After over 11 years of organising track events Jo is waving the chequered flag and taking a break.
Track events are the most complex events that car clubs can run and attention to detail may literally mean the difference between life and death. The paperwork is considerable, the demands of participants can be relentless and all the volunteers need to be organised. The entire event needs to be controlled and coordinated.
For many of our track events Jo has been the admin and the race control, dealing with helmet hire, registrations on the day, allocating numbers, coordinating with timing, assigning marshal jobs, controlling the track access and session start/stop, watching for track infringements and disciplining those who transgress, chasing up those without numbers on their car (or the wrong numbers) and more. All while keeping everyone happy and a (safe and sensible) party atmosphere.
For all of this over a sustained period Motorsport Austarlia recognised Jo with a Service award in 2021.
Although we now have a fabulous team who take on much of this work on the day, there is still a lot that falls to Jo both in the days and weeks beforehand and on the day itself.
Understandably, all this has taken its toll and now is the time to step down – maybe not forever and, knowing Jo, not completely however much that may be the intention!
Thankfully Jo has built an amazing team and we are confident of a successor, so BMWDCM track days may not come to a halt (although the challenges of getting enough out on track given the costs and living expenses remains).
As a close observer of what happens on a track day (and pitifully small helper), on behalf of the club, thank you to Jo for creating an environment where so many people have had so much enjoyment at so little cost, and for encouraging and mentoring so many into the various roles involved in running a track day.
Read on for Jo’s announcement and some comments from others from the most recent track day event at Sandown on July 12, a combination of the Kaos Custom Bikes Come a Try day and Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship Supersprint.
Lawrence Glynn
Treasurer
#3
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Yesterday we had some great experiences, ranging from entrants who had never driven before to a classic car getting a shake down for the first time on the track.
We hope you all had a great day and for the Come and Try group, we hope you learnt more about yourself, your car and driving in general.
Our dedicated instructors worked very hard yesterday and we could not hold these days without them so I hope you enjoyed this experience.
Sadly this will be my last event as Event Secretary as I am mentally and phyically exhausted and need to take a step back and hand over the baton.
You will still see me around and I will be helping whoever takes on this role and I am sure the events will be even bigger and better than before.
Watch out for updates on who will be taking over and I hope you give them the same respect and support as you have given me over the years.
Jo Mawson
#2
Wow, what a fantastic day we were treated to. And whilst I was called to the Steward’s office with a rookie error (reversing into the garage, I admit it was nice to have an excuse to go up and take peek!
It’s such a great community to be part of, full of friendly, approachable people and keen to help one another. Including your good self!
I am sorry to hear that you are stepping back, at least for now, though I am sure anyone that has even an inkling of all that you are covering off can understand. I do hope to see you at upcoming events and I am grateful for all that you have done to make us feel welcome (and to make sure we are in the right place at the right time!).
Best wishes,
Mark Foxwell
#1190
At the request of BMW Group Australia BMW Drivers Club Melbourne selected cars from each of the 7 generations of the 3 Series over its 50 years and made them available to videographer Pat James.
As requested we carefully selected an E21 and one M3 of each of the subsequent 6 generations. We were able to arrange to have the Calder Park Raceway available for filming thanks to Calder's generosity, with some additional filming during the BMW Clubs Australia Nationals also at Calder.
Thanks to our members for making their cars available and to those who had volunteered for the previous filming session aborted due to rain.
Halfway through the year already and now Winter has really arrived, with lots of chilly days, which we experienced in earnest on our most recent Long Weekend Away! After a busy start to the year we have had a bit of a quieter month for a change.
June 7-9 a large group of us took off for a very enjoyable long weekend down the Great Ocean Road for the Monarch’s Long Weekend to Port Campbell and the Shipwreck coast. We experienced some very cold days, but this did not stop us all getting out and exploring the wonders of the coast. Check out the photos .
Was a great bunch of people to spend the weekend with and the roads travelled were, as always, fun and interesting, thanks to Peter’s navigational planning. The motel was great too, walking distance to the two different venues for dinner on the two nights, great selection of both accommodation and dining across the weekend, thanks to Jo’s planning and organisation.
