Monday 26th July 2010

PistonHeads BMW Sunday Service - Report

An amazing display of cars greeted PHers who joined us at Bracknell on Sunday.

---

Hundreds of PHers were Bracknell-bound yesterday morning as PistonHeads opened the doors to another Sunday Service at the BMW UK HQ facility. A great line-up of cars greeted those that attended with everything from a MINI E to a brand-new LWB 7-Series lined up for viewing. The PHers cars didn't disappoint either, with the best range of cars seen at a Sunday Service this year, despite the overcast conditions earlier on in the day.

Have you ever seen an E46 M3-powered E30? What about an E30-powered Lotus Sevenesque kit car? How about an Opel Speedster? A cracking Stratos replica? A Morgan Aeromax or a Hayabusa drag bike?

Okay, so some of you might have seen these cars before, but have you seen a Team Lark McLaren F1 ex-racing car arrive at a car park on a Sunday morning? It was a sight to behold as its racing clutch made heavy work of parking, and the track-ready brakes squealed every time they were used. The drivers names of Naoki Hattori and Ralf Schumacher ramained on the side of the car, as did all the racing equipement in the cabin. We can only extend our thanks to the PH member who brought it along for us to drool over.

PH were out in force with new father Stuart arriving in the long-term V10 M6 complete with his tiny daughter strapped into the back seat, RacingPete in the white long-term 370Z and me in the Autocar/Haymarket long-term Ferrari F430. It was a pleasure for us to meet so many old faces, and plenty of new ones too.

For allowing us to use their venue, laying on the staff and cooking up hundreds of rashers of bacon we must thank all of the team at BMW UK.

For organising the parking so well we should also all extend our thanks to the PHers who agreed to arrive early and wear a hi-vis vest to ensure everyone got parked up safely.

Finally we thank all of you who shunned the prospect of a well-deserved Sunday lie-in to join us in Bracknell, and help create the most exciting array of cars we have seen at a PH meet in 2010.

The Sunday Service returns in August when we head back to the glorious setting of the Rolls-Royce plant at Goodwood. The dates for this meet will be posted on PH very soon.

^{Thanks to Nick Williams for some of the pictures included below.}

Plenty of cars, plenty of PHers. Perfect	BMW parking only....ignored :)
Opel GT	Stratos always had a crowd around it
McLaren F1 heading home	The PH M6 makes an appearance
Very tidy E30 M3 Cabrio	Morgans, old and new
Owner Fyfi J was never spotted	Yes, that is an E30 lump in there

[Mermaid]

Excellent event. Top marks for everyone involved with the organisation.

[Cotty]

I really should have made the effort to get to this.

[Gizmo!]

Damn it, I didn't even realise this was on. My unresolved quest to actually see a McLaren F1 moving continues

Looks like it was a great day

[Mag1calTrev0r]

Gizmo! said:

Damn it, I didn't even realise this was on. My unresolved quest to actually see a McLaren F1 moving continues

Looks like it was a great day

Really!? It's not as if it wasn't mentioned enough:

Here: http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyI...
Here: http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyI...
and here: http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyI...

[Frik]

Sod the F1, I can't believe Ric's car has been spotted outside his garage!

[jeremyc]

Frik said:

Sod the F1, I can't believe Ric's car has been spotted outside his garageuncleaned!

EFA.

[Frik]

That's just a trick of the light, surely?

[inlovewithRWD]

Article Said: said:

Have you ever seen an E36 M3-powered E30?

Those E30s actually had the E46 M3 engine (S54).

But in all seriousness, thanks to everyone who helped to organise the event.

[bikemonster]

Looks an awful lot like "Bad Parking Thread - Live!"

[Garlick]

inlovewithRWD said:

Article Said: said:

Have you ever seen an E36 M3-powered E30?

Those E30s actually had the E46 M3 engine (S54).

But in all seriousness, thanks to everyone who helped to organise the event.

Cheers, amended the story accordingly.

[Paul 8v]

Looks like a nice mix of cars there

[sleep envy]

Paul - you fking cockroach, I so knew what you were up to

Frik - ferry was there when I opened up the garage, it's not been washed (or used) for months. It even got put back dirty >OCDtwitch<

[jeremyc]

sleep envy said:

... ferry was there when I opened up the garage ...

Oh, so that was Ferry.

Nice to meet you F.

[matc]

Who's is the F1? Saw pics of it at the last Goodwood Breakfast club.

[furball330i]

I had a great time, gonna upload my pics and vids to photobucket later to put on here. Nice to meet people including you Garlick, not jealous at all.... just wish i knew people who lent me a ferrari for the weekend!

p.s sorry for my mug ruining the pic of the stratos!

[Dr G]

But the old Morgan is newer than the new one!

[Gio G]

My son and I decided to come last minute and really enjoyed it, many thanks!!

[Garlick]

sleep envy said:

Paul - you fking cockroach, I so knew what you were up to

My pleasure Fyf x

[inlovewithRWD]

Garlick said:

inlovewithRWD said:

Article Said: said:

Have you ever seen an E36 M3-powered E30?

Those E30s actually had the E46 M3 engine (S54).

But in all seriousness, thanks to everyone who helped to organise the event.

Cheers, amended the story accordingly.

At last, my car geekiness is officially recognised!

[Podie]

sleep envy said:

Paul - you fking cockroach, I so knew what you were up to