Month in review.
Dear members,
March began with one of our favourite events on the calendar, Geelong Revival. We had many members volunteering, and a brilliant effort of over 50 displayed on both days of the event. It was great to spend time with so many of our members and also welcome quite a few new members to the club. We were also lucky to walk away with a trophy for Best Car Display of the event!
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On 8 March we then had a virtual catch up over Zoom, where we discussed some of our future events and chat about new and exciting things happening within the club network.
10-14 March was the much awaited BMW Clubs Australia Nationals in Canberra. Some members chose to take 3 days to get there, some 2 days to get there and others drove up on the one day. If you have never attended a Nationals, we highly recommend you do - it's always a great way to catch up with members from other states and see some truly amazing cars.
On the same weekend as the Nationals was the Phillip Island Festival of Speed. Although many of us were in Canberra for the Nationals, we had a great representation of members and cars attend. Thanks to Paul Holliday and the other members who assisted to make it a great weekend for all who attended.
On 25 March we then had our monthly virtual catch up with the BCCM Team in Munich. These events are always lots of fun and definitely worth attending if you've been considering it!
Our month finished with quite a few members competing in the second of the E30 Racing Championship at Winton. Alex Jory took home the round win again, but not without a strong fight from Jeremy Payne.
A handful of our members also volunteered at the event, with Jo Mawson assisting with check in and race control, Graeme Bell assisting with scrutineering, Darryl O'Neill assisting on the gate and Tim Oh assisting both Graeme and Jo. If you've ever thought about volunteering at a motorsport event, be sure to check out Graeme's president's report for details on how you can sign up to be a motorsport volunteer.
MEMBERSHIP UPDATE: 716 MEMBERS
Welcome to our new members Adam Trapski, Jonathan Ford, Richard Sherman, Daniel Roberts, Sam Saris, Chris McDermott, Wendy Miller, Trish Masotti, Adrian Masotti, Terry White, Thor Essman, Bev Sherman, Shelby Roberts, Bruce Greenland, Darryl Kelly, Dave Engel, Debra Braddock, Anh Vu, Caroline Ryan, Natasha Senek, Derek Garth, Joyful Wong, Philip Dean, Tristan Blaufelder, Airlangga Giamsyah, Peter Di Medio, Mergim Ibrahimi, Brock Dunn, Graham Mace, David Ormerod, Megan Byrne, Sarah Kabbani, Matthew White and Angela Winter. We look forward to seeing you at an event soon!
Don't forget to catch up with this month's update from our President, Graeme Bell here.
The month ahead.
Here's what we've got planned for the rest of April:
Wednesday, 6 April - Sunday, 10 April Australian F1 Grand Prix Display We can't wait to finally get back to the Grand Prix! Make sure you stop by and say hello if you're attending! Tuesday, 12 April April Members Meeting - Members Private Collection This is a member only event (guests welcome). Join us to view one of our member's private car collection. Good Friday, 15 April Royal Children's Hospital Appeal Good Friday Coffee & Cars Morning - Beaumaris This is not just a BMW event, all brands are welcome. We want to raise our biggest amount yet for the Royal Children's Hospital. We'll have raffle tickets on the day with some fantastic prizes up for grabs. Sunday, 17 April Flinders Motoring Heritage Display An Easter display of unique veteran, vintage, classic and modern motor vehicles. BMWDCM took out best display in 2019 and 2021! Let's see if we can do it again. Saturday, 23 April - Monday, 25 April ANZAC Weekend Away Join us for a long weekend away to beautiful Lakes Entrance, including a dawn service on ANZAC day before heading home. Saturday, 30 April Presentation Dinner & Fourth Birthday Dinner - Clayton Join us to celebrate our fourth birthday and presentation night at the Park Royal, Monash.
Be sure to keep an eye on our calendar to stay up to date with our events. If you're attending a social drive or weekend away, we recommend checking out our event tips to help you get the best out of the event.
We want you!
We are now one of the largest Official BMW Car Clubs in Australia and we need your help.
Have you ever attended one of our events and thought “wow this event was well run” or purchased some of our merchandise and thought “I really like that”? Well, all these things and more happen because your volunteer committee who all work tirelessly behind the scenes to make your day/weekend/event run smoothly and be as fantastic as it is.
Do you have skills we can tap into? Do you have a business we can engage or use the services of? Do you have some spare time you’d like to fill with an interest that gives a lot of people joy, including yourself?
We are putting out an early call to all our members to think if you would like to help our team with any of the day to day running of our wonderful club.
