It started about two years ago. Let me back up… It started about 21 years ago, as you may know from my previous article entitled “The BMW and the Hooptie, An Enthusiasts Story.” My first car was a 1975 BMW 2002. Since then, I’ve always had a love for the 2002. Not the most practical of things for the Midwest climate, but they sure do make fun sunny day cars in the summer months.

So about two years ago, I found a 1976 Agave Green 2002 for sale in southeastern Wisconsin. I remember it vividly because my wife had a girl’s night at our house, so I was kindly instructed to take our two children over to my brothers house for the evening. He was kind enough to let us all sleep in his basement…. As I lay there awake on his half inflated air mattress, my coping mechanism was to feverishly search the internet for BMWs on my phone.

When I was younger, I was willing to travel all over the United States to find ”the right car.” In fact, I’ve been as far West as California, south as Florida, east as New Jersey, and north as the UP to buy cars. Unfortunately, the older I get–and the larger my family gets–the less interested I am in traveling all over the place on car missions. As a result, most of my searches entail a “distance nearest first” search filter to help with the acquisition of any car.

I was pleased when it popped up in my search. The 1976 Agave was located about an hour from my house. It had reportedly been stored outside for some time, and as a result had some issues with the paint. The listing had a cell phone number in it, so I began texting with the owner. I asked him the standard questions. They usually start with something like, “any rust, or accident history”? If the car passes those two tests, my interest level begins to rise. The next questions involve an attempt to get a better idea about the car’s maintenance and general aesthetics. I usually ask about any maintenance records that come along with the car. How the shocks, brakes, and exhaust are. If the body has any dents or scratches. It ends up being quite a grueling list of questions for any particular seller, but once we’re through them, I’m usually pretty certain that I will buy the car if I can get there in person. From that point, I begin negotiating on price given that I have a pretty good idea about the generalities of the car. In fact, as a general rule, I don’t like to mess with the price in person unless something is drastically different and misrepresented. I prefer to come to some sort of an agreement before I even go and look at any particular car. This ‘76 checked all the right boxes, and from that point it was only down to price.

I remember asking the seller how flexible he might be, and at that time he said “not very”. I thanked him and asked him to keep me in mind as the sale process proceeded. Fast forward several months and the car was still hanging around. In fact, the seller was getting ready to move, and the car was going to stay in southeastern WI with his folks. I got back in touch and made an offer. I remember thinking he wouldn’t take it. However, when you’ve moved on geographically, it is sometimes better to just cut ties and let go. So, he agreed to my price, and we set up a time for me to go and see/buy it.

Like any car guy can attest, my hobby has a tendency of getting in the way of some family time. That particular Sunday was a birthday party for my nephew. I sweet talked my wife Lisa into agreeing to swing through the party with me first and then go buy the 2002.  By the time we actually made it there it was dusk. Something I’ve neglected to mention up until this point is that the car had some electrical gremlins… I agreed to purchase the car, but that one hour drive home was a bit hairy. The car had headlights, but no instrument lights and no taillights. Lisa followed as close behind as she could, but it was pretty dicey on those dark winding country roads, and she was not too thrilled with me by the time we made it home.

As with most people that spend any amount of time around cars, I have several “guys” for car related stuff. I have a “detailer guy” and a “dent guy”. I called both of them the following week, and scheduled times for them to come out and work on the ‘76. My Detailer was able to get most of the signs of outdoor storage removed from the car. It actually shined up very nicely. My Dent guy was able to remove most, if not all, of the door dings using the PDR process. Those two acts were enough to really add some brilliance to the car. I worked on it a bit more, and did some interior fixes as well as some brake work. By this point, it was getting pretty late in the season, and I was almost ready put it away for the winter.

As some of you know about me, I’m an avid M3 enthusiast. As a result, I have a borderline obsessive daily search that takes place. It ends up being an almost nationwide hunt for the particular cars that I love, as well as the parts that help them to run and drive. I was actually sitting in a McDonald’s play place with my family when I found 10 Brooks on the inter-webs. The listing was pretty brief, but it discussed a 1988 Lachsilber M3 that had a 2.5L engine rebuild from the well known Ron Checca, as well as a huge documented repair history. It was located in SC, so not exactly next door.

