Bombe...6 Die Flüsternde Bombe April 2008 Die Flüsternde Bombe 7 Calendar Of Events To add an event to the calendar, email your information to: [email protected]

Inside:Infineon School Canepa Design TourCentral Coast Meet & GreetBMW Sauber F1 Tech Session

BombeBombeBombeBombeBombeBombeBombeBombeBombeBombeBombeBombeBombedie flüsternde Volume 37 Number 3April 2008

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1April 2008 Die Flüsternde BombeBMW CCA#

2 April 2008 3April 2008Die Flüsternde Bombe Die Flüsternde Bombe

On the cover

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Your input is encouraged! Magazine submissions deadline is the 1st of each month prior to publication.

Chapter Email List Disclosure:The Golden Gate Chapter has created an

email list from the National BMW CCA data-base to send out event announcements that don’t make it into print. We promise to respect your time and limit the frequency of these mes-sages to one or two a month.

This email list is sent to all Golden Gate chapter members who chose to provide an email address to the BMW CCA when they joined or renewed their membership. You have the option to add or remove your address from this list at any time. To add your email address visit http://lists.ggcbmwcca.org/mailman/listinfo/announce and follow the directions. To remove your address go to http://lists.ggcb-mwcca.org/mailman/options/announce, enter your email address and click on the unsub-scribe button. There is no password.

www.ggcBMWcca.org

1971-2008Golden Gate Chapter

Celebrating 37 years of BMW enthusiasm in the

Golden Gate region.

Classified Advertising Submissions:Our online Classified Ads are free to all current

BMW CCA members. To submit an ad, please visit Golden Gate chapter’s website: www.ggcb-mwcca.org. This magazine no longer accepts classified ads for print.

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(except for combined issues Nov/Dec and Jan/Feb). Article/photo submission deadline is the first day of each month prior to publication. Submissions go to the Assignments Editor at: [email protected].

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5,000 BMW enthusiasts in Northern California. Deadline for new ad artwork is the fifth day of each month prior to publication. Please submit artwork to the Advertising Manager.

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650 851-74424170 Alpine RoadPortola Valley, CA 94028Website: www. pvgarage.comOnline scheduling: www. pvg.mechanicnet.comEmail: [email protected]

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“ The Wh i spe r i ng Bomb”The Official Magazine of the Golden Gate Chapter, BMW CCA

Volume 37, No. 3 April, 2008 Die Flüsternde Bombe

Spring is in the air, and M3s are in bloom at Infineon Raceway.

Photo: Grant Low

Across The Board ......................................5Calendar Of Events ...................................6Announcements ........................................7Minutes .....................................................10News From National ..............................19New Members .........................................20Grumble Strip ..........................................23CCA Discounts ........................................25Factory Authorized BMW Dealers ......25Chapter Information ...............................26

BMW Sauber F1 Tech Session By Robert Pavel .....................12

Canepa Design Tour By Mike Zampiceni Photos by David Crum & Mike Zampiceni ..................14

March Infineon School Photos by Don Louv, Grant Low, & John Orbon .........................16

Central Coast Meet & Greet By Dennis Harrold .................18

Teen Street Survival School........27HPDS At Laguna Seca ................28


drive to a social event actually requires pack-ing provisions in the back of the M coupe. If I am gonna make an event, it has to be planned months in ad-vance. Lucky for me, the chapter calendar is up-to-date, and I can get to planning.

You, too, can get to planning—have a look at the calendar and sign yourself up for an event. Maybe I will sign up for the same one. Maybe we will meet. Maybe I am sounding like a stalker. Maybe I need to stop typing. Maybe I will, OKAY!? You are SOOO NOT the boss of me! Don’t go tellin’ ME what to do!

Those new kids on the board REALLY need to write this column.

Acro

ss Th

e Bo

redWho’s Foolin’ Who?

We have some new faces in the GGC board this year and I feel like that means very good things for the Chapter! Mostly because I plan to make the

new “kids” write these “Across The Board” columns instead of us old-timers. (If this column shows in print, you know how well that plan worked out for me.)

Actually, the new blood means that the board needs to re-visit some long-held practices and ideas, if for no other reason than to hip the young’uns to the proverbial scene. This process will either prove that our methods are strong and hardened, or illuminate some areas where we can improve the Chapter. Either way, I think it’s a good exercise, as long as that Goebel fella stops asking so many questions.

We have taken a long hard look at many aspects of the Club (no jive – check out the meeting minutes from January—meeting “minutes” doesn’t do them justice, they are more like meeting “days”). I foresee a lot of good change and a lot of opportunity for members to get involved.

This year is shaping up to be a strong one. We have planned 50% more car-control clinics, many more meet-and-greets than ever before, and we have a new focus on the social events within the Chapter. Members who love their cars, but aren’t necessar-ily interested in participating in driving events, should be able to find some great opportunities this year to mix and mingle with the good folks that make up this chapter.

Heck, I may even make it out to a few social events this year—and I am not a big mingler! (Hey, I saw you at the Winter Party. ~kk) I live so far away from civilization that making a

By Chris Webber Clooney, SecretaryBy Chris Webber Clooney,


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To add an event to the calendar, email your information to: [email protected]

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Dates Event/Location ContactApril

Apr 5-6 Driving School Sin City Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV Tim Gruber www.vegasdrivingschool.com [email protected] 8 Board Meeting GG Chpt Gau Poang Restaurant, San Mateo Jeff Cowan www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 11 Driving School Puget Sound Pacific Raceways, Kent, WA Eric Bitte www.bmwpugetsound.com [email protected] 11-13 Club Race GG Chpt Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey Mike Mills www.bmwccaclubracing.com [email protected] 12 Pinnacles Tour, Hike & Picnic GG Chpt Pinnacles National Monument, Paicines David Crum www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 19 Autocross GG Chpt Marina Municipal Airport, Marina Kris Linquist & Matt Visser www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 19 Filoli Home & Garden Tour GG Chpt Filoli Center, Woodside Mike Zampiceni www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected]

MayMay 1 Driving School Puget Sound Pacific Raceways, Kent, WA Eric Bitte www.bmwpugetsound.com [email protected] 3 Sierra Foothills Wine-Tasting Tour GG Chpt Sonora, CA Nina Torres www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 3 Bimmerfest Bimmerfest Earl Warren Showgrounds, Santa Barbara www.bimmerfest.com May 3-4 Driving School Roadrunner Chpt Phoenix International Raceway, Phoenix, AZ Rick Touton www.roadrunnerbmw.org [email protected] 10 Board Meeting GG Chpt Gau Poang Restaurant, San Mateo Jeff Cowan www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 24 Sonoma Coast Tour GG Chpt Sonoma David Crum www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 30 Driving School Central Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Buttonwillow, CA Peter Kwan www.ccbmwcca.org May 31 Street Survival School GG Chpt Monster Park, San Francisco Bob Goebel www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 31 Driving School LA Chpt Willow Springs Int’l Raceway, Rosamond, CA Delight Lucas www.bmwclubla.org [email protected] 31-Jun 1 Club Race/LA Chpt Willow Springs Int’l Raceway, Rosamond, CA Patrick Avakian www.bmwccaclubracing.com [email protected]

JuneJun 1 Autocross GG Chpt Monster Park, San Francisco Kris Linquist & Matt Visser www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 4 Laguna Seca Driving School GG Chpt Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, CA Billy Maher & Peter Vinsel www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 6-8 5er Fest 2008 Sierra Chpt Reno, NV 5er Fest www.5erfest.net [email protected] 10 Board Meeting GG Chpt Gau Poang Restaurant, San Mateo Jeff Cowan www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 14 Tours & Tanks II GG Chpt Military Vehicle Technology Foundation, Portola Valley Kris Linquist www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected]

Jun 21-22 Club Racing School DCI/NASA Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Buttonwillow, CAJun 21 Autocross School GG Chpt Marina Municipal Airport, Marina Kris Linquist & Matt Visser www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 22 Autocross GG Chpt Marina Municipal Airport, Marina Kris Linquist & Matt Visser www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 23-24 Driving School Inland Empire Spokane Raceway Park, Spokane, WA Scott Adare www.iebmw.org [email protected] 27-29 Driving School Sierra Chpt Reno-Fernley Raceway, Fernley, NV www.sierrabmwcarclub.org/ Jun 28 GGC Summer Drive & Picnic GG Chpt Los Altos Hills, CA Mike Zampiceni www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected]

JulyJul 11 Driving School Puget Sound Pacific Raceways, Kent, WA Eric Bitte www.bmwpugetsound.com [email protected] 12 Calistoga & Clear Lake Tour GG Chpt Upper Napa Valley to Clear Lake David Crum www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 12 Board Meeting GG Chpt Gau Poang Restaurant, San Mateo Jeff Cowan www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 19-20 Driving School SanDiego Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Buttonwillow, CA www.sdbmwcca.com/ Jul 19-20 Club Race SanDiego Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Buttonwillow, CA Matthew Kogan www.bmwccaclubracing.com [email protected] 19 Car Control Clinic GG Chpt Marina Municipal Airport, Marina Bob Goebel & Grant Low www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 20 Autocross GG Chpt Marina Municipal Airport, Marina Kris Linquist & Matt Visser www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected]

AugustAug 9-10 Thunderhill Driving School GG Chpt Thunderhill Raceway Park, Willows, CA Billy Maher & Peter Vinsel www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 9-10 Club Racing School GG Chpt Thunderhill Raceway Park, Willows, CA Aug 12 Board Meeting GG Chpt Gau Poang Restaurant, San Mateo Jeff Cowan www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 15 Ultimate Clean Car Contest at Concorso Italiano CC Chpt Monterey Bay, CA www.ccbmwcca.org Aug 15-17 BMW Festorics GG Chpt Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, CA David Crum www.ggcbmwcca.org festorics.orgAug 23 Autocross GG Chpt Marina Municipal Airport, Marina Kris Linquist & Matt Visser www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected]

