RECENT ARTICLES
Join Us at the 2026 24 Hours of Daytona
Community, Events, Lifestyle, Motorsport
It might only be October, but the 2026 pro racing season will be here before you know it. That means it’s time to get your plans set for the 24 Hours of Daytona to kick off the season of sports car racing. The 2026 race promises to be a...
This One-Owner BMW 318iC Has 384,000 Miles. You Should Buy It
Among all the bizarre listings for furniture and missed connections, there are some really great finds living on Craigslist. Like this 5-speed 318i Convertible with one owner and nearly 400,000 miles. This car has been in Story Vogel’s family since 1995, primarily driven by his late wife, Judi. You...
Our First Drifting Event Ever Is in October. Sign Up Now
Later this month, the Sandlapper Chapter is going to take to the track at Carolina Motorsports Park in South Carolina for something totally new: a drifting event in addition to the traditional club racing and HPDE. That’s right, it’s the first opportunity from any of our chapters for you...
BMW CCA Recognition Awards Recipients Announced
Developed to recognize Individuals, Chapters and Businesses for their outstanding achievements. Throughout the history of the BMW CCA, outstanding individuals, chapters and businesses have supported The Club in many ways. It is appropriate that this passion, enthusiasm and commitment to The Club be recognized. The BMW CCA recognizes and...
BMW CCA 2025 Classic Raffle: Win a 1998 BMW E36 M3!
Enter to Win a 1998 BMW E36 M3 Sedan. The Ultimate Mid-’90s Dream Drive. Boot up your memories. This isn’t a throwback… it’s a time warp. We’re taking you straight back to the garage menu of Gran Turismo 2, the car-select screen of Need for Speed II, and the...
Celebrating BMWs at the Petersen Museum
It’s not too far of a stretch to suggest the Petersen Museum’s BMW Cruise-in, “BMWs and Bretzels,” September 28 was reminiscent of another Southern California icon, Disneyland. No, not in long lines or high-priced food/rides. In this case, it was that sense you get when you enter Disneyland and...
Selling Sharkie
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how installing electric air conditioning my 1969 Lotus Elan +2 pushed out nearly all BMW-related work for much of the summer. Last week, I got the system running. It’s not completely finished—there’s one big task I’ll do over the winter, and a...
Two M4 GT3 EVOs In Top Five In FIA WEC Fuji Race
The globe-trotting FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) traveled to Japan for the penultimate race of the season, a six-hour race at Fuji Speedway in Japan, in the shadow of Mt. Fuji. The M4 GT3 EVO entries had a strong race with both in the top five in class, while...
BMW NA 50th Anniversary: Lending Technology Expertise to the U.S. Olympic Team
With its corporate headquarters located directly across the street from the site of Munich’s Olympiapark, BMW is a natural partner for the Olympic movement. When the Games were held in Munich in 1972, BMW’s battery-powered Elektro-Auto 1600 paced the marathon and speed-walking events. In 1996, the Olympic Games were...
BMW NA 50th Anniversary: BMW Bets Big on Carbon Fiber
If you were following the business news on March 16, 2009, you might have noticed an interesting transaction involving SGL Carbon, the world’s largest supplier of carbon fiber and carbon fiber products, including automotive brakes. On that date, the SKion investment firm spent approximately €140 million to acquire more...
MINI Partners With Smorgasburg For Fall Event Series
BMW News, Events, Lifestyle, MINI
MINI USA is excited to announce a dynamic new partnership with Smorgasburg, the largest weekly open-air food festival in the United States, for a series of immersive, one-day events this fall. “MINI at Smorgasburg” will bring the MINI brand’s fun and expressive spirit to Smorgasburg’s tasty events in three cities: Los...
Selling Sharkie
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how installing electric air conditioning my 1969 Lotus Elan +2 pushed out nearly all BMW-related work for much of the summer. Last week, I got the system running. It’s not completely finished—there’s one big task I’ll do over the winter, and a...
BMW NA 50th Anniversary: BMW Bets Big on Carbon Fiber
If you were following the business news on March 16, 2009, you might have noticed an interesting transaction involving SGL Carbon, the world’s largest supplier of carbon fiber and carbon fiber products, including automotive brakes. On that date, the SKion investment firm spent approximately €140 million to acquire more...
BMW CCA Events: O’Fast 2025, Foundation Zentrum ALPINA Event, BMW Performance Center Event
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...
BMW Issues “Park Outside” Recall For Some 2019-2022 Models
BMW issued a “park outside” recall for several 2019-2022 BMW models due to the possibility of an engine starter short circuit that risks a fire. Approsimately 200,000 vehicles are affected by the “Engine Starter May Corrode and Overheat” recall. Owners of the listed models are advised to park their...