Click here to find out more information.
Club Permits.
We are finding an increasing number of members leave renewing their Club Permit registrations until the last minute, which sometimes results in members having to get a new roadworthy certificate.
The best option is for you to use the online system through a MyVicRoads account (see option 1 under Renewals on our Club Permits page).
Taking this option means you are not required to get a physical signature and is quicker for you and easier for us. Instead of us signing the renewal form, we sign a Club Endorsement Form, which you send to us by email. This can be done any time after you receive the renewal reminder.
In fact, no matter which option you choose, the paperwork can be completed any time after the renewal is received. There is no need to wait. Once the paperwork is completed, you can then pay for the permit at your leisure (within the expiry period).
Please remember that all club officials are acting in a volunteer capacity, even if conducted during business hours at a business premises - club work is not paid work and may be preventing paid work from being done.
News & Blog.
Our blog page on the website is constantly being updated with not just club news, but everything BMW from all around the world! We welcome you to submit any articles of your own.
Club blog.
BMW around the globe.
Motorsport Australia.
Classifieds.
Have you seen our classifieds page?
Want to sell something? Looking for a specific item? Email us today to list your car/parts/anything BMW related!
idrive magazine.
Everyone has their own BMW story - we'd love to share yours.
Email us to feature in our very own idrive magazine.
Club partners.
Members are welcome to submit their business to be shared on the Club Partners page on our website and idrive magazine. We believe in supporting those who support us. If you would like your business listed email us with your details.
As always - thanks for reading, we look forward to seeing you at an event soon!
President | Graeme Bell 0407 186 296 Vice President | Jo Mawson 0412 661 900 Secretary | Lawrence Glynn 0414 563 290 Treasurer | Shaaron Glynn
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Well don’t you just love Autumn in Melbourne, such beautiful weather, perfect for getting out and enjoying our city and State in our cars with a bunch of our best friends.
We started March with one of the best car events on the calendar, Geelong Revival. With some of our members volunteering at the event and others displaying their cars it was a great effort for BMWDCM with over 50 cars displayed on both days. The weather was not true to Autumn sunshine with drizzling rain on both days, but we were lucky to see the sun at times and it didn't dampen the spirits of our club members or spoil our great display. It was fantastic to see so many of our members there and new members and we also signed up quite a few over the weekend. The best part of the event was BMW Drivers Club Melbourne walking away with the Best Car Display of the event! Thank you all that came and visited us or had your car on display.
8 March was a Zoom catch up where we were able to go over some of our future events and chat about new and exciting things happening within the club network.
On 10 - 14 March a large group of us travelled up to Canberra for the BMW Clubs Australia Nationals. Some members chose to take 3 days to get there, others 2 days and 4 cars drove straight up in 1 day. If you have never done a Nationals, you should as they are a fantastic event and a great way to catch up with members from other states and see some truly amazing cars. Canberra is a lovely place to visit anyway, so much to see and do, being our Nation’s Capital.
12 - 13 March was also the Phillip Island Festival of Speed. We had a great representation of cars on display, thanks to Paul Holliday and other members who helped for the weekend making it a great weekend for all who attended.
25 March was our monthly catch up with Munich, which was as enjoyable as usual.
On the weekend of 25 - 27 March about 8 of our members competed in the second round of the E30 Racing Championship at Winton, with Alex Jory again winning the weekend to consolidate his lead in the Championship. A handful of our members also attend to volunteer - Jo was doing her Silver Admin Officials upgrade and was flat out with registration and then in race control, Tim running around helping both Jo and I, I was chief Scrutineer for most of the weekend, Darryl was on the gate giving everyone a huge smile as they entered. We are so proud of our members who pitched in over the weekend and really helped out making life easier for those at the top of the tower.
We do encourage all of our members to consider volunteering in motorsport, you can start with doing the General Officials course via the Motorsport Australia website. You'll also need to complete a Working with Children’s Check, which is free for club members as we are not for profit organisation - tick Motorsport Australia and BMW Drivers club Melbourne as your clubs as well as any other club you may want to volunteer with. You never know when you are at an event, we may need to call upon you to help us out or the shoe might be on the other foot and you may want to help, having these credentials protects you from any incidents that may happen, and you are covered by Motorsport Australia insurance.
