If you're fortunate enough to be there and you have the time to check in please share some highlights with us back in NJ
thanks
Please report in from Oktoberfest
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- Posts: 3
- Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2013 1:05 pm
Oktoberfest
I will do my best. Heading over on Septmber 19, picking up my 335i on the 21st, going to drive it around and then head back to Munich for Oktoberfest. Will post pictures when I can.
I just returned from Monterey after attending the first three days of Oktoberfest. The California chapters did a great job of hosting the event with National and it attracted a huge turnout. A number of people drove from the mid-west and some from the eastern chapters. I only had time to attend some of the events. Here are some highlights:
Dinan
Steve and Jan Dinan hosted a fantastic open house at their Morgan Hill facility. More than 300 people attended. Somehow they made each of us feel like a special guest and they demonstrated how much research and development they put into everything they make. They demonstrated their race engine on the dyno and everyone was duly impressed by its sheer power. They showed us their 3D printer and demonstrated how they use it to make sure everything fits and works perfectly in plastic before they manufacture it.
Monterrey
A neat location and loads of rare cars and trucks being loaded into vans from the prior week's festivities. Mecum was breaking down its auction at the hotel and was packing up the last of the sold and unsold vehicles. Someone bought a beautiful white E30 M3 at Russo and Steele's auction. It was still waiting for transport at one of the lots.
BMW Drives
BMW brought a beautiful blue M6 Grand Coupe with a manual, an orange M6, a blue M6 convertible, and an Alpina B7 for test drives. I drove the M6 Grand Coupe and it is both a civilized cruiser and a wild gnarly beast. Drivers before and after me were besotted and so was I. Monterrey has some great back roads right near the hotel and the Grand Coupe ate them up. It has oodles of power an amazing ability to carve a corner and this wicked back burble when you come off the gas quickly. Frankly I am more of an M3 than M6 fan, but this Grand Coupe is a work of art and science.
(Most amazingly, I had to retrace the route in a brand new, well-equipped Ford Fusion rental car. OK, you can have four or five loaded Fusions for one M6 Grand Coupe, and the Fusion is designed to be a Lexus wannabe. Nevertheless, the Fusion scraped hard and bottomed out on the hairpins even though I drove them well under the meager speed limit. The Grand Coupe, no lightweight, lowered and with low profile summer tires flew through the hairpins over the humps and through the swales without a care. I realize it's a lousy comparison, but it still impressed me.)
The drives were really popular except for the folks who tried to go to Carmel and got stuck in horrible traffic. BMW provided them for three full days!
Concourse
Many amazing cars and a neat BMW logo painted on a practice green at the golf course where the event was held . An older fellow named Jim, who brought a 1936 318i (sorry if I have the wrong year). He also had a wood model built by his dad of a 328i of similar vintage. The wood model used many beautiful and rare woods. Jim disassembled it for us and was really proud of it.
I am always amazed at the time and the detail concourse participants put into their loved ones. We saw one fellow prepping his blue MCoupe from the afternoon to the next morning. I thought it was immaculate before he started. It was also immacculate when I saw it on the fairway the next day. Hope he did well, so many rare and beautiful machines.
Laguna Seca
What an amazing track. Just like Millville, it's built on top of a mountain. There's a hairpin followed by a 16 percent grade just to get to it. You hear about the corkscrew, but you've got to see it
Someday I hope to return to drive that amazing track. I saw many happy exhausted people running it. Lots of people in the car control school in the parking lot, too. One guy in an 850 was experiencing some serious understeer on the figure 8 (dry) a fellow in a Mcoupe on the otherhand preferred serious oversteer! I spent most of the day volunteering with the Michelin AS3 tire test drive. Michelin's new all-season high performance tire is very impressive and they provided two M3s shod with the tires and a nice autocross course for participants to try 'em. These were really cool tires and everyone seemed impressed by them.
We had to leave Monterey on Wednesday. I missed the rallies, autocrosses and autocross schools that continue as I write this back home in the Garden State. Tonight they'll be having a wonderful closing dinner and tomorrow they'll have a special tour of San Simeon. All the California guys have the route to and from Monterrey mapped out to enjoy their Bimmers on roads that they chew up.
We are fortunate to have this club.
