RECENT ARTICLES
Just the Flax: BMW Achieves Breakthrough With Natural Fiber Composites
Following the successful utilization of renewable raw materials in racing cars, the BMW Group will now harness natural fiber composites also for its series-production models. The BMW Group reached series maturity of natural fiber composites following several years of development and in-depth research. The composites from renewable raw materials even...
BMW NA 50th Anniversary: BMW Performance Center
BMW News, Lifestyle, Motorsport
On September 8, 1994, the first car rolled off the line at BMW Manufacturing, and the North American BMW world began spinning on an unlikely new axis in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Shortly after the plant opened, enthusiasts began congregating at the Zentrum, the plant’s museum and welcome center, and...
Explaining BMW’s Heart of Joy: Well, It’s Kind Of Like an Octopus
BMW recently announced that the Neue Klasse vehicles it’s working on will have four new “superbrains,” computers responsible for all aspects of performance and comfort. Most highly touted among them is the Heart of Joy, which will serve as the central control unit. It’s designed to take BMW’s driving...
Preparing the Bavaria for its New Home (part II)
Last week, I talked about how, in preparation to tell the Bavaria to good friends who have bought two other cars from me, I replaced the clutch slave cylinder and had the New Old Stock (NOS) muffler I had kicking around the garage for five years welded on. This...
BMW Wins Nürburgring 24 Hour!
In front of a record crowd of around 280,000 spectators, BMW and ROWE Racing won the Nurburgring 24 Hour race with the #98 M4 GT# EVO driven by Kelvin van der Linde, Augusto Farfus, Jesse Krohn and Raffaele Marciello. It was BMWs 21st overall victory at the race and...
Paul Miller Racing Wins IMSA Six Hours of Watkins Glen
The IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship (IWSC) and Michelin Pilot Challenge series traveled to the Finger Lakes region of New York to Watkins Glen, where racing has been going on since the first contest through town and around the surrounding countryside in 1948. BMW has had a lot of success...
A Tale of Two Tracks
BMW News, Community, Events, Featured, Motorsport
It’s not just on the car; it’s in the cars. Turner Motorsport uses the same LIQUI MOLY motor oils in their racecars as we can in our daily drivers. Thank you to LIQUI MOLY for supporting this column. Same but different? The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach and...
Vintage Prep Bingo
BMW News, Community, Events, Lifestyle
Is there a better stress test of a vehicle’s operational condition than a long road trip? While relatively short around-town trips may not reveal issues, a vehicle will let you know what it needs after you’ve been in the driver’s seat for hundreds of continuous miles. What’s that sound?...
Exciting Upcoming BMW CCA Member Events
BMW Car Club of America, the official BMW enthusiast club, offers membership that includes access to hundreds of BMW-focused chapter, regional, and national events. Here are a few upcoming events that should interest BMW enthusiasts of all types! Find even more events on the official BMW Car Club of...
Petersen Automotive Museum Celebrates 50 Years of the BMW 3 Series in Motorsports
BMW News, Community, Events, Featured, Lifestyle, Motorsport
If you are in the Southern California area, include “visit the Petersen Automotive Museum” on your must-do list and do it soon. Earlier this year, I had the good fortune of being at The Ultimate Driving Museum’s grand opening of its current exhibit, ALPINA: 60 Years of Excellence. This...
Racing Lines: Three winners in four races as Club Racing runs at Watkins Glen
Community, Lifestyle, Motorsport
The Tire Rack BMW CCA Club Racing series returned to New York’s Watkins Glen in May where more than 40 racers contested an enduro and three sprints in a Genesee Valley Chapter event. Frank McGleneghen won the enduro in his M2 Spec F87 M2 CSR, Steve Barnett won the...
Petersen Automotive Museum Celebrates 50 Years of the BMW 3 Series in Motorsports
BMW News, Community, Events, Featured, Lifestyle, Motorsport
If you are in the Southern California area, include “visit the Petersen Automotive Museum” on your must-do list and do it soon. Earlier this year, I had the good fortune of being at The Ultimate Driving Museum’s grand opening of its current exhibit, ALPINA: 60 Years of Excellence. This...
Racing Lines: Three winners in four races as Club Racing runs at Watkins Glen
Community, Lifestyle, Motorsport
The Tire Rack BMW CCA Club Racing series returned to New York’s Watkins Glen in May where more than 40 racers contested an enduro and three sprints in a Genesee Valley Chapter event. Frank McGleneghen won the enduro in his M2 Spec F87 M2 CSR, Steve Barnett won the...
Racing Lines: Harding, Chang, and Randall win at Thunderbolt in June
Community, Lifestyle, Motorsport
Racers converged on the Thunderbolt circuit of New Jersey Motorsports Park to run four sprint races on the first Monday and Tuesday in June. The annual New Jersey Chapter event, co-hosted by the New York Chapter again this year, was run in conjunction with a high-performance driving school. It...
Preparing the Bavaria for its New Home (part I)
It was a week for dealing with car sales, both my own and others. As I wrote about two weeks ago, I’m helping Mike Miller’s fiancée and beneficiary Lisa Binder sell his 1977 BMW 320i. She detailed and photographed the car, and I submitted it to Bring a Trailer....