June 29 lots of members met up at the Beaumaris Motor Yacht Squadron for a Wheels and Coffee morning, with egg and bacon rolls supplied by Bell Motorsport and the Club, and all donations will be going to our charity. Thank you to Matt, Bruce and Simon and gang for recommending this great venue, we will be holding a few more events here from now on, so watch this space. One of our new members, Julie, is the events coordinator for them too, so we will be chatting with her from now on to arrange some great events for you all. Thanks to the boys for helping me cook the eggs and bacon, this was a brilliant morning, and we look forward to making this sort of morning a regular event, have a look at the photos, it really is a perfect spot for a casual get together on a Sunday morning.
July will be a busy month, starting with Christmas in July on July 6, this event is fully booked now but we are sure all who attend will have a great time and there will be some great raffle prizes for all to hopefully have the chance of winning. If you are coming, don’t forget to wear your best Christmas costume and join in the fun.
July 12 we will be at Sandown, with a few events running concurrently.
Introduction to Super Sprints
Kaos Custom Bikes Come and Try/Driver Training
Racer Industries Parade laps
Spots are filling fast, so be sure to get your registrations in a.s.a.p. and make sure all your documents are sent back to make sign in an easy process. It will be a great day and a great way to stretch the legs of your BMW (or non-BMW) without risking a speeding ticket!
July 20 we will be celebrating all things 3 Series with a special ‘50 years of 3 Series’ drive on the Mornington Peninsula with lunch after at T’Gallants. This will be a later start than normal to give you all a nice sleep in, so put it in your diary and bring out your 3 Series.
Don’t drive a 3 series? That’s fine, all are still welcome, we would just like to have a convoy of 3 Series at the start of the group.
Remember we also have the limited edition 3 Series t-shirts which are available for sale at this event as well as in our on-line store . These were so popular at the Nationals that we had a second batch made, so get in before they are all gone again.
July 27 is the EURO Swap Meet in Moorabbin. This is not a DCM run event but one we are endorsing. Head along and see if you can pick up some bargains, or if you have a lot of parts to sell, you can always book a spot and sell some parts too.
The year is moving along fast now and to think we are in the second half of the year is just crazy. This has been such a busy year, running the Nationals as well as all our usual events, but still lots to come and we are always adding events to the calendar, so keep an eye out for your event emails and come and join us when you can.
There are lots of other events coming through the rest of the year, Challenge Bathurst entries are open as well as the Melbourne Cup Week Away, this time travelling North to our Nation’s Capital, Canberra, will be a great trip again.
We also have limited stock of our new weekend travel bags in our on-line store, which have been a great success. Get your orders in soon.
We have now set up a sub committee to help organise and run our events, as it is too much for one or two people to do on their own. If you would like to be more involved in our events and organising them, send us an email via events@bmwdcm.com.au and come join the team.
Membership is still growing, great to see so many new members coming along to events, welcome to the Club, we hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of your membership.
Our Welfare Team have been busy in the background helping out or lending a shoulder or an ear to our members in need. If you ever need someone to talk to or have a problem we might be able to help with, reach out. A problem shared is a problem halved and sometimes just talking to someone helps enormously. Of course, anything you say or help you need always remains between you and a select few on the Welfare Team, so don’t think everyone will know about it. We are just here to help if we can.
We now have an extra Club Permit Signing Officer, for renewals only, in Glen Iris. To save you coming to Hastings or Geelong, Stephen Mattingly can sign your renewals if you live closer to the city or inner suburbs. Steve is available by appointment and his number is on the Club Permits page of our web site. Just make sure your membership is paid up before you meet him, or any of our signatories, as it makes it so much easier and Steve won’t be able to take membership payments on the spot. Thanks for coming on board Steve, great having someone closer to the city to save people venturing out our way.
I hope you are enjoying your membership experience, and I look forward to seeing you out at an event somewhere soon,
Graeme Bell | President
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc.
PO Box 81, Tyabb VIC 3913 Incorporated in Victoria #A0102695G BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc is a member of: BMW Clubs Australia and the BMW Clubs International Council Motorsport Australia Affiliated Motorsport Club
Perfect morning for our wheels and coffee morning at Beaumaris Motor Yacht Squadron.
Great location. Lots of people dropped in for a coffee and an egg and bacon roll all courtesy of the club.
Persistent rain and strong winds were a feature over our King’s Birthday ling weekend drive to Port Campbell and the Shipwreck Coast but this did not pour cold water over our enjoyment.
Read our member's reports below.
