Bavarian-Board.co.uk - BMW Owners Discussion Forum Homepage
Forum Home Forum Home > General Forums > BMW Related Events
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Gaydon 05--Comments Invited
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Register Register  Login Login

Forum LockedGaydon 05--Comments Invited

 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <123>
Author
Message
MattB106 View Drop Down
Senior Member II
Senior Member II
Avatar

Joined: 04-April-2004
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 233
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23-August-2005 at 18:32

I really enjoyed it again. I'd like to know why cars had to wait until 8:30 to get in though? Would have made things much easier to just go straight in.

 

I liked the track after not expecting much. Had no idea what i was meant to be doing or not doing though

MattB

E36 328i Sport in silver

www.fotki.com/mattb106
Back to Top
Sponsored Links


Back to Top
mick_n3 View Drop Down
Really Senior Member I
Really Senior Member I
Avatar

Joined: 30-July-2003
Location: BMW-Board.co.uk
Status: Offline
Points: 357
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23-August-2005 at 19:07
Originally posted by evosport evosport wrote:

Aston Martin test track was well worth the £7.50 especially seening the  new "baby" Aston parked up. One question how/where car we buy pictures taken on the test track.

 

The photo's are on the link below

http://www.4x4navigation.com/sportevent2.html

Mick

Back to Top
jezza View Drop Down
Groupie
Groupie


Joined: 16-October-2004
Status: Offline
Points: 58
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24-August-2005 at 12:50

Quote

The photo's are on the link below

http://www.4x4navigation.com/sportevent2.html

Mick

Can't see them there.

My toys:
E39 ALPINA B10 V8 2000 - Silver/Red Leather
E39 540i 2000 (Sold)
E34 535i Sport 1989 (Sold)
E21 323i (Sold)
Back to Top
mick_n3 View Drop Down
Really Senior Member I
Really Senior Member I
Avatar

Joined: 30-July-2003
Location: BMW-Board.co.uk
Status: Offline
Points: 357
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24-August-2005 at 19:14
Originally posted by jezza jezza wrote:

Quote

The photo's are on the link below

http://www.4x4navigation.com/sportevent2.html

Mick

Can't see them there.

Follow the link towards the bottom of the page or click below

http://www.4x4navigation.com/1al.html

 

Back to Top
jezza View Drop Down
Groupie
Groupie


Joined: 16-October-2004
Status: Offline
Points: 58
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25-August-2005 at 04:09
Ah thanks - can see them now. Only problem is they are rather low resolution, and I can't make out my car in the pictures (black 540i, which is rather non-descript in this company) as I am not in the foreground in any of the shots. I think we might be in Al10 073 and Al14 013, is there any chance of a higher resolution version of the pics so I can see clearly? ( I have clicked on the tiny thumbs to get the larger versions but still too small)
My toys:
E39 ALPINA B10 V8 2000 - Silver/Red Leather
E39 540i 2000 (Sold)
E34 535i Sport 1989 (Sold)
E21 323i (Sold)
Back to Top
m3tiko View Drop Down
Really Senior Member II
Really Senior Member II
Avatar

Joined: 29-May-2005
Location: Braveheart Country..aka Pai
Status: Offline
Points: 1483
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-August-2005 at 04:02
All round good day... and my first time to gaydon.however i have to agree with most of the comments made here. First of all, the test track setup was a total farce there was no mention at all of not allowing anymore than 2 people per car and anyone under the age of 16. Steve535d made a good point, as it was totally unsafe and to be honest i think i paid more attention to my rear mirror than what was in front of me. I would have paid a lot more money if they even had cut the number of cars hence opening the track up bit more.

Secondly, im not saying M's should be given preferential treatment but i felt a bit let down that when we join up in the club we state our model etc i thought it be only fair that m owners would be put on the M display. unless that is they choose not to.

Lastly, upset at no rolling road...in the magazine it was mentioned, nowehere to be seen
Back to Top
Fushion Julz View Drop Down
Bavarian-Board Contributor
Bavarian-Board Contributor
Avatar

Joined: 27-May-2005
Status: Offline
Points: 400
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-August-2005 at 06:42
Come to think of it, No Rolling Road was a dissapointment as I was going to take the opportunity to get a power run done on my M3...

