Sierra Chapter BMW Car Club – Reno, NV

12 April 2012 @ Pearce Motors
20 in Attendance

Art Ona, President, called the meeting to order at 6:10 PM.

1. Event Changes:

• April 14 – Virginia City drive is rescheduled by John English due to poor weather coming on Saturday.  New date will be Saturday, April 21.
• April 22 – Track School at Reno-Fernley.  There are 15 openings; 25 have signed up.  Want 40 total.  SCCA will be at the track Saturday and some may participate.
• June 23 – Biersch/Embarcadero/Blackhawk Tour cancelled at this time.  Winery is closing April 28.
• July 21 – Sonoma WWII BMW Collection and Old Sacramento Railroad Museum.  Cancelled at this time; Sonoma collector is MIA.

2.  Event revision options discussed.

• Consensus for having the Blackhawk Museum trip to Danville.  Russ Huntoon will get back to us on continuing in the Bay Area.  There was another winery in the SF Pier area or perhaps one in East Bay that could be added to the trip.
• Sacramento Railroad Museum.  Other wineries could be visited in Sonoma, which is quieter than the Napa area.  Dawn Hammond will check into a separate winery.  All agreed the Sacramento Railroad Museum was an excellent venue as well.  Also, if the Tourism Bureau is mentioned in Sonoma you will get discounts.

3.  John English discussed small window stickers for our cars.  Total price through Silver State Industries at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center would be $167.45 for 250, excluding taxes.  Majority agreement on the purchase by those present.

4.  Jim Goodfellow renewed the wheels on his Alpina.  He noticed the hub caps were all lined up the same.  Jim offered to contact the tech him and ask if he would discuss detailing at the May 10 meeting.

5.  National BMW CCA Meeting in Dallas.  Art attended the conference, as did Melissa Nicholas, Pat McGoff and John English.  It was three intensely planned days, about 300 people.  There were many items discussed at length.  Three items of interest for us right now are the differences between three and four point seatbelts.  Three point are safe; four point are not nearly as safe.  There is a $25,000 limit by IRS to adhere with nonprofit rules.  If nonmembers are at events, insurance could be lost.

6.  John English discussed logo shirts and hats and if there was interest in them.  It takes $1000 for web site to start up.  Jeff Whitesides said our web site could provide a link and individuals could order themselves.  It would provide us with some pay back.  There was not the interest at this time in making a large investment, but the web site link would possibly work well.  The link is from the Golden Gate Chapter website:  www.cafepress.com/ggcbmwcca#link-productCategory-117 .

7.  Dinner at Los Compadres (it is set up for 24).  May and June will be at LeVecchia’s new location off Skyline.

General Meeting adjourned at 650 pm.

Sierra Chapter BMW Car Club – Reno, NV

08 March 2012 @ Pearce Motors
26 in Attendance and 1 Guests

Art Ona, President, called the meeting to order at 6:05 PM.

1. Jeff Warner.  Reminder:  Need more cars for the software test that was going to be conducted for the Roundel article, especially last year model.  Contact him if interested.  Evolve Tuning is one of the software companies being used.  The other software that will be involved are:  Dinan, ESS, Burger Tuning, Cobb and Vishnu.  Testing will be done by Street to Sand at 335 Kietzke Lane.  Work would be done in April.
2. Alice Strom.  Reminder:  Sign up is still open. There were currently five cars and ten people; maximum of ten cars.  Contact her if you are interested.  May 18 (noon Friday) – 20 – Coastal Cruise to Cabot Cove – John and Alice Strom – BMW Sanctioned Event (must be member to participate). For detailed information visit the Cabot Cove event page.
3. Don Sokola, a new member,  gave a lengthy presentation on The United States of Autism movie, Tommy Foundation project. Don, Executive Producer of the movie, described it as basically 40 days on pizzas for 11,000 miles.  The movie trailer was released in August 2010.  Three weeks ago (February 2012), the 93 minute documentary with three songs was “in the can” and the project was progressing.  It was submitted to the Film Festival on March 5, 2012.  If it is successful it will be in movie theaters everywhere. They are utilizing Kickstarter.com to raise funds, please visit The United States of Autism page on Kickstarter. Meanwhile, any BMW members who would like to donate, please do so. The sooner they reach their goal the better chance their project has of succeeding on a condition that is affecting so many families throughout the United States.
4. Art Ona introduced Mike Freitas, Service Manager, who gave us a very thorough review of the new 2012 328i F30 sedan.  It has very impressive specs and is a good rival for the Audi A4 sedan and C250 Mercedes Sedan.  Bill Pearce received 27 of them and had three left. Watch the The All-New 3 Series
5. Dinner at LeVecchia’s new location off of Skyline.