1. Lawrence Glynn #3
Peter Williams produced another set of fabulous roads where we could enjoy driving our cars without falling foul of the law or risking life and limb. Jo Mawson organised excellent dining spots where we could enjoy some food a bit different from usual pub fare and, perhaps most important, each other’s company.
The scenery was spectacular even when viewed from the shelter of a car, but most of us braved the elements for an even better view and a bit of a laugh as we were blown around.
We met up (close to my home) at Geelong we made our way in a zigzag tour to a delicious lunch in Colac. Travelling on through Forrest we joined the Great Ocean Road after the stretch frequented by most tourists and thus a lot less “cluttered”. We passed briefly explored the overly full car park at the 12 Apostles on our way to Port Campbell, elected to leave that for Sunday when plenty of time, and hopefully better weather, was available. Dinner at the 12 Rocks. Lovely meal again and even better with a great bunch of people to spend the weekend with.
Sunday did not have any scheduled activities and a bit of a lazy start for most of us before spreading out and exploring the area.
Some went East some went West and some stayed in town.
Bit of a damp day, but that doesn’t stop us getting out and enjoying the day.
The day ended with another lovely meal together, this time at a different restaurant. Another great night had by all.
Monday started with a photo shoot in the car park at Port Campbell before we headed off to the Bay of Islands for visit before starting our winding way back towards home along some more lovely driving roads with a couple of stops to admire the scenery and more group photos.
After lunch at Camperdown some took a direct route to the Queenscliff ferry and the rest enjoyed exploring the Lake Corangamite area and the Red Rock volcanos.
‘Twas another fantastic weekend away with an awesome bunch of people, lots of laughs and fun and interesting places to visit.
Thanks all for coming, or following along and thanks again Jo and Peter for the faultless running of these events. It takes a huge amount of organising, and you do it so well.
2. Adrian White #606
After travelling down to Port Campbell on Saturday, Sunday was a free day which allowed the group to do whatever they wanted to do.
Sunday started off wet and windy. John and I had spoken about what was likely to happen the night before so when he called after breakfast it was time to call at Graeme & Jo's room to collect a travel snack bag and head off.
We decided to head to Warrnambool so the first stop was London Bridge. London Bridge is close to the road so we donned our coats and took the short walk to the look out. It was raining and windy with an angry ocean and waves breaking over the neighbouring point. It was interesting watching the ocean and the waves breaking. We had talked about having a coffee before we left but John mentioned that he was refreshed after being at the lookout and didn't need the coffee.
We moved on the short distance to the Grotto carpark. This time the walk was 700 metres down into the grotto. The section after the board walk was potholed gravel which meant dodging or trying to dodge potholes but the final section was boardwalk again before going down the steps to the Grotto. It was raining and the waves were crashing into the coastline. A couple of times when we were at the viewing point waves crashed into the bank and filled the grotto with water and water splashed over the top in our face. After walking back John was now completely refreshed!
We then moved through Peterborough to Warrnambool and by which time the need for caffeine and coffee was more urgent. Service station or takeaway store coffee was not good enough, boutique coffee was required. We passed through Warrnambool without seeing a real coffee shop but when we started driving out of town John turned around and we headed back to try again. I got on trip adviser and found that some of the more highly recommended shops were on Kepler St. Tour Boss had taken over John's Sat Nav and google wasn't working so we found our way back off my phone. This is something that would plague us for the afternoon but for now we found Kepler St and in a quieter area after the main shopping strip we found Bohemia.
We were fortunate to get a park and although we were there before 12 there were no tables left so we knew our choice was correct because the locals were supporting it. John confirm ed this when his coffee arrived. We had some lovely chicken and corn soup for lunch then started heading back to Timboon to visit the distillery.
On the way John mistakenly turned left before the map instruction which started a small adventure inland. Google was working now and re-plotted a route which turned out to be main road, then single lane bitumen, then gravel roads before entering Timboon. When we got to Timboon I took over as I knew where the distillery was. We arrived travelling past the Railway View Hotel and met Paul & Jo at the Railway Shewd distillery who were enjoying a tasting flight.
After talking for a while John ordered Tom's flight and I ordered Jim's flight . John's was various types of Whisky, which I had tried the night before, and mine was Gin, Lemon spritz and Strawberry schnapps. Paul & Jo left heading to the cheese factory and we finished our flights. John left with a bottle of Christie's Cut whiskey under his arm.