SeptemberSep 13 Mt. Hamilton & Mt. Diablo Tour GG Chpt Mt. Hamilton & Mt. Diablo David Crum www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 13 Board Meeting GG Chpt Gau Poang Restaurant, San Mateo Jeff Cowan www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 20 Car Control Clinic GG Chpt Marina Municipal Airport, Marina Bob Goebel & Grant Low www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 20-21 Club Race GG Chpt Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, CA Mike Mills www.bmwclubracing.com [email protected]

Sep 25 Driving School Puget Sound Pacific Raceways, Kent, WA Eric Bitte www.bmwpugetsound.com [email protected]‘Sep 27-28 Driving School LA Chpt California Speedway, Fontana, CA Delight Lucas www.bmwclubla.org [email protected] 21 Autocross GG Chpt Marina Municipal Airport, Marina Kris Linquist & Matt Visser www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 23-28 BMW CCA Oktoberfest 2008 BMW CCA Watkins Glen, NY Linda Axelson www.bmwcca.org [email protected] 864 250-0022

OctoberOct 3-4 Driving School Roadrunner/Sonora Phoenix International Raceway, Phoenix, AZ Rick Touton www.roadrunnerbmw.org [email protected] 11-12 Club Racing School DCI/NASA Willow Springs Int’l Raceway, Rosamond, CA Oct 13-14 Driving School Inland Empire Spokane Raceway Park, Spokane, WA Scott Adare www.iebmw.org [email protected] 14 Board Meeting GG Chpt Gau Poang Restaurant, San Mateo Jeff Cowan www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 18 Car Control Clinic GG Chpt Marina Municipal Airport, Marina Bob Goebel & Grant Low www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 19 Autocross GG Chpt Marina Municipal Airport, Marina Kris Linquist & Matt Visser www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 19 Campbell Oktoberfest German Car Show Vintage VW Campbell, CA Mike Zampiceni www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 25-26 Club Race GG Chpt Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, CA Mike Mills www.bmwclubracing.com [email protected]

NovemberNov 1-2 Infineon Driving School GG Chpt Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, CA Billy Maher & Peter Vinsel www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 8-9 Club Race LA Chpt Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Buttonwillow, CA Patrick Avakian www.bmwccaclubracing.com [email protected] Nov 9 Top Driver Shootout GG Chpt Marina Municipal Airport, Marina Kris Linquist & Matt Visser www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected] 15 Board Meeting GG Chpt Gau Poang Restaurant, San Mateo Jeff Cowan www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected]

DecemberDec 9 Board Meeting GG Chpt Gau Poang Restaurant, San Mateo Jeff Cowan www.ggcbmwcca.org [email protected]

Bolded events are Regional or National CCA events

April Board MeetingPlease join us Tuesday night, April 8, at Gau Poang Restau-

rant in San Mateo board meeting. All members are welcome.Meeting begins at 6:30 p.m.; a private room is reserved

under GGC BMW Car Club.When: April 8, 6:30 p.m.Where: Gau Poang, 1208 S El Camino Real, San MateoContact: Jeff Cowan, [email protected]

Club Race - Laguna SecaCome cheer on your chapter Club racers in wheel-to-wheel

road racing at Laguna Seca during the April 11-13 BMW CCA Club Race weekend.

This is “gentlemanly” racing where contact or damage of any kind results in penalties. Some would argue it takes more skill to compete in this format. Come out to beautiful Laguna Seca and judge for yourself!

BMW CCA Club Racing was started in 1995 to provide a competition venue for Club racers to drive their BMW race cars in a fun, fair, and safe environment. BMW CCA Club Racing is a self-sustaining program of the BMW Car Club of America and emphasizes driver skill, car preparation, good sportsmanship, camaraderie, and equipment preservation. During the past ten years, BMW CCA Club Racing has licensed more than 1,000 racers, and a typical season includes 35 to 40 races nationwide. For more information on BMW CCA Club Racing, please visit: www.bmwccaclubracing.com.

When: April 11-13Where: Mazda Raceway Laguna SecaContact: Mike Mills, [email protected]

SLO TourWe are planning outings once a month through November

in the San Luis Obispo area—typically the third weekend of the month, alternating Saturdays and Sundays. April 12 will be our first such outing. We will start with a drive and end with brunch! More details will be available once a route is selected.

If you would like to participate or have an idea for an outing or workshop, please contact SLO Area Rep, Dennis Harrold.

When: April 12, 10:00 a.m.Where: TBD, check the GGC website!Contact: Dennis Harrold, [email protected]

Pinnacles Tour, Hike, And PicnicA scenic drive south to Pinnacles National Monument

for a two-hour hike (including the caves), followed by a potluck picnic.

This tour heads south from San Jose to Pinnacles National Monument via Hollister and Highway 25. The drive south will be early in the day, leaving plenty of time for a two-hour hike (including the caves), followed by a potluck picnic.

The intrepid will follow a route back north via King City and the Monterey Peninsula. Others will simply reverse the morning's route back to San Jose.

Participants (by car) will be asked to bring their favorite picnic item to the potluck for all to share. Food items will be assigned so that we don't all bring dessert!

It's now time to start signing up. Pick from one of the fol-lowing categories and send an email to [email protected] stating what food you will be bringing and how many people will be in your car. As the categories are filled, they will be removed from this list.

Composed salads (potato salad, coleslaw, etc.)• Hot main dishes (fried chicken, ham, fillet of tofu, etc.)•


Green salads (iceberg or micro-greens, depending on • your culinary leanings)

Fruit/Cheese plate (as it says)• Drinks (sodas, juice, lemonade, iced tea, etc.)• Dessert (dazzle us with your baking skills!)•

If you would like to participate in the tour, contact David Crum. The route map will only be distributed to those who have RSVPed.

Once you've signed up for the drive with David, head on over to http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/ggc-tours/ where you can chat with fellow "tour-ists" or get the latest news about the tour.

When: April 12Where: Paicines, CARSVP & Contact: David Crum, [email protected]

Historic Filoli Home And Garden TourSpend part of Earth Day weekend with your Bimmer friends

in a bucolic setting on the Mid-Peninsula. Filoli Center (www.filoli.org), located just south of Crystal Springs reservoir, north of Woodside, is a Peninsula gem that's a treat for one's aesthetic sensibilities. I’m fortunate to know one of the docents at Filoli, and he has graciously offered to lead our group on a two-hour tour and historical perspective of the home and garden.

The renowned 654-acre Filoli estate contains a large historic house and sixteen acres with a formal garden at its central point. The house was occupied from 1917 to 1936 as a private residence for its original owners. Inventive architect Willis Polk was the principal designer of the house. Polk frequently combined several styles in the design of a single building—an eclecticism clearly evident in Filoli’s design. The woodlands and the undeveloped Crystal Springs Watershed lands surrounding the estate provide a magnificent backdrop for the formal garden. The garden survives today as one of America’s finest historic gardens. Inspired by European influences, the garden is a succession of garden rooms, containing parterres, ter-races, lawns, and pools. The garden has gained worldwide renown and has been awarded several honors, including the Distinguished Service Medal of the Garden Club of America.

In keeping with our historic destination, we'll meet at 9:00 a.m. in the back parking lot of the old Pioneer Hotel in Woodside, located at 2925 Woodside Rd. at the intersection of Whiskey Hill Rd. We'll leave promptly at 9:30 to head north on Canada Road, arriving at Filoli about 9:45. Please have $12 in exact change ready for our docent to collect for admission. The tour begins at 10:00 and lasts approximately two hours. After that, we'll head over to a restaurant in Belmont for lunch.

This tour is limited to 20 participants, so RSVP as soon as possible. Please provide a contact number and indicate whether you want to attend the lunch. Watch the website calendar for further updates.

When: April 19, 9:00 a.m.Where: Filoli, Woodside Meet: Pioneer Hotel, 2925 Woodside Rd., Woodside, CAAdmission: $12 cashContact/RSVP: Mike Zampecini,

[email protected]

Bimmerfest 2008This year Bimmerfest celebrates their 9th annual show in

the incredible city of Santa Barbara on May 3, 2008 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.!

The Earl Warren Showgrounds is the site and they expect to have the biggest and best show once more this year.

In 2007, Bimmerfest blew by all expectations and attracted approximately 2,000 BMWs and roughly 5,000 total attendees! In addition to the incredible crowd, the 2007 show also featured the largest display of BMW products including a showing from the BMW Performance Driving School. This year, you can once again

expect to be exposed to the latest and greatest products from BMW and BMW-aftermarket tuners, as well as exceptional presentations from some of the leading tuners in the BMW industry!

The 2008 headline sponsor is www.horsepowerfreaks.com, who is planning to bring their latest and greatest projects, includ-ing their now world famous HPF750 E46 M3 Turbo system!

Mark your calendars today and start making plans to come to the most anticipated car show of the year, Bimmerfest 2008! More details including the online registration for the show will be com-ing shortly so keep checking back at www.bimmerfest2008.com or reading on the Bimmerfest 2008 discussion forums!

Each year, Bimmerfest operates an opportunity drawing which helps give back to a local charity. This year, they have chosen Unity Shoppe as the beneficiary.

When: May 3, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.Where: Earl Warren Showgrounds, Santa Barbara, CA Info: www.bimmerfest2008.com

Sierra Foothills Wine-Tasting TourEnjoy Spring in the Sierra Foothills for a repeat of our 2007

tour of Calaveras County, winding to some great wine-tasting opportunities. You can read all about the fun we had on our 2007 tour in the September issue of our chapter magazine, Die Flüsternde Bombe, which can be found as a PDF at our website under Communications.

A block of 20 rooms have been reserved (8 non-smoking King rooms and 12 non-smoking Double rooms) at:

INNS of California350 South Washington StreetSonora, CA 95350Local 209.532-3633 Toll free 800.251.1538The price is $85/night + tax. Please mention BMW CCA or

the Golden Gate Chapter of the BMW CCA to take advantage of the room rates in this block.

At 30 days prior to the event the room availability is no lon-ger guaranteed, however, the price will be honored if a room is available and BMWCCA is mentioned.

More details, and a route map, to come. Watch the Web site!When: May 3Where: Sonora, CAContact: Nina Torres, [email protected]

Teen Street Survival SchoolMonster Park will be the site of our fourth annual Tire Rack

Street Survival School—the wildly successful program for mak-ing teens safer, more effective drivers on the road.

