A Look Inside the BMW CCA Foundation’s M3 Exhibit Grand Openining

Which boxes have you checked off as a BMW fan? Have you seen an actual E36 M3 GT? An E92 M3 GTS? An E46 M3 CSL? What about an E46 M3 GTR PTG racecar? Maybe one of the 50 M4 3.0 CSLs? The E36 M3 GT that won at Nurburgring? The first E30 M3 for the U.S? The last U.S. E30 M3? All in the same room mere feet from each other?

Many thought it would be tough to follow the 2025 Alpina exhibit and grand opening event, or really any of the prior eight full time exhibits. With BMW factory executives as well as Alpina Classic execs and founding family members present and signing autographs (and manifold covers), guests at that previous exhibit’s opening enjoyed a spectacular evening and opening weekend. That’s a high bar, but according to some of the guests at the most recent grand opening for the BMW M3: 40 Years of Evolution exhibit, the BMW CCA Foundation team might have done it.

The 25 M3 representatives (if you include a few M4s in the mix) are certainly worth seeing any day during the seven-plus month-long exhibit. The panel hosted inside The Ultimate Driving Museum during the May 15 grand opening might only be matched at the Foundation’s event coming in October. The exhibit itself is heralded as tracing the BMW M3 from its initial track-inspired roots with the E30 M3 to its modern-day dominance all the way through the most recent models. Each of the six M3 generations were well-represented with all but the G8X cars also included in the racecar line-up (they’re out racing).

Erik Wensberg leading the opening night panel. Photo: Jon Van Woerden

After the panel, it wasn’t clear who was in greater awe—the guests listening or the panelists all stating clearly how amazed they were by the entire exhibit—the cars, the memorabilia, and the layout. The panel consisted of long time BMW Motorsport Press Officer Bill Cobb with his years of activity with the PTG and RLL teams and more; championship driver and PTG team owner Tom Milner; Tom’s daughter Erin Gahagan, who manages DXDT Racing, for which her brother Tommy Milner drives; Erin’s husband and DXDT team member David Gahagan; Ray “Mr. BMW” Korman; and BMW Motorsport driver and champion Boris Said.

Guests were further treated with Erik Wensberg as emcee. Wensberg was the first M brand manager and involved with the evolution of the brand and BMW’s racing history and success. His stories alone were worth the admission alone. To watch him banter with the panel and provide so much insight was something any BMW fan could appreciate.

Each panelist provided behind-the-curtains looks at how BMW racing and PTG racing evolved. They shared stories that you simply don’t find in press releases or your favorite social media posts. Tom Milner was overheard saying that out of all the museums he’s visited, this collection of cars and more at The Ultimate Driving Museum stands above them all.

A selection of racing M3s from each generation. Photo: Jon Van Woerden

Boris Said didn’t really know what he was in for when he flew in from Southern California where he has an award-winning BMW dealership, BMW of Murietta.
“This is just an amazing collection here; it’s really well done,” Said stated while on stage. “All the history here and memorabilia is incredible. Looking back at my 40 years of racing from Nurburgring to showroom-stock to NASCAR, the time with BMW and what we have here with Bill Cobb and Erin and Dave and Tom, and Erik, we had such a close-knit family. And were kicking Porsche’s ass, and that felt great; it was a great rivalry. You don’t think about how good it was until you look back at it. The time we had together is something I’ll never forget. Now I’m a BMW dealer, so I eat, sleep, breathe, and love this brand. So to come here and be part of this and catch up with Tom here…Tom was a father figure to me. This is just great.”

The BMW CCA Foundation team deserved to be proud of the praise heaped on them for pulling the exhibit together. Curator of collections Michael Mitchell was certainly happy with the response. “I felt really good about it,” he says. “It was a lot of work but what’s satisfying is that the visitors are thrilled with it. You know you’ve done something well when the visitors are happy. We heard guests say, ‘Not only are the cars excellent, but everything is so well thought out on the walls and display cases. We’re seeing things on our second and third lap around that we hadn’t seen earlier.’

“It was great to hear the panelists and Erik [Wensberg] go on about it,” Mitchell continued. “They each commented while on the panel but for me, it was really great to hear from Tom on Thursday when he saw it. He put his hand on my shoulder and told me, ‘I’ve been to the BMW museum, the Audi and Porsche museums, the Mercedes museum, but wow, this is amazing,’ as he waved his hand around the room. That really meant a lot but again, seeing the visitors appreciate it, too, was rewarding.”

Curator of collections Michael Mitchell put months into getting the right cars to display. Photo: Jon Van Woerden

As Mitchell indicated, the exhibit is more than just positioning 25 impressive cars. “We have more than 80,000 items in our archives and collection here,” Mitchell adds. “The only way to properly show them off is to bring them out when we can and incorporate them in our exhibits. One example was our banners. With some cool work from Jon van Woerden and some clever logo placement by Dana here on the team, we created really quality banners. The team from Continental was impressed with that detail.”

