Weblog Max – The club feeling

After purchasing the Z4, one of the first things I noticed was that other owners of BMWs, especially Z3s and Z4s, often greet you on the road. I felt like I was part of a certain community of enthusiasts, but I wasn’t yet a member of a club. Since I thought it would be fun to actually meet other Z owners rather than just greet them in passing, I signed up for a BMW Roadster Club tour. I had expected that there would be BMW clubs, but not that there was one specifically for the roadsters.

One Z3 and two generations of Z4.

To gauge the atmosphere and see if a membership would be something for me, I took part in a tour through the border region of Germany and Twente. I myself come from the Zwolle area, so that was relatively unknown territory for me. I went to the starting point with my brother. Once there I was amazed by the amount of cars. The entire parking lot of the restaurant was full of all kinds of different Z3s and Z4s. As a guest driver you never know how you will be received, but almost right away I had a chat with a man who complimented me on my car and proudly told me about his Z4 e85. The ice was quickly broken.

With my 26 years I brought the average age of the club down considerably. I think the vast majority of members were over 50. That didn’t make it any less fun, though. The tour itself was mainly about enjoying the surroundings and the beautiful roads in the area in a relaxed way. You received a route booklet with some sights, but otherwise you were completely free to do what you wanted along the way. Sometimes we rode in a train with other roadsters, sometimes alone, but you always bumped into each other along the way. People in the area often reacted with a raised thumb when the group drove by.

The route was about 120 kilometers long and well thought out. When I go on a tour in my area, I often drive around at random. Now I came to places I wouldn’t come so quickly myself, for example a dirt road through the meadows. To discover new places in this way, in your own car and with a group of like-minded people, turned out to be very nice. Along the way, my brother and I stopped at some places where we saw some other participants to get out and have a chat. In fact, everyone has a story with their car. That makes the club feeling fun for me: you all have the same passion and that way you come together, but everyone has a different story. Of course, this applies to many more brands and models.

With another E85.

After the ride I immediately decided to join the club on my way home. I haven’t been able to speak to everyone on this day, there were simply too many participants for that, but I’m already looking forward to the next ride. That’s why I bought the Z4: driving beautiful routes! I hope that many more great club rides will follow.

The Z4 itself

In Jan’s blog you could already read that the Z4 has a pretty high mileage. In the end I was the one who drove it over three tons. The funny thing is that the members of the BMW Roadster Club didn’t tell that mileage. The car is still sleek in its unique color ‘Maldives Blue’ and the interior also still looks good. I dared to buy this car because I knew that Jan had already invested quite a bit of money in it. He had, among other things, tackled the cooling system, lowered the car slightly and had the machine flushed. I myself had the shock absorbers tackled and four new tires (Michelin Pilot Sport 4) put under the car.

The result of these efforts is that the Z4 definitely doesn’t drive like it has three tons on the clock. He sends tight, shifts super and the M54 3.0 six-cylinder spins satisfied. I have absolutely no regrets – at least so far – about the purchase! The next major activity with the Z4 is planned for the end of August: then I’ll take it on holiday to Italy!

Now I’m curious: which of your readers is also a member of a car club? I’d love to read your experiences!