The man in the suit looked surreptitiously around all the classic cars, then he slowly opened the left-hand side of his jacket – lots of pocket watches were dangling inside his jacket. “Special price, special price”, he murmured to the astonished onlookers. . . Scenes like this are typical for the Goodwood Revival Meeting: It’s a spectacle from start to finish.
Every guest is part of the drama at the annual rendezvous around the Goodwood Circuit and on the race track located in southern England. Genuine performers, professional racing drivers and innumerable mechanics revive an era of motor sport that has long since passed into the annals of history. This year once again, more than 150 000 visitors took a trip down memory lane and enjoyed some 360 automobiles and 30 motorcycles on the race track, along with the numerous heritage treasures waiting to be admired.
Classic motorcycles from BMW Motorrad were put through their paces on the race track and demonstrated that they should certainly not be consigned to the scrap heap. Australian racing legend Troy Corser achieved some impressive records and a historic triumph. On the BMW R 57 Kompressor, he and Herbert Schwab won the overall placings as they competed for the traditional Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy. Already in the first race on the Saturday, the duo crossed the finishing line in third place after a false start and a subsequent spectacular pursuit. In the second race on the Sunday, Corser and Schwab even succeeded in passing the chequered flag as winners. This enabled them to come out on top in the overall placings when the two results were put together. This was the first overall win for BMW Group Classic at the Goodwood Revival.
The sensational performance of the BMW R 57 Kompressor was complemented with a further tour de force by Corser. The two-times Superbike World Champion rode the fastest lap of the entire weekend and simultaneously achieved the best lap time ever ridden on the Goodwood Circuit with a classic motorcycle. The other teams also made their contribution to the exceptionally successful appearance by BMW Motorrad Classic in Goodwood. Maria Costello and Claus Clausen riding the second BMW R 57 Kompressor came tenth when they competed in the race on the Sunday. In the same race, Klaus Ottillinger and Sebastian Gutsch rode their BMW R 5 to fourth place.
The races for the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy recall the “BMCRC 1000cc Scratch Race” in which grand prix bikes, slightly modified road motorcycles and specials battled for victory on “Motor Cycling Goodwood Saturday” in 1951. At the Goodwood Revival in 2018, historic automobiles also competed in a trial of strength emulating an old tradition. The entrants included an Austin Mini Cooper S Competition and a BMW 1800 TI/SA. They even took part in the same race for the “St. Marys Trophy”, named after the bend with the most action on the 3.8 kilometre Goodwood circuit. They were competing with lots of other classic Minis, a veritable horde of Ford Lotus Cortinas, Alfa Romeo 1600 GTA coupés and Jaguar Mark II saloons. The drivers lived up to their reputation and delighted the public gallery. The races are not show acts – nobody wants to be overtaken here even if there is only fame and honour to be gained.
The classic Mini heralded the entry into motor sport for a host of drivers who subsequently became successful professionals – names like Lauda, Hunt and Stewart are associated with the car. There again the “Rally Professor” Rauno Aaltonen – who subsequently went on to become head of BMW driver training – achieved his biggest successes in the diminutive British car. The BMW 1800 TI/SA is one of those cars that allowed the make to prove its potential in touring-car racing during the 1960s. The1.8 litre four-cylinder engine powering the saloon in the road-going version generated 110 hp, while two twin carburettors and higher compression in the motor-sport guise of the “Special” – “Sonderausführung – (SA) increased the power to 130 hp to allow a top speed of up to 190 km/h.
Alongside the racing events on the Goodwood Circuit, BMW Group Classic fascinated the public with the acclaimed BMW 507 once owned by Elvis Presley, a rare BMW 503 convertible and an open-top Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud. The vehicles were presented entirely in the style of the 1950s and 1960s. A replica of the traditional London motor-car dealer Kevill-Davies & March was set up not far from the race track.