The goals of the Street Survival program are to teach students some of the basics of car control, to enhance their enjoyment of driving, and to improve their competence as drivers.

During the event, students will maneuver their cars through exercises laid out using orange traffic safety cones in a closed parking lot. They will experience each exercise element several times, in order to learn from their mistakes and to improve their skills. A trained driving coach will accompany each driver to provide real-time feedback while performing maneuvers. There is no stopwatch, nor head-to-head competition with other cars—the students are here to improve their skills, not to compare themselves with someone else.

The exercise elements are laid out in advance by the event chairman and are designed to be fun, safe, challenging, and educational. Each element will teach the students a specific skill or group of skills. Sign up your teenager early (must have a valid driver’s license), this school fills up very quickly!

When: May 31, 8:00 a.m.Where: Monster Park, San FranciscoContact: Bob Goebel, [email protected]

A Second Laguna Seca School!GGC returns to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the second

one-day high-performance driving school. Registration opens soon. Take a look at the GGC website for more details.

When: June 4, 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.Where: Madza Raceway Laguna Seca, MontereyC o n t a c t : M a r k D a d g a r a n d K e l l y C o l l i n s ,

[email protected]

5er Fest Rolls To Reno When a handful of enthusiastic BMW 5 Series owners de-

cided to get together in Fort Worth, Texas, in August of 2002, they didn't know what they were starting—5er Fest. The idea behind the get-together was for this small group of 5 Series owners to meet and look at each other's cars. Friends taking the time to gather in a city park, talk about what it takes to keep one of these cars on the road, and prod each other about why they do.

The first event yielded 50 BMW E12 and E28 Fives. Planned functions included a show and shine, tech sessions, an auto-cross, and awards ceremony. Fort Worth's Trinity Park on the river was the setting for this event, which was to become the future for 5er Fest as an annual event.

Now, with six annual 5er Fest events gone by, owners are looking forward to the seventh event: 2008 in Reno, Nevada. Once again, we'll all drive hundreds and maybe even thousands of miles to gather and talk with our Fiver brethren, ogling what each has done—or not done—to their wonderful ‘70's and ‘80's BMW 5 Series.

More details about the 2008 event will be available soon. Check the event website for announcements, and subscribe to the 5er Fest mailing list to receive the latest news!

When: June 6-8Where: Reno, NevadaHost Hotel: John Ascuaga's Nugget Casino ResortGeneral Information: [email protected], www.5erfest.net

Tours & Tanks TwoJacques Littlefield's military vehicle collection is one of the

largest personal collections of military vehicles in the world. The Military Vehicle Technology Foundation houses more than 260 ve-hicles including two SCUD missiles and missile carriers, 60+ tanks, and even a WWII BMW reconnaissance vehicle. All are restored to factory specifications and are operational. MVTF acquires, restores, and interprets the historical significance of 20th and 21st century military vehicles. Domestic and foreign combat vehicles such as tanks, armored cars, self-propelled artillery, and other technically interesting mobile platforms are the focus of the collection.

Our chapter is fortunate enough to have a tour scheduled for June 14. We'll start the day with a three-hour fun drive originating in Los Gatos at 10:00 a.m. By 1:00 p.m., we’ll be at the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation for our free, private tour of the facility.

Mlitary Vehicle Technology Foundation tour is approximately two hours in length. Watch the GGC website for more information on the gathering point and route map for the morning drive.

This event is open to members only (no guests). Attendance is limited to 25 attendees. Online registration will open in May.

When: June 14, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.Where: Military Vehicle Technology Foundation,

Portola Valley, CAContact: Kris Linquist, [email protected]

Autocross SchoolAn autocross school will be held on June 21 in combination

with the autocross the following day. Come out to learn and

develop new skills and put them to the test at the next day's autocross. This school will teach advanced techniques and is intended for people with a minimum of three prior autocross events (GGC, SCCA, PCA, etc). If you do not qualify, consider attending one of our car-control clinics.

The autocross school will be an all-day course teaching advanced autocross techniques. Students will be taken through a technically challenging course by experienced instructors who will provide in-car feedback. Some class time will be taken between sessions to teach concepts and discuss car setup.

Attendance will be limited so that all students get plenty of "seat time." Cost is yet to be determined.

We strongly encourage students to also attend the autocross event the following day. Instructors will be available at the autocross event to work with students.

Watch the website for registration details.When: June 21, 8:00 a.m.Where: Marina Municipal Airport, Marina, CAContacts: Matt Visser & Kris Linquist,

[email protected]

GGC Summer Drive & PicnicIt's our annual summer picnic, with a tour thrown in for

good measure! Dave and Bonnie Bell are once again opening their home to all GGC members for a BBQ and pool party.

To bring in the BMW element, we’ll start the day with a scenic drive, which will end in Los Altos Hills at the private residence of Dave and Bonnie Bell. Then let the party begin! Awaiting us will be ribs, grilled chicken, potato salad, mixed green salad, rolls, baked beans, and—a Bell-family tradition—ice cream sundaes with all of the toppings! After stuffing your-self, you can cool off in their pool or relax in the hot tub.

This event is open to all members and is a great introduc-tory event for first-time Club participants. All you need is your car, a full tank of gas, and a swimsuit. The tour will take place on public roads and will be driven at a "spirited" pace, so please leave your racer ambitions on the track.

Cost is $25 per person for the BBQ. The driving tour is free. You may participate in the drive or the BBQ separately, or come to both!

When: June 28Where: Los Altos Hills, CACost: $25/person for the BBQ onlyContact: Mike Zampiceni,

[email protected]

2008 Nürburgring Driving SchoolThe BMW CCA Nürburgring driving school gives members

a chance to experience the hallowed track where the world’s best cars are perfected for production. Over its thirteen-mile length, the North Loop of the Nürburgring includes just about every type of turn known to man—over 170 in total. The so-called “Green Hell” climbs and plunges through about 1,000 feet of elevation change, and fits in a two-mile-long straight-away for good measure. There’s nothing like it!

For 2008, the school will be held August 3-6. A pre-school tour is a tradition, with visits in recent years to attractions such as BMW factories, museums, the Mobile Tradition collection, and Alpina. This year’s itinerary is still in the planning stage, but typically it starts in Munich the week before the event. Details will be announced in April.

Sign ups for this year’s event began March 26. Call the BMW CCA national office at 864 250-0022 and have your credit card ready for the $500 deposit. Check out www.magma.ca/~Phemisg/BMWNurburgringSchool.doc, or contact George Phemister at 613 746-0027, [email protected].

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Minu

tes Golden Gate Chapter - BMW CCA Board Meeting Minutes

By Chris WebberSecretary, GGC BMW CCA

January 23, 2008Gau Poang Restaurant, San Mateo

Board in Attendance: Jeff Cowan, President; Bob Goebel, Vice President; Kyle Breton, Membership Chair; Tammi Hull, Treasurer; Chris Webber, Secretary

Guests in Attendance: Amanda Topper, Kris Linquist, Scottie Sharpe, Mark Dadgar, Kelly Collins, Percy Chow, Canyon Chan, Mike Zampiceni, Mary Sandkohl

The meeting is called to order at 7:01 p.m.

Administrative tasks: 8 Webber motions to suspend Robert’s Rules of Order. 5 Cowan seconds. 8 Ooops! He can’t second because he is the president now. 5 Dadgar seconds. 8 Ooops II! He can’t second because he isn’t yet a board member, since his position has to be appointed annually by the board. 5 Breton and Goebel are new and therefore not sure if they can second anything yet, nor are they quite sure what is going on around them. 5 Hull seconds. 8 The motion to suspend Robert’s Rules of Order is passed. 8 Of course, since we have suspended Robert’s Rules of Order, we don’t need to motion anything anymore. Despite that, Webber is sure that as secretary, he is only going through the motions, as they say.

8 Cowan makes introductions. 5 It soon becomes clear that nearly everyone in the meeting has their member number memorized. 5 Webber cannot seem to comprehend this. Webber reconsiders his love for the marque. Webber hasn’t ever taken the time to memorize his member number—yet an-other way that Webber isn’t living up to his commitment as secretary, perhaps? 5 Goebel mentions that he has been a Club member longer than anyone else here. oEveryone points out that Goebel is also the only per-son with gray hair in the bunch. And a gray moustache. Webber can’t even grow a moustache; however, Webber is balding. Not pretty.

8 Dadgar asks if we are going to get around to appoint-ing members-at-large. 5 Someone snickers because Dadgar said “member” and “large.” Apparently, we are all twelve years old, because many people begin to snicker. 8 Webber covers his laughter by pretending to cough. Very mature. 5 Dadgar and Collins are re-appointed members-at-large. Suckers.

Presentation: suggestions and opportunities for 2008: 8 Someone brought a projector. Seriously. It’s up on the wall. This ain’t your father’s BMW Club anymore, Sweetheart. 8 Cowan asks everyone to consider: 5 How do we improve the member experience? 5 How do we improve internal processes? 5 What do we want to develop further into the year?

5 What is important to being a board member? 5 What things are happening at a national level that we might be able to leverage locally?

8 Cowan compiled a spreadsheet with the ideas that were submitted; we are going to go through and rank ‘em. 5 The discussion follows, in glorious abstraction.

Outstanding receivables: 8 Hull has been talking to a specialist in collections, who suggested some strategies for collecting our outstanding receivables. None of those strategies involved a contracted hit man. Sorry, hit person. 8 Goebel asks why we have outstanding receivables if we have a policy regarding pre-payment from advertisers. 5 Older advertisers pay net 90, and that hurts us from a cash flow perspective. 5 Certain other older advertisers “forget” to pay. That also hurts our cash. Surprise, surprise.

Truck lease: 8 Hull is having to re-educate our new equipment-lease representative, as the original person has left. 8 We need to get a “remaining value” discount, pay remaining payments up front, and get Jonathan Bensen off the lease.

Crisis management: 8 Dadgar says, “This is my open issue to do, I will pull this together by the next meeting.” Uh-huh.

Dealer presentation: 8 Dadgar says, “I will not pull this together. I promise.” 8 Collins wants to drop it, as we have been talking about it for years. 5 We built the presentation, but we don’t have people who are willing and able to go meet with dealers and present it. 5 We consider appointing a marketing person for the club, for whom this would be a priority.