Bimmer Invasion LA 2025 Was Even Cooler
BMW News, Community, Events, Featured
At Bimmer Invasion Los Angeles 2025, if you had a bingo card of all BMW topics, styles, models, themes, interests, and more, you would have shouted “bingo!” by noon and then “Blackout” by 12:30. And Bimmer Invasion did not officialy “begin” until 1:00pm! It would be hard not to...
Weekend With A Wagon
We’re now in the seventh generation of the M5, a history which goes back nearly forty years when the E28 M5 was first sold here in the US. I’ll forego the usual diatribe about how every generation has gotten bigger and heavier than the one before it and just...
Nobody Expects to Need a Diode
As I wrote about last week, I’m installing air conditioning in my 1969 Lotus Elan +2 using an electric compressor. A fair amount of work has gone into carefully designing and installing the new circuit that supports the compressor (which draws from 40 to 80 amps) in such a...
BMW NA 50th Anniversary: Project i Looks Forward
What does “the future” look like? How will we live, and what will we drive? For automakers, these questions are existential, and most expend considerable resources trying to answer them. That was relatively easy throughout most of the 20th century, but it became more difficult in the 21st, as...
Five Versions Of The New BMW X5
On Sept. 21, 2025, BMW announced it will produce a new vehicle with five different drivetrain technologies. The new BMW X5 will be the first model to offer customers a choice of battery electric, plug-in hybrid, gasoline, diesel (in markets outside the US), and hydrogen fuel cell technology. In...
Racing Lines: From O’Fest 2010 to O’Fast 2025: BMW CCA Club Racing prepares for a weekend at Road America
The October 2025 O’Fast event at Road America is promising to be exciting and competitive, with multiple sprint races and an enduro scheduled—with the expected participation of many national title contenders in multiple classes. At deadline time, 39 racers are enrolled. The list is likely to grow as the...
Racing Lines: When BMW CCA Club Racing connected with Formula BMW
Front and center at BMW of North America’s exceptional “50 Years of BMW of North America” celebration in September was a Formula BMW USA race car, parked at the head of a line of 3 Series racers. The car brought to mind the March 2008 event at Thunderhill Raceway...
Legends of the Autobahn Was Fantastic. Again.
They said don’t write this. There was debate. There were arguments. They said if there ever were a time to gatekeep, this is it. But here it is. Can’t keep quiet any longer! Legends of the Autobahn in Pacific Grove during the 2025 Monterey Car Week was fantastic. Again....
Electric Air Conditioning?
I’ve embarked on a project on my 1969 Lotus Elan +2 that some of you might find interesting. Not only am I retrofitting air conditioning into it, but I’m using an electrically-driven compressor. For the last few weeks, the project has consumed me, driving out all BMW-related wrenching. So,...
BMW X3 Beats Audi Q5 and Mercedes-Benz GLC
The staff at Edmunds.com, the website that provides information and tools for car shoppers, recently put the three German automakers small luxury SUVs (or SAVs as BMW likes to label them) up against each other. After their extensive testing, they chose the newly overhauled BMW X3 as the best...
BMW Logo Updated…Slightly
Without making too many Cracker Barrel or Jaguar references, we can report that BMW has updated it’s logo in a markedly more subtle way than some other recent headline-grabbing branding refreshes. In conjunction with the reveal of the BMW iX3, BMW also revealed a slightly altered BMW roundel that...
Selling Sharkie
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how installing electric air conditioning my 1969 Lotus Elan +2 pushed out nearly all BMW-related work for much of the summer. Last week, I got the system running. It’s not completely finished—there’s one big task I’ll do over the winter, and a...
Nobody Expects to Need a Diode
As I wrote about last week, I’m installing air conditioning in my 1969 Lotus Elan +2 using an electric compressor. A fair amount of work has gone into carefully designing and installing the new circuit that supports the compressor (which draws from 40 to 80 amps) in such a...
Electric Air Conditioning?
I’ve embarked on a project on my 1969 Lotus Elan +2 that some of you might find interesting. Not only am I retrofitting air conditioning into it, but I’m using an electrically-driven compressor. For the last few weeks, the project has consumed me, driving out all BMW-related wrenching. So,...
Circling the Wagons. Again.
I have a strong attraction to BMW wagons. I’ve had several as daily drivers, with varying degrees of success. The first was a ’99 E39 528iT 5-speed sport package car that seemed like a must-buy but was one of those cars that, when you bought it, it signed you...
Back to the Vintage BMWs
I have a confession. Much of my attention the past few months has been focused on the 1969 Lotus Elan +2 I bought last November. I haven’t written about it much in this space, but I absolutely adore this car. It’s a good deal more refined than my ’74...
E39 Power Steering Pump Replacement
A few weeks ago, I mentioned wanting to address a long-standing and worsening issue with my 2003 530i’s steering feeling heavy. Initially the problem would only occur on cold winter mornings and would go away after a few turns of the wheel, but it was now manifesting itself in...