BMW PRESS CLUB
As the new BMW 3 Series Sedan prepares for its world premiere, it can already look back over a lifetime of hard work. The new generation of the sports sedan is entering the final phase of an extensive programme of testing that every new BMW model must go through as part of its pre-production development. Here, the full range of stresses and strains a car will encounter over many years of everyday driving are reproduced in concentrated form. From extended periods driving flat out to endless stop-start traffic, sub-zero temperatures to searing heat, twisty country roads and high-speed autobahns to pothole-infested tracks, ice and snow to gravel and desert sand – the prototypes sent through the test programme for the new BMW 3 Series Sedan have experienced everything their production equivalents will come across in everyday life. Only they have done so at a much higher level of intensity and with seasoned developed engineers on board to record in detail the pre-production model’s every response to the various weather and road conditions and countless other influencing factors. In short, the testers ensure there are no circumstances – however unusual – which might compromise driving pleasure in the final production car.
Welcome to Death Valley, in the US state of Nevada. Here, it is not only the automatic climate control system of the new BMW 3 Series Sedan that can expect a taxing work-out. The multi-day heat tests see the cars fried repeatedly in the sun for several hours, then cooled and thoroughly checked over. Everything has to work, there can be no squeaks or creaks – even when the temperature tops 50 degrees Celsius in the shade outside the car and 60 degrees inside, and the interior is then cooled again as quickly as possible.
The heat certainly gives the electronics something to think about, but that’s not the whole story: the electromagnetic rays emitted by the hydroelectric plant at the Hoover Dam represent the ultimate test of strength for the functional reliability of the electronic systems on board the new 3 Series. This is why all the car’s functions – from the digital instrument cluster to the tyre pressure indicator – are tested extensively in the shadows of the huge forest of electricity pylons on the banks of Lake Mead. At the same time, another development team is putting engines, transmissions and brakes through their paces. They are even given police protection for their runs up and down the 4,000-metre-high Mount Whitney. While law enforcement secures the test route at the top and bottom of the climb, the testers hustle the prototypes time and again up the snaking roads and back down – accelerating hard and braking suddenly to a standstill with crushing frequency. The bone-dry desert roads of Death Valley and beyond also provide an ideal place to find out how effective the cars’ flaps, doors, bonnets and lids are at keeping out dust. In their test drives around the gambling hot-spot of Las Vegas, the engineers leave nothing to chance.
There could be few greater contrasts with the hot-weather testing in the USA than what goes on at the BMW Group’s winter testing centre not far from the Arctic Circle. Arjeplog in Sweden offers the perfect conditions for a testing programme that eclipses anything day-to-day driving in central Europe, North America or Asia can throw at a car. However, Arjeplog doesn’t only give the prototypes the chance to demonstrate their imperviousness to extreme cold – it also provides the stage for the new model’s chassis controls systems to show off their full range of abilities. The closed-off expanses of ice offered by Lake Kakel and the “Mellanström-Runde”, one of the most popular test routes around Arjeplog, couldn’t be better suited for fine-tuning the DSC stability system and its myriad functions. Indeed, on this glassy surface you don’t need to drive quickly to provoke the control systems into action and therefore analyse their responses. All of which allows the link-up between DSC and the xDrive all-wheel-drive system and the interplay with the new BMW 3 Series Sedan’s M Sport differential to be refined down to the last detail under constant conditions.
Here again, cutting-edge technology helps to identify and consistently eliminate weak points. If an inconsistency crops up during testing, the engineer presses a button on the small testing screen next to the transmission’s selector lever to log it for subsequent analysis. For the problem to be solved, the relevant situation has to be reproduced exactly. The vehicle data is stored on a large hard drive in the car’s boot, pored over every day and reworked.
In the north of Sweden, as in the west of the USA, the test drives carried out by the BMW development teams rarely go unnoticed. Which means that, to prevent curious onlookers from clocking too many details of the new BMW 3 Series Sedan’s design, every prototype is carefully clad in a disguise before it heads out onto public roads. In the basement of BMW’s Research and Innovation Centre (FIZ) in Munich, pre-production vehicles are kitted out with a made-to-measure and confusingly patterned cloak of camouflage. Applying the black-and-white wrap requires an expert hand and takes a whole working day to complete. Then comes the plastic cladding, which distorts the lines and surfaces of the car. The light units, sections of the window surfaces and, of course, the brand badges also get a layer of sticky camouflage. The interior needs to be hidden from sight as well. To this end, the cockpit is “curtained off” with black matting, which the test engineers partially remove at the start of testing and then painstakingly replace at every pause in proceedings – so that no prying eyes can spot or even get a photograph of the displays and controls.