Matt
Dinan
Steve and Jan Dinan hosted a fantastic open house at their Morgan Hill facility. More than 300 people attended. Somehow they made each of us feel like a special guest and they demonstrated how much research and development they put into everything they make. They demonstrated their race engine on the dyno and everyone was duly impressed by its sheer power. They showed us their 3D printer and demonstrated how they use it to make sure everything fits and works perfectly in plastic before they manufacture it.
Monterrey
A neat location and loads of rare cars and trucks being loaded into vans from the prior week's festivities. Mecum was breaking down its auction at the hotel and was packing up the last of the sold and unsold vehicles. Someone bought a beautiful white E30 M3 at Russo and Steele's auction. It was still waiting for transport at one of the lots.
BMW Drives
BMW brought a beautiful blue M6 Grand Coupe with a manual, an orange M6, a blue M6 convertible, and an Alpina B7 for test drives. I drove the M6 Grand Coupe and it is both a civilized cruiser and a wild gnarly beast. Drivers before and after me were besotted and so was I. Monterrey has some great back roads right near the hotel and the Grand Coupe ate them up. It has oodles of power an amazing ability to carve a corner and this wicked back burble when you come off the gas quickly. Frankly I am more of an M3 than M6 fan, but this Grand Coupe is a work of art and science.
(Most amazingly, I had to retrace the route in a brand new, well-equipped Ford Fusion rental car. OK, you can have four or five loaded Fusions for one M6 Grand Coupe, and the Fusion is designed to be a Lexus wannabe. Nevertheless, the Fusion scraped hard and bottomed out on the hairpins even though I drove them well under the meager speed limit. The Grand Coupe, no lightweight, lowered and with low profile summer tires flew through the hairpins over the humps and through the swales without a care. I realize it's a lousy comparison, but it still impressed me.)
The drives were really popular except for the folks who tried to go to Carmel and got stuck in horrible traffic. BMW provided them for three full days!
Concourse
Many amazing cars and a neat BMW logo painted on a practice green at the golf course where the event was held . An older fellow named Jim, who brought a 1936 318i (sorry if I have the wrong year). He also had a wood model built by his dad of a 328i of similar vintage. The wood model used many beautiful and rare woods. Jim disassembled it for us and was really proud of it.
I am always amazed at the time and the detail concourse participants put into their loved ones. We saw one fellow prepping his blue MCoupe from the afternoon to the next morning. I thought it was immaculate before he started. It was also immacculate when I saw it on the fairway the next day. Hope he did well, so many rare and beautiful machines.
Laguna Seca
What an amazing track. Just like Millville, it's built on top of a mountain. There's a hairpin followed by a 16 percent grade just to get to it. You hear about the corkscrew, but you've got to see it
Someday I hope to return to drive that amazing track. I saw many happy exhausted people running it. Lots of people in the car control school in the parking lot, too. One guy in an 850 was experiencing some serious understeer on the figure 8 (dry) a fellow in a Mcoupe on the otherhand preferred serious oversteer! I spent most of the day volunteering with the Michelin AS3 tire test drive. Michelin's new all-season high performance tire is very impressive and they provided two M3s shod with the tires and a nice autocross course for participants to try 'em. These were really cool tires and everyone seemed impressed by them.
We had to leave Monterey on Wednesday. I missed the rallies, autocrosses and autocross schools that continue as I write this back home in the Garden State. Tonight they'll be having a wonderful closing dinner and tomorrow they'll have a special tour of San Simeon. All the California guys have the route to and from Monterrey mapped out to enjoy their Bimmers on roads that they chew up.
We are fortunate to have this club.
Matt
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- Posts: 747
- Joined: Wed Sep 15, 2004 2:24 pm
- Location: Glen Ridge, NJ . . . . . . '98 318ti - '01 M5 - '08 X5
mbaratz wrote:I just returned from Monterey after attending the first three days of Oktoberfest. The California chapters did a great job of hosting the event with National and it attracted a huge turnout. A number of people drove from the mid-west and some from the eastern chapters. I only had time to attend some of the events. Here are some highlights:
Dinan
Steve and Jan Dinan hosted a fantastic open house at their Morgan Hill facility. More than 300 people attended. Somehow they made each of us feel like a special guest and they demonstrated how much research and development they put into everything they make. They demonstrated their race engine on the dyno and everyone was duly impressed by its sheer power. They showed us their 3D printer and demonstrated how they use it to make sure everything fits and works perfectly in plastic before they manufacture it.
