President’s Corner

For those of you who don’t know me, I previously served as NJ Chapter Vice President for a total of 8 years under Larry Engel, Jeff Caldwell and Neil Gambony.  Prior to that, I was also the business manager. Here’s a little background on me: I was an immigrant from Taiwan who came to the United States in 1985 to attend college in New Jersey. My passion for BMW cars started when I was 8 or 9 years old when my great uncle gave me a ride in his 1974 BMW 528 (E12). It had white exterior with black leather interior. I don’t remember much except how nice the car looked and smelled. Ever since, I’d always wanted to own a BMW. My first car was a 1988 Toyota Corolla GTS. It wasn’t until 1996 when I bought my first BMW, a ’91 E30 M3 (Alpine white/Grey interior) with 58k miles. I remember picking up the car in West Palm Beach, Florida, when the previous owner picked me up at the airport in his E34 M5 Dinan Stage 2 or 3 (another nice car). Once the deal was made, I drove the car to Sanford, Florida, and got on the auto-train to Lorton, Virginia, and drove back to New Jersey and joined BMW CCA shortly after. When I took the car to NJ DMV, it failed emissions testing, so I took it to Rick Kiceniuk in Annandale, who was recommended by another chapter member, Rod Scott. After Rick took a look at the car, he told me the catalytic convertor was bad and needed to be replaced. Coincidentally, he had a spare catalytic converter at his shop and later found out it was from Gary Bossert’s E30 M3. After owning the car for 2 years, Rick told me that I should take the M3 to the track. So I signed up and my first track day was in 1998 at Lime Rock Park. And guess who showed up as my instructor?  Rick Kiceniuk!  I think he asked for me so he can show me what that car is capable of. I found out two things from that track experience. First, how much more the car can handle with an experienced driver.  And second, how bad of a driver I was. After numerous events and many years later, Rick recommended me for ITS (Instructor Training School) and then I became an instructor in 2015. By the way, I no longer have the E30 M3. It was sold to a nice gentleman from Maine. He told me that he would sell it back to me when he decides to sell it. I have not heard from him yet. 🙁