Re section stands: I concur that the M power thing was a bit of a disappointment, but fortunately the E30 register were happy to have my car (E30 M3) in the display!
Perhaps the M power section has an elite and a commoners section?

More interesting is why there was no Wessex section...I was automatically put in the Wessex section on joining...However, it seems to be centered on Hants/Dorset area whereas in Reading I am closer to SE region events, most of the time...
Looking here, on this forum, the Wessex section must be one of the least contributed to sections of all the regionals...And then no stand at the national show/event, either...

Kinda begs the question as to why? (or why not?)
1987 E30 M3
1996 E36 328i SE 4dr (Manual)
1992 E34 525iX Touring...SOLD
Back to Top
325i Ron View Drop Down
Really Senior Member I
Really Senior Member I
Avatar

Joined: 26-February-2003
Location: Bristol
Status: Offline
Points: 286
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-August-2005 at 12:11

One of the difficlties is getting help on the day, as you all know this a car club run by volunters. So remember for next year the more volunters the better. It means that the person the gate is there for less time say 1/2 each. As for as not getting until 8.30 that part is run by Gaydon staff. Again to help speed things up if you book in advance get your pass for you area or register this will speed your entry. As far as the rolling they just did not turn so not a lot we could do.
Ron Parish
(E30 Register Chairman)
Back to Top
jezza View Drop Down
Groupie
Groupie


Joined: 16-October-2004
Status: Offline
Points: 58
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-August-2005 at 12:32
Hmmmm well I know that you rely on volunteers and so on but I don't think that excuses some of the poor service offered to members. You mention ordering passes/tickets in advance to save time on the gates, well I ordered mine a month in advance as I expected there to be delays in despatching them going by earlier experiences. Not surprisingly they hadn't turned up the week before the show and the only way the office would send me the tickets was be charging me a second time on the basis that they couldn't possibly check through the credit card receipts to confirm that they had already charged me (which they had). Even then they didn't send me the stand pass, and now I have to claim a refund for the duplicate charging. There seems to be lots of room for improvement with current procedures.

Edited by jezza
My toys:
E39 ALPINA B10 V8 2000 - Silver/Red Leather
E39 540i 2000 (Sold)
E34 535i Sport 1989 (Sold)
E21 323i (Sold)
Back to Top
bmw1066 View Drop Down
Really Senior Member II
Really Senior Member II
Avatar
GOOD OLD E23

Joined: 16-January-2005
Location: West Sussex Nr Brighton
Status: Offline
Points: 1095
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27-August-2005 at 16:47

That was one off the thinks for me how do you get a pass to park my make ie for me the 7's,in that area. had tickets but no car pass

Yes the Wessex region is pretty poor but we are trying to beef it up a bit me and some others but as you said it is more Hants/Dorset. So I am Hoping to hold a reg Sussex pub/meet NR Hicstead to try and beef things up and for thoses more SE side off things. but it is finding the time as I am shoer you all know 

Mark 735 se 1982
RED BARON A E23 is for life not just for x-mas
BMW e34 530 v8 Sport kit
Spelling always Bad
Back to Top
Sohlman View Drop Down
Really Senior Member II
Really Senior Member II
Avatar
Coupe Chairman

Joined: 19-August-2003
Location: Surrey
Status: Offline
Points: 1259
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31-August-2005 at 08:58

Was my first visit to Gaydon with the BMWCC. I ran the coupe stand which effectiverly made me a glorified parking attendant. On the whole it was a good day although a couple of people swore at me for not allowing them to park next to their friends which left a sour tast in my mouth as i gave up my whole day to marshall. I ended up spending about 30 mins seeing the other cars and visited about 2 traders. Saying this i did enjoy myself.

Went on the test track and agree with the comment above. Could not go in my car and had to get towed home due to a petrol leak. Test track was brilliant, but dangerous if you stayed with the pack. We hung back and allowed everybody to go off and then had the track to our selves.

A convoy following a sedate racing line would have been better.

More helpers would have made my life easier as i parked 75 cars in a small area, had to keep acess routes clear and told cars where to go for the whole day.