I started by texting the seller – DS. I asked my gauntlet of questions, and came out the other side fairly unscathed. DS had owned the car for about seven years. He had purchased it from the widow of his best friend, who interestingly enough purchased it brand new for her husband as an anniversary gift. (Lisa, take notes…)

The purchase would include all of the history, and receipts of anything and everything done to the car, as well as the name 10 Brooks. I was very interested! At this point though, we still had the small topic of money to work out. The dollar value that DS was asking for the car seemed fair for the market, but was by no means easy to choke down. I went back-and-forth with him a bit, and ended up in a rather tongue-and-cheek fashion asking him if he would take a trade for a 2002. He said no, but came back and asked me about the car out of curiosity. I told him it was a 1976 Agave 2002 with several performance upgrades. DS got back to me, and much to my surprise, asked me to send him some photos and specifics on the car. I sent over some recent post-detailing photos. I could NOT believe it, but he was actually interested in a potential trade. We were still a couple thousand dollars apart, but I figured that we were within striking distance and we proceeded down the path of negotiations.

I explained to DS that I was the father of young children, and it was pretty hard for me to get away. Given that the car wasn’t exactly next-door, I asked him if he would be willing to meet me about halfway. At the time I had a truck, and could rent a trailer to make the trip. He thought about it overnight, and agreed that he could meet me about 12 hours from my house. I started doing the mental gymnastics of figuring out the the purchase and pick up, as well as the money bit. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it would be very hard for me to do by myself. I remember lying in bed that night running through the potential scenarios, and felt very uneasy about it. The next morning, I texted DS and told him that I was sorry, but I just couldn’t quite pay what he was asking, or make the trip to pick up the car. He seemed pretty bummed about it, but understood.

That day was spent trying to figure out if I made the right decision. Ultimately I knew that the money was a bit much, and the drive would have really taken it out of me. I went to bed that night feeling fairly confident in my decision…

The next morning I got a text from DS. He was willing to take another $2000 off the price, as well as deliver the car all the way up to Wisconsin! I was absolutely floored. I could not believe that he was willing to do this. I thought about it for the rest of the morning, talked it over with Lisa, and agreed to purchase the car. I sent him $1000 via PayPal as a goodwill gesture /deposit and we had a deal in the making.

DS was able to bring the car up to me about a week later with his cousin, a diesel truck  and a trailer. I was so excited I could barely stand it. We planned on having the two over for dinner and some drinks to discuss cars after the exchange was made. About an hour and a half before he was supposed to arrive, I got a text from DS saying that he was having some ”trailer trouble.” Turns out one of the wheel bearings had locked up. It took him about four hours to get the right parts and get it all repaired. I offered to drive down to help try to fix it, but he said they were more than capable of handling this type of thing. Needless to say, they arrived quite a bit later than originally intended.

When the guys pulled up to the house, I went out to meet them. Even in the dark, I could tell that this was a special car. DS fired it up, and I felt like it was going to wake up the entire neighborhood! It was low and loud enough to give me goose bumps. I didn’t even drive it. I wanted it. It had to be mine.

At this point, we walked into my garage and I showed him the ‘76. He was smitten. Big smiles all around and lots of handshakes. I wasn’t able to have him in for drinks and dinner that evening, because by this point it was about 11:30PM and they wanted to get back on the road. As he was loading the ‘76 onto his trailer, I asked him where the name 10 Brooks came from. It turns out, it’s from an old country song by Bill Monroe entitled “Molly and Tenbrooks.” The song discusses a racehorse that reminded the original owner of how the M3 could make its way around a racetrack. DS  couldn’t believe that I had never heard of the song…. I explained that it must be a geographical thing…

Lastly, I asked DS why he had a sudden change of heart in his willingness to take a trade for the ‘76. He told me that the original owner of 10 Brooks had two BMW’s–10 Brooks, and a 1976 Agave 2002. He was doubting his decision to let go of his best friend’s prized possession, and when I told him the car I hoped to trade, the serendipity of it all was too much to ignore. It was meant to be!

I love that kind of thing! In my opinion, the story is half of the fun in any car purchase. When we get down to it, the cars that we drive are a passion, but the relationships and memories that we gain are priceless!