On 2 April we start off at Broadford with our International Women’s Day Come and Try track event, which is not just for women but men are welcome too, but we are encouraging more woman to get into motorsport as drivers and officials. This is sold out now but if you want to come along and have a look, please feel free. We as a club are very lucky to have quite a few woman drivers both with Level 2 Speed and full competition licences. Quite possibly, half our officials are woman and as mentioned above Jo is now a Silver Admin and also holds Bronze Circuit and Bronze Event Command licence which enables us to be able to run very professional events but also gets Jo up in race control at State Level events. We encourage you to get out and do it if this is something you have always been interested in, it does not cost you anything but time. Holding a Motorsport Australia Officials Licence also allows you to officiate at Supercar and even F1 events, so if you love motorsport, you can’t get any closer to the action that being an official.
On 6 April, 20 lucky DCM Members will be having their cars on display at the Formula 1 Grand Prix from Wednesday until Sunday, so if you are there be sure to drop by and check out the display and have a chat.
Over the Grand Prix weekend I will also be representing DCM at the annual BMW Clubs Australia AGM in Melbourne, where delegates from all the Official BMW Clubs get together to share news and ideas about BMW and the Club world. We also spend a day with BMW Group Australia to get the latest news from BMW head office. Looking forward to that, and I will have a report in my next newsletter.
12 April is this month’s members meeting, which is a member only event at one of our members’ private car collection. This is looking like a huge event with over 60 members registered already and I am sure we will get close to 100.
15 April is our Coffee and Cars to raise money for the RCH Appeal, in Beaumaris. Please come along and give so we can help support the wonderful work the Royal Children’s Hospital does.
On 17 April we have a car display at the Flinders Motoring Heritage Display. We have won best car display of the day for the last 2 events, let’s try to make it 3 in a row! If you don’t want to display, then why not just pop by and see all the fantastic cars.
On 23- 25 April we will be doing our ANZAC weekend away, this time to Lakes Entrance. There are still a few rooms left but these are going quickly and due to this being still school holidays you will need to book fast. We have a few tours booked as well, and you will also need to be fast to get into those. Of course, for those early risers, we will be taking in an ANZAC Day dawn service ceremony on ANZAC Day as well.
30 April is our presentation and birthday dinner which this year we thought we would have a bit of fun and have it as a themed night BUT if you are not comfortable wearing dress up, this is fine just come dressed in smart casual/after 5 wear (ie, no denim!) and join in the fun of the night. There will be lots of awards given out and who know you might just walk away with one. You don’t have to enter in a competition to be in the running for an award, we have Member of the Year, New Member of the Year and Presidents Award, so you could be in the running for any of these awards. Registrations are still open, so come along and support those who have won and join in the fun. We also present our 2021 Motorsport and Show and Shine Winners Awards on the night, so you may be in the running for one of those.
March was a very busy month and April is looking just as busy again, with an event or two nearly every weekend. So, if your passion is showing or driving, we have something coming up for you.
As always, keep an eye on your emails and check on the club calendar for upcoming events. There is always something on.
Remember, we have a welfare team too, if you are experiencing hardship or need someone to chat to, they are only a phone call away.
Take care out there, drive safe and see you at an event soon.
Graeme Bell | President BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc.
P.O. 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
50 years of BMW M and the 50th staging of the Nürburgring 24 Hours - this year’s Eifel endurance classic is all about special anniversaries. It will also be the first outing for the new BMW M4 GT3 at the highlight of the Nordschleife season. A strong contingent of BMW M Motorsport works drivers will have their sights set on challenging for overall victory. In total, BMW M Motorsport teams will field no fewer than seven BMW M4 GT3s in the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
ROWE Racing competes with two BMW M4 GT3s in the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Alternating at the wheel of one of the two cars will be Augusto Farfus (BRA), Philipp Eng (AUT), Nick Yelloly (GBR) and Connor De Phillippi (USA). The team’s other BMW M4 GT3 will be driven by Nick Catsburg (NED), Marco Wittmann (GER), John Edwards (USA) and Sheldon van der Linde (RSA).
Driving the BMW M4 GT3 for Schubert Motorsport will be BMW M Motorsport works drivers Jesse Krohn (FIN), Jens Klingmann (GER) and Alexander Sims (GBR). The BMW Junior Team, consisting of Max Hesse (GER), Neil Verhagen (USA) and Dan Harper (GBR), will also start in a BMW M4 GT3. This will be run by BMW M Team RMG at the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
Walkenhorst Motorsport will field three BMW M4 GT3s in the PRO, Pro-Am and AM classes at the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Preparations begin this Saturday (26th March) with race one of the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS). The prologue, with the qualification race, will take place from 6th to 8th May, before the 24-hour race itself takes centre stage from 28th to 29th May.
