BMW CCA Annual Wine Country Tour 5/6

[Cadeez]

For any local CCA members out there, this should be a good one. Already bought my tix, would love to see some fellow ZHP's out there with us.

http://bmworegoncca.com/event/2017/annual-wine-country-tour/

[BMWCurves]

Dang, I love that drive out to Dundee. Need a sammich from Red Hills Market ASAP.

[Cadeez]

Love Red Hills Market! Their pizzas are on point, shoot all of their food is. We (gf & I) spend a decent amount of time in the valley, so this drive will be like just another Saturday for us...but with more BMW's haha :roundel

[BMWCurves]

I've never had their pizzas, I'll have to try them next time I'm out that way. I always get distracted by their sandwiches first :dunno.

That'll be a great drive though!

[Cadeez]

This years annual BMW CCA wine country tour went off on Saturday, and it was awesome! There were about 40 cars all together, and I was lucky enough to follow some great M cars on each leg of the tour. We all met at Durant Vineyards at 10:30 am, where there was a complimentary wine flight tasting plus a big tent set up with a host of delicious sample eats inside from bacon, to cheese, caramels, chocolates, other cured meats, etc.

I only have this one pic from Durant
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4179/34493892216_cec23236a4_h.jpg

From there we headed to Bryn Mawr Vineyards, where I followed an E92 M3 vert with the exhaust note of the gods. Seriously, this car sounded amazing, the guy said the exhaust was made by Quicksilver. This is my only pic from the winery, beautiful spot though
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4193/34493892246_0fb8731283_b.jpg

We finished the tour at Youngberg Hill Vineyards, with a big group photo shoot and lunch which was included in our entry fee. Great tour with some great people and cars, weather held up for most of the day. I was the only ZHP, but surprisingly I got quite a few compliments on it.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4171/34493892286_a867f1a56c_h.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4186/34493892316_0ff64483bb_h.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4157/34493892326_930f3dac9a_h.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4156/34374554292_1dbab289b0_h.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4167/34535208265_6a499349c1_h.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4193/34535208335_df18c44abe_h.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4165/34535208365_6075a7820e_h.jpg

[BMWCurves]

Very cool! I've never been to any of those wineries, but I'm sure I'll be down that way this summer.

[Cadeez]

I have been to Durant a few times and Youngberg once before, but never to Bryn Mawr. All have excellent views, and I like all of their wines as well, definitely three well chosen spots. Bryn Mawr is a little off the beaten path, definitely on the SE end of the valley over past Methven & Bethel Heights (both of which are also great spots). I'm looking forward to the next driving event

[holyc0w]

I was the only ZHP, but surprisingly I got quite a few compliments on it.


Not too surprisingly - looks great

The drive and scenery look nice as well. Thanks for sharing.

[Cadeez]

Not too surprisingly - looks great

The drive and scenery look nice as well. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks! Not sure if you ever go to CCA meets, but a good % of the guys are ///M guys, and anything less than a true M car is simply uncivilized in their eyes. To most of them our ZHP's are just a 330i. So to get compliments on the looks and performance of it was pretty great. I was keeping up with that black E92 I was following, and he even said "what do you have in that thing?!" when we stopped once! Stock suspension and stock motor for the most part :)

One thing I noticed after the drive which I thought was odd, is my car is driving amazing!! Not just butt dyno, but it feels MUCH more responsive. It's like blasting through the hills revving it to 6700 quite a few times blew out all of the carbons and bad "gunk" in the engine. The idle is smoother, and the throttle response is much improved. Drives so good now

[holyc0w]

Thanks! Not sure if you ever go to CCA meets, but a good % of the guys are ///M guys, and anything less than a true M car is simply uncivilized in their eyes. To most of them our ZHP's are just a 330i. So to get compliments on the looks and performance of it was pretty great. I was keeping up with that black E92 I was following, and he even said "what do you have in that thing?!" when we stopped once! Stock suspension and stock motor for the most part :)

Yeah, I see the reasoning. I'm sure many are unaware of the performance package and just think it's a regular E46 or "wow cool bumper". I'm sure most of the focus will be on the high $$$ M cars, but most people should notice a well done and well kept car.

[danewilson77]

Beautiful shots. Looks like a great time.