BMW iX3 Gets Preview Neue Klasse Coverage
BMW introduced the first of the Neue Klasse concept designs a couple of years back. In contrast to the super-exclusive Speedtop recently rolled out, the first production model for the Neue Klass line looks to be the BMW iX3, a full-redesigned and electric Sports Activity Vehicle. BMW’s popular X3...
BimmerLife Rendezvous: Bourbon Trail Photos!
BMW News, Community, Events, Lifestyle
Over the weekend of June 12-15, BMW CCA members experienced the very best of the Bourbon Trail as part of the 2025 BimmerLife Rendezvous: Bourbon Trail event. Members took the journey through Kentucky’s legendary bourbon country, enjoying a three-day experience of fine spirits, exquisite dining, and thrilling horse racing...
BMW To Offer Only One Model of XM for 2026
Available exclusively as the XM Label – the most powerful road vehicle ever produced by BMW M. New paint, interior, and wheel options. AC charge rate increased to 11kW. World Premiere at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Saturday, June 14. Woodcliff Lake, NJ – June 11, 2025… Two...
Ready For BMW CCA Festorics 2025?
Are you ready for BMW Car Club of America’s Festorics at Turn Five, presented by Continental Tire, at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca? We are working on the event for this year and want your opinion! Fill out the form below to tell us what you love about the Festorics races!...
The Incredible True Story of Birgit the Wunder Bavaria
BMW Will Keep Making the Manual Z4
With a reported rise of 29% for BMW Z4 sales last year, BMW has stated that it will continue making the manual sportscar, at least in its U.S. spec G29 M40i Handschlater package version, through May of 2026. And while the majority of BMW buyers choose the more modern,...
BMW NA 50th: Z3 Roadster Brings Fun from Spartanburg
In the 1930s, the sporty and sophisticated 328 made BMW synonymous with roadsters. Sixty years later, the Z3 made BMW synonymous with roadsters once again, with sporty performance and styling that recalled its legendary predecessor. It became one of BMW’s best-loved cars, bringing new enthusiasts to the marque and...
Dream Car: Win A Continental Tire Certificate
BMW News, Community, Events, Lifestyle
The BMW CCA 2025 Dream Car Raffle is well underway! One lucky BMW CCA member will win a stunning 2025 BMW M3 Competition xDrive, finished in BMW Individual Ruby Star Neo with an Ivory White Full Merino Leather interior. Learn more about the prizes, the bonus drawings, and how...
Appreciating a Plain Old E46
BMW News, Community, Featured, Lifestyle
Sometimes, the best things in life hide in plain sight. One of the greatest cars I’ve had this decade isn’t flashy, it isn’t fast, and quite frankly, it isn’t that special—or is it? At first glance, the 2003 Titanium silver over grey leather 330Xi automatic sedan isn’t remarkable by...
Selling Mike Miller’s 1977 320i (part I)
As most of you know, our friend, Roundel Technical Editor and Tech Talk writer Mike Miller, passed away in March. A few days ago, I received an email from Satch Carlson. It read: “Let me introduce you (if you don’t know her already) to Lisa Binder, Mike Miller’s perpetual...
BMW Refreshes M2 CS for 2026
While it may not look all that different, the newest special-edition BMW M2 CS refresh adds power and torque while reducing weight for the 9-speed Steptronic M2. With special modes and updates aimed specifically for track runs, the 2026 M2 CS will start production in August 2025, with the...
Preparing the Bavaria for its New Home (part II)
Last week, I talked about how, in preparation to tell the Bavaria to good friends who have bought two other cars from me, I replaced the clutch slave cylinder and had the New Old Stock (NOS) muffler I had kicking around the garage for five years welded on. This...
Preparing the Bavaria for its New Home (part I)
It was a week for dealing with car sales, both my own and others. As I wrote about two weeks ago, I’m helping Mike Miller’s fiancée and beneficiary Lisa Binder sell his 1977 BMW 320i. She detailed and photographed the car, and I submitted it to Bring a Trailer....
The Incredible True Story of Birgit the Wunder Bavaria
Selling Mike Miller’s 1977 320i (part I)
As most of you know, our friend, Roundel Technical Editor and Tech Talk writer Mike Miller, passed away in March. A few days ago, I received an email from Satch Carlson. It read: “Let me introduce you (if you don’t know her already) to Lisa Binder, Mike Miller’s perpetual...
The FrankenThirty Does The Vintage (part II)
Community, Events, Resto & Mod
Last week, I described getting the FrankenThirty down to The Vintage in Asheville (well, down to the host hotel and the Alpina exhibit at the BMW CCA Foundation in Greer SC) with the only problems being oil consumption and mouse smell that I thought I’d dealt with but was...
The FrankenThirty Does The Vintage (part I)
Last week, I wrote about the final set of repairs to the FrankenThirty before departing for The Vintage. Last Wednesday, it was go time. I met my frequent road trip companion Jose Rosario at the Charlton Service Plaza on I-90 in central Massachusetts, and off we went. Years back,...