It had to be hard work to coordinate everything, but the result is a fantastic exhibit that even impresses the entire staff. “After months and months of hard work, it was a lot of fun to see it all come together,” says Christine Chabot, the Foundation’s director of operations. “Each exhibit is great to develop and even more rewarding to see so many visitors appreciate them throughout the year. This grand opening was special with this BMW M3 exhibit. The panelists were amazing. We and the guests were so fortunate to hear their tales firsthand.”

Part of the legwork ahead of the exhibit is a great deal of coordination. “We’re grateful to our volunteers and staff for all the incredible work to make it possible, Chabot continues. “The entire BMW CCA Foundation survives on donations (yes, from you all), but the support from BMW and our other fantastic sponsors is critical to make these exhibits possible. And of course, a huge thank you goes to our owners who are loaning their cars to the exhibit for more than eight months. It’s a little ironic that we’re celebrating how amazing these cars are and then taking them from their owners for this long, but we sure appreciate it and are confident you will, too!”

The panel and the Q&A with Ray Korman warranted its own evening—or two, but when you add in Erik Wensberg as emcee, the Grand Opening visitors were definitely treated to an extremely unique treat. Wensberg, the first and longest tenured BMW M brand manager, has seen significant history with the BMW M brand, really from inception.

“E30 M3 was designed as a racecar first,” Wensberg explains. “It won more than 50 championships and more than 1000 individual races. The people here on stage had a major role in bringing awareness to the American market about how special these cars are. When we started, Americans didn’t really know what M was. We owe a great amount of appreciation to these folks up here on stage tonight.

“The entire exhibit is fabulous, making this party emotional and very gratifying,” he continues. “The E30 M3 was on its way to being a legend on the track, but we had a host of problems selling it at retail in the US. We had to redefine what M meant in this country. The E36 platform really gave us this opportunity, but it almost didn’t happen. We aligned the price and performance and kicked the doors wide open. We went after the primary competitors with a vengeance with a combination of affordability, quality, and performance. We had the Car of the Year and other accolades and could not make them fast enough. We turned a niche brand among enthusiasts into a brand that could rival many of the hottest sportscars in the US. This exhibit captures all that led to that and all that it led to incredibly well.”

It speaks volumes when the new exhibits impress even those who have been involved with it. Bruce Smith, outgoing President of the Board of Trustees, has been a BMW fan for years and been involved in BMW CCA Club Racing. “This exhibit and the grand opening wildly exceeded my expectations,” Smith says. “It was impressive seeing the evolution of the M3 and what it means to the enthusiast and seeing all those race cars with significant pedigrees. It was amazing to have that panel with us. Those were many of the folks who put BMW racing and motorsport on the map in North America and with Boris winning at the ‘Ring, globally as well. And with Ray Korman there as well and Erik as the master of ceremonies, you could see people start to realize how fortunate they were listening to it all.”

Smith’s first BMW was an E30 M3. He now has an E36 M3 and an M4 Competition while his wife drives an X3, but racing is still in his blood. “I’ve been involved with BMW CCA Club Racing for years,” he says. “My favorite part of the exhibit was seeing the racecars presented in grid formation. It was very moving and incredible to get up close to those cars and literally walk among them.”

Incoming President Simone Harrison was equally as enthralled with the exhibit. “This collection is spectacular because it captures the M3’s pure heritage from the track to the street,” Harrison says. “This is the sixth exhibit I’ve been able to experience in person and each one has its own personality. One thing you see immediately with this one resonating with the layout and a great sampling of the colors, too. Seeing that all in one space is breathtaking.”

Harrison has been in the BMW, BMW CCA, and racing community for years. She has owned every generation of M cars up through the E9X chassis and seen plenty in the BMW realm, yet this weekend stood out for her. “This weekend was absolutely amazing,” she says. “One of the absolute highlights was the racing legends panel. Having Erik Wensberg—a master storyteller himself—moderate that panel of racing icons sharing behind-the-scenes stories of BMW M and motorsport was unforgettable. That is the magic of our openings; you don’t just see the cars, but you hear from people who lived and shaped the history.”

Seeing the exhibits during the year is one thing, but the opening weekends are powerful. “Honestly, we get better every single year and that’s a direct reflection on the community standing behind us,” Harrison says. “An effort of this scale requires the hard work and support of many people. We are immensely grateful to our corporate partners, to the volunteers who spent hours prepping each vehicle and the displays, and the donors who continue to help fund this vision. And of course, our staff—Christine, Michael, Dana, and Dan—is instrumental to this success. They are the ones who create the magic.”

The exhibit is open through mid-January 2027 and will not disappoint. If you’re within striking distance of Greer/Greenville/Spartanburg, the exhibit alone will impress but the trio including the BMW factory and the Performance Center can take up your entire weekend in an incredible way.