Andreas Roos, Head of BMW M Motorsport: “The Nürburgring 24 Hours is a race that sets the pulse of any motorsport enthusiast racing so we are all really looking forward to this classic. During the development of the BMW M4 GT3, we gained an awful lot of experience with the car on the Nordschleife. That will now be very valuable to us in the preparations and the race. Our BMW M Motorsport works drivers are real Nordschleife experts, as are the teams, therefore we have all the ingredients in place to go into this iconic race with a healthy portion of optimism.”
Nick Yelloly (ROWE Racing): “I am excited to get back to the Nordschleife with ROWE Racing. It’s my favourite circuit and the 24 Hours is without a doubt my favourite event. I love the atmosphere. We won it in 2020, I was on pole in 2021 but unfortunately had problems in the race, so we have to make sure we return to the front this year with our new BMW M4 GT3.”
Augusto Farfus (ROWE Racing): “I am very excited to participate with ROWE Racing in the Nürburgring 24 Hours. The team has been among the most successful GT3 teams in the sport. I never had the chance to drive for them, so I am very excited to do that now. Our line-up is extremely strong, so I think we have all the right cards to be very strong.”
Connor De Phillippi (ROWE Racing): “Returning to the Nürburgring in the new BMW M4 GT3 is going to be a major highlight in my 2022 season and I’m so excited to be a part of the programme! It is my favourite event of the year, with one of the most unforgettable racing atmospheres and I cannot wait to be back driving there with ROWE Racing.”
Nick Catsburg (ROWE Racing): “I am already really looking forward to the Nürburgring 24 Hours. This is my favourite event, and our overall victory in 2020 is obviously one that I will never forget. It is going to be fantastic to line up at the classic again with ROWE Racing and the new BMW M4 GT3.”
John Edwards (ROWE Racing): “The Nürburgring 24 Hours is the most intense race on earth. There’s nothing like a 24-hour race at the most challenging and rewarding track on the planet! Last year, we had a good car but some bad luck put us out. This year, we have a new car and I am very confident.”
Jens Klingmann (Schubert Motorsport): “The absolute highlight of the season marking the 50th anniversary of BMW M is the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, and the objective is clear: to return to Munich with the 21st overall victory. That would be the best possible birthday present for BMW M. Last year, I was able to compete on the Nordschleife with the BMW M4 GT3 which allowed me to gather some initial experience and I am looking forward all the more to the Nürburgring this year. I think that we have a pretty strong package overall with Schubert Motorsport and the BMW M4 GT3.”
Alexander Sims (Schubert Motorsport): “I am really looking forward to driving the BMW M4 GT3 on the Nordschleife. I’ve heard good things about the car in its development and so to drive it on one of the best tracks in the world will be another great experience with BMW. As always though, we compete to win so the focus will be on understanding and optimising the package as best as we can to be well prepared for the 24 hours.”
Max Hesse (BMW Junior Team): “We are really looking forward to going racing again on the Nordschleife. This is the first time we will have driven the BMW M4 GT3 there, but BMW M Team RMG already gained experience with the car on the Nordschleife last year. That will definitely be beneficial. We will use the first NLS races and the qualification race to prepare meticulously for the 24-hour race. It is about finding a good rhythm, practicing driver changeovers and pit stops, and fine-tuning the set-up. It would be nice to have every kind of weather during the preparations, as we all know that the weather can change very quickly on the Nordschleife. All three of us are very much looking forward to the coming weeks at the Nürburgring.”
ROWE Racing:
Schubert Motorsport:
BMW Junior Team:
BMW PRESS
Event date: 11-14 March 2022
After waiting for so long it was finally here.. BMW Clubs Australia Nationals 2022!
I'd been hanging out for this for so long, I didn't care what else was happening, I just wanted to make it to Canberra.
Even if it meant missing my flight and waiting for another one, but thats another story..
Don't be deceived, Canberra is not the 'dead' quiet town that it's made out to be, it took the DiDi driver 20 minutes to get out of the airport carpark. Canberra airport maybe small, but it's nice and clean.
It was a 20 minute car ride to Canberra BMW, where we were been hosted by the nice people there for our 'meet 'n' greet' and also the all important registration session for the nationals.
Here we were given our lanyard and name tag. I thought it was a great idea to list the activities you had signed up for on the back of your name tag, to remind you of what activities you were participating in.