General Meeting adjourned at 7:10PM.

Sierra Chapter BMW Car Club – Reno, NV

09 February 2012 @ Pearce Motors
33 in Attendance and 3 Guests

Art Ona, President, called the meeting to order at 6:05 PM.

1. Art Ona introduced Mike Freitas, Service Manager, who said the $250 deal was still going.  In the past six months there were three new/used BMWs and one other vehicle sold by reference/to members, which was $1000 donated to the chapter.  Pearce would do the March meeting on the new 3 series.
2. New members were introduced.  Other introductions were made of those present.
3. Jeff Warner said there would be another Track Driving Event at Reno-Fernley Race track on Sunday, April 22, for driving school and car control clinic.  It is a non-BMW sanctioned event. Invite the spouses to come and drive.  He showed a YouTube video of a Daytona prototype that got a lot of laughs (“Joao Barbosa takes wife for the 1^st time in a ride around Daytona International Speedway at 185mph in a 2 seater Grand Am Daytona Prototype.” “Wife” in the front seat deserved an award).
4. Jeff Warner said Satch Carlson needs an article on the British guy on Kingbury Grade.  Want to do ten cars test of variances between standard vehicle and revisions made and tested.  Evolve Tuning www.evolvetuning.us is one of the software companies being used for a Roundel article. They are a British company and Jeff’s contact for them is Paul Howells, a Brit who has a place on Kingsbury Grade.  The other software outfits involved are:  Dinan, ESS, Burger Tuning, Cobb and Vishnu.  Testing will be done by Street to Sand at 335 Kietzke Lane.  Work would be done in April.  Any volunteers?  (6 Members and their cars helping out thus far.)
5. Event Schedule on web site.  They are subject to change, so visit frequently for updates.
6. Dinner would be at LeVecchia’s new location off of Skyline.  Full menu is $20; 27 attendees perhaps.  Room is smaller and set up for 24.  February and March will be at LaVecchia.  Send Art Ona an email for April.

General Meeting adjourned at 6:40 pm.

Sierra Chapter BMW Car Club – Reno, NV

12 January 2012 @ Pearce Motors
31 in Attendance

Guests: None

Art Ona, President, called the meeting to order at 6:05 PM.

1. Art Ona thanked Cheri and Russ Huntoon for the fantastic job setting up the Christmas dinner.  Did anyone remember who the Reno Rennsport oil change winner was?  Brian Lowder was also present at the meeting.
2. There will be a 2012 Planning Meeting on Saturday, January 14, 10 am at Pearce.  Everyone is invited to attend and provide suggestions and ideas for events.  Dawn Hammond said she could not attend, however, would like to put on the “list” the Old Sacramento Railroad and Sonoma.  Art Ona will not be able to attend; Jeff Whitesides will moderate the planning session.
3. New members:  Bob M, from New Hampshire, has lived in many states and two countries.  Ron L and Rita L are new members also.  Bob S said he was still a member but BMW CCA had moved him to the Sacramento chapter for some reason – he would try to get it fixed soon.
4. John Strom put out some recently published information.  BMW is 13 percent ahead of Mercedes for the first time in years; Lexus is way down now.  BMW will be investing $900 million into the Spartenburg NC plant.  It will be production of about 350,000 cars a year and 300 new jobs.  Total investment in the plant will then be around $6 billion.  The X3, 5 and 6 are currently built at that plant; others will then be added.
5. John Strom passed around a May 18-20 flyer for a coastal cruise to Cabot Cove, home to Jessica Fletcher of “Murder, She Wrote.”  A great road trip up the Northern California coast.  It will be a three-day, two night “drive and dine” that begins at noon on Friday.  Contact John Strom if interested.
6. Jeff Warner said there would be another Track Driving Event at Reno-Fernley Race track on Sunday, April 22.  It is a non-BMW sanctioned event.  Cost will be $195. The flyer will be emailed to Sierra Chapter members. Participants will again be driving Audi, BMW, Mercedes, MINI, Mustang, Porsche and Volvo cars/SUVs.  Invite the spouses to come and drive – or there is excellent shopping area nearby.
7. Dave and Chris from Hogg Skinz gave an excellent presentation on hydrographics and custom coatings work they do.  Currently they are located on North Edison (35 Edison Lane) in one of the industrial buildings being bought/vacated for the flood project.  However, information is available on their web site www.hoggskinz.com along with a great gallery of items they can and have done.
   Their work includes water immersion, water transfer printing or camo dipping up to a 6 by 12 foot part.  That includes bumpers, grills, spoilers, mirrors, etc.  They use House of Colors on most of the work.  It goes over the existing finish after rebasing.  The original paint is gone forever.  They can do brush aluminum, but not chrome.  Items are heated up to 240 degrees.  The pricing is very reasonable.  The automotive clear coat is usually six coats.  They have about 2,000 graphics out already.  Hours are usually 9 am to 6 pm but sometimes due to work maybe working until 10 pm.
8. Dinner would be at Los Compadres:  17 would attend.