Long before the first test runs on public roads, the development process sees each new model taken into the company’s own testing facilities. In the initial phase of the programme, computer simulations help to set important areas of the car off on the right path. Here, the testing programme – which is still purely digital at this stage – involves simulating more than 12,000 driving manoeuvres (from lane changes to cornering and roundabout driving to dynamic acceleration and braking) using a computer-generated vehicle model, with the sole aim of determining and optimising its dynamic properties. On the basis of the knowledge gained here, development mules are made consisting of just a body and chassis. On the kinematics compliance test bench they are fixed into a test assembly and sent on virtual test drives. A variety of road conditions can be faithfully reproduced on this test rig, from cobblestones to the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife circuit, so the rigidity of the body structure or the susceptibility to vibrations of axle constructions can be properly inspected. This intensive development work is essential in enabling the first full prototypes to already display the target driving characteristics. However, they still have to prove they can do it on the road. In normal traffic, on BMW proving grounds and on the race track they undergo a detailed tuning process, which gives the eventual production cars their inimitable driving pleasure.
Optimisation of aerodynamics and passive safety also takes place largely behind closed doors. At the BMW Group’s Aerodynamic Test Centre in Munich, full-size vehicle models, prototypes and production vehicles are tested using precise reproduction of real-life airflow conditions on the road. At the centre’s wind tunnel, the new BMW 3 Series Sedan has been given the detailed touches required to bring its drag coefficient down to 0.23. The key factors here are not only how the car manipulates the airflow, the ideal channelling of air around the underbody and the optimisation of the spoiler lip at the rear of the body, but also details such as combinations of wheels and tyres. The introduction of the WLTP fuel consumption testing procedure has meant all the wheel variants available for a particular model have to be put through an extensive aerodynamics test. Every variant is checked to establish how the wheel design and tyre size impact on the aerodynamic characteristics of the new BMW 3 Series Sedan and therefore its fuel consumption and emissions.
Differences in the stipulations for occupant protection applicable in different continents mean that several pre-production examples of a new model have to be deformed in a controlled process as part of crash testing at BMW’s Safety Centre. As a result, the new BMW 3 Series Sedan not only provides driving pleasure to customers around the globe, it also meets the full set of safety requirements to score top marks in all the relevant crash tests worldwide.
The proving grounds at Aschheim, a few miles north-east of the development centre in Munich, provides the venue for undisturbed dynamic testing. It was here, at an early stage of the development process, where the first steps were taken in imbuing the new BMW 3 Series Sedan with its impressive dynamic potential. The testing programmes at the BMW Group’s test facility in Miramas, southern France are even more extensive. Used by BMW for the development and testing of new models for over 30 years, Miramas has a long asphalt oval, a motorway “ring” for high-speed testing, slalom, twisty and spherical tracks, plus several handling courses and circuits with surfaces of every kind. Detailed analysis and optimisation of the new BMW 3 Series Sedan’s acceleration, steering and braking responses was also carried out here.
The acid test for a vehicle’s driving dynamics remains the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife circuit. Precise tuning of all powertrain and chassis systems is carried out at the legendary venue in Germany’s Eifel mountains. Here, too, every lap of testing with the new BMW 3 Series Sedan carries far more weight than the number of miles notched up might suggest. After all, if a car gets the thumbs up from the BMW test engineers at the Nordschleife, you can be confident it will provide driving pleasure in everyday conditions throughout its lifetime.
The BMW M GmbH is extending its range of high performance models in the segment of Sports Activity Vehicles (SAV) and Sports Activity Coupes (SAC). The high-performance character so typical of BMW automobiles will be passed on to two further BMW X models, the series development of which has already been kicked off. During the DTM racing weekend at the Nürburgring (7 – 9 September 2018), prototypes of the BMW X3 M and the BMW X4 M will be test driven on the circuit. Thus, the camouflaged pre-series vehicles will be making their first public appearance precisely where the dynamic driving qualities of the BMW X3 M and BMW X4 M will reach their final level of maturity. The Nürburgring is the traditional setting for the completion of the ultimate testing and tuning programme for the specific overall M package comprising drive system, suspension and aerodynamics.
