bikes Come and Try Day, plus we will also be doing the Racer Industries Parade Laps again as this went down so well in March.  Come and join us, whether you want to just do some gentle parade laps or go flat out against the clock. We will also have some of our E30 racing members on hand to take people for rides or chat about the series that will be racing at Sandown two weeks later.

23- 25 August is E30 Racing Round 3 at Sandown. Come out and support our members that run in this fun series at the Vic State Racing Championships. It’s a great opportunity to see a real race meeting up close and be a part of the action in the pits.

25 August is also Round 6 of our Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship at Broadford with AROCA. There will be a few members up there having a blast around the Broadford circuit too, so it will be a busy weekend.

31 August is our next family day out, this time a breakfast and drive to Walhalla, starting at the Pancake Parlour at Narre Warren. There are some awesome roads into Walhalla and then a narrow-gauge train ride and everything the old historic town has to offer. Always a great day out and it’s been a few years since last we visited.

Looking beyond August

Registrations for our next Tassie Trip – “the northern half” close on 7 September. If you want to come and have a blast around northern Tassie, get your registrations in ASAP. The last time we went to Tassie we had a ball and this one will be as much fun again. We already have quite a few booked in to come with us, so it will be another awesome week away.

Challenge Bathurst registrations opens to the public on 1 August, so if you want to attend, get your entry in now. There are a lot on the public Challenge Bathurst wait list, but we can get you in if you contact us today.

Officials are also needed too - you get free camping, 3 meals daily and a uniform. There are also hot laps on the Sunday after the event, weather permitted for first timers. It is a great event to attend as an official and a fantastic way to be a part of motorsport at this amazing circuit.

Our Bathurst 12 Hour private suite in February is nearly sold out. There is only one queen room left at the accommodation venue in town and only a few spots left in the suite. Again, this is an amazing event to be a part of and to do it in style in the corporate suite with all your food and drinks included is definitely the way to go.

Over the ANZAC Day long weekend in 2025 we are running the BMW Clubs Australia Nationals. This is a must do event, so get it in your calendar and join us for a long weekend of events with BMW Club members from all over Australia. We are nearly ready to launch the booking site for registrations to each event over the weekend. 

We will be needing lots of volunteers to help run the Nationals as well as sponsors to come on board and help us make this a fantastic event to showcase our club and Melbourne to everyone coming to join us.

Thank you to Melbourne BMW, Shannon's Insurance, Southern BM, Sonax Australia, Bell Motorsport, Sirene Sea Pearls, and Grip Auto Watches for coming on board so far. Your help and support is very welcome and will help us to make the Nationals an event to remember.

Check out the calendar for our full list of events and to register for those listed above.

In other news

The welfare team is still working away in the background, supporting those of us that need a shoulder to lean on or an ear to listen. We are a family and are more than happy to lend a hand in any way we can, just reach out if you need anything.

Membership is still going strong. We welcome all the new members that have joined us this month and hope you enjoy your membership experience. The Club is yours, so join in and feel free to offer any suggestions you may have. We are always looking for ideas for events and helpers to run them, so drop us a line if you have an idea or want to put your hand up to help. We run a wide range of events, from casual catch ups to full on racing, so anything you want to do in the world of BMW you will find here. Please enjoy your time in the club.

Thank you for joining us and being a part of our BMW family, I look forward to seeing you at an event somewhere soon.

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