Drivers
As the SoCal Vintage BMW Meet continues into it’s 10th year and matures (the Meet, not the Founders) as it continues to grow and become the premier independent BMW meet in North America, we every so often have to make a decision about expanding our meet. For 2017, the E36 chassis turns 25 years old, and we have had a tradition of inviting those models to the meet that turn 25, and all through their production runs.
In the past these were simpler decisions, but we feel adding E36s is a significant decision that would change the flavor of the Meet. Not better or worse, it would just change it as E36s cover a broad range over a 10 year span – not only the usual 3 series cars, but the Z3 roadsters and coupes as well as the 318ti models.
Since we pride ourselves on the SoCal Vintage BMW Meet being a Drivers Meet and try to always put the vintage BMW community first, we’re going to put it out to the participants to give us your feedback. Just simply let us know if you are in favor or not. We only ask that you participate if you have attended our Meet in the past, or will be attending for the first time this year, or if you regularly come on one of our drives.
Needless to say, if you own an E36, please refrain from voting!
Thank you all for your input
1 comment
No. Respectfully, I think adding E36s would completely shift what makes this event special. One of the reasons this meet stands out is because it feels different from every other BMW meet I attend throughout the year, and those are already packed with E36s.
A bigger issue is that a lot of those crowds also bring drivers who don’t always respect vintage cars or the atmosphere these events are built around. A lot of E36 culture tends to skew younger and feels heavily influenced by the The Fast and the Furious era mindset of what “car culture” is. Revving, burnouts, takeover-style behavior, etc. Not everyone obviously, but that crowd is much more common there than at vintage events.
I’ve seen too many people treating meets like parking lot takeovers instead of appreciating the older chassis that built BMW’s legacy. This event has always felt curated in the best way possible, and keeping the focus on truly vintage BMWs preserves that.