With large air intakes at the front, specific M features for optimised aerodynamics and an exhaust system with four tailpipes integrated into the rear apron, the vehicles already bear the characteristics of a BMW M model at an early stage of their development phase. The technological highlight of the BMW X3 M and the BMW X4 M is a newly developed straight six-cylinder engine with M TwinPower Turbo technology and high-revving characteristics.
Part of the development process is the specific tuning of the M xDrive technology introduced for the first time in the new BMW M5. This technology is deployed in the BMW X3 M and the BMW X4 M to ensure constant supreme and performance-oriented transfer of engine power to all four wheels. The M-specific further development of the intelligent four-wheel drive system guarantees maximum traction and loss-free distribution of drive torque for achieving extremely dynamic handling characteristics. In interaction with the active M rear axle differential, cornering dynamics, agility and precision in the driving behaviour of the BMW X3 M and the BMW X4 M are lifted to a level unrivalled within the competitive environment.
“With their M specific performance characteristics, the BMW X3 M and the BMW X4 M will set benchmarks in terms of dynamics in their respective vehicle segment,” says Frank van Meel, President BMW M GmbH.
With the development of its latest model innovations, the BMW M GmbH is once again breaking into an additional segment. The BMW X3 M and the BMW X4 M render it possible for the first time to experience superior performance, agility and precision also in a Sports Activity Vehicle and a Sports Activity Coupe of the premium mid-range class. Thus, the BMW M GmbH is consistently continuing its successful strategy of dynamic growth with new and particularly attractive vehicle concepts.
Following the first BMW M8 GTE victory and a third place at the previous round at Virginia International Raceway (USA), BMW Team RLL heads to this weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round at Laguna Seca Raceway (USA) with a lot of momentum. Team Principal Bobby Rahal (USA) and his squad aim to extend the success streak on the iconic Californian circuit within sight of Monterey Bay.
It was an historic moment when the #25 BMW M8 GTE crossed the line at Virginia International Raceway on 19th August when Connor De Phillippi (USA) and Alexander Sims (GBR) celebrated the maiden victory for the all-new GT car. Their team-mates Jesse Krohn (FIN) and John Edwards (USA) completed the success in the #24 sister car by finishing third and thus securing the maiden double-podium for the BMW M8 GTE. Laguna Seca has seen two BMW victories in recent years. The BMW Z4 GTLM won in 2015 with Edwards and Lucas Luhr (GER) behind the wheel and the BMW M6 GTLM was victorious last year. Edwards shared the 2017 win with Martin Tomczyk (GER). This year, the two BMW Team RLL M8 GTEs are driven by De Phillippi/Sims (#25) and Krohn/Edwards (#24). In addition, Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley (both USA) will team up in the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3, again in the GTD class, at Laguna Seca.
Quotes ahead of the Laguna Seca race: Bobby Rahal (Team Principal, BMW Team RLL): “As a team, or for me as a driver, historically, we have had great success at Laguna Seca. Last year’s win with John Edwards and Martin Tomczyk was a tremendous strategic victory for us and John did a fabulous job getting the maximum mileage that was necessary to realise that strategy. I have to say it was probably one of the most satisfying wins I have ever had as a driver or a team owner so we look forward to returning to Laguna Seca, especially given the performance of the BMW M8 GTE at VIR. We hope to be in the hunt for the win again.”
Connor De Phillippi (#25 BMW M8 GTE): “Laguna Seca has always had a special place in my racing career since it is the first ever track I drove a race car on. It is one of my top three favourites on our calendar and it definitely is one of the most iconic circuits in North America. Coming off our first win at our last event, I’m looking forward to keeping this momentum rolling and aiming for another one at my second ‘home’ race of the season on California soil.”