 

Sunday 10th July Brooklands Sharkfest and Big Coupe Day. Coupe Events
Back to Top
Fushion Julz View Drop Down
Bavarian-Board Contributor
Bavarian-Board Contributor
Avatar

Joined: 27-May-2005
Status: Offline
Points: 400
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31-August-2005 at 10:29
@ BMW 1066: re Wessex region...Metinks that if they (the club officials) are deciding that Reading is part of Wessex region rather than SE or South or even London, then you are doomed to failure as there is too much "spread" of members.

Does anyone know where the boundaries of regions are drawn?

@ Sohlman: I sympathise with your dilemma...However, it is one reason why I didn't offer any help. a) If I pay for a ticket..which I did...then I don't expect to have to work...b) If there was a chance of doing something exciting and not just car-park attending I would be keener to volounteer. After all, people can only get onto the dispaly area with a pass and then they should know which area to park in!


1987 E30 M3
1996 E36 328i SE 4dr (Manual)
1992 E34 525iX Touring...SOLD
Back to Top
Sohlman View Drop Down
Really Senior Member II
Really Senior Member II
Avatar
Coupe Chairman

Joined: 19-August-2003
Location: Surrey
Status: Offline
Points: 1259
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31-August-2005 at 11:20

I didn't have to pay for my ticket and i don't think any helpers had to, but i have to say that certainly in my area which was a funny shape if no one was parking and organising the cars then cars would have been parked everywhere and far fewer cars would have been catered for and no one would be able to move when they wanted to. 

My thoughts for next year with regards to the coupe area would be to have a more organised area where cars where parked by model type. This would cause other problems as cars would have to arrive at an earlier time, but would look a lot better.

The problem is certainly with the coupes is that very few people In my exsperience let you know that they will be comming to an event making it difficult to plan for numbers. E.G. You plan for ten e24's and five turn up or conversely you plan for 10 E31's and twenty turn up. I suspect this is the case with most regions and areas.

In some ways it's a lot easier organising a smaller selection of cars.

For example i could organise a smashing line up of different sixes and another could line up a smashing selection of CS coupes folowed by another person getting a line up of E31's and so on.  I think  if more people got involved and worked together this would run smoother and actually everyone would have less work to do on the day.

Please take these coments as positive. I am a bit of a perfectionist and always want to strive to take things a little further.

Sunday 10th July Brooklands Sharkfest and Big Coupe Day. Coupe Events
Back to Top
bmw2002 View Drop Down
Really Senior Member I
Really Senior Member I
Avatar

Joined: 04-March-2003
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 314
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01-September-2005 at 11:53
Yes leaky old Beemers are a danger to the Public. ;o)

Fixed it yet?

Check out Oct's Performance BMW pages 88/89, also you got a plug in Total of course.
www.bmw2002.co.uk
o==00==o
Back to Top
Richard von Bat View Drop Down
Groupie
Groupie


Joined: 30-October-2003
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 95
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05-September-2005 at 15:11

I thought the Gaydon event was very good, met plenty of  people and what better weather could have been ordered?

The specific comments concerning M power made me smile/wince if only because do some people never read their journals? I'll excuse any new members of the last six months but for virtually a whole year we have been asking for particular models to be volunteered for the 'M display' last year it was for the 'E30's display. So to say there are M car commoners and elite class or words to that effect is rather sad!

The display was to show pretty much in year order each M car produced and to enable such a complete display to be formed (bar an E39 M5 which failed to turn up) just shows the capacity of the Club.  I thought we had some great cars there in a good range of colours. But due to the room this display took up we had less room (than we have taken in the past) for the 'non display' M cars.

Some cars were routed to the main museum entrance but as I mentioned to the few people who came to talk to me about it, there we're still some spaces next to the circular display so find one and bring your car down.

The track stories fill me with angst for this is just the situation that causes silly things to happen - why not come along to one of the Clubs properly organised track days and drive in a far safer environment? and better value too if you consider the cost per lap.......

The comments concerning no's of people allowed to ride in the car usually relate to the number of doors. So you could find 4 up in a four door saloon but only two in a two door so that it is easier to pull people out in the eventuality of a crashed vehicle. 

