When I was a new club member about 10 years ago, I was initially slow about attending my first event because I would not know anybody. But the members at my first event greeted me and were happy I was there. Therefore, I have been coming back ever since. So, what is holding you back?

In the fall of 2010, we had two brand new members attend Oktoberfest at Road America in Wisconsin as their first club event. They had a splendid time attending the many activities provided at O’fest, and since then, they have also attended the 2011 Fall Colors Drive and had the same wonderful time. So, what is holding the other 90% back? We have attempted to publicize our events via our newsletter Newswerks, via our Facebook and Twitter accounts and also through our email announcements. So, what is holding you back?

We are just a little over a month away from our signature event of the year, our Annual Dinner and Awards Banquet. For the first time in our history, the banquet will be held at one of our primary sponsors facilities on the showroom floor at BMW of Des Moines.

The site of 2012 Oktoberfest has just been announced which will be at Mid-Ohio Raceway from September 17-22.

So, what is holding you back?

If you have some direct insight as to what keeps you away from events, or what could attract others, let us know. Email me at president@bmwia.org.

The weather cooperated with us and we woke Saturday to a sunny day. For those in the Des Moines area, the tour started with breakfast at the 5 and Diner in Pleasant Hill at an early 7:30 a.m. We departed for Mt. Pleasant about 9:30 a.m. with 13 cars. We met 6 additional cars from eastern Iowa on our arrival in Mt Pleasant. We enjoyed lunch at a local bar and grill called Press Box Grill and Bar. This gave everyone a nice opportunity to meet and visit with the rest of the participants before heading to our final destination – Hannibal.

We arrived in Hannibal around 2:30 p.m., checked in to the host hotel – Best Western on the River near downtown Hannibal – and spent the rest of the afternoon sightseeing around the downtown area. At 6 p.m. we met at the Mark Twain Riverboat for an evening dinner cruise. The cruise was enjoyable although the early sunset prevented seeing much of the local scenery from the boat after dinner.

On Sunday, some early showers attempted to dampen our day but the weather once again cooperated and dried much of it off as a group of 9 cars met and drove a scenic loop south of Hannibal. We stopped at a few scenic overlooks along the way and everyone was able to get some photos of cars, scenery and old and new friends. A few hung around for lunch at a local café and then everyone was on their own for the trip home.

Thanks to everyone that participated and made it such an enjoyable weekend.

We came up with a TON of great ideas for the 2012 calendar, and maybe some that we can use in future years. Some of these ideas included doing a progressive garage tour, and sampling hors d’oervres along the way, a ladies’ night tech session, or how to take great automotive pictures.

We also discussed partnering with other car clubs and advertising their events on our website and vice versa. There are a lot of other great car clubs in the area, and maybe we could recruit some of their members to be a part of our group!

We discussed changing the format of the annual photo rally to make it more of a scavenger hunt or trap rally, as well as doing more driving-oriented events. Several suggested doing a Sunday drive to a wine tasting at one of the many Iowa wineries, or perhaps a drive to our monthly social dinner. All that attended the Vintage Torquefest and karting events in Maquoketa agreed that they were good events to add to the 2012 calendar.

At the end of the lunch, we started to firm up our 2012 calendar. Here’s how things shook out:

January: Social at an Iowa Energy or Des Moines Bucaneers games
February: Annual Dinner & Awards Banquet at BMW of Des Moines, Feb. 18, 6:30 p.m.
March: Spring drive to Blakesburg Antique Airplane Museum, starting in Pella, Marh 25.
April: Photo Rally in Des Moines, Sat. 28th; 14th — Tech Session at J&J in Cedar Rapids
May: Sunday 20th, karting in Maquoketa, Vintage Torquefest 4th & 5th
June: 8th-10th, Longest Day Driving School, Mid America Motorplex, Pacific Junction, IA; Possibly help with traffic at Iowa Speedway
July: Annual picnic, maybe near Des Moines; tech session at Jon Volz’ shop
August: I-Cubs game; possible multi-chapter driving school at Heartland Park Topeka
September: Oktoberfest, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Monday 17th-Sunday 23rd; Sunbelt/KC chapter driving school at Hallett Fri. 7th-Sun 9th; Salisbury House Concours d’Elegance Sat. 8th and Sun. 9th
October: Sun. 7th European Car Show at J&J in Cedar Rapids; Fall Color Tour, date & location TBA
November: Annual Planning Meeting
December: chili/video game session

Again, thanks to all who participated, and we hope to see everyone at an event or two in 2012! If you couldn’t make it out to the meeting, but have ideas, email Social Events Coordinator Alison Bell at alison.bell@bmwia.org.