It was about quarter to three and when I looked on my phone we saw that the Schulz Organic Creamery was closing in 15 minutes. We made the 6 minute drive just in time and had a look at their selection which included mainly soft cheese like camembert to quark. I got a tub of quark before we headed to the Apostle Whey Cheese factory which was still open.
Paul & Jo were still there but about to head off. We did the sampling and both John and I purchased some camembert which really expensive. I had some sorbet as we headed back to Port Campbell before going out to dinner. Looking at John's WhatsApp message last night John's purchases may be gone already!.
Our club were proud to support the 2025 Southern Cross Cannonball Classic as part of March’s Phillip Island Classic Festival Of Motorsport by “buying” premier display spots and parade laps.
The 2025 Southern Cross Cannonball Classic is a 4,300 km journey from Darwin, traversing the spine of Australia, all the way down to Victor Harbor in South Australia riding vintage pre-1949 motorcycles for the 14-day voyage. With support crews, of course.
But it’s not just for fun (fun?), the event also raises funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. In 2025 the event raised over $94,000 to support Flying Doctor Wellbeing – a crucial service that offers mental health support to rural communities
So, why were we involved?
Well, our very good friend at Shannons Insurance, Belinda Douglas who helps us out in many ways, took part in the event and through the Shannons sponsorship of the Phillip Island event arranged the display and parade lap spots.
Here is her report on what must have been an exciting but gruelling trip.
Initially our (Team Shannons) goal was $3000. To date we have raised $3,189.00 this is a result of the direct support of Shannons and the VHRR Phillip Island event. I sincerely thank everyone for their generosity including the VHRR who donated $1000 as part of that.
The VHRR have supported our fundraising causes for a number of years now, in the past being Life Line Gippsland & this year the Royal Flying Doctors Service focussing on mental health.
I also as part of the event had to set up a fundraising link as participant #37, to date we have raised $1145, I’m extremely chuffed by the support given, the encouragement & enthusiasm by everyone who took the time & were able to contribute to our cause.
The Total: $4334 ❤ This is awesome
Now a little bit about our journey. I was riding a 1937 Triumph T70 250cc motorcycle I purchased off an amazing young man called Sir Ken Lucas OAM. Sir Ken was very well known in the historic motorcycle racing scene racing under #37 Sir Ken wanted everyone to have a go & when I bought this bike off Sir Ken before COVID he made me promise that I would ride it & not just look at it! Sir Ken road his last track at 90 years of age at Winton Historics & was at the time, the oldest motorcycle racer in the world, qualifying at the front & starting from the back was how Ken rolled ❤ . Click the link to meet the legend that is, Sir Ken Lucas OAM
It was a privilege to know him.
Sir Ken passed away in December 2024 at the age of 94, our adventure was in honour of Sir Ken Lucas OAM.
We travelled over 4300kms from Darwin to Victor Harbour, everyone was a little sceptical how on earth I thought I was going to ride a little 250cc all that way & finish. Well we did and I am proud to say we WON, the 500cc & under category on Sir Kenny 37.
I thank everyone very much for their support & contribution to The RFDS.
Click on the link to the Shannons Club article about our event, I have uploaded some short ride videos & pictures.
10th May - Round 5 of our Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship at Sandown, always a fun event and well attended by our members.
16-18 May – E30 Racing Round 3 at Phillip Island with a fantastic field and lots of DCM members driving and attending all weekend to watch and help out as either crew members or just general support, and of course those officiating too.
18th May - National Motoring Heritage Day had 2 events, 1 in the style of a coffee and cars at the Manhattan Hotel and 2 was a Cavalcade in the Geelong area. Great events and also well attended by our members.
24th May – Healesville Sanctuary Drive and Family fun day – was fantastic with the sun out all day and a large group attending. Lots of fun had by all. Sadly, we had to pull out at the last minute with some family goings on to attend to.
Jackets and Limited Edition 50 Years of 3 Series T shirts
We have just over 1 more week of pre orders for the limited edition 3 series T shirts and jackets, so please place your orders at our online store asap as to not miss out. These were so popular at the Nationals, we decided to do another run, so if you want one, get in quick, as once we close the orders, that will be it!
Winter is nearly here, and we have been so blessed with such a fantastic mild Autumn.
June starts with a weekend away down the coast.