I met up with Lawrence, Shaaron, Jo, Graeme, the Cooper family, Adrian, Jean (apologies to anyone I've forgotten to mention) and John Shreeve, who had kindly offered to let me tag along in his car since I flew up.
Canberra BMW is a nice little dealership in what is known as the industrial area of Canberra on the outskirts of city where a lot of other car dealerships and car related business's like Toyota, Volvo, tyre shops and Repco are located.
The hospitality at Canberra BMW was very nice with a very in depth overview of the full range of BMW cars on offer at the dealership and with the world trying for much greener look for the future, there was mention of the i4, iX and iX 3 electric models. We were also treated to some nice food with pizza, spring rolls, prawn crackers and noodle boxes from Wok It Up.
After a hectic day it was nice to head back to QT Canberra (the hotel where most of us from BMWDCM were staying) and turn in.
On the Saturday of the Nationals, John and I went to visit the National Gallery of Australia. No offence to any art loving person because I'm not an artty person, but there was some funky stuff here!
Surprisingly we spent a couple of hours here before heading to ACU for the Concourse and shown 'n shine. A great display of BMW cars was put on by all the Australian clubs with a few trade stalls on a perfect sunny day. In the afternoon John and I decided to go for a drive. I was quite excited to have a drive of John's M340. His car drives so nicely with a slight similarity in the weight of steering and sounds a little like a E36 323i. Yes I know people will raise an eyebrow at that, but it's just what I think!
We drove to Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. That was a great experience, Thanks John!
We rushed back to join others from BMWDCM at Lake Burley Griffin for ai segway tour around the lake which was heaps of fun.
Sunday was motorsport day and the final day of the nationals.
We went out to Sutton road driver training centre in Majura to get stuck into some action on the skid pan and for others a bit of sideways action in the motorkana course, which was much enjoyed by everyone including the kids!
In the evening it was the gala dinner including champagne and beer pre drinks followed by a 2 course meal of alternating dishes. Accompanying the food was presentations of the show n shine awards, BMW car club Canberra member awards, auction of a few items and speeches by the Canberra car club president Luke Wise. Congratulations to all the receipts if awards, well deserved for all your efforts!!
Rally driver Casey Price was the guest speaker and is an inspiration to all girls who aspire to get involved in motorsport. Well done Casey o all your achievements!
It was great to also make new friends with other club members from other clubs, what a fantastic event.
Well done BMW Car Club Canberra, looking forward to BMW Nationals Gold Coast 2023!
Tim Oh | Member #538 BMW Drivers Club Melbourne
Event date: 5-6 March 2022
This was my first time attending the Geelong Revival Motoring Festival and it did not disappoint! The range of vehicles on display was a feast for the sensors and I could have spent hours wandering the pits and through the car displays.
Manning the finish line was a highlight as a range of vintage and modern cars came thundering towards me, drag racing style!
Incorporating a high speed component into a car show like what the Geelong Revival has done is what take this “car show” to another level. The thrill and excitement of watching the competitors put pedal to the metal over the 1/4 mile track was so much fun, and the crowd loved it!
Not even a bit of rain could dampen spirits as it certainly made for some exciting runs from the competitors. It was also brilliant to see 2 wheel and 4 wheel categories into the one event.
Once again the BMW Drivers Club Melbourne demonstrated what a world class act they are by taking out best car display! Better get a bigger trophy cabinet! I can highly recommend attending the Geelong Revival to everyone of all ages, a great way to spend a weekend!
Meg Boers | Member #556 BMW Drivers Club Melbourne
We're sitting here putting the newsletter together as it rains outside and it's clear that summer is gone already.
We kicked off February with a beautiful twilight drive, leaving from Berwick BMW. Our evening started with a look around the Berwick dealership and a catch up with the friendly staff before taking off on another of Peter Williams' scenic drives. We were glad to be joined by so many new members and their families - it was lovely to meet you all for the first time!
On 12 February we had a huge field of competitors join us for Round 2 of our 2022 Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship at Sandown with the weather turning on a stunning day and everyone having a ball.
On the same day but on the other side of town we also had a pre-Torquay Motor Show drive down the Great Ocean Road with a nice selection of cars. The group finished their night at the Torquay Hotel for dinner, ready for the Motor Show on the Sunday.
The Torquay Motor Show never disappoints with so many different cars on show. It was great to see so many new people interested in our display, and we signed up quite a few new members on the day - so welcome to all who joined.
