Ballarat Chatter - BMW Car Club Ballarat

Ballarat Chatter
Magazine of the
BMW Car Club, Ballarat, Inc
Serving Country Victoria
Volume 7 : Edition 4 : June 2015
Happy BMW Motoring
BMW CAR CLUB – BALLARAT
OFFICE BEARERS
Peter Butters
President &
Newsletter Editor
Ray Barber
Secretary &
Club Permit Officer
Max Prentice
Treasurer
Bruce Turner
Vice President
Rob Mullins
Web Master
Graeme Burt
Committee Member
Nonie Robertson
Committee Member
Brian Robertson
Committee Member
The things you need to know …..
The BMW Car Club Ballarat, Inc. is a fully accepted member of BMW Clubs Australia. The opinions
expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Club or its Management Group.
BMW Car Club Ballarat –
President’s Report
I recently spent the weekend in
Melbourne for the BMW Clubs Australia
Conference & AGM. Unlike most
attendees who had to fly in I had a
leisurely drive down the freeway.
It is an interesting weekend, with
Ballarat and Hobart being the
‘minnows’ of the organisation. Both the
Victorian Car and Bike clubs are the
largest in Australia and have to be run
as efficient businesses in order to
perform and survive. The BMW Car
Club of Victoria ( Melbourne ) has 700
members, and like some of the other
larger clubs their level of their
computerisation for their operation and
annual renewals etc is staggering. It
highlights how fortunate we the smaller
clubs are with respect to our
administration.
It is also staggering to look at the range
and variations of BMW vehicles now
produced.
As a Club we are very fortunate at the
moment as we are going to reap the
rewards of the abilities of the students
of Federation University. As a project ,
their students are going to design and
build a new website for the BMW Car
Club Ballarat. It is a practical chance for
their initiative and design ideas to
flourish and we as a Club will greatly
benefit from the result. A win win
situation for all.Thank you Federation
University.
On the cover of the Magazine I have
used a photo of Tim Stobo’s CSL to
compliment an article on a modern
update of that 1970’s model. Tim
established Ballarat BMW as we know
it today a decade ago and was a valued
member of our Club. Sadly he
succumbed to illness and so I saw the
opportunity to remember the gentleman
he was.
Very best wishes to all.
Peter Butters …… President
[email protected]
In This Issue –
Run to Bellarine Mini Golf – Saturday April 11
Dinner Meal Royal Mail Hotel – Friday May 1
The President’s Luncheon – Sunday May 17
Upcoming Events
Committee Contact Points
BMW from the NET
RUN TO BELLARINE MINI GOLF
Saturday April 11
We departed Ballarat and journeyed to Wallington on a particularly pleasant day for the
time of year, sat outside for enjoyable repast, and then took seriously to the course for a
very enjoyable experience, but the good news for the professionals is that they are safe !
DINNER MEAL – ROYAL MAIL HOTEL
Friday Evening May 1
THE PRESIDENT’S LUNCHEON - INVERLEIGH HOTEL
Sunday May 17
The interior of the historic hotel has been updated since the photos were taken and
hence we had a very enjoyable function.
Upcoming Events
Diary Dates
Outlined below are some up and coming club events for your diaries.
 Sunday 21st June 2015 - Run to Talbot Market and Maryborough Railway Station for
lunch, meet at Ballarat BMW 10am.
 Sunday 19th July - Xmas in July at the Little Hard Hills hotel at Enfield.
 Saturday August 15th - Run to the Beeac Hotel for lunch – to replicate last years
success ! Coffee at Buniyong 10am for 10.30am departure.
 Friday Evening September 4th – Dinner meal & AGM at the Royal Mail hotel.
 Saturday September 26th - probable date for Bonfire at the Barbers’ at Dunnstown.

MORE DETAILED INFORMATION WILL BE CIRCULATED PRIOR TO THESE EVENTS
*** Date to Reserve – Sunday 22nd November 2015
Our Annual Christmas Pilgrimage to Moorabool Reservoir
Mailing Address : PO Box 4149 Alfredton 3350 WebsiteCommittee
: www.bmwcarclubballarat.org.au
Email Addresses
Committee Contact Points
Peter Butters
[email protected]
Ray Barber
[email protected]
Graeme Burt
[email protected]
Max Prentice [email protected]
Brian Robertson
[email protected]
Bruce Turner
[email protected]
0409 253 139
0427 253 139
0422 405 489
53 364372
0438 522 871
0417 330 808
BMW - from the Net.
BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage concept: The Roundel
goes retro at Villa d’Este
May 26, 2015
BMW brought its 3.0 CSL Hommage concept to the prestigious Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este this year.
The bright green concept is inspired by the lightweight 3.0 CSL homologation special introduced in 1972.
Photo by BMW
Read more: http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/bmw-30-csl-hommage-concept-roundel-goes-retro-villadeste#ixzz3cM4lKfx5
There's more to this tribute than a gigantic rear wing
The covers came off the BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage concept at the 2015 Concorso d’Elegance Villa d’Este
over the weekend, and there’s much more to the lime green two-door than that oversized rear wing. There’s
a smaller, roof-mounted spoiler, also lime green. Plus more swoops and curves than we can count. Most of
those are lime green as well. Add in a racing-inspired interior that manages to make room for a luxuriant
swath of hardwood on the dash and you’ve got a very striking concept fueled by some serious performance
heritage.
The 3.0 CSL Hommage was inspired by the classic, successful 3.0 CSL homologation special -- and its
racing counterpart -- introduced in 1972. Like its nominal predecessors, the new concept chips away at mass
with the most advanced lightweight materials available. Back in the '70s, that would have been aluminum.
Here, BMW has used carbon fiber, leaving the composite material exposed wherever it’s been deployed.
Read more: http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/bmw-30-csl-hommage-concept-roundel-goes-retro-villadeste#ixzz3cM4tYx1S
1 of 14BMW brought its 3.0 CSL Hommage concept to the prestigious Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este
this year. The bright green concept is inspired by the lightweight 3.0 CSL homologation special introduced
in 1972.
Photo by BMW
The built-in fire extinguisher and racing-inspired steering wheel are a clear indication of the 3.0 CLS's
motorsport inspiration. Photo by BMW
The big difference between the original 3.0 CSL and its modern concept counterpart is that the former car
was actually built, sold and raced. The Hommage concept is likely to remain a one-off, and we’d be
surprised if it will ever be driven in anything approaching anger.
Still, we’ll note that BMW’s prior Villa d’Este productions have been more than idle styling exercises. Hints
of the Gran Lusso Coupe Concept have made the jump to the upcoming 2016 7-series (if not a hypothetical
8-series coupe), the i8 has a lot in common with the M1 Homage concept and the Concept Ninety
motorcycle morphed into the production BMW R nineT. The BMW 328 we saw in 2011? Let’s consider that
spartan roadster the exception to the rule.
BMW hasn’t bothered discussing powertrains, instead using its press-release budget to focus on the car’s
LED and laser-based lighting systems and racing-inspired interior. Based on the name, the 3.0-liter inlinesix seems like a natural powerplant -- perhaps too obvious for the Bavarian automaker. The center console is
missing a manual gear selector, but a dual clutch makes perfect sense here, given the car’s racing intent.
Weight and performance are also left up to our very vivid imaginations. So we're going to assume it's a sub3,000-pound M235i-sized coupe with an engine and transmission pulled from a new M3. With sticky tires,
it'll do 0-60 in something like 3.5 seconds. What say you, BMW?
No word on this car's production prospects, but you could just buy a Supra if you want a gigantic rear wing.
Photo by BMW
Read more: http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/bmw-30-csl-hommage-concept-roundel-goes-retro-villadeste#ixzz3cM41h8Ea
BMW has succeeded with small SUVs where Audi
and Mercedes stumbled
Benjamin Zhang Yesterday at 10:50 AM
This week, BMW unveiled its second generation X1 luxury compact crossover, set to debut as a 2016
model.
The X1 is the smallest of BMW’s SUV offerings and will also be priced as one of the brand’s most
affordable models, starting in the low $US30,000 range.
Initially, the only powerplant available is the company’s 2.0-litre TwinPower turbocharged inline-4-cylinder
engine. It will crank out 228 horsepower — although that figure is down from the 240 in the current
generation car.