7 – 9 June Monarchs Long Weekend – Port Campbell Shipwreck Coast
29 June - Wheels and Coffee – Beaumaris Motor Yacht Squadron
There are a couple of other special events lined up for June which are yet to be confirmed so watch out for your event emails and get in quickly when they are released!
Other events to look out for:
Christmas in July – 6th July
Sandown Introductory Super Sprints & Kaos Custom Bikes Come and Try Day - 12th July
Sandown Parade laps – 12th July
BMW Drivers Club AGM – 23rd October
Canberra Trip Over Cup Long Weekend 31st October – 9th November
Challenge Bathurst 22-23 November.
All these events are open now, or will be soon, so keep watching your emails for updates.
Our Wheels and Coffee morning is a BYO breakfast option with limited egg and bacon rolls for sale on the day. Great BBQ facilities there and free coffee too. Local coffee shops nearby for those who want something a little bit more special on a cold June morning.
Sadly, we had to cancel our Come and Try Day at Broadford in May, due to low registration numbers. If you are wanting to attend these types of events you must register early as we can’t run an event on a promise and we need your support and commitment early, rather than at the last minute. It is hard to plan and run events when people say they want to come but then don’t register or enter. We do only have limited resources and track days are not cheap to run. So, if you want us to keep running these days, we need you to support us and come along.
Our next Come and Try day is at Sandown in July, so get your entries in and come and have some fun. Sandown will be both a timed Sprint and a Driver Training Day/Come and Try type event, so there will be something for everyone, no matter your level of experience.
With Winter arriving we put our show cars away and look forward to drives, casual catchups and weekends away, so if you have any amazing places, you think we should visit on a drive or meet up for a gathering, let us know. Quite a lot of our events have stemmed from suggestions we should go somewhere, like the Beaumaris Yacht Squadron event, it came from a member suggestion and promises to be something interesting and different.
Running a club as active and diverse as we are, takes a huge effort from a small group of volunteers, and as this is National Volunteer Week, I’d like to thank those that give so freely of their time and energy to make all of our events and indeed this club as great as it is. None of us get paid to do what we do, and this club continues to be one of the best in the country, and it is all due to our band of committed and dedicated volunteers.
So, from me, Thank You All!
What amazing driving weather we have been having, and April was no exception.
6th April saw a large group of us attend the GT Racing and Shannon’s Speed Series at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. Great weather but a little nip in the air kept the jackets on but some great racing was had all day. Great fun had by all and some amazing racing. It was good to have some of our members up in race control, March and April has been very busy for our race Officials with track events on pretty much for 7 weeks in a row. Well done guys.
18th April Good Friday appeal and WOW we filled the car park and had cars out on the road. This was a huge day with the sun out again. Great raffle prizes to be had and a nice figure of $1200 was raise for the Children’s Hospital. Thank you to all who attended, helped out and presented their cars in such an amazing fashion.
23-27th April was our big event at Caroline Springs and Calder Park - BMW Clubs Australia Nationals. Some of us arrived on the Wednesday to start set up and get ready to start this fantastic event. We had a dinner meeting and lots of laughs then straight to bed ready for what was a huge but fantastic weekend. Check out our photo link to see some of the amazing photos taken over the weekend, with more coming in daily.
It was so good to welcome all our national friends to our event and all over the weekend there were lots of smiles from all who attended.
The event started on Thursday with Registration and Check In and those who registered using the Nationals Package received some great gifts which were paced in their rooms.
Thursday evening, we all met in the foyer to be coached in to Melbourne BMW for what was an outstanding cocktail night and presentation from Brendon from BMW Group Australia and Daniel from ASG and Melbourne BMW.
Lawrence and the team had set up an amazing display of 3 series with a car from each series through all 7 generations. They looked amazing, both Jo and I and I am sure everyone who attended were just thrilled with how they all looked.
Once the event had finished our members went back on the coaches and were safely taken back to our WestWaters Accommodation for a well-deserved sleep after quite a few of our guests had been driving for a few days to be with us.
Friday morning was forecast to be a bit wet but when we woke the sky was clear and it was quite warm and still . Jo mentioned to me it was the first dawn service in Australia that she was actually warm. It was lovely to see so many young people attending and so many of our members were up early to show their respect.
After the service they did a gun fire breakfast BBQ which was brilliant and then some Two Up which I must admit I have never played but it looked like a lot of fun.
Friday, we had 2 x guided drives which were very popular, both using TourBoss.