On 19 February some of our members attended the Shannons Auto Caffeine morning with a large collection of cars ready for their auctions. It's always a joy to catch up with all the Shannons staff that we have not seen for what feels like years, have a chat and a coffee and a look over some of the cars ready to find their new homes.
On 20 February 100 members and friends joined us for a private tour of Lindsay Fox’s museum and wow what an incredible display of cars. We were there for just on two hours, but we're sure that many of us could have spent the whole day there. There is so much history in the building alone, let alone all the cars on display.
We then had our monthly virtual hook up the BCCM on 25 February. We really enjoy catching up with our Munich friends, we highly recommend attending one of these if you get a chance.
Quite a few of our members then finished the month competing at Sandown on 25-27 February for Round 1 of the E30 Racing Championship. We also had one of our members doing their Observed Licence Test, passing of course! Well done Shannon Cooper - we can't wait to see you out there racing. It's great to see four new members joining the E30 field for 2022. Congratulations also to Alex Jory for starting the season with a round win.
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MEMBERSHIP UPDATE: 691 MEMBERS
Welcome to our new members Michael Curtain, Chris Gaetjens, Pat Berry, Robert Forte, Markus Bonang, Peter Davidson, Gary Redlich, Joel Carson, Andrew Chau, Terry Braddock, Nicholas Tate, Bill Boledziuk, Uthsara Kodituwakku, Lucy Walsh, Rashmika Silva, Katherine Benic, Stephen Wesson, Alana Thomas, John Curphey, Neil Barton and Adam Trapski. We look forward to seeing you at an event soon!
Here's what we've got planned in March:
Saturday-Sunday, 5-6 March Geelong Revival Celebrating 50 years of M, we hope those who attended enjoyed Geelong Revival. It's always a fantastic event that we love being part of. Tuesday, 8 March March Virtual Members Meeting Join us for a zoom meeting to discuss all the events we've got planned for 2022. Friday-Monday, 11-14 March BMW Clubs Australia Nationals Unfortunately registrations have closed, but we look forward to catching up with our interstate BMW friends over the long weekend! Saturday-Sunday, 12-13 March Phillip Island Classic Festival of Speed Car DisplayAbout the best race meet in Australia (after the Grand Prix). Racing includes the Heritage Touring Cars (Groups A and C) which includes the fabulous JPS Team BMW cars, Sierra Cosworths, F5000, F1, "big banger" sports cars and more. Display your car and get discounted entry for the weekend!
An event not to miss in April:
Saturday, 2 April International Women's Day Driver Training and Come & Try Day | Broadford Ever wanted to find out what it's like to get on track in a relaxed atmosphere without being surrounded by the seriousness of competition? Want to better your driving skills? Join us at our annual International Women's Day Come & Try Day. It's the perfect opportunity to get on track and have a go in a safe and relaxed space. Our friends at AROCA are also running a sprint day (not part of our championship) at Winton on Sunday, 3 April. If you'd like to enter, you can find out more information here.
After a great start to the year with a busy January, we went straight into February with a member meeting and twilight drive leaving from Berwick BMW. We had a fantastic turnout with many members attending to meet with the staff at Berwick BMW before we headed out to the car park for a driver briefing and went off on another of Peter Williams' drives. We had a perfect summer night and quite a few new members join us, it was also great to see some families coming out for the fun too.
We were supposed to join the Maling Road display on 6 February but this was postponed again due to Covid. This is planned to be rescheduled to some time in May. As soon as we get confirmation we'll let you know the details. It will be a limited event as there are only so many places allocated to each club.
We also had a Pre-Torquay Motor Show drive down the Great Ocean Road on 12 February with a nice selection of cars. The group finished their night at the Torquay Hotel for dinner, ready for the Motor Show on the Sunday.
The Torquay Motor Show never disappoints with so many different cars on show. It was great to see so many new people interested in our display, and we signed up quite a few new members on the day - so welcome to all who joined. Welcome to all the other new members who have joined us recently, we are currently at 686 members and still growing strongly each month.
On 19 February some of our members attended the Shannons Auto Caffeine morning with a beautiful collection of cars ready for their auctions. It's always a joy to catch up with all the Shannons staff that we have not seen for what feels like years, have a chat and a coffee and a look over some of the cars I may or may not have bid on… although I didn’t win it anyway.
On 20 February 100 members and friends joined us for a private tour of Lindsay Fox’s museum and wow what an incredible display of cars. We were there for just on two hours, I'm sure I speak for everyone who attended when I say we could have stayed there longer. There is so much history in the building alone, let alone all the amazing cars which were on display.