Alexander Sims (#25 BMW M8 GTE): “After we secured the maiden win for the BMW M8 GTE last time out at VIR I’m hopeful that we can get the car dialled in to the very different characteristics of Laguna Seca. It’s a wonderful circuit that’s fun to drive but will pose plenty of challenges for everyone. We need to work hard to optimise the car and our driving to be on the front foot come race day.” Jesse Krohn (#24 BMW M8 GTE): “Laguna Seca is an amazing track that even non-racing fans know about. The team has done a great job over the last few months and the results were starting to show at VIR. I am confident we can keep a similar performance level at Laguna Seca and I am looking forward to the weekend.” John Edwards (#24 BMW M8 GTE): “Laguna Seca has treated me very well in the past! We had a win last year in a black BMW M6 GTLM and we’re coming back with a black BMW M8 GTE after a double podium at VIR so we have great momentum. I think we have a good shot at the first win for the #24 car this weekend. The GTLM field has been super-tight the past few races so it will definitely be an intense fight.”
Many of us have desires for a number of cars greater than we can house. “If only I had somewhere to store it” is often the problem. Help is at hand.
Club member Clive Massel has a solution to that problem in the form of a professional car storage facility, Makulu Vehicle Storage. He kindly invited the club to use it for our September members meeting.
Somewhat obviously, a car storage facility has cars in it, mainly interesting ones. So there was plenty to look at, with some of Clive’s own pride and joys prominently displayed for our visual pleasure along with an eclectic array of motoring memorabilia.
Clive and his facilities manager, Jesse Bryan, made us very welcome and laid on some light refreshments which were greatly appreciated.
Cars are housed on “double stackers” – purpose-built car lifts which allow one car to be stored above another with a drip tray section between the cars. Car covers are used to keep off the dust etc and battery maintenance chargers look after the battery. Some customers want their car to be “exercised” periodically, others do not.
Either way, the cars are well looked after and kept in top condition.
As well as looking at cars and how to store them, we were delighted to introduce Amanda Stanford from Mornington Bendigo Bank to our members.
The club banks with Bendigo Bank which, unlike the “big 4” operates on a community banking model, returning profits to the community it serves. Which is a refreshing change from what we have been hearing from the media over the last few months about the financial sector.
A big part of the culture is to provide service and assistance, which I have found to be immediately apparent upon entering the branch. Certainly, there were very helpful when we were setting up the accounts for our new club.
Mornington Bendigo Bank have generously agreed to sponsor our perpetual trophy for motorsport. But the support does not stop there. If a loan taken out by someone who is referred to Mornington Bendigo Bank by a club member, or is a club member, Mornington Bendigo Bank will provide sponsorship money to our club. All you have to do is mention the club’s name. Obviously, we don’t want club members taking out a loan just because of this, but if you are planning a loan anyway, why not go to Mornington Bendigo Bank?
In what we hope will be a tradition member put their membership cards in a barrel and a lucky door prize was drawn, won by David Jack.
Altogether a very happy evening with plenty of time to chat and get to know people.
Shaaron Glynn | Member #14 BMW Drivers Club Melbourne
MONTH IN REVIEW
With only 3 events in August, we certainly made the most of ourselves! We started the month off with our Jindivick Cruise. It was a beautiful day for a cruise. Read more about our day here.
We then had our August members meeting at Antique Motorcycles cafe with over 35 members attending and joining us for brunch. Read more about our morning here.
On 26 August we attended German Auto Day with many other clubs in support of Deaf Children Australia. This was a fantastic event organised by the VW Club of Victoria. We calculate over $3,000 was raised for Deaf Children Australia, which is just fantastic. Read more about it here.
MEMBERSHIP UPDATE: 197 MEMBERS
We are thrilled to welcome so many members to the club, we look forward to seeing you all at an event soon!
For more about our month, catch up with our August update from Graeme Bell here.
THE MONTH AHEAD
EVENTS NOT TO MISS!
NEWS | BLOG
SPECIAL OFFER!
MEMBER SERVICES
President | Graeme Bell 0407 186 296 Vice President | Jo Mawson 0412 661 900 Secretary | Lawrence Glynn 0414 563 290 Treasurer | Shaaron Glynn
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc.