General Meeting adjourned at 6:40 pm.

Sierra Chapter BMW Car Club – Reno, NV

13 October 2011 @ Pearce Motors
25 in Attendance

Guests: None

Art Ona, President, called the meeting to order at 6:05 PM.

1. Mike Dietel gave an overview of the Fernley Car Control Clinic on Sunday, October 9.  There were 36 cars and the weather was ideal.  Participants were driving Mercedes, Audi, Mini, Subaru, Porsche, Corvette and BMWs.  Will try to find “orphan days” at the track, then there would be maybe two or three next year.
2. A Board meeting for 2012 Events will be held at 5 pm before the November meeting.
3. Christmas Dinner – Thursday, December 8, 6 pm.  Need the check no later than the November meeting for $36 per person.  Checks should be made out to Sierra BMW.
4. Sierra Foothill/Lincoln County Wine Trip – September 16 and 17.   DeArmond Sharp said it was a great time and went as planned.  Murphy’s visit was a one time stop.  Carol Villar had a PowerPoint presentation of the tour.  There were 13 cars and 25 people.
5. Jeff Warner – Driving Events.
   a.  Boreal was not cooperative for a Street Survival Driving School and Sacramento would be a good group to do it together.  Mr Rose is a perfect venue, just need more participants.  Jeff Warner wanted to have Pearce move involved and felt that the $75 fee being reduced or removed would get more involved.  Other schools were free, this one was not – but the results from the full day by the students showed on their faces that they learned a lot.  To make it worthwhile 30 students are needed as well as 15 instructors.  Mt Rose has been very cooperative for the program.  Would like it held during the first three weeks of September; other activities and school are less likely to be an issue at that time.  Dody Gustafson suggested contacting Homeowner Associations and check into attending meetings and/or putting articles in newsletters if they have them.  Jeff would work on that next spring.
   b.  Monterey events were visited by Jeff Warner with Gary Balleisen and Paul Beacham.  Really great cars.
   c.  Car Control at Fernley was a really good event.  Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Mustang and two Corvettes from their clubs were in attendance.  It was put on by Pro Control and Mike Dietel.  The $175 price is really good.  He would work on increasing attendance for next time.
6. Dinner would be at Los Compadres:  20 would attend.

General Meeting adjourned at 650 pm.

Sierra Chapter BMW Car Club – Reno, NV

9 September 2011 @ Pearce Motors
31 in Attendance

Guests: JK from Dinan Engineering

Art Ona, President, called the meeting to order at 6:10 PM.

1.  Street Survival – Jeff Warner discussed the upcoming event to be held on Saturday, September 10^th, at Mt Rose.  Need more volunteers.  There will be a break at noon.  (Most were present at the 5 pm meeting.)  This is not a BMWCCA sanctioned event because CCA instructors will not be in the cars.

2.  Fernley Car Control Clinic - Jeff Warner discussed the upcoming clinic.  It would be brake, steer, slalom and skid pad.  It was October 9^th, Sunday, report at 730 am, meeting began at 8 am and track time began at 9 am.  It is a joint item with Audi, Mustang, Porsche, Mercedes and BMW.  Pro Control Driving Academy will be putting on the event; cost is $175 per person. This is not a BMWCCA sanctioned event because CCA instructors will not be in the cars.

3.  Sierra Foothill/Lincoln County Wine Trip – September 16^th and 17^th.   DeArmond Sharp said it was set to go.

4.  Christmas Dinner – Thursday, December 8, 6 pm.  Russ Huntoon provided a flyer:  Roundabout Catering, 6148 Mae Anne, Reno, $36 per person.  Orders and money would need to be turned in by the November 10 meeting.  We can not bring our own wine.  Deposit of $500 was approved; estimate 50 attendees.

5.  JK from Dinan Engineering was guest speaker.  Steve Dinan started the business in 1979 and redid a 320i at the shop in Mountain view.  There was a relocation to Morgan Hill in the early 90s and currently there are 35 employees.  Dinan is used by 130 dealers in the US.  Steve gets a new vehicle and then decides stages one through four and what they will entail (engine, chassis, suspension, drive line tuning, etc).  The motto is performance without sacrifice.  JK had a vehicle and gave a few people a quick trip through the Pearce area after the meeting.

6.  Dinner is at Los Compadres, which has opened at Foothill area, 21 attending.

General Meeting adjourned at 705 pm.