Even though it’s less powerful than its predecessor, the new X1’s 0-60 mph time of 6.3 seconds remains
unchanged.
The first generation X1 was relatively well received when it arrived in the US in 2013, but it didn’t garner
the kind of sales the company would have liked. With the new car, BMW got a second bite at the apple —
and boy, did they get it right.
The new X1 is the best looking compact crossover on the market today.
BMW has managed to do what Mercedes and Audi couldn’t successfully accomplish — make a compact
SUV look as good as the larger vehicles their designs are meant to emulate.
Audi X3.
The Mercedes-Benz GL and the Audi Q7 are both attractive and highly regarded large SUVs. So with the
compact GLK and Q3 models, Mercedes and Audi tried to recreate them in a scaled down package.
The result is styling that’s rather awkward and misproportioned — like a sweater that’s small not because it
was meant to be that size, but rather was accidentally left in the dryer too long.
Styling aside, the GLK and the Q3 are very competent vehicles. In fact, Business Insider’s Matt DeBord
found the Q3 to be a very fun and enjoyable car to drive.
With the new X1, BMW has been able to not only deliver a dynamic vehicle, but also one that’s truly
pleasing to the eye.
Mercedes-Benz GLK.
This is because BMW has the distinct advantage of having a design aesthetic that doesn’t scale down, but
rather scales up. For example, with Mercedes, the design conversation begins and ends with its flagship SClass sedan. Everything the brand makes is some sort of derivative of the styling found on the big car. In
most instances, the execution is excellent.
However, as the design language is shrunken down to fit smaller vehicles, the look often becomes distorted
and the proportions of the car are thrown off kilter. This is exactly what happened on the Mercedes GLK.
On the other hand, BMW’s design language derives not from its large vehicles, but rather its smaller 3Series and 5-Series sedans — historically, the spine of the company’s lineup.
As a result, when it came time to style to the new X1, designers didn’t have to shrink down the design
language. Instead, all they had to was tweak it for a taller SUV body.
The result is a compact crossover SUV with eye-pleasing proportions that’s unmistakably a BMW.
BMW Is A Company Moving Forward
June 6th, 2015 by Nico DeMattia 0
Porsche is a car company that has been a favorite amongst automotive purists. People who love driving
that’s stripped down to the absolute basics. If …
Porsche is a car company that has been a favorite amongst automotive purists. People who love driving
that’s stripped down to the absolute basics. If you absolutely love to drive, regardless of your preferred
brand, you most likely like Porsche. However, the fans of the famous Stuttgart brand are growing more
upset with each and every year as Porsche decides to give its “pure” cars dual-clutch transmissions and allwheel drive, like the 911 GT3 and Turbo models. So, according to Autocar, to make these upset enthusiasts
happy, Porsche has decided to make a new line of GT 911s which will be focused more on driving pleasure
than lap times and have a manual gearbox only.
This is a good move by Porsche. A low-volume purists Porsche will get some of its fanbase back without
hurting the bank too much. Plus, all the parts and tooling already exist, so it won’t be a massive undertaking
to make such a car. By now, you’re probably wondering why I’m blabbing about Porsche. Well, the idea to
make a “purist’s” model got me thinking, should BMW do the same?
BMW is also having a bit of an enthusiast crisis at the moment. Both companies are being ridiculed for their
choices to switch to electric power steering, turbocharging and automatics. It doesn’t matter how good a new
BMW is, someone with a keyboard with Caps Lock on will yell about how the steering isn’t dripping with
the same communication that once inhabited the helm of an E30 M3, or why it has a DCT instead of a
manual. So would it be a good idea for BMW to make a purist’s car variant, like Porsche is doing?
I actually don’t think so. See, Porsche is a company known for its heritage and specific way of doing things.
It’s why, despite physics’ claims toward the contrary, Porsche is insistent that a rear-engine design is the
best way to make a sports car. So its fans are equally as stubborn. They don’t like change, they don’t want a
new Porsche with all of the gadgets that make it go faster. If you asked them, they’d still want their 911s aircooled. But BMW isn’t a company that rests its laurels on the past. BMW is a company that looks forward.