We finished February with our monthly virtual hook up the BCCM which again did not disappoint. We really enjoy catching up with our Munich friends, we highly recommend attending one of these if you get a chance.
Quite a few of our members were then competing at Sandown on 25-27 February for Round 1 of the E30 Racing Championship. We also had one of our members doing their OLT (Observed Licence Test) and passing, well done Shannon Cooper. It's great to see four new members joining the E30 field for 2022. Our very own Jess Bell qualified third, her best starting spot to date, well done Jess. Alex Jory won the round to start off the year where he left off last year, well done Alex. I even slipped into a seat for the weekend when Shannon took ill and couldn’t race on Saturday. It was a lot of fun, although I now see Shannon’s car needs a bit of engine work to give it some extra go!
On the Sunday it was also Jess’s 30th birthday and it was fantastic to have a bit of a party at the track with all of the E30 and DCM members joining us to help celebrate. Jess does a fantastic job in the background for the club, pretty much everything you see, from the website and the newsletter to idrive magazine, it's all Jess’s hard work behind the scenes to make us look as good as possible and function so well. Thank you Jess and happy birthday for Sunday!
Speaking of birthdays, 4 March is our very own Vice President, Jo’s, 60th birthday and seeing as we will be in Geelong for the Revival, make sure you drop in and say Happy Birthday to Jo over the weekend! Jo does so much for the Club and we are so lucky to have her driving the events and organising just about everything we do. She is a dynamo and deserves our thanks for her tireless efforts to help the club be as good as it is.
We will be taking our BMW club of the Year Award to all events for everyone to see too, another reason to come along and have a selfie with the trophy, as it is an award for all the members.
On 4 - 6 March our club will have a huge display down at Geelong foreshore for Geelong Revival, so if you have not registered yet, please do. There are a few ///M cars we are still looking for so contact Lawrence on secretary@bmwdcm.com.au and even if we have one like yours, we will be happy to have another.
On 8 March we will be holding a Zoom member meeting to run through all our events for 2022 and boy do we have a load.
As you will all know by now, we have the BMW Clubs Australia Nationals being hosted in Canberra this year. Registrations have closed but we're really looking forward to catching up with our interstate friends over the long weekend.
While the Nationals is happening up in Canberra the Phillip Island Historics will be on both Saturday and Sunday,. It's a great opportunity to display your car and watch the Historics race over the weekend.
On 25-27 March our racing members are at Winton for Round 2 of the E30 Championship. If you’d like to come to some fantastic State level racing you are more than welcome to join us.
Looking ahead to April on 2 April we have our first come and try day at Broadford. This is focused on women being our International Women’s Day event, but men and boys are more than welcome to join us on the track or as officials on the day.
Straight after our International Women’s Day Come and Try is the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne. We have been looking forward to the F1 cars coming back for two years now and we will have another amazing display of cars on show. So if you are at the Grand Prix, come and say hello!
On 30 April we are holding our presentation night and fourth birthday dinner, so be sure to register for this. While the theme is to come dressed as someone famous from history or the silver screen, if you are not comfortable then just come dress in smart casual wear.
Lastly, we have our new limited-edition shirts and caps to celebrate our award for winning International Club of the Year in 2021. They are available as a special edition and so are limited, so if you want one, get in quick! They look great and if you are in Geelong for the Revival, we will have them available there.
Thanks for reading, as always, keep an eye on your emails and our event calendar, it is packed with all sorts of events to suit every taste.
Drive safe out there and I look forward to seeing you at an event somewhere soon.
Event date: 13 February 2022
A glorious two days around the Torquay Motor show started with a Saturday drive from Geelong to the Great Ocean Road via Forrest before joining the pre-Torquay Motor Show Cruise from Lorne to Torquay. An excellent collection of BMWs and an even more excellent collection of members and family set off along the Geelong Ring Road on a surprisingly clear day which provided splendid views from the Princes Highway out towards the coast.
Turning off at Birregurra we started the descent through the cool and shady tree arched winding roads down to the coast.
A quick stop in Forrest confused my Google Maps - which I was trying to use for turn buy turn instructions as a back up to paper instructions in the hope I would get the route and radio calls correct! The Google Maps wanted to go to the centre of Forrest but the toilets (which is where we wanted to go!) where on a parallel road. Unable to figure out how to correct this in time or on the move meant my phone was desperate to go to Forrest even when we arrive at our final destination. As we pulled into the lunch stop car park at Kafe Koala some 50 kms away it was urging me to perform a U turn!