Each year the region hosts a winter event featuring cooking championship chili and the most recent release of an automotive related movie. For 2018 eleven Badger Bimmers members gathered on February 3rd at Ron’s Toy Barn to share some winter comradery, bench racing, 6 varying types of chili with all the fix ‘ins and the new movie about Bruce McLaren’s life. Mother Nature granted us snow but the team shouldered on. The chili ranged from a white sauce based chicken offering to a true chili con carne with a number additional great choices. The author brought mystery chili which was quite spicy. As is traditional, we took time to tour and learn more about the vehicles in the Barn. Particular interest and discussion occurred about the under 2 liter Can Am Lola racecar which is powered by a 2cycle 1700 cc Kohler motor. After the tour we took time to vote for our favorite chili with Brent Starry taking the honors with the chili of choice. His chili con carne was to die for! Next we went to the movie. Lights dimmed and we sat to view the new McLaren movie. It was a wonderful documentary with original vintage footage of Bruce including commentaries ranging from original team members to world champion Mario Andretti. With our stomachs fully satisfied and the movie complete we called it a day at about 3:30 PM to brave natures’ gift of snow.

Tasting the chili before the vote!

Brent’s winning chili

Ron talks about his Kohler Powered Lola

I recently needed to transport my 2015 Porsche GT3 from Oshkosh to Sebring.

Here are some considerations I found important, I hope this is beneficial to other members.

1. I needed to decide on enclosed or open transport.
2. My preference was to have a lift gate transport and to have my car on the upper level. I did not want the possibility of another car dripping fluids onto my car during transportation.
3. I needed to have my car delivered for a specific HPDE event and therefore a guaranteed delivery date was needed. Most transport companies will require a 48 hour period of time for the scheduled pick-up and delivery dates.  That made timing very important.  Having the car delivered to the track required me to fly two days ahead of the event.  A more flexible strategy would be to ship the car to a nearby track support performance shop.
4. It is important to obtain insurance certificates of the transporter.
5. Contracting a broker can be helpful in securing an excellent transport.
6. It is ideal to arrange for final payment by certified check.

The Annual General Membership Meeting and Holiday Party of 2018 was a lovely dinner amongst the cars on Saturday, January 13, 2018 at the Wisconsin Auto Museum in Hartford, WI.  The weather had been mild and there was only 1 no show!  Thanks to those of you who traveled up from IL and around the state.  Everyone had the opportunity to view all the 2 floors that the museum had to offer throughout the evening.

The catering was again done by MJs Market and Catering and the food was enjoyed by all.  We got a short history of the museum by Dawn Mueller while noshing among the WI made 25 Kissel cars in the collection.  One of the more interesting exhibits was a 1929 Ruxton behind glass, one of 20 left.  Kissel Motor Car Company of Hartford, Wis., manufactured the Ruxton’s transmission just down the road from the museum.  On the main floor we were treated to a large model train display.  On the second floor in addition to the cars if you braved the cooler room was a 1913 #1003 Soo Line steam locomotive along with other railroad artifacts. My attention was drawn on the second floor to the red 1963 Rambler American convertible. My mom had a blue one that we traveled all over the country in when I was a kid.

The election results were announced and our new officers are Vice President – Dave Thuerk, Secretary – Ron Pace, Fox Valley Liaison – Dale Kressin, 2 at large Board members – Creston Flemming and David Burman.  Thank you to all who ran and all who voted!

Besides the great conversation of our 70 in attendance and good food, the door prizes were abundant as usual and the club provided some pretty cool mugs for each attendee. Very special thanks to all of our sponsors and donors:  Badger Bimmers, BMW NA, BMW CCA, Umansky North BMW, Enterprise BMW, International Autos BMW, Zimbrick BMW, Laurel BMW, Big Bear Tire, Blackhawk Farms and Road America.

We had two great silent auction items and raised $295 for the Joy House shelter for women and children. We also collected $80 and 49 pounds of goods for Feeding America of Eastern WI.  I dropped all the donations off on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018 and was able to tour of the entire Milwaukee Rescue Mission which includes Joy House.  They are doing GREAT work there for our community.

Thanks to all who arrived a bit early and helped get things set up.  Hope you enjoy the pictures from the event that were taken by Mary O’Brien.  If you missed it, make sure to attend next year’s holiday party that Tim Jason has volunteered to plan for us!

Driving on track carries real risk.  To help reduce risk, I recommend starting out slow with an instructor; learn the correct driver’s line and a basic understanding of strategies on what to do if problems develop on track.