Richard Baxter

 

richard
Back to Top
Howard View Drop Down
Moderator Group
Moderator Group
Avatar
Did I say thaaaat?

Joined: 14-October-2002
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 735
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-September-2005 at 04:00
Originally posted by Fushion Julz Fushion Julz wrote:

@ BMW 1066: re Wessex
Does anyone know where the boundaries of regions are drawn?



Go to the club web site and see the regional page. There is a map there showing the country as a whole. Hover your mouse over a region and the extent of the region is shown.

I agree - some club official do not know just where regions start and stop. Geography is not a required qualification for a club official.

Edited by Howard
1963 700 LS
1988 635 CSi
1990 M635 CSi no longer!
2001 E38 728i Individual


http://www.tyneships.co.uk
Back to Top
Bigian View Drop Down
Really Senior Member II
Really Senior Member II
Avatar

Joined: 25-May-2005
Location: Stonehaven
Status: Offline
Points: 2167
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-September-2005 at 04:51

as a member of the Scottish clan i had a great weekend i personally travelled from Stonehaven in east coast Scotland to gaydon all the people who i met up with on the way down were very welcoming towards me.

for it being my first gaydon i  enjoyed it immensely and will be coming back again especially to see if Penny Malory will be bending over johns car like she was.

even for the distance travelled approx 1000 mile round trip for me.

i had a damm good weekend apart from the homeward journey when wee were about to cross the boarder it started  raining and but that still did not put the dampers on.

If you can't be good don't get caught
--------------------------
Back to Top
Andrew Dale View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie


Joined: 26-January-2004
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 3
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-September-2005 at 05:12
I have read all the posting so far with great interest and all comments will be taken on board but I feel it worthwhile to make a few factual comments:

Traders: when I started with the club 5 years ago there were about 15 stands. Last year there were 38 and this year 43. Stands are priced at £75 + VAT which is extremely low compared with many similar events which charge £400 or even more. There are always a few traders who do not do as well as they had hoped but at the club office we have had a fantastic feedback with phrases such as "the best show I do" and "took more money than anywhere else I have been"

Cars on display: Everyone wants to have their cars in the centre of what is going on but this is just not possible. My own car was on display and I would have been disappointed if my car had not been in the main arena. Other venues might solve this or...... other suggestions welcome.

Queuing: We have become victims of our own success in many ways. 5 years ago the show attracted about 500 people - this year about 2,000. About 400 cars turned up 5 years ago - this year about 1,500. The size of the show last year took Gaydon (and us) somewhat by surpise and this year they closed driving on site to all but our guys. Even with an extra "holding" car park we still ended up with queues. We/Gaydon need to get a better arrangement for next year.

Support from BMW: BMW UK loaned us the Formula BMW car and also the M1 for the M Display. There were three BMW dealers there - Damon Hill BMW who sponsored the event by paying for the marquee that the club used on the day, Godfrey Hall BMW who donated a £600 BMW mountain bike as a prize and also Blue Bell BMW who had a huge range of spares etc for sale. In general, BMW UK give us HUGE support inlcuding a substantial annual donation which ensures that our annual membership costs are kept low.

Arrangements/Marshalling on the day: The show overall, attraction of traders, preparation of programme etc etc is arranged by just two people at the club office in addition to everything else that is done. This has meant 6 am starts at the office for many weeks and working at the weekend. The tombola was a huge success with £600 mountain bike as top prize as well as £500 of stainless steel exhaust etc etc -  these prizes all need to be secured. On the day there is a real need for helpers and marshals to ensure that everything goes smoothly. This year was better than last but it usually gets left to a very few to help out. I would ask of those who complained about marshalling arrangements at the main entrance "what did you do to help?" - it is YOUR club!

Andrew Dale
Club Secretary/Director
Back to Top
Grahame_Vincent View Drop Down
Really Senior Member II
Really Senior Member II
Avatar

Joined: 12-August-2004
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
Status: Offline
Points: 535
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-September-2005 at 05:16

We had a great day, some fantastic cars and seemed really well organised. Hopefully next year I can make it down earlier with the rest of the North East guys....

Thanks to all the organisers

Grahame
2004 E46 