Denison, Iowa

BMW’s owned:

1971 2002(1976-1979), 1975 2002 (1979-1983), 1983 733i (1990-1994)

Currently owned:

Non-running 1972 2002 with Nissan 3.0 Turbo motor and 5 speed transmission, with spare Nissan Motor and Transmission; also have original BMW motor and 4 speed manual transmission. Recently acquired a running 1971 2002.

We purchased our first BMW because Ed needed a car to drive to work and wanted something unique and sporty. A friend’s brother had introduced Ed to a BMW 1600, which the brother provided a few exhilarating drives around Iowa City. The 71 2002 was a nice little car to drive, but with 120,000 miles, blue smoke and rust it, was time to trade. We then bought the 75 2002 from Otto Buwalda Imports in Ames. It was a beautiful orange, that I soon would turn into Hawkeye Old Gold and Black (one of the bigger mistakes in my life). When the jacking points rusted through, we temporarily got out of the BMW business. A few years later Ed came across a 733i with only 73,000 miles. Although not quick off the line, it was a real cruiser. From 70 to 90 mph, it was relatively quick.

Two favorite stories:

We drove the 75 2002 to French Lick Indiana one summer, with our 8 year old daughter Ellen, safely buckled in the back seat. French lick, the birthplace of Larry Bird, is a relatively rural area with seemingly unending two lane blacktop roads with little or no traffic and many 15-25 MPH curves. As Ed was running through the gears and using his best heal/toe downshifting technique, our daughter was enjoying leaning first left, then right. When Ed slowed down, Ellen suddenly piped up “Faster Dad, I can take it”. A sports car fanatic in the making!

One Christmas we had driven to San Antonio in the 733i. On the return trip, we encountered rain, then ice, then snow somewhere near Dallas. We drove the next 350 miles in the worst of driving conditions. I was so impressed with the handling and traction of this heavy real wheel drive car as we passed at 35 MPH four wheel drive SUV’s and other vehicles that had found the median or ditches. Even when we exited the car after 19 hour drive, it just didn’t seem that bad. In retrospect, I suspect it was because that car was so stable and comfortable.

Favorite Club Event:

At this point, we would agree that the fall drive to Hanibal was our favorite event; mostly because of the social interaction and driving. We also enjoy the monthly socials.

Dream Car:

1971 2002 all painted with a updated 1989-90 318i engine and 5 speed manual tranny, with some updated suspension, brakes, and electronic upgrades. I intend to have this car be my daily driver. Another story: last month as we were driving it to Urbandale from Marshalltown (where I had just bought it), I stopped for a short break at the Caseys in Bondurant. As I got out of the car, a young girl about 14 commented, “What a neat car!” That made my day and completely erased any thoughts of buyer’s remorse.

This sound is usually the worst when you first start driving. The regulator is located on the passenger side of the consol to the left of the glove box. There are some really great DIY’s on the internet for this repair. One google search for “e46 Blower Motor Resistor/Regulator DIY” will bring up several with step-by-step instructions. You can find the part numbers for your particular vehicle at www.realoem.com with the last 7-digits of your car’s VIN number. I have found that the prices listed on realoem are pretty reasonable. However, if you buy from your local BMW dealership, you also get to use your membership discount. This is just one more reason to have a membership, especially if you are a DIYer.

In the picture, the original part is the taller one on the right and the redesigned replacement is the short one on the left. The redesign part appears to be manufactured too, but is more sensitive with significantly more rods on the body. This is a repair that can be done with a few simple tools and one of the DIY’s from the web and a Bentley manual for good measure.