If you ever have an opportunity to walk the track you drive, I definitely recommend you do this.  I wanted to share a few observations I have made from the Sebring International Raceway track in Sebring, Florida with the more familiar Road America track in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.  There are very few similarities between these two tracks.  These tracks provide completely different driver experiences and both are tremendously fun!  The track walk can help drivers get a better understanding of the track and help make driving more predictable, safer and more fun.

Walking the track allows drivers to better understand the track and the adjacent runoff areas.  The driver can learn from a track walk areas that allow safe drive off in situations where a turn cannot be safely made or where there is track blockage such as an on track incident.

Walking these tracks helps better understand the various undulations of the driving surfaces.  It allows drivers to better understand where “turn in”, “apex” and “track out” points are located and more specifically; the local conditions at these points.  Drivers develop a better understanding of the importance of how and where to position the car at these points in dry and wet (rain line) conditions.  For those that drive on track, the track walk helps develop an appreciation for off camber areas, surface conditions  and  help understand the “line” and the reason for the need to vary from the “driving line” at various speeds, in passing and under different weather conditions (hot, cold, rain or snow).

Road America has dramatic elevation changes and Sebring is virtually flat.  Road America has many visual points of reference to help the driver “lift their vision” where Sebring has very few visual reference points off the track.  Road America is very smooth and has repaved surfaces with grippier asphalt products at various turns.  Sebring is a track derived from a concrete airfield.  Very few changes have been implemented at Sebring and there is tremendous resistance to make changes from this “tradition”.  There are cracks in the concrete with dropped and elevated concrete sections making the track very bumpy.   Walking this track helps drivers to better understand areas to avoid that will unsettle the car at speed.  Drivers quickly learn there are locations to “use the entire track” and locations to avoid track defects that could unsettle the car creating avoidable risks.

The specific turn by turn driver’s line will not be discussed for either Road America or Sebring International Raceway in this article, however; future articles are encouraged.  I have provided a small set of photos from my recent track walk at Sebring International Raceway.

I encourage drivers to walk the track for many reasons, especially for improved driving safety and enjoyment.

Three years ago, during the European delivery of my m235i, I was very lucky to have the opportunity to attend a Formula One race at Monza.  After we planned the car pickup date and made all the hotel arrangements though Italy and Switzerland I found out that the race was on the day we were passing by Monza on the way to lake Como.  I had to go and we only needed to leave earlier and arrive later in the evening at our hotel in Bellagio Italy.

For this year’s Europe trip, my wife Chris was looking at Mediterranean Cruise lines as asked me why would a cruise ship stop for two days in Monte Carlo in May.   That was the launching point for planning a combined trip to France and Monaco which included three days at the Monaco Formula One race.   Chris searched through options and found the tour group Motoexpress operating out of the UK.  They specialized in tours to selected Formula One races and Moto GP races.   We tied this trip together with 10 days in southern France in the Provence area along the Mediterranean.   Chris planned an extensive driving schedule though southern France Provence area for the 10 days prior to the Formula One Event.    We rented a car and GPS for the trip.   We stayed in three cities and made day trips through the country side.  Driving there was amazing.   The roads seemed to follow old trails.   Sometimes you could see for a few miles and the road would wonder back and forth.  A straight section for over ¼ mile seemed rare.  It was an enjoyable to drive and I wish I had my BMW rather than the rental.   We visited many charming mountain top villages during the 10 days.   Most were from Medieval time built in the 1300 and 1400’s.  We visit historic site, villa’s and enjoyed the drive thorough the country side.

After 9 days, we headed toward Nice to pick up our son who was joining us for the race weekend.  We drove to our resort set up by our tour group.  We decided to stay at the resort a night earlier and do some local touring on Thursday.   Thursday, I drove into the gorges to view the scenic view and waterfalls and yes, to drive the mountain roads.  Every time I have been in the European mountains I have been surprised at the difference between Europe and the US.  Rural Europe has minimal protection from driving off the cliff’s which does grab your attention.   Thursday night we headed for the local mountain town, St Paul De Vence, for dinner.  We walked into the village through the main arch way and was amazed at how charming the village was.   It is the most charming village I have visited in the 8 trips we have made to Europe.