If you look at every great BMW throughout history, they’ve all broken new boundaries for the time. The
2002, 3.0 CSL, M1, E28 M5, E30 M3, etc, all were far ahead of their time. So, even though many BMW
fans are up in arms about the lack of manual gearboxes in so many new cars or the death of hydraulic
steering, BMW must push forward and be that pioneer. It can’t sit around and reminisce about that days that
were.
Should BMW cut manuals out all together? Of course not, not for a very long time. Manuals should exist for
as long as they can, because you can’t forget your roots. But making a car that specifically tries to be
something of the past isn’t BMW’s style. BMW likes to break down walls and blaze new trails, using its
heritage combined with cutting edge technology. BMW is a car company that’s always on the verge of
discovery. So even though I’ll be sad to see so many of the old qualities that I so loved about BMWs, BMW
knows what it’s doing, and I trust where it’s headed. Not looking back at where it’s been.
ALPINA D3 – An Everyday M3 Alternative
BMW M3 | June 6th, 2015 by Nico DeMattia 0
The current F80 BMW M3 is a riot of a car. It’s fast, aggressive, loud and loves to oversteer. It’s a car that
makes it …
The current F80 BMW M3 is a riot of a car. It’s fast, aggressive, loud and loves to oversteer. It’s a car that
makes it hard to frown in. The M3 is fun to a point of being silly. But at the moment, that seems to be the
only thing the current M3 is really good at. M3s of the past were always favorites amongst enthusiasts and
journalists alike, due to their duality. They were always silly, fun slidey cars, but they could also calm down
and become everyday cruisers. While the F80 M3 isn’t a dog shed on the inside nor does it ride like
military-spec Hummer, it’s not the most comfortable of daily drivers.
Now of course, the new M3 isn’t meant to be a comfortable car. It’s meant to be a fast and aggressive sports
car and, in that regard, is a resounding success. I just feel it lacks a bit of the duality of previous cars. It
seems a bit too aggressive. But there might be another 3 Series that tows the line, between manic sports car
and comfortable cruiser, even better. The ALPINA D3.
What ALPINA did with the D3 is take a standard 3 Series diesel, and turn it into a monster. It still has a
BMW 3.0 liter turbocharged diesel engine, except in ALPINA form it creates 350 horsepower and 516 lb-ft
of torque. That’s a lot of torque for such a small sedan. Those are Ram diesel truck torque numbers in a
luxury sedan. It can do 0-60 in 4.5 seconds and has a top speed of 172 mph. So it’s a bit slower to 60 mph
than the M3, but has a higher top speed. Though in fairness, the M3’s 155 mph top speed is electronically
limited. The D3 also uses the ZF-sourced 8-Speed automatic and has an electronically controlled
differential. Plus, it’s far more economical, being a diesel and all.
Related: F80 BMW M3 Sedan vs. Alpina D3 – Video
In a older video from Autocar, they pit both the D3 and M3 against each other in a variety of tests. In speed
and handling, it’s actually quite surprising how close the D3 is to the M3, despite being heavier and down on
power. Thank all of that planet-pulling torque. The D3 has a more luxurious cabin, as all ALPINAs are
gorgeously appointed on the inside, and is much quieter. So it can be that quiet cruiser when you aren’t
hammering it. Making it a perfect sport sedan.
But wait, there’s more. The ALPINA D3 has another trick up its sleeve that the M3 simply cannot match.
The D3 can be had in wagon form. That’s right, BMW won’t give us an M3 Touring, so ALPINA does. The
D3 Touring can be had in both rear and all-wheel drive and all of the tire-scorching performance of the
sedan. In theory then, the ALPINA D3 is the perfect car. It’s fast, good looking, comfortable and, in wagon
for, supremely practical. It’s all things, the way previous M3’s used to be.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the F80 M3. It’s an absolute animal and I covet it greatly. And given the choice,
I still think I’d take the M3 over the D3, simply because it’s more desirable. But for the people who want a
more civilized M3, one that they can take the kids to school in, or a Touring version, the D3 is their car. And
what an amazing car it is.
Once again
Until our next Issue - happy BMW Motoring