Well we were not a minute late to our check in for delivery. It took just a few minutes going over documents then signing papers, the process seemed overly easy.

In the Premium Lounge we helped ourselves to some pretty decent food and drink. I couldn’t resist not having a beer! All along Karisa, my wife, thought we were getting the car in Interlagos Blue which was her third choice behind Moonstone and Jerez Black. I said Moonstone was too expensive, but I ordered it for her anyway. I figured the car was on the floor, but I didn’t want Karisa to see it pre-delivery. So I snuck out to the balcony that overlooks the delivery floor and saw our M3 for the first time. Wow! The car looked amazing and Karisa did right on the color, no regrets.

Finally, we saw our name on the board and went out to meet Bernard, our delivery specialist. We casually walked down the stairs to see the car spinning under a spot light. All Karisa could say is ‘that’s not our car’. Bernard was perplexed, then I said ‘Surprise its Moonstone!’ and she was floored! I actually pulled it off, she was truly surprised! Bernard…truly confused!

Once we let Bernard in on the secret, he proceeded to go over the engineering highlights of the M3. He was fantastic going over everything technical about the car and even snapping a few pics for us with our camera.

After about an hour he said he had to prepare for his next delivery and told us to take our time. We attached the Go Pro camera to the roof and proceeded to do two “victory laps” around delivery floor. What a great feeling to finally be sitting in the car driving it for the first time around the Welt. An experience which every BMW enthusiast should experience at some point in their life.

Other highlights of the trip included a trip to south Germany to get a glimpse of the Bavarian Alps, several nights in the Black Forest and an overnight stop at the Nurburgring, my favorite stop. In Germany the roads were very scenic and very curvy. The views were spectacular! What a way to break in an M3!

The Grimes Community Complex made for a great venue for fitting all of this in to. Station 1 consisted of two Xbox360s networked together playing Project Gotham Racing 4. There, up to 4 people could race head-to-head on anything from a DeLorean, to a BMW motorcycle, to a McLaren F1. The physics were not real, but the fun was! Our most realistic experience was at station 2. A Playstation 2 was set up with Gran Turismo 4. Here, 2 players could go head-to-head racing in a very rich gaming environment, complete with a physical steering wheel and pedals. The BMW 2002tii was, of course, a popular choice for car. Station 3 had a Wii, where up to 4 people could play Mario Kart. Here the popular choice was the red shell. Take that Bowser, yah! Finally, at station 4, we had another Xbox360 playing Forza 4, projected on to an 8 foot wall. At this station, players could experience some of the most competitively raced tracks in the world, from Road America in Wisconsin, to the Nürburgring in Germany, all from the comfort of a couch on a rainy Saturday in Grimes, Iowa. There was usually someone in the room who had been to the track being raced, and hearing stories from them was an exciting addition to the experience.

Thanks to everyone for coming, and don’t forget the chili! Multiple pots were simmering all day, and made for a great tasting break from the fun. A special thanks to those who brought in their recipes. I enjoyed them all greatly.

Now is your chance to voice your opinion! Last year, for the first time, our chapter held a “members annual planning session” to discuss and plan the 2011 activity calendar. We had a nice turn out for free pizza and discussion in Iowa City last year.

The Board of Directors felt the planning session was very successful and let us put together a comprehensive yearly plan to tie activities together and recruit activity chairman at the same time. We will once again be soliciting information and ideas for new and different activities that might be interesting to our members. We will discuss which club events were successful and would like to sponsor again and which ones should drift into our memories.

All ideas brought to the meeting will be discussed on their merit, interest to club members and feasibility. We hope to have a larger group than last year with more new and interesting ideas brought to the table.

You are all invited to attend our yearly “annual planning meeting” to discuss new and old activities. Please bring information for us to discuss and help plan next year’s calendar for your club. This meeting will feature free pizza and conversation beginning at noon on Sunday, Nov. 20 at Sam and Louis’s Pizza located at 86th and Hickman in Urbandale. Hope to see you there!