Building a budget for 2008: 8 Proactive vs. reactive budgeting—we need to start planning. 8 Dadgar has all the driving-event budgets built. 5 Goebel publicly thanks him. How sweet.

CCC expansion: 8 Bob already has the objective to expand; we have already expanded 50% this year. 5 Webber has also expanded 50% this year, thanks to lack of exercise and too many video games.

Autocross expansion: 8 Breton suggests adding practice sessions to expand the autocross program. 5 We have no space—that’s the gating factor. 8 Webber has seen lots of members slide over to the Lotus Club—can we partner with them? 8 People complain about the drive to Marina, so range is trouble as well. 5 No further discussion.

Unified web technologies: 8 This is the Holy Grail of car clubs. 5 This would be very cool, but it is a serious challenge. 5 We are building the technology to pull information from National’s database; National isn’t quite as quick on the uptake.

Minutes continue on page 21

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12 April 2008 13April 2008Die Flüsternde Bombe Die Flüsternde Bombe12 April 2008 13April 2008Die Flüsternde Bombe Die Flüsternde Bombe

F1 requires constructing a new car every year which is constantly upgraded throughout the seventeen-race season around the world, stretching from March through October. This is why we see the ever changing array of angled and twisted surfaces envelop-ing and sprouting from the evolving four-wheeled chariots.

With ever tighter rules narrowly specifying and restricting the dimensions and capacities, Formula 1 has inadvertently created a race strategy that depends heavily on qualifying times and getting out in front early. Very high speeds and narrow circuits have made passing next to impossible. Teams are seeking a way to retain mo-mentum as the driver carves a path through dirty air while cornering or attempting to overtake.

Aerodynamic study is essential to balance the competing low and high pressure forces of drag, downforce, and especially the transitional crossflows. Every F1 team has built and is making extensive use of wind tunnels to study these effects. Money and rules restrict how much time and what scale models are employed in this testing. But the study of wind tunnel airflow straight across or even at an angle is no longer sufficient.

For that reason, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has become one of the most important roles in helping F1 teams shave hundredths and thousandths of seconds from a race car's time.

The combination of CFD and wind-tunnel testing are the most important tools for measuring aerody-namic performance in F1 cars. They go hand-in-hand in al-lowing engineers to determine a car's aero-dynamic efficiency. As Wulfer explained,

For the first round of the 2008 season, the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 16, BMW San Francisco will again host Club members to a slight-ly delayed taped showing. Check our calendar for these gatherings.

Specs:256 dual processor Dual Core Xeon nodes running at 3 GHz (1,024 cores)

2,048 GB RAM

20,480 GB disk storage space

>12 teraflops of peak performance

The BMW Sauber F1 Team invested in a custom-built supercomputer called “Albert2,” the successor to its original Albert supercomputer developed in 2004. Powered by 512 Intel® Xeon® 5160 dual core processors, Albert² is 5.5 times more powerful and three times faster than the first Albert computer. Albert² was specifically designed and built (by an independent Swiss company, DALCO AG -prd) to run CFD simulations using the latest version of FLUENT software. It has the capacity to make 12,288,000,000,000 floating point calculations per second (12 teraflops), which highlights the staggering pace of advancement in the potential power available to perform CFD simulations. Theoretically, the BMW Sauber F1 Team could run simulations approaching and even exceeding the landmark figure of 1,000,000,000 cells. When FLUENT became the first CFD software tool to be used in F1—by the Benetton team of 1992—simulations of only 100,000 cells were possible, such as the analysis of a front wing. The possibility of FLUENT meshes of 1,000,000,000 cells or more demonstrates how the continued partnership between the BMW Sauber F1 Team and ANSYS is proving critical to driving CFD development and making the technology ever-more important in the design process.

(Press release from ANSYS, Inc.)

Using engineering software from ANSYS, Inc. with a new supercomputer, the BMW Sauber F1 Team has been able to run increasingly complex simulations of race car aerodynamics, far quicker than was previously possible. This has enabled BMW Sauber to analyse and implement design changes more quickly. This composite image shows their racing car colored by pressure con-tours. (Image ©2006 BMW Sauber AG)

Wulfer de Bruijn holds a Masters Degree in Aerospace Engineering with a focus in Aerodynamic Design. He was employed by Toyota Motorsport GmbH in Cologne, Germany from 2001 until 2006 as a CFD engineer and then as Senior CFD Engineer. During his tenure at Toyota Motorsports, he developed parts for their Formula 1 race car using computer simulations and implemented procedures for running and evaluat-ing CFD cases. He has been employed since 2006 with the BMW Sauber Formula 1 Team in Hinwil, Switzerland as a CFD engineer developing parts in, and organizing procedures for, computational simulations with BMW Sauber F1 race cars.

Wulfer de Bruijn seems to have a new fan in Kelly Collins.

BMW Sauber F1 Flies Through The Air

By Robert Pavel

On a cold, dark, wet Decem-ber evening, the courageous members of the Golden Gate Chapter attended an informative session by Wulfer de Bruijn, the computational fluid dynamics engineer for the BMW Sauber Formula 1 racing team.

“Fluid dynamics—studied and calculated using custom software on supercomputers—is needed to model curved air flow to simu-late real cornering. We then translate those theories into molds and forms for revised parts of the car: leading edges, sides, top, and bottom.” These high-tech cars are the pinnacle of modern automobile racing.

According to BMW Motorsport Director, Mario Theissen, "The big difference with CFD compared to wind tunnels is that you not only get results, but also get an understanding of what goes on. Wind tunnel testing remains important with experimental work and CFD complementing each other"

Without revealing any trade secrets, Wulfer showed us slides that demonstrated the minute, but significant effects of air flow over and around the tires, wings, fins, flaps, and shell of the car as it transitions from straight forward motion into curves, and during side-by-side or passing maneuvers.

Coming into this session, I was ready to learn about how BMW Sauber creates the ultimate aerodynamics for racing. I came out of the session realizing: this is rocket science!

Many thanks to Wulfer deBruijn of BMW Sauber F1 Team and Jeff Johnston of BMW San Francisco.

Albert²: BMW Sauber’s CDF Supercomputer

The new custom-built supercomputer Albert²—one of the largest in Europe—enables BMW Sauber F1 Team use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software from ANSYS to run powerful engineering simulations rather than invest in a second wind tunnel. Computer-aided engineering simulations can be applied to many areas of the racing car, allowing team engineers to quickly and accurately test a number of design candidates before develop-ing only the most promising for wind tunnel testing. (ANSYS, Inc.)

The new triple front wing on the 2008 BMW Sauber F1 car is a result of the vast technical potential of Albert² being harnessed for analysis in the field of aerodynamics. With its support, the specialists calculate components for the Formula One race car using grid models frequently comprising more than 100 million cells. CFD plays a particularly important role in the development of the front, rear, and auxiliary wings, as well as the engine and brake cooling. (BMW Motorsport Press)


Having accepted the open position of social events coordinator last summer, I was anxious to offer some non-competitive events that would attract a

substantial number of members for fun times and camaraderie. Unfortunately, the two events I hosted during the Fall were pretty much a bust. Fortunately, for February 24th the adage “The third time is a charm” most aptly applied to the event I arranged at Canepa Design in Scotts Valley.

I very nearly missed my own event, because I had contracted a flu bug the previous week, and was operating with a couple of disabled cylinders the day of the event. Despite dragging myself over on Saturday morning, I was so glad that I made the effort, because what I was able to behold within the walls of Canepa Design far exceeded my expectations, and apparently those of others as well.

Bruce Canepa’s 65,000 square-foot shop (formerly a Seagate building) is all about dream cars. They have in-house services for nearly anything related to building, designing, repairing, restoring, or selling ultra-high end, classic, vintage, custom, concept, or racing vehicles.

I arrived shortly after 9:30 a.m. to find many BMWs parked in the lot—28 in all—and a total attendance numbering upwards of 40. Our tour guide and Canepa advertising exec, Llew Kinst, greeted us in the foyer, ready and eager to lead us into the moderately sized, spotless showroom. On that particular day, the marque roster in the showroom was tilted heavily toward

Porsche and Mercedes. Nevertheless, we did find an example of our favorite marque, and a most audacious one at that. Gracing the middle of the floor was a sinister 1978 320 turbo McLaren-prepared race car.

Llew attentively provided detailed information on each car and answered questions while I sat nearby most of the time, still reeling from wrenching my body away from a comfortable state of repose earlier that morning.

Not long after I examined the room, I noticed a closed, cor-rugated overhead door and assumed that this led into the shop area. I then wondered whether we would have the opportunity to see the shop. The answer was thankfully, “Yes”—and what a shop it was!

Over twice the size of the showroom, the brightly lit rooms contained a variety of exotic machinery on hoists and elsewhere. They weren’t exactly the kind of run-of-the-mill iron that you can find on Craigslist. Canepa was either offering to sell or was repairing a Bugatti SS, a Birdcage Maserati vintage race car, a Lamborghini Countach, and several Porsche 959s, and that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. The other thing I noticed was that the facility appeared new, but it wasn’t. I heard

that they have two full-time janitors, and they’re apparently doing a stellar job, because I’ve eaten on restaurant tables that weren’t as clean as the floor in that shop.

Speaking of the 959, Canepa is the only company to have successfully cracked the code to make these cars U.S. emission-compliant. You may have heard the lore regarding people who bought them and brought them to this country, but could not register them because they weren’t emissions-compliant. Using their engineering experience and some consultations with the Porsche factory, Canepa engineers were able to fabricate new dual, independent turbos, rather than the sequential twins the factory provided. The proof was evidenced in seven emissions-compliant 959s on the premises. Oh, yeah: Bill is going to have them convert his 959… that’s Bill Gates, by the way. I didn’t even want to know the price of such a conversion. I figured it’s probably more than I’ve ever paid for any of the Bimmers I’ve owned.