Friday Night was our 70s theme night. I will leave the photos do the talking for that, but I might say, the Trivia was brilliant and lot of fun had by all.
Saturday was the big day at Calder and sadly the weather did not stay nice for us. Some drizzle which then turned to light rain.
This did not dampen our officials or members who all showed up and again I will let the photo tell the story, but what an amazing day was had by all. Great stalls and trade stands. Thank you to all who attended this and made it such and amazing day.
Saturday night was our presentation Dinner with special guest Speaker Bruce Stewart from WAUR (Walkinshaw Andretti United Racing)
Wow I knew Bruce was good, but his presentation was so powerful and made us all feel inspired to get up and achieve our goals. Great presentation.
After that I did feel a little sorry for Professor Tony Walker for Prostate Cancer Foundation who followed with his presentation but also a powerful presentation and I think touched home to a few in the audience. Thank you to both these busy gentlemen for giving their time to make our night better. Something Bruce said in the night which is very true, our Jo is a powerhouse and anything she asks for she usually gets and not many people say no to her as they know what she does, she does well and it would be worth their free time.
Silent Auctions and raffles on the night raised $3150.10 which all went to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Thank you all for giving so generously.
After the night was over and we stayed behind to pull down the decorations, some of us who had been a very important part of this event sat and breathed a sigh of relief that the event was nearly to an end and had been such a huge success. We had so many people complimenting us on the weekend and it was all worth it in the end. It has been a long journey but to see so many happy smiling faces is what it is all about.
Sunday morning saw us at our farewell breakfast spending the last few hours with our old and new friends before they headed back to their homes or off on some more travels around Victoria.
To BMW NSW who will be hosting the 2027 Nationals we would like to congratulate you on you bid and wish you all the best with your preparations for this event. Be sure to have a great leader and a great team to assist you along the way.
As for a great team, ours was amazing, some only coming on at the last week which really counted and others working tirelessly for the past 18 months to make this event as successful as it was. I will not name you all as I am bound to forget someone, but you know who you are and I thankyou all from the bottom of my heart.
Events to add to your diary:
10th May Traction Tyres/Yokohama Drivers Championship Round 5 at Sandown
24th May Healesville Sanctury Drive and Family outing
31st May Kaos Custom bike come and Try / Drivers Training – Broadford
7th June Monarchs Long Weekend: Port Campbell and Shipwreck Coast
6th July Christmas in July
23 October AGM
31 October – 9th November Canberra Trip over Cup Long Weekend
22 – 23 November – Challenge Bathurst
At the Nationals we had a great 50 years of the 3 series T shirt which sold out within 1 hour.
We will be doing a rerun of this with pre orders. Sizing is true to size so be sure to pick the correct sizing.
We also had a beautiful Soft-Shell jacket which was very successful as well and also sold out.
This will also be on pre order with both our club logo and the Nationals logo versions on offer. This is a little snug so order 1 x size larger to not be disappointed.
We made quite a show of the 50th Anniversary of the 3 Series at the Nationals and at Phillip Is, as we will for all of our display events this year. So, order a T-shirt so you can join in the celebration of the 3 Series.
It has been a huge month, with the Nationals and everything else we normally do, so now we can take it a little easier and get back to our normal routine.
The Nationals was also great for our membership growth, we are very close to breaking through 1000 members, truly amazing! Welcome to all the new members joining us either through the Nationals or wherever you have found us. Remember, this is your club so make the most of it. We run a wide range of events to suit everyone’s taste, so take a loo at the calendar or check the event emails and come and join us.
Our edition 7 idrive magazine was released at the formal dinner at the Nationals too, so hopefully by now you have received your copy.
As always it is a fantastic publication and a credit to Jo and Jess’ efforts in gathering stories and putting it all together. We are always looking for stories for the website and for idrive, so if you have a story to tell send it in and it may just appear in the next edition.
Just to finish off, thank you again to everyone that helped make the Clubs Australia Nationals a huge success, definitely the best Nationals I have been to, especially Jo, who not only Chaired the Nationals Committee, but worked tirelessly for 2 years to plan and pull it all together. Such a huge job and one we can all be very proud of.
I look forward to seeing you out at an event somewhere soon, until then, take care on the roads, winter is coming and with it changeable driving conditions.