Now Friday morning has arrived and we are meeting for breakfast with the others in the Motoexpress tour.  Friday morning schedule started with a side trip to Cannes to catch the end of the Cannes film festival.    Shortly after noon we got back on the bus and headed for Monti Carlo along the coast line which provided frequent views of Mediterranean.  When we reached the city limits, the bus was directed around the many streets closed to vehicle traffic for the weekend.  After parking we trekked through the city following our tour guides.  It was over a mile hike up and down hills.  We arrived at one of the entrance to the Formula One village.  We passed through and headed toward the entrance to the pit’s.  Since we had tickets for Sunday race, we could visit the pits and walk the track.   Groups of fans waited at the pits hoping to see a driver.  Our decision was to take to the track walking to the starting grid and stopped at starting position 1 and 2.  It just didn’t seem real that I was standing on position 1 of a formula One race track in Monte-Carlo of all places.   We continued to walk down the water front looking for our Sunday seats, checking other location for views and admiring the yacht’s and yacht’s and yacht’s.  Eventually we headed back to our meeting point.  We found out later that Daniel Ricardo was the only major driver that did come out and sign autographs.

Friday night we returned to St Paul De Vence for dinner and enjoyed character of the city.

Saturday morning the group met for breakfast, loaded on the bus and headed for Monte Carlo.   The city was more crowded Saturday.   The buss traveled around more to get around the blocked streets.  The parking spot was in a different location so we saw a different area of the city as we walked through.  We passed by exotic car dealers.  Could have picked up a nice Porsche GT3, Aston Martin, Lotus or Ferrari.   Our walk seemed longer but that could just that is was hillier.  Our seats we were at Casino Square.  We were directly across from the casino looking at the front entrance.  The track at this point was a U shape.  The cars turned toward us onto to a short straight made two right turns in front of us and made a left and disappeared toward the tunnel.  We watched the F1 time trials, watched some and heard a lot of the Formula Renault, Porsche Mobil 1 Super Cup time trials and a Formula 2 race.   The blistering roar of the cars echoed through the city.  We soaked up all the experience we could during the time trials.  On our way back to the meeting point, we stopped frequently to look at the many vendors selling the F1 merchandise along the street, trying to decide what items to bring back.

Returning Sunday morning, the bus was directed to a different location and we walked through some new parts of the city.   As we walked the roar of the Porsche Cup Car echoed off the buildings elevating the anticipation of the race.  Sunday schedule was the Porsche Mobil 1 Super Cup and Formula Renault prior to the F1 festivities.   The super cup and Formula Renault are the standard brutal non-turbo charge beast which raddle your fillings.  After the morning races, we went out and found a table at a street side cafe and enjoyed lunch.  We returned for the start of the race activities.  The long-anticipated time has arrived.  The F1 cars went by on the reconsent lap and it was only minutes until the start.  Then the leaders race by and the crowd came alive.   Now I could soak up the experience of Monaco F1 race.  Our seats were in section K2 over half way up the stands.   The view was excellent, no the view was amazing.   We could see the cars racing uphill towards Casino square.  After the cars exited the tunnel, we could see them weaving through the Nouvelle Chicane and then race downhill to the harbor directly at us.  They turned at the harbor and raced pass us and we could see them weave around the swimming pool.   We could see about 20% of the track.  Section K1 and K2 are excellent places to view the track.  We spend the time watching the multiple location but mostly watching from the Nouvelle Chicane down to the harbor, turning and racing by directly in front of us.  The Monti Carlo street course is a difficult place to pass.  We saw a lot of attempts and a few successful passes at the corner in front of us as they entered the harbor.  There are 78 laps on this short 2.06 mile street course which provided more continuous flow the cars.  I was quite pleased to have Ferrari win and have both Vettel and Kimi on the podium.   It would have been fantastic if we could have worked our way to the winner’s circle and enjoy that experience but that was impossible to accomplish with the mass of people and the need to get back to the bus.  After the F1 race, we headed out with the hundreds of thousands of race fans.    Being at the race was exciting.   But it was more than just the race.   When I attendee the Italian F1 race at Monza in 2014, I just attended the race on Sunday which was still quite an experience.   Here at Monaco, we experienced the entire event.  It was three days immersed in the track activities and walking through Monti Carlo which is hard to describe all the architecture and the views.  It is truly an event to remember.  If you are interested in attending the Monaco F1 race I really recommend us a tour group such a MotoExpress.   It is an experience you will enjoy.