Already overwhelmed by the most stimulating and fastidi-ous shop I have ever experienced, I certainly couldn’t believe there was still another treasure chest to investigate, but there was! Llew directed us down a narrow hallway, then through

14 April 2008Die Flüsternde Bombe

by Michael Zampicenia rather unassuming conventional door leading into a storage garage. The garage was filled to the brim with an eclectic array of machinery ranging from a Mercedes Gullwing to a pristine '57 Chevy, and from Reggie Jackson’s Cobra (the real thing) to a pimped-up Hummer.

As with everything else I had seen, all of these rarities were either in perfect or near perfect condition. Deciding I didn’t want to push my luck, I decided to conclude my participation after a brief examination of the garage contents, then sauntered back—er, stumbled—to my car in a semi-delirious state for the 30-minute ride back home.

Upon checking my email later that evening after the event, I was gratified to have received the following notes of apprecia-tion from a couple of members.

“I just wanted to say the tour today was so great! Okay, ‘great’ is an understatement. It was awesome! On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a 10-plus.” ~ Michael

“I just wanted to write you to thank you for putting on such a great event, today. We were blown away at how many amazing cars were on display at Canepa’s. The tour behind the showroom was incredible. Seven Porsche 959s in our little old town of Scotts Valley—unbelievable, considering they only made something like 250 for the world!” ~Scott

By the way, I understand that Canepa Design is going to convert their second floor into a museum, and they will be able to cater special events. Hmm, sounds like a potential candidate for a future GGC Winter party!

Photos by David Crum and Michael Zampiceniby Michael Zampiceni Photos by David Crum and Michael Zampiceni

Canepa’s new building makes a nice backdrop for Do Couto’s M3.

Porsche and Mercedes. Nevertheless, we did find an example of our favorite marque, and a most audacious one at that. Gracing

Gracing the middle of the floor was a sinister McLaren race-prepared 320 turbo.

a rather unassuming conventional door leading into a storage

Llew gives our group the lowdown on the Birdcagee Maserati.

Canepa Design Tour

15April 2008 Die Flüsternde Bombe

A feast of exotic machinery sits above the sparkling shop floor.A Ferrari 275 GTB shell awaits the finishing touches on its new paint.Oh, yawn. These are only two of seven Porsche 959s on site. The Jackie Ickx Rothmans Porsche 956 Group C is just one of many incredible cars on display.

16 April 2008 17April 2008Die Flüsternde Bombe Die Flüsternde Bombe16 April 2008Die Flüsternde Bombe April 2008

March Infineon School Photos by Don Louv, Grant Low, and John OrbonQuotes from GGC Forum on JustRacing.com

She’s not just saying, “Hello.”

I'm new to the forum and this was my second track school. Just wanted to express my gratitude to all who con-tributed toward putting on such a fine event! Truly impressive.

A special thanks to the fine instruc-tors working out of the yellow tent. I had three different instructors over the weekend: John, Sam, and Evan. I got something different from each of them and learned from them all—now, that's what I'm talking about! Ah, if only all of life was so easy. (This forum) seems like a good place to hang out. See you at the next event. ~John E.

What a fantastic weekend you pulled together. Thanks to everyone involved, particu-larly Ron and Colin in the yel-low tent—I learned a bunch from both of you. ~John O.

Lots of traffic in C group, but still had a good time and picked up some good tips from my coaches. Thanks again to all the instruc-tors and organizers. ~Chris

It comes as no surprise, but GGC put on another great driving event. It was the perfect combination of good friends, great weather, and a wonderful track. Thanks to Mark, Billy, and the rest of the CCA crew who orchestrated an awesome time. ~Matt M.


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F ifteen of the Central-Coast-Area-roundel clan gathered at the Graduate restaurant in San Luis Obispo to talk of all-things-BMW and to plan local activities for the coming year.

After some pizza and appetizers, we introduced ourselves and shared some of our interests and experiences in the area. In atten-dance was Derek Fidler, new member Damian Kachlakev, Martha and Paul Fashching, Barbara and Rick Bacon, Bob Schrum, J.J. Schwartz, Alex Kleissner and girlfriend Liz, Bill Winstanley, Matt Metoyer, and me—of course. We even had one soon-to-be new member stop by the table to say hello. Afterwards, they headed home to sign up for the Club on the net!

An informal survey of those in attendance indicates that the group would like to participate in weekend outings (including

drives with a brunch after), Bimmerfest in Santa Barbara (May 3), and tech sessions. Derek mentioned that he runs a weekend drive group that we may join on occasion. There is also interest in attend-ing Club races at area tracks: Buttonwillow (the closest), Willow Springs, and Laguna Seca. A “Sideways Wine Tour” would be a natural later in the year. We are also looking at venues where we can get together to watch BMW’s efforts in F1.

For those of you in the Central Coast area, please feel free to contact me with any questions or ideas for group outings (especially welcome!). Check the GGC website calendar as we will schedul-ing events at least once a month. ~ Dennis Harrold, 805 931-0433, [email protected]

Facing, are Dennis Harrold, Bill Winstanley, and Matt Metoyer, with Alex Kleissner and Liz in the background.

Meet & GreetCentral Coast

(Left to right) Alex Kleissner and girlfriend Liz, Bill Winstanley, Matt Metoyer, Martha and Paul Fashching, Barbara and Rick Bacon, Bob Schrum, and J.J. Schwartz.

FROM: Frank C. Patek II, Executive Director DATE: February, 2008

BMW CCA HAS A NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR!

…and here I am! This is my third week on the job and my first report. First, let me say what an honor it is to have been selected to lead the National

Office staff and thank you to everyone who has welcomed me with open arms to the Club. I can personally attest to the fact that, as you read in last months report, it was a long and exhaustive search and interview process. When it was over, I took a week off, but now I am on the job and doing my best to keep up to the pace set by the board and staff. We are working hard to improve the Club for you in many ways. But what is most important to me is that we exceed your expectations for customer service.

This is your club and we are here to make certain you have the best possible experience at all times. To that end, I am instituting a series of conference calls with each regional vice president and the chapter presidents in their respective regions. February 19, 2008 marked the first call and it was held with the North Central Region. I hope these calls will allow us to know each other better and will give you an opportunity to voice your thoughts, concerns, wants, and needs as club leaders.

Please remember that we have a Newsletter/Webmaster Conference coming up in April and it is important that your chapter send representation.

My door will always be open and I look forward to work-ing with each of you.

BMW CCA ELECTION 2008 BMW CCA National Election Results Balloting for the 2008 BMW CCA national election is com-

plete and the results are in. Bruce Hazard, who ran unopposed, is the new BMW CCA president-elect. Incumbent executive vice president Mark Jon Calabrese won his re-election bid over Leonard Mueller. John Sullivan, running unopposed, was re-elected as North Atlantic regional vice president. Mark Doran will be the next South Central regional vice president, finishing ahead of J.R. Schneider. Turnout for this election was significantly higher than those of recent years. In the race for executive vice president, for example, a total of 3,451 votes were cast, a 15 percent increase over the number of votes in the contested EVP election two years ago. Even more dramatic was the 48 percent increase in votes cast in this year's race for the South Central regional vice president position over the same race two years ago.

Bruce Hazard has served as BMW CCA secretary since 2005 and will be taking over from Scott Blazey, who served for two terms as president following three years as North Central regional vice president. Upon assuming the duties as president in March, Bruce will vacate the secretary's position. At that time, the board of directors will officially begin the process of selecting and appointing a Club member to fill the remaining year of Bruce's term as Club secretary. (That position has since been filled by GGC past-president Mike Mills. – kk)

Mark Jon Calabrese has served on the board continuously since 1998, with two terms as South Central regional vice presi-dent before being elected executive vice president in 2002. Upon the untimely death of Club president Michel Potheau, Mark Jon served as president until 2004, when he again ran for and won the executive vice president position, repeating that feat in 2006 and now in 2008. Leonard Mueller, who is currently the North Central regional vice president, finished second in

the race. Len will stay on the board, with a year remaining in his second term as RVP.

Mark Doran is a newcomer to the board. The new South Central regional vice president-elect is a long-time member of the Rocky Mountain Chapter and will fill the position currently held by fellow Chapter member Fred Iacino, who has served on the board since 2002. Coming in second was J.R. Schneider, who had served as the Club's Oktoberfest coordinator for many years.

John Sullivan will be starting his second term as North Atlantic regional vice president. He was first elected in 2006.

"I want to thank and congratulate everyone who ran for the Board in this election. The quality of candidates was out-standing," said Club president Scott Blazey. "I'm sure all of the winners will serve the Club well. Those who ran, but didn't win, also exemplify the spirit of the BMW Car Club and will continue to contribute because that's the kind of high-quality volunteers they are." Blazey continued, " Bruce Hazard has the dedication and skills that will make him an outstanding president. I welcome Mark Doran to the board and thank him for stepping up with his time and talent. He's filling the shoes of an awfully good RVP, Fred Iacino, who I thank for his service and help these past six years. John Sullivan has been a great RVP and will continue to serve his region well. Mark Jon Calabrese is as dedicated as they come, and I thank him for his hard work and support during the time I've served on the board. Even though Len Mueller didn't win his EVP bid, I'm glad he will still be on the board as the North Central regional VP. Len serves his region very well and has brought excellent skills and perspective to the board. I thank J.R. Schneider for once again stepping forward to volunteer. It's unfortunate that there are only so many seats, but J.R. can take great pride in the enormous service he has given the Club in years past and, I suspect, will continue to do so."

The newly elected officers will be installed at the BMW CCA annual meeting, scheduled for March 8, 2008 at the BMW CCA National Office in Greenville, South Carolina.

OKTOBERFEST 2008: WATKINS GLEN, NY Planning continues at a rapid pace for Oktoberfest

2008—September 23–27—and it looks like this is going to be a memorable event. There is already a buzz about the event around the country. It's a gorgeous location and September in New York's Finger Lakes Region is a great time to be there. The area is famous for its wineries and we'll take advantage of that! Watkins Glen was the site of the first post-World War II road racing in the U.S. You can still drive (at legal speeds) the original six-plus-mile road course through the village and up around the surrounding hills and countryside. If you sign up for the driving schools or Club races, you'll be on the same track that was home to the U.S. Grand Prix for many years, and still hosts the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, Rolex Grand Am endurance race, Speed World Challenge, and more.