The BMW Clubs Australia Nationals 2025 were held in Melbourne, hosted by BMW Drivers Club Melbourne, over the ANZAC Day long Weekend in April.
Check out our photo link to see some of the amazing photos taken over the weekend.
The event started on Thursday with “Registration and Check In” at WestWaters, and those who registered using the ‘Nationals Package’ received some great gifts which were placed in their hotel rooms before they even arrived.
Thursday evening, we all met in the foyer to be transported by coach to Melbourne BMW for what was an outstanding cocktail night with presentations from Brendon of BMW Group Australia and Daniel of ASG, owners of Melbourne BMW.
Thank you to the team at Melbourne BMW for putting on such an amazing event as our opening night and thank you to Ross from Cellabrations Cellars for supplying the drinks.
Our Club Treasurer and Car Display aficionado, Lawrence Glynn, set up an amazing display of 3 series with a car from each of the 7 generations and had prepared some information sheets for each car, two informative “50 Years” pull up banners and two flags to match the theme. Club member Tim Wise spent quite some time and effort carefully applying our “50 Years of 3 Series” windscreen banners. The total effect looked amazing, and I am sure everyone who attended were just as thrilled with how they all looked.
It was a great night for members to informally catch up with their friends from other states and meet new friends throughout the night.
Once the event had finished our members went back onto the coaches and were safely taken back to our WestWaters accommodation for a well-deserved sleep, as quite a few of our guests had been driving for several days to be with us.
Friday morning, ANZAC Day, was forecast to be a bit wet but when we woke the sky was clear and it was quite warm and still. It was the first dawn service in Australia that we can remember which was actually quite warm. It was lovely to see so many young people attending too and so many of our members were up early to show their respect.
As a club, we arranged for and laid a wreath to remember those fallen.
After the service the RSL did a gun fire breakfast BBQ, which was brilliant and then some Two Up which I must admit I have never played, but it looked like a lot of fun. Again, great to see so many BMW Club members from all over the country attending this, with all the proceeds going to the RSL.
Friday, we also had 2 guided drives, which were very popular, both using the TourBoss navigation app, but with a comprehensive road book as a backup. One was a half day drive, leaving time for the all-important Show and Shine preparation and the other was a full day drive. Both covered some beautifully scenic and enjoyable driving roads using routes devised by Club Secretary and Drive Coordinator, Peter Williams.
Friday Night was our 70’s themed night. A lot of fun retro costumes and the inter-active Trivia Quiz was brilliant, rewarding both accuracy and speed. So proud that 99% attending made the effort to dress up and all had lots of fun. Makes the hard work behind these events worth it to see attendees appreciate our hard work and join in. I thank our team of workers who dressed the room Disco style to make the atmosphere even better.
Saturday was the big day at Calder and sadly the weather did not stay nice for us. Some drizzle which then turned to light rain with brief bursts of heavy rain. You can’t plan the weather, but it was still a fantastic day.
The rain did not dampen our officials or members spirits, who all showed up, and an amazing day was had by all. With the Show and Shine, Car Display featuring 50 years of the 3 Series, and Sprints all in one location and the addition of some great stalls and trade stands made for a real carnival atmosphere.
We were also joined by a large group from the BMW Motorcycle Club of Victoria, who put on a display of BMW Motorbikes in celebration of their Club’s 50th anniversary. Great seeing the bikes come out on the day, even in the inclement conditions.
Thank you to all who attended and made it such and amazing day. We are very proud of our officials who stood out in the weather and did not falter all day.
We are very lucky to have a great association with the Victorian Flag-Marshalling Team, and they are all very professional in their approach to officiating. Our senior motorsport officials are all Motorsport Australia accredited and do a fantastic job. Did you see the amazing M3 Competition Touring we had as our Course Car? Wow just Wow, what an amazing car to drive. Thank you so much to BMW Group Australia for your support of the Nationals and loaning the amazing M3 to us, again.
Saturday night was our presentation Dinner with special guest Speaker Bruce Stewart from club sponsor, WAUR (Walkinshaw Andretti United Racing)
Wow I knew Bruce was good, but his presentation was so powerful and made us all feel inspired to get up and achieve our goals. Great presentation, thank you Bruce.
After that I did feel a little sorry for our second guest speaker, Professor Tony Walker from the Prostate Cancer Foundation, who had to follow with his presentation. He also gave an inspiring presentation which I think touched home to quite a few in the audience. Thank you to both these busy gentlemen for giving their time to make our night better.