Monterrey
A neat location and loads of rare cars and trucks being loaded into vans from the prior week's festivities. Mecum was breaking down its auction at the hotel and was packing up the last of the sold and unsold vehicles. Someone bought a beautiful white E30 M3 at Russo and Steele's auction. It was still waiting for transport at one of the lots.
BMW Drives
BMW brought a beautiful blue M6 Grand Coupe with a manual, an orange M6, a blue M6 convertible, and an Alpina B7 for test drives. I drove the M6 Grand Coupe and it is both a civilized cruiser and a wild gnarly beast. Drivers before and after me were besotted and so was I. Monterrey has some great back roads right near the hotel and the Grand Coupe ate them up. It has oodles of power an amazing ability to carve a corner and this wicked back burble when you come off the gas quickly. Frankly I am more of an M3 than M6 fan, but this Grand Coupe is a work of art and science.
(Most amazingly, I had to retrace the route in a brand new, well-equipped Ford Fusion rental car. OK, you can have four or five loaded Fusions for one M6 Grand Coupe, and the Fusion is designed to be a Lexus wannabe. Nevertheless, the Fusion scraped hard and bottomed out on the hairpins even though I drove them well under the meager speed limit. The Grand Coupe, no lightweight, lowered and with low profile summer tires flew through the hairpins over the humps and through the swales without a care. I realize it's a lousy comparison, but it still impressed me.)
The drives were really popular except for the folks who tried to go to Carmel and got stuck in horrible traffic. BMW provided them for three full days!
Concourse
Many amazing cars and a neat BMW logo painted on a practice green at the golf course where the event was held . An older fellow named Jim, who brought a 1936 318i (sorry if I have the wrong year). He also had a wood model built by his dad of a 328i of similar vintage. The wood model used many beautiful and rare woods. Jim disassembled it for us and was really proud of it.
I am always amazed at the time and the detail concourse participants put into their loved ones. We saw one fellow prepping his blue MCoupe from the afternoon to the next morning. I thought it was immaculate before he started. It was also immacculate when I saw it on the fairway the next day. Hope he did well, so many rare and beautiful machines.
Laguna Seca
What an amazing track. Just like Millville, it's built on top of a mountain. There's a hairpin followed by a 16 percent grade just to get to it. You hear about the corkscrew, but you've got to see it
Someday I hope to return to drive that amazing track. I saw many happy exhausted people running it. Lots of people in the car control school in the parking lot, too. One guy in an 850 was experiencing some serious understeer on the figure 8 (dry) a fellow in a Mcoupe on the otherhand preferred serious oversteer! I spent most of the day volunteering with the Michelin AS3 tire test drive. Michelin's new all-season high performance tire is very impressive and they provided two M3s shod with the tires and a nice autocross course for participants to try 'em. These were really cool tires and everyone seemed impressed by them.
We had to leave Monterey on Wednesday. I missed the rallies, autocrosses and autocross schools that continue as I write this back home in the Garden State. Tonight they'll be having a wonderful closing dinner and tomorrow they'll have a special tour of San Simeon. All the California guys have the route to and from Monterrey mapped out to enjoy their Bimmers on roads that they chew up.
We are fortunate to have this club.
Matt
wow epic write-up! thanks
we should have Jerry include this (And some of your pics if you have some) in the newsletter in case not everyone reads the website! I'll make sure he sees this thread
and gone but not forgotten:
'00 323Ci Steel Grey / Black Dinan & UUC & Schnitzer mods
'89 325iX Diamond Black / Black 4dr 5spd Dinan chip, Ireland exhaust, H&R+Koni
'01 525iTa
Car of my dreams??
Any word on the Car of Your Dreams raffle? I need to know when they want me to pick up my M3!
Re: Car of my dreams??
Don't you mean MY M3?staianoa wrote:Any word on the Car of Your Dreams raffle? I need to know when they want me to pick up my M3!
-Jon Trudel, #163357