Whether you participate in the driving events, show off your car, compete in the Club races, meet your BMW CCA friends (and make new ones), explore Watkins Glen State Park, take a wine tour, or just enjoy the Finger Lakes Region, we have what you need for a terrific trip. And wait until you see where we're holding some of the evening receptions and dinners! All the fun of a traditional Oktoberfest, but with some new twists you won't want to miss!

To keep you informed, you may subscribe to the Ofest08 mailing list. This is an announcement-only list. To subscribe to this list, send a message to: [email protected] with the word “subscribe” as the subject.

The 2008 O’fest website is up and running. You can find it at www.bmwccaofest.org.


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Minutes, continued from page 10

TRACK STAR

2139-D OLD MIDDLEFIELD WAYMOUNTAIN VIEW CA

RACING

Steve Casaletto

PERSONALIZEDQUALITY CARE FOR YOUR

STREET OR TRACK BMW

[email protected]

BMW FACTORY TRAINED MASTER TECHNICIAN

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Last First City Model Year Refered ByAhn Dan Milpitas 335i 2008 Alimi Linda Santa Rosa Z4 2006 Paula WilliamsonAlmendralejo Ray Walnut Creek M3 2006 Anbalagan Anand San Mateo 330i 2004 Aykroyd Pete Menlo Park 335i 2007 Bell DeRoyce Martinez 540i 1994 Berry Leslie Clayton M3 1995 Bloom Matthew Menlo Park E93 2008 Boyce Robert Monterey Broadwater Bruce Los Gatos 530i 2001 Channell Jesse San Rafael 3 Series 1998 Claire Robert San Jose X3 2007 Conway Baron San Francisco M3 2003 Cowan Frank Santa Maria 550i 2008 Creech Greg Felton Kris LinquistDamsen Fred Alameda John MeierDavis Matt San Ramon 325i 2001 Matt MedeirosDulnev Alex Mill Valley Evans Richard Sebastopol Ferrero Robert Pleasant Hill 325i 2006 Hamilton Trevor San Francisco Larry HamiltonHansen George Walnut Creek Happel Don Walnut Grove 335i 2008 Hendel Guy San Francisco Huang Yu-tsun Stanford 328i 2008 Hughes Nancy San Francisco Cliff GastonHwee Phillip San Francisco 535i 2008 Johal Balbinder El Sobrante X5 2004 Jolley Philip Burlingame M coupe 1999 Keonorasak Keo Emeryville M3 2005 Kim David San Francisco 528i 2008 Kincaid Thomas Alameda 525i 2003 Kingston Manu San Francisco 325i 1989 Kumar Nikhil Alameda M3 2003

LaFollette Thomas San Jose 335i 2008 Lee Steve San Jose 335i 2008 Lenigk Jason San Pablo 335i 2007 Linzey Tere Aptos 328i 2007 Lobenberg Mike Los Gatos 735i 2008 McCrory Mike Windsor 325is 1994 Steve McCroryMew Andrew Daly City Danton MewMody Salil Mountain View 325 2006 O’Brien Eric Milpitas M3 2003 A.Yujuico MendozaO’Connell Richard Walnut Creek M3 1999 Owji Farshad San Francisco Pankhurst Kevin San Francisco M3 1998 Poonia Shamir Fremont 740i 2000 Matt MedeirosRamusack-Levine, Janet Palo Alto 335i 2008 Rodoni Alexander Saratoga 325is 1989 Rodoni Nicholas Saratoga 325is 1988 Rogan Kevin Los Gatos 330i 2006 Ryan Dick Castro Valley 135i 2008 Shapiro David Sausalito 335i 2007 Smith Chris San Carlos 745Li 2003 Snow Colin San Jose Z4 2006 Spoja Thomas San Francisco 540i 1999 Strobel Thomas Novato 540i 2001 Tabuchi Grant Fremont M3 2004 Tseng Tony Fremont Vrmeer Philip Folsom 325i 2004 Waldman Todd Carmel 650 2008 Wang Christopher Cupertino 328i 2007 Ward Geoffrey Scotts Valley 525i 1981 Wilson Charles Seal Beach 335i 2008 Wu Michael Mountain View 330i 2006 Yi Peter San Mateo M3 2001 Matt MedeirosYip Michael San Francisco Matt MedeirosYung Larry Alameda 540i 1998

Roadsters in HPDEs: 8 Breton wants roadsters allowed in High Performance Driving events. 5 Dadgar says that Breton is more than welcome to put a cage in his roadster and bring it. 8 Dadgar doesn’t think we can allow non-caged roadsters. The risk we run in allowing them outweighs the benefit to the small number of users who own, and want to track roadsters. 5 Instructors will quit if they have to ride along in open-top cars. 5 Since we only allow cars out with instructors in them, it is too big a risk. 5 We know this alienates some of our users. 8 We can provide a pathway to other clubs who do allow road-sters, though!

Meet-and-greets every other month: 8 Collins gets a lot of requests from new members about M&Gs. We need more of them. 5 Everyone agrees. 5 Maybe we need a single meet-and-greet coordinator to work with local area reps?

New/More Chapter sponsors 8 Our one sponsor has expired. That leaves us with, uh, none. 5 We need a sponsor-getter. 8 Many names are suggested for this role, none of which are printable here.

Chapter brochure: 8 We also need to print more. 8 We need to distribute more. 8 We need to redesign and rewrite them. 5 Neat.

Refinish the chapter trailer 8 It’s one of our biggest assets, but it looks worse than Webber’s trashy front yard. 8 We need a place that is big enough to paint a trailer. It’s sorta huge. The nearest place we found is in Sacramento. They paint buses. 5 Webber suggests we adopt yellow as a club color to get a dis-count. No one laughs. Webber becomes a little annoyed. 5 Annoyed Webber notices we are only halfway through this list, and gets overwhelmed. 5 Annoyed And Overwhelmed Webber starts to spin the Lazy Susan (we are at a Chinese food restaurant, remember). 8 The projector is on the Lazy Susan. The image starts spinning, and the cables get tied up. It is a disaster. 8 Annoyed, Overwhelmed, And Embarrassed Webber starts pay-ing attention and typing again. 8 We need an equipment manager. Maybe call it truck and trailer management. 5 Again, many names, none printable.

Chapter website CMS: 8 Uploading content is difficult, tools are not complete. 5 Collins says, “It’s pissing me off.” 8 We are using Joomla. We need a prepackaged Joomla theme that will look nice and give Collins management ability. 5 Collins appears no less pissed off.

Club stickers and decals 8 Can we have a bunch to have on hand at events? 8 Linquist suggests that if our stickers were “cooler looking” he would be more likely to put them on his car. 5 Webber loses control of his inner monologue and shouts, “You are not cool-looking, but I see you in your car all the time.”

5 Much laughter—Webber is proud, and then suddenly ashamed as he realizes he is a jerk. Meh, not that ashamed. 5 Collins appears no less pissed off. Again.

Incorporate BMW motorcycle riders? 8 Webber says no. He represents for the Beemers. We have enough Beemer clubs, we don’t need to be in the Bimmer club. Plus, says Webber, “Cages are lame. So are cagers.” 5 Webber is conflicted. Webber loves Beemers, and also Bim-mers, but Beemer riders have to hate Bimmer drivers. Torture.

Tour/show and shine event: 8 Hull has a lot of ideas around the Good Guys event in Pleasanton. 5 They will get back to Hull in the next two weeks. 8 Local shop with a big parking lot to host on the weekend? 5 Claridge's BMW? Don’t they have a huge lot?

Social events program 8 Dadgar ran an attendance analysis on the driving events. 5 Of 1,686 attendees, 738 were unique visitors. 5 That’s about 15% of our member base that attends driving events. 5 That means 85% are not being served through driving events. 8 Even if we add social-events attendees, we maybe serve 30%. 8 No good. 8 We need a peer to Dadgar who focuses on social events for the club. 8 Maybe we can partner with some of the forums to host/provide insurance for some of their events? Co-branding?

RSS subscriptions and add to Outlook/iPhone 8 Built into Joomla

Enhance Bombe design/layout 8 Apparently our newsletter is really nice, and stands out among the other newsletters. 5 Webber exclaims, “YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT IT DOES!” 8 The rattle of chopsticks is deafening. 5 However, because of the way it’s laid out, some of the text gets lost (the announcements section, for example). 8 Can we create an online contest to lay out a page at a time, and have your layout credited to you?

“HTML-fancy” email layout for chapter emails: 8 Collins cringes—she prefers plain text to HTML. 5 Linquist admits to going both ways. We have always suspected. 8 We agree to stay with plain text to avoid further pissing Collins off. 5 Plus, she is right, it is way better.We are done with the spreadsheet! VIP program points request program presentation: 8 Linquist and Goebel have built a very slick online system by which people can request VIP points for volunteer work. 8 We need to limit financial liability of the VIP program. 5 Is this an incentive program, or a rewards program? 8 It’s really starting to look a lot like compensation. 8 Uh-oh. We have trouble. This may not work.

8 The restaurant is closing… and… 5 Yup, we are kicked out. We need to have more time! 5 Dadgar has never wanted to stay longer at a meeting! This is impressive!

8 Nina Torres has questions about holiday party registration, sent via Mary Sandkohl… but we are fading… fading… fading into the parking lot.

We are booted into the street at 9:29 p.m.


Email your thoughts to: [email protected]

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By Mark Dadgar Martin

What Things Cost

So we’re off and running here in 2008. By the time you read this, we’ll have put two driving schools, two car-control clinics, and the first autocross of the season

in the history books. The driving-events team is running like the well-oiled machine that it is, and everything is right in the GGC world… except that our driving schools have gotten re-ally, really expensive.

I know some of you have noticed this, too, because I hear about it. Frequently.

I hear you ask, “So how do we come up with the pricing for our high-performance driving events?” The short answer is pretty simple: we total up the costs of hosting an event, decide what a safe break-even number of students is (the number I typically use is 85), and divide the total event cost by the num-ber of students. Any registrations over that break-even number are profit to the Chapter. Anything under that is a loss.