The sun was starting to rise, birds chirping and engines rumbling as we entered the prestigious Sandown Raceway on Saturday, 1 September. My dad and I had been getting the Jess Bell's green BMW 325i race car ready the night before, so for race day preparation was near to none. With the dark clouds starting to cast a shadow upon Sandown, most of the drivers knew that the track will not stay dry for the entirety of the day.
The first session was me getting used to a car with no power-steering and a welded diff, which was a big difference at first. The steering was much more direct and the car had more drive on the exit of sharp turns than my BMW 323i road car, which has neither of the above. Throughout my first session I was mostly just getting a feel for the car, making sure I bring it back in one piece, and I was successful with that. Time past and session two was underway, as now I have more control over the car I felt like I could go a little faster and that I did, improving my first sessions best time by about 8 seconds!
When the next session came along, the clouds grew closer and closer, and the sun was starting to fade, some knew that this would be the last dry run for the day. During that session, I gained even more time pushing my best time further but, I was still driving precautionary and knew there was much more time to be gained. Whilst in the garage after the third session, the heavens opened this caused some people to not go out again.
I thought of this time as a very steep learning experience as I have only driven in the rain once before on track, that being Phillip Island earlier in the year. As I was circulation on track for the next few sessions, I was just trying to bring the car back in one piece whilst having some fun out on track. Throughout the latter stages of the day, the track did begin to dry, but some damp patches remained and therefore I was unable to lower my best lap-time. During my final session, I was placed with some of the Alfa’s which were really fun to battle with since we were similar pace, and I ended that session fastest!
Overall, the day was organised very well and the track was presented exquisitely, it’s just a shame Melbourne weather decided to give us the usual four seasons in one day. The car prepared by the Bell’s was trouble free! Ultimately, I had a great day learning a new car with MORE power and I recommend this event to anyone who is interested in letting your car loose on track!
Blake Kolar | Member #34 BMW Drivers Club Melbourne
Dear Members,
My report this month will be short and sweet, with everything going along perfectly.
We had some fantastic events this month, the Sunday members meet at Antique Motorcycles, the Jindivic drive and the most recent being German Auto Show, where we featured over 40 BMWs from BMWDCM members, our display looked amazing! With all our cars displaying BMWDCM windscreen banners, and of course our new marquees with banners and flags, made it easy for any new prospective members to find us. I calculate this event raised over $3,000 for the Deaf Children’s association on entries alone, which is an amazing effort and something we should all be proud of being part of.
We have some great new merchandise lines coming out, some was on display at the German Auto Show and it was great seeing members wearing theirs on the day too.
I am very proud and happy with the progress of the new club, about to reach another milestone, 200 members! What an amazing achievement for only 4 months!
Looking forward to the next few months leading up to Christmas, with some exciting events coming and thank you all for your support of BMWDCM and our hard-working committee.
I would like to also let all members know that Hawthorn BMW have come on board and are happy to support all BMWDCM members. If you are looking for anything in particular or wanting to upgrade, please give the team a call there, mention you are a member and I am sure they will give you impeccable service.
Finally, I have been invited to display my BMW E30 Racecar at the VACC Centennial Display at the Bendigo Town Hall Precinct (Lyttleton Terrace, Bendigo VIC) on Saturday the 22nd of September. For any members not going on the Healesville Sanctuary cruise on the same day (and you fancy a drive up to Bendigo), you are welcome to come up and say hello, as we will be there all day showing off our car and talking to people about the Club and the VACC. It is a pity it’s on the same day as our cruise to Healesville, but we can multi-task. If you would like to come, let me know to look out for you.
Take care out there and enjoy your Ultimate Drive.
Graeme Bell | President BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc.
P.O. Box 81, TYABB, VICTORIA. 3913 Incorporated in Victoria #A0102695G BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc is a member of: BMW Clubs Australia and the BMW Clubs International Council CAMS Affiliated Motorsport Club
After an unfortunate start to the day for me with the 325is deciding not to start immediately, probably through lack of use over the winter, I had a lovely run up the various freeways from Rye to St. Kilda Road.
Arriving by 8.15 at the event, Jo and Graeme had a huge area already marked out for the BMWDCM, with the club tent, flag etc. I was lined up with the first 1/2 dozen arrivals and very quickly the area was inundated with close to 50 BMW's - E30's being the prominent model!