Putting the distractions of a hair-brained sat nav to one side once on the Great Ocean Road the vista opened up with amazing clear views out to sea and forward to the promontories ahead. This certainly lived up to the road’s name. Sadly other people were also enjoying the view and our progress towards Melbourne seemed barely faster than a container ship we could see out on the water.
After lunch we drove further along the GOR to Lorne golf club and assembled with interesting selection of about 50 other cars. We had enough time for as quick look around, a bit of a chat and a short address from a representative of Rotary (who organise the Torquay Motor Show) before droving to Torquay in a sort of convoy, forming a small scale car show at the Elephant Walk grounds overlooking the beach.
There was live music and a BBQ for those who wanted it and more opportunities to look at cars (more than had been at Lorne) and conversations for as long as one wanted.
Many of our group met up again for dinner at the Torquay Hotel to cap off an enjoyable day.
Sunday saw us back at Elephant Walk for the car show proper in a slightly sheltered spot with beautiful views out to sea amongst an eclectic range of about 340 other cars. Although the air temperature was a bit high (35- 37) the gentle breeze kept things comfortable. It is a lovely spot and a very popular show with plenty of passing foot traffic and other attendees. Our display was consistently popular and many engaging conversations arose.
Around 2 pm the wind picked up dramatically and the decision taken to take down the marquee before it headed off to Tasmania. I am very grateful for the ready assistance provided by those of our members close by at the time. We took down the rest of the flags etc too as people were starting to leave. However, the fact that there was still a reasonable number around at 3:45 when we called it a day shows just how well the show went.
Thanks to all of our members who came along to make the weekend so special and to those who helped me set up and pack down at the show.
Lawrence Glynn | Member #3 BMW Drivers Club Melbourne
Event date: 20 February 2022
Last Sunday was a great morning out for all who attended the Lindsay Fox Car Museum site visit.
The collection is housed in the historic two storey red brick Queens Warehouse at Docklands. From my rough count there were up to 50 immaculate cars on display, with more cars housed elsewhere, ready for rotation duty.
There were many cars from many eras.
Too many to mention and more than enough to satisfy most tastes.
Attendants ran casual tours to discuss and answer questions on the cars – most enlightening. For instance, the 1950’s Porsche Speedster on display, is the car produced one chassis number away from the car James Dean died in.
Future expansion of the display is currently in the planning stage, which can only improve the enjoyment of visiting this Fox establishment.
Lindsay deserves a great vote of thanks for sharing his love of motor cars with the general public.
Chris Mcsteen | Member #267 BMW Drivers Club Melbourne
Event date: 16 January 2022
I recently joined the BMWDCM because I was interested in getting involved in more driving events such as track days. I drive a very original 1999 523i (E39) certainly no rocket ship but a great handling car.
I saw the invite come out for the sprint event at the iconic Phillip Island track hosted by the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROCA). As it was my first event and really wasn’t sure what to expect I reached out to Graeme Bell explaining my stock standard car and lack of racing experience. Graeme was extremely supportive, told me to sign up and encouraged me by letting me know that they would look after me on the day.
So I sent off my application and was excited when I received the confirmation email back from the organisers with all of the details for the day.
In preparation for the day, I decided to fit some EBC performance brake pads and as I was due for new tyres, I fitted some semi slick tyres. The car is not a daily driver, so I was happy with this set up.
With a 7am start at the track I booked a motel for the night before so I was closer to the track and organised a car trailer so I knew I could get home if the car had any troubles.
The day finally arrived, I drove the short distance to the track and lined up with several other cars ready for the gates to open at 7am. It was a stunning morning and the day ended up being perfect with clear skies and very little wind which was unexpected for such an exposed site.
There was a good turnout of BMWDCM members with a mix of daily drivers to E30’s set up for racing.
The organisers arranged for any first timers to have their own practice run accompanied by an instructor. I found this invaluable as the instructor was able to give me some helpful tips about the track.
I had about six 10-minute runs over the day. My car ran very well, the brakes and tyres performed flawlessly and gave me great confidence through the corners. I didn’t have the top line speed of the other cars but still had a lot of fun.
I was made to feel very welcome by everyone from BMWDCM, thank you very much to everyone. I had a great day at a great track and can’t wait for the next event!
Tim Trainor | Member #745 BMW Drivers Club Melbourne
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