The long answer is, well, longer. Let’s dive a little deeper into what it takes to put on a two-day driving school in the Golden Gate Chapter. We’ll use the March 2008 school budget as a basis.

The first expense we incur is track rental. For the off-season weekend dates—which we are so lucky to have twice a year—at Infineon Raceway, we pay $12,400 per day for the basic track rental. That’s $24,800 for the weekend. Next, we shell out $1,180 per day for ALS ambulance support, $500 per day for track security (required), $175 per day for the PA system, $1,600 per day for the fire trucks and staff, about $500 per day for instruc-tor lunches, and $1,400 for the weekend for event insurance. The oh-so-important corner workers are each $230 per day—we need twelve of them for two days, so that’s another $5,520. Then we spend about $6,000 on hotel rooms for instructors and staff. Remember that instructors don’t even get track time in exchange for instructing—which is the way the deal usually works at driving schools. They pay their own fuel expenses to get there, and we only reimburse 50% of their hotel costs—think about that the next time you have a fantastic instructor in the right seat! Another $3,000 or so goes to the banquet hall rental and the meals for the same volunteers, and a final $700 is spent on vinyl numbers and miscellaneous supplies (water for the instructors, diesel for the GGC truck, etc). On top of that, we add approximately $2,200 in credit-card processing and online-registration service fees. The grand total for our March Infineon school came out to $52,015.31. When you divide that by a break-even of 83 students, you end up with a per-student price of $626.66, which we rounded down to $625 because I have a thing for whole numbers.

Now, it would appear that we make a tidy profit on schools that fill up to our max student count of 106 or so, and that is definitely true. But that profit ends up going to one of three places: 1) to offset the loss from another driving school that year (for example, the March 2007 Infineon school lost about $4,000); 2) to pay for the indirect expenses of running the driving-events program, such as truck and trailer maintenance, equipment maintenance and replacement, etc.; and 3) to the general chapter fund to subsidize other chapter programs that require some financial support to be viable.

Unfortunately, we are faced with the expense situation get-ting worse, not better. Laguna Seca released their 2008 rental rates and they are substantially higher than what we saw in 2007. The January 21st school this year paid a base track rental

rate of $8,000 for the day, which is up 33% over the previous year. Our upcoming June 4 school at the same track will cost us a staggering $15,000 just for the facility rental… on a Wednes-day! At least the weather will be good.

Believe us when we say that we are doing everything we can to hold event fees down. We are exploring some alternative models to try to stem the tide, but the reality is that until there’s a drop in demand for track time in Northern California, we’re not going to see track rental expenses come down to earth any time soon. And since the track rental cost is the Number One determinant of school fees, our event prices will sit at their current lofty levels, too.

To further discuss GGC event pricing, please visit the chapter forums at www.justracing.com/ggc_bmw_cca.

Mark Dadgar is a life-long car fanatic who never totals up his rac-ing bills. He currently serves on the board of the Golden Gate Chapter and as the driving-events coordinator. As punishment for that, they make him set driving school prices and write a column for the Bombe. You can reach him at [email protected].


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s BMW Concord 1945 Market Street Concord, CA 94520 925 682‑3577BMW of Humboldt Bay 1795 Central Ave. McKinleyville, CA 95519 707 839‑4BMW (4269)BMW of Monterey One Geary Plaza Seaside, CA 93955 831 899‑5555BMW of Mountain View 150 E. EI Camino Real Mountain View, CA 94040 650 943‑1000BMW of San Francisco 1675 Howard St San Francisco, CA 94103 415 863‑9000BMW of Santa Maria 2150 South College Drive Santa Maria, CA 93455 805 614‑0306Claridge’s BMW 4421 5 Auto Mall Circle Fremont, CA 94538 510 360‑5900Coast BMW 1484 Auto Park Way San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 805 543‑4423East Bay BMW 4355 Rosewood Drive Pleasanton, CA 94566 925 463‑2555Peter Pan BMW 2695 S. El Camino Real San Mateo, CA 94403 650 349‑9077Prestige BMW 2800 Corby Avenue Santa Rosa, CA 95407 707 545‑6602Sonnen BMW 1599 E. Francisco Blvd San Rafael, CA 94901 415 482‑2000Stevens Creek BMW 3737 Stevens Creek Santa Clara, CA 95050 408 249‑9070Weatherford Motors 735 Ashby Avenue Berkeley, CA 94710 510 654‑8280

One of the many member benefits of BMW CCA is a members-only discount at various participating services and dealers. Below you

can find the businesses in our area who offer our members a discount. Please note that businesses often require you to show your current CCA membership card in order to receive the discount.

Please contact us with any deletions to the list due to a com-pany being out of business. We ask that additions, changes, or dele-tions (no longer participating in discount program) are requested by the business owner directly. Updates should be directed to: [email protected].

Independent Service & Supply Discounts2002 Haus San Luis Obispo (805) 541-2002 5% Parts

Bavarian Enterprises Sunnyvale (408) 737-6100 Various Parts

Bavarian Motorsport Milpitas (408) 956-1662 10% Parts

Bavarian Professionals Berkeley (510) 524-6000 10% Labor

Bavarian Tuning Santa Rosa (707) 575-3757 10% Parts/Labor

Berkeley Motor Works El Cerrito (510) 528-1214 5% Parts/Svc

Bimmers BMW Service San Carlos (650) 591-2474 Various

Catalpa Street Garage Santa Cruz (831) 464-2269 10% Parts

Classic Euro-Asian Oroville (530) 534-6887 10% Parts

Conversion Techniques Oakland (510) 639-0911 Various

Dinan Engineering Mountain View (650) 962-9401 10% Labor

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Double 02 Salvage Hayward (510) 782-2002 10% Used Parts

Edge Motorworks Dublin (925) 479-0797 10% Labor

evosport www.evosport.com (888) 520-9971 10% Parts, $1000svc=free dyno

Extreme Performance San Jose (408) 923-6404 10% Parts/Labor

German Auto Santa Maria (805) 922-1262 10% Parts

GS Tuning Santa Rosa (707) 284-2680 10% Sales/Service

Heynneman European San Rafael (415) 499-1234 $50 off Service

Jam Engineering Monterey (831) 372-1787 Various Parts

John Gardiner Automotive San Francisco (415) 777-2697 10% Labor

Nate Smith’s Optimal Auto Santa Cruz (831) 476-1332 10% Parts

Patelco Credit Union www.Patelco.org (415) 442-6200 Special Offer

Phaedrus San Francisco (415) 567-8000 10% Parts

Portola Valley Garage Portola Valley (650) 851-7442 10% Labor

RennWerks Campbell (408) 370-7480 20% Labor

Rossi’s Tire & Auto Service Salinas (831) 424-0011 Various

SAS German Auto Pleasanton (925) 846-4886 10% Parts

Schulba BMW Service Belmont (650) 592-7352 10% Parts orders

Sound Innovations Hayward (510) 471-9062 10% Parts

ToeOut Performance ToeOutPerformance.com (805) 270-0118 10% Parts

Valley Motorwerks Rancho Cordova (916) 636-9526 10% Parts/Labor

West Bay Bavarian San Rafael (415) 457-0820 10% Parts/Labor/Dinan work

Dealership DiscountsBMW of Fremont Fremont (510) 360-5900 10% Parts & Labor

BMW of Monterey Seaside (831) 899-5555 10% Parts

BMW of Mountain View Mountain View (650) 943-1000 10% Parts

BMW of San Francisco San Francisco (415) 863-9000 10% Parts

East Bay BMW Pleasanton (925) 463-2555 10% Parts

Peter Pan BMW San Mateo (650) 349-9077 10% Parts

Roseville BMW Roseville (916) 782-9434 10% Parts

Sonnen BMW San Rafael (415) 482-2000 10% Parts

Stevens Creek BMW Santa Clara (408) 249-9070 Various/20% Parts/Labor

Weatherford BMW Berkeley (510) 654-8280 Various

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Golden Gate Chapter, BMW CCA, Inc. is a non-profit California corporation, it is a chapter of the BMW Car Club of America, and is not connected with Bayerische Motoren Werke AG or BMW of North America. Die Flüsternde Bombe is a publication of the Golden Gate Chapter, all ideas, opinions, and suggestions expressed in regard to technical or other matters are solely those of the authors, and no authentication, endorsement, or guarantee is expressed or implied. Golden Gate Chapter BMW CCA, Inc. assumes no liability for any of the information contained herein. No fac-tory approval is implied unless so indicated. Modi-fication of your BMW within the warranty period may void the warranty, and some modifications may violate federal or state laws or regulations. All contents remain the property of the chapter, but BMW CCA and BMW ACA chapters may quote or copy from the publication, provided full credit is given to the author and the Golden Gate Chapter, unless otherwise noted or specifically prohibited.

Chapter Mailing Address: Golden Gate Chapter BMW CCA909 Marina Village Parkway, PMB #189Alameda, CA 94501

The BMW Car Club of America, lnc. is a not-for-profit national association of over 70,000 members, dedicated to the enjoyment of driving BMWs. Membership is not limited to BMW own-ers and aimes to provide access to driving and social events, maintenance and technical informa-tion, parts discounts, and more. Dues are $40 per year, with an associate member added for $5 more. Members receive the monthly Roundel magazine and a newsletter from their local chap-ter, or from a chapter of their choice. The Golden Gate Chapter is one of the largest chapters in the BMW CCA with over 4,500 members.

For a new membership or to renew an existing one, please call toll free 1800 878-9292 or visit www.bmwcca.org. Visa and Mastercard accepted.

BMW CCA mailing address:640 South Main St., Suite 201Greenville, SC 29601 Phone: 864 250-0022Fax: 864 250-0038www.bmwcca.org

BMW CCA

GGC, BMW CCA

Membership address corrections are only accepted at the BMW CCA website or national office.

Member Updates

By joining the BMW Car Club of America (BMW CCA), you provided personal information that allows us to contact you. BMW CCA provides this information to the Golden Gate Chapter of the BMW Car Club of America (GGC BMW CCA) for the following purposes:

To send the GGC magazine (• Die Flüsternde Bombe) by U.S. Mail.To help us create content and events most • relevant to you. To alert you to updated information and • other new services from ggcbmwcca.org using an email announcement list.