The events turnout was amazing, BMW's, Mercedes Benz, VW's of all shapes and sizes, one NSU and a few other variants.
Credit must go to the VW Car Club for their overall organisation of the event, site allocation, food vans, german sausage van and coffee outlet.
Having said that, the efforts put in by Jo, Graeme, Lawrence and Sharron, not only in having the BMWDCM set up and running in record time, but having the day so well organised deserves a huge thank you from what must be by now 200+ members of the BMWDCM.
Michael Franklin-Jones | Member #39 BMW Drivers Club Melbourne
An eye-catching digital campaign presents the BMW M2 Competition (combined fuel consumption: 10.0 – 9.8 l/100 km [9.2-9.0]; combined CO2 emissions: 227 – 224 g/km [209-206]*) as a record breaker with very unusual tools: a high-power laser and a precision blade. The impressive films will be shown in BMW and BMW M social media channels.
The BMW M2 Competition is out to break records. To deliver on this promise, the BMW M2 is drawing inspiration from world records set by humans. At first glance, these appear to have nothing to do with cars: cutting through more than 87 straw mats with a blade within a minute and popping over 63 balloons in 60 seconds with a laser beam.
Uwe Dreher, head of Brand Communications BMW, BMW i, BMW M: "The BMW M2 Competition showcases BMW M genes in their purest form. It is an exceptional car with outstanding dynamic performance, presence and handling. With our digital campaign, we capture the heart of our target audience right where they live and inform themselves: in social media. We provide the BMW M2 Competition with the perfect stage to demonstrate its qualities in impressive style."
For these spectacular challenges – attempted for the first time worldwide – a slightly modified BMW M2 Competition was brought to Cape Town. It comes with the same technology as the series-production vehicle, plus the additional features required for attempting the records: a high-energy laser installed into the front of the vehicle and a blade attached to the rear.
Following meticulous planning and testing, the course was set out and everything was ready: Rolled-up bamboo mats were arranged in semi-circles so that they could be cut by the blade on a drift; the balloons were set up in long straight lines angled sharply towards each other for quick turns. Fans will instantly recognise the shape of the letter M, the most powerful letter in the world.
Technically, the BMW M2 Competition already has everything it takes to be a genuine record-breaker: At its core is a new engine based on the power unit used in the BMW M3 and BMW M4. The inline six-cylinder engine with M TwinPower Turbo Technology produces 410 horsepower and accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.4 seconds. For the first time, BMW M2 drivers will be able to use two selector switches in the central console to directly adjust various characteristics and settings for the engine, steering and Drivelogic functions, if M DCT is available. Optically, the BMW M2 Competition also shows its most expressive side: The revised front apron with a bigger, redesigned high-gloss black BMW kidney grille and the exclusive new Hockenheim Silver metallic finish give the BMW M2 Competition an even stronger presence.
“This is a very tricky bit of driving, it is virtually impossible,” says stunt coordinator Marc Higgins, talking about the set-up. “The demands on the BMW M2 Competition are immense. Every drift has to be performed with absolute precision; there is no room for error. A strong presence and agility naturally help a lot.”
“This challenge is now reaching its finale, after months of preparation. The driver is an expert in his field, but he needs the car to respond precisely to the slightest feedback from him. If the car does not respond, we will not break this record,” explained director Oison Tymon.
And the BMW M2 Competition kept its promises: Despite the complexity of the challenge, the high-performance sports car broke both records. After just a few attempts, 117 bamboo mats were cut and 79 balloons burst – both in precisely one minute.
To proof the authenticity of the stunts, real-time drone footage was captured of the BMW M2 Competition performing the stunts.
The BMW M2 Competition’s record-breaking attempts are part of the “Same street. Different game.” launch campaign and fit the tonality of the campaign perfectly. The extroverted motifs also reference the world of gaming, with high scores and record-breaking runs. That makes sense: From the start of communications, millions of fans worldwide were able to experience the new BMW M2 Competition virtually, within just a few hours of its world premiere at the Beijing Motor Show, in the popular mobile racing game CSR Racing 2.
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