Sent from my S8+

[johnrando]

+1

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[BMWCurves]

Thanks! Not sure if you ever go to CCA meets, but a good % of the guys are ///M guys, and anything less than a true M car is simply uncivilized in their eyes. To most of them our ZHP's are just a 330i. So to get compliments on the looks and performance of it was pretty great. I was keeping up with that black E92 I was following, and he even said "what do you have in that thing?!" when we stopped once! Stock suspension and stock motor for the most part :)

One thing I noticed after the drive which I thought was odd, is my car is driving amazing!! Not just butt dyno, but it feels MUCH more responsive. It's like blasting through the hills revving it to 6700 quite a few times blew out all of the carbons and bad "gunk" in the engine. The idle is smoother, and the throttle response is much improved. Drives so good now

I heard from NoVAphotog from his Concours event this weekend that he got a bunch of compliments and interest in his ZHP despite being next to some exquisite E46 and E36 M3s that you would think would be the attention magnets. I think a fair number of BMW people are coming to recognize the ZHP as a great car.

[NoVAphotog]

I heard from NoVAphotog from his Concours event this weekend that he got a bunch of compliments and interest in his ZHP despite being next to some exquisite E46 and E36 M3s that you would think would be the attention magnets. I think a fair number of BMW people are coming to recognize the ZHP as a great car.

+1

I had joked with the woman next to me with the blue E36 that "oh of course I'm next to the 3 super rare M3s (Phoenix Yellow/Black 6MT, Silver grey/Imola 6MT, LSB/black 6MT), no one cares about the lowly ZHP" at the beginning of the show.

Towards the end she said I didn't know what I was talking about. You've had people non-stop talking to you about your car.

I think I went though the "ZHP breakdown" 15-20 times. "Welllllll it was an option package..."

Feels good to get the compliments and recognition.

One guy was looking at getting an e36 m...after seeing my car he is now leaning zhp. I pointed him toward the Roundel article which is fantastic for that discussion and I think probably built up a lot of interest in the cars.

I would say though that those numbers are wayyyyyyy down at gen pop car shows and meets I've gone to. No one looks at the zhp. All about the ///M if I'm parked next to one especially. Maybe one person...and it usually is good conversation since they'll know what they are looking at.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170509/dc8a70e0b34183c5a0c777dd8c7d312f.jpg

[Cadeez]

Yeah, I see the reasoning. I'm sure many are unaware of the performance package and just think it's a regular E46 or "wow cool bumper". I'm sure most of the focus will be on the high $$$ M cars, but most people should notice a well done and well kept car.

Totally, and quite a few of them did, which was great. I keep a pretty clean car and I think the cosmetic mods are very tasteful, personally I think it was one of the cleanest & best looking cars out there. Of course I had a couple M guys ask me where I got the grille stripes from, as always. One time I had a guy ask me if my bumper was off an M coupe...


Beautiful shots. Looks like a great time.

Thanks Boss, it definitely was.


+1

I had joked with the woman next to me with the blue E36 that "oh of course I'm next to the 3 super rare M3s (Phoenix Yellow/Black 6MT, Silver grey/Imola 6MT, LSB/black 6MT), no one cares about the lowly ZHP" at the beginning of the show.

Towards the end she said I didn't know what I was talking about. You've had people non-stop talking to you about your car.

I think I went though the "ZHP breakdown" 15-20 times. "Welllllll it was an option package..."

Feels good to get the compliments and recognition.

One guy was looking at getting an e36 m...after seeing my car he is now leaning zhp. I pointed him toward the Roundel article which is fantastic for that discussion and I think probably built up a lot of interest in the cars.

I would say though that those numbers are wayyyyyyy down at gen pop car shows and meets I've gone to. No one looks at the zhp. All about the ///M if I'm parked next to one especially. Maybe one person...and it usually is good conversation since they'll know what they are looking at.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170509/dc8a70e0b34183c5a0c777dd8c7d312f.jpg

Car looks great NoVA! Yeah it's an interesting dynamic, like some elite club inside the club, but I guess I understand it. If you don't have an M car at a BMW meet, you're just some poor wannabe in a lot of guys' eyes. When I had my Estoril E36 M3, I'll admit I snobbed once in a while. When I'd see another nice E36/E46 running around I'd think to myself, oooh nice looking car...too bad it's not an M :) Personally I don't really care if anyone likes my lowly old E46 ZHP or not, I love it and I know it looks great, all that matters. But compliments and questions are always welcome of course :thumbsup

I posted a couple pics of the rally on my fb page, and one of my old buddies even commented something like "the E46 still looks smooth, but when are you going to upgrade??" I'm thinking, I literally did just upgrade to another ZHP!!