GGC BMW CCA does not distribute personal information to any third parties. The information you provide to BMW CCA to be used by the GGC will not be used for any other purpose—we promise.

Privacy Statement

Board MembersGGC BoarD [email protected]

PrESIDEnt Jeff Cowan 650 322-4938 x2 [email protected]

VICE PrESIDEnt Bob Goebel [email protected]

SECrEtary Chris Webber [email protected]

trEaSurEr Tamara Hull [email protected]

MEMBErShIP ChaIr Kyle Breton [email protected]

MEMBErS-at-LarGE Mark Dadgar [email protected] Kelly Collins [email protected]

Event StaffChIEf DrIVInG InStruCtorS Billy Maher 707 546-5572 Peter Vinsel [email protected]

ChIEf StEwarD Peter Guagenti [email protected]

traCk SChooL ProjECt ManaGEr Kelly Collins/Mark Dadgar [email protected]

DrIVInG EVEntS CoorDInator Mark Dadgar [email protected]

ChIEf SCrutInEEr Ramon Le Francois 408 956-1662

Car ControL CLInIC CoorDInatorS Bob Goebel, Grant Low, Martin Umeh, Canyon Chan, and Paula Williamson [email protected]

autoCroSS CoorDInator Kris Linquist / Matt Visser [email protected]

autoCroSS Car CLaSSIfICatIonS Rodger Ball 415 566-1239 [email protected]

tEChnICaL SESSIon CoorDInator OPEN [email protected]

CLuB raCInG Mike Mills [email protected] www.bmwccaclubracing.com

BMw fEStorICS CoorDInatorS David Crum / Jeff Cowan [email protected]

SoCIaL EVEntS DIrECtor Mike Zampiceni [email protected]

CharItaBLE EVEntS CoorDInator Joe Fant [email protected]

Board Members

Chapter InformationBombe teamEDItor-In-ChIEf Kelly Kirkland 650 400-9300 [email protected]

aSSIGnMEntS EDItor Robert Pavel 415 752-7720 [email protected]

aSSIStant EDItor/CoPy EDItor Patrick R. Demorais [email protected]

aDVErtISInG ManaGEr Percy Chow 925 323-4844 Cell 925 215-3547 Office [email protected]

aD BILLInG ManaGEr Tamara Hull [email protected]

rEGuLar ContrIButorS Jonathan Bush, Jeff Cowan, Mark Dadgar, Kris Linquist, and Donovan R. Unks

PrIntInG Commerce Printing (Please don’t call with membership questions.)

requests for replacement or extra copies of the GGC newsletter should be directed to the membership chair.

Communications teamCoMMunICatIonS ManaGEr Kelly Collins [email protected]

wEBMaStEr Mark Dadgar [email protected]

GraPhIC DESIGn Percy Chow www.percydesign.com

area representativesnorth Bay Amanda Topper 415 279-0740 [email protected]

San franCISCo Ken Glidewell 415 345-3128 [email protected]

EaSt Bay Mary Sandkohl 510 530-4871 [email protected]

PEnInSuLa Kyle Breton 650 380-7116 [email protected]

South Bay Kris Linquist 408 392-0890 [email protected]

MontErEy Bay arEa Ken Whitson 831 625-5133 [email protected]

San LuIS oBISPo arEa Dennis Harrold 805 931-0433 [email protected]

BMW CCA Pacific Region V.P. Steve Johnson 858 451-8906 [email protected]

Want to Make Your Teen a Safer, Smarter Driver?Give themStreet Survival™ skills!

Street Survival™ School Program Guide

The goals of the Street Survival program are to teach students some of the basics of car control, to enhance their enjoyment of driving, and to improve their competence as drivers. We want the students to understand how their actions govern a car's responses, and thereby become safer, more effec-tive drivers on the road.

During the event, students will maneuver their cars through exercises laid out using orange traffic safety cones in a closed parking lot. They will experience each exercise element several times in order to learn from their mistakes and to improve their skills. A trained driving coach will accompany each driver to provide real-time feed-back as performing maneuvers. There is no stop-watch nor head-to-head competition with other cars. The students are here to improve their skills, not to compare themselves with someone else.

The exercise elements are laid out in advance by the event organizer and are designed to be fun, safe, challenging, and educational. Each element will teach the students a specific skill or group of skills.

Safety is our prime concern!

Space is limited. Register at: www.streetsurvival.org

8:00 – 9:00 a.m.: Registration and car safety/tech inspection.

9:00 – 9:45 a.m.: Classroom instruction, exercise and language/terms familiarization.

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.: Hands-on car control instruction on a closed course.

12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.: Lunch

1:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.: More hands-on car control instruction on a closed course and graduation.

Event Schedule:

Check out the Street Survival video promo featuring the GGC instructor core at: www.streetsurvival.org

Previous GGC Street Survival™ School articles can be found in the September 2005, July 2006, and July 2007 issues of the Bombe, available in pdf format at the GGC website under the Communications link.

What: Street Survival™ is a safe teen driving and car-control program for licensed drivers 16 to 19-years old.

Sponsored by the Tire Rack in association with the BMW Car Club of America (BMW CCA) Foundation, a 501c(3) public chari-table foundation, in partnership with the BMW CCA Golden Gate Chapter.

You don’t have to be a member or own a BMW (no SUVs). However, all students must have a valid driver’s license. Sorry, no exceptions.

Candlestick (Monster) Park. Take any Mon-ster Park exit from Highway 101. Look for us in the parking lot.

Saturday, May 31, 2008. 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

$60 includes event fee, lunch, and a one-year membership to the BMW Car Club.

Online only: www.StreetSurvival.org For more info, contact: [email protected] 864 329-1919.

According to Mothers Against Drunk Driv-ing (MADD), 36.4% of all teen accidents are alcohol-related. Street Survival’s mission is to reduce the other 63.6% of teen accidents caused by driver error.

Street Survival™ goes beyond drivers’ ed to teach teens to avoid accidents before they happen.

Street Survival™ is a unique hands-on driving experience that puts each student behind the wheel of his or her own car with a trained driving instructor one-on-one, all day.

The instruction takes place on a closed, wet-down parking lot, so teens can experi-ence emergency driving situations in a controlled environment. We teach skid control, ABS braking, accident avoidance, and emergency lane changes among many other good driving skills and habits.

When:Cost:

Register:

Why:Why:Why:

Who:

Where:

ing (MADD), 36.4% of all teen accidents are

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driving experience that puts each student

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Teen Street Survival School

28 April 2008Die Flüsternde Bombe28 April 2008Die Flüsternde Bombe

Laguna SecaGGC Driving SchoolWednesday, June 4th, 2008

Important Event Details:

• Event fees $320 for members and $360 for non-BMW CCA members (includes a non-refundable 1-year BMW CCA membership).

• Applications and payment due by 5/31/08

• Cancellations assessed a $50 fee before 5/21/08 (no refunds on BMW CCA membership fee)

• No refunds issued after 5/21/08

Track Location

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is located in Monterey on Highway 68, approximately half way between Highway 101 and Highway 1.

More Information and How To Register

Information about this school, including complete event documentation and registration information, is available on the Golden Gate Chapter web site at:

http://www.ggcbmwcca.org

Ready To Drive?Come join the Golden Gate Chapter of the BMW Car Club of America for a special one-day driving school as we returnto world-famous Mazda Race-way Laguna Seca! One of the most famous racetracks in the world and a true challenge to drivers of all skills levels, La-guna Seca will send you home after a day of incredible thrills with a new set of skills you canuse in your everyday driving tokeep you safe and enjoy the Ultimate Driving Machine.

If you are an advanced (Aor B group) student, you’llenjoy our new, more liberalpassing rules at this event!

Please visit the GGC web site for all of the information you’ll need to apply and pre-pare for this school.

Join us as we revisit one of ourfavorite race tracks. We look forward to seeing you at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca!

Peter Vinsel & Bi y Maher, Chief Driving Instructors

Laguna SecaGGC Driving SchoolWednesday, June 4th, 2008

Important Event Details:

• Event fees $320 for members and $360 for non-BMW CCA members (includes a non-refundable 1-year BMW CCA membership).

• Applications and payment due by 5/31/08

• Cancellations assessed a $50 fee before 5/21/08 (no refunds on BMW CCA membership fee)

• No refunds issued after 5/21/08

Track Location

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is located in Monterey on Highway 68, approximately half way between Highway 101 and Highway 1.

More Information and How To Register

Information about this school, including complete event documentation and registration information, is available on the Golden Gate Chapter web site at:

http://www.ggcbmwcca.org

Ready To Drive?Come join the Golden Gate Chapter of the BMW Car Club of America for a special one-day driving school as we returnto world-famous Mazda Race-way Laguna Seca! One of the most famous racetracks in the world and a true challenge to drivers of all skills levels, La-guna Seca will send you home after a day of incredible thrills with a new set of skills you canuse in your everyday driving tokeep you safe and enjoy the Ultimate Driving Machine.


Please visit the GGC web site for all of the information you’ll need to apply and pre-pare for this school.

Join us as we revisit one of ourfavorite race tracks. We look forward to seeing you at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca!

Peter Vinsel & Bi y Maher, y Maher, Chief Driving Instructors


Please visit the GGC web site for all of

We look forward to seeing you at Laguna Seca!

WWW.GGCBMWCCA.ORG

HPDS At Laguna Seca

Golden Gate ChapterBMW Car Club of America909 Marina Village Parkway, #189Alameda, CA 94501www.ggcbmwcca.org

Presort Standard US Postage

PAID Sacramento, CA

Permit 185

HAVE YOU MOVED? Please send address changes directly to the BMW CCA National Office at:BMW CCA, Inc., 640 South Main St. , Ste. 201, Greenville, SC 29601, or to: [email protected], or go to: www.bmwcca.org to sign in to your account and update your membership record.

Want to join the club? Call 800 878-9292 or go to www.bmwcca.org and sign up for only $40.

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Documents

Bombe...6 Die Flüsternde Bombe April 2008 Die Flüsternde Bombe 7 Calendar Of Events To add an event to the calendar, email your information to: [email protected]