Silent Auctions and raffles on the night raised $3130.30 which went to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Thank you all for giving so generously and thank you to our Sponsors who helped this night by donating gifts for us to Auction.
Each table had a 1:18 model 3 series, to keep in the theme of 50 years of the 3 series, which were also part of the silent auction. These all went on the night, with some grabbing great bargains.
At each Nationals an award is made to the “Club of the Nationals”. Previously this has been on a points system calculated from the number of members from a club, the number of events attended per member of that club and the distance from the club’s base to the Nationals. This is designed to reward the effort a club has made to attend.
This time we adjusted the formula to use the fraction of the club membership attending, rather that the raw number of members. We feel this more fairly represents the effort a club getting, say, 20 members to the Nationals, which represents, say, 10% of their membership deserves more reward than if it presents 2% of the membership.
The results were:
Club Distance Attendees Size Num of Events = Score
BMWCCV 30 23 948 40 1.27
BMWDCM 97 116 826 327 38.40
BMWDCNSW 875 20 1118 113 88.44
BMWCCC 661 12 297 42 93.47
BMWDCSA 704 19 557 124 156.73
BMWCCWA 3307 1 132 8 200.42
BMWCCQLD 1774 19 518 132 452.06
BMWCCGC 1710 5 69 28 693.91
On that basis BMW Car Club Gold Coast won the 2025 award.
Sunday morning saw us at our farewell breakfast, spending the last few hours with our old and new friends before they headed back to their homes or off on some more travels around Victoria.
There were a few groups who joined our guided drives back to the boarders, which we again used the TourBoss app for safe and accurate navigation.
We are very proud to be the first BMW Clubs Australia Nationals for many years who have had representation from all of the BMW Clubs Australia affiliated Car Clubs attend. This was a huge effort from all attending clubs, and we would like to thank you all for promoting our event and making the trip to our great state to enjoy everything we all love about BMW.
We are nearly finished our financial report which is looking great. Our aim for this event was not to worry about making a loss or profit but to ensure the enjoyment of all who attended. We think we are going to make this event just about a break-even Nationals, and we are very proud of our team for achieving this. Everything we did over the weekend was to make our attending members experience a joyful one and we think we achieved that.
As for a great team, ours was amazing, some only coming on in the last week, which really counted, and others working tirelessly for the past 18 months to make this event as successful as it was. We will not name you all as we are bound to forget someone, but you know who you are, and we both thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.
We were pleased to welcome many non-club members and even a few non-BMW owners to some parts of the weekend. We see this as an important way to expose the BMW Club movement and the BMW range of vehicles to new audiences. Welcome to all the new members joining us either through the Nationals or wherever you have found us.
For all updates on the winners of Show and Shine/Super Sprints please go here.
To BMW Drivers Club NSW, who will be hosting the 2027 Nationals, we would like to congratulate you on your presentation and wish you all the best with your preparations for the next BMW Clubs Australia Nationals.
Lastly, we acknowledge and thank our Sponsors for their help in making this great event possible:
BMW Group Australia
BMW Clubs Australia
Calder Park
Mercure Hotel - WestWaters
Shannon's Insurance
Melbourne BMW
Bell Motorsport
Southern BM
Cellarbrations at Clarinda Cellars
Sirene Sea Pearls
Sonax Australia
Grip Auto Timepieces
Smash Property Investing
Tourboss
Kaos Custom Bikes
Motorola Rental Solutions
SD Pics Ben Potter Photography
Victorian Flagmarshalling Team
Eurospec Diecast Models
Prunela Castelino Professional Makeup Artist
Independent Car Parts Pty Ltd
Now onwards to 2027 and the next BMW Clubs Australia Nationals.
Thank you.
Graeme Bell Jo Mawson
President Chair - Nationals Committee
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne Inc
Every year we hold a coffee and cars get together to raise funds for the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal.
Flavours Patisserie in Beaumaris is the coffee part of the equation, as well as some simply irristable pastries and cakes. The owner and club member Christopher seals off the adjacent car park for the cars.
A few shakes (OK, quite a few shakes) of a collection bucket and some enthisiastic raffle ticket selling collected $1,200 donated to the RCH GFA.
It was a relaxed and fun morning with some very diverse vehicles turning up, not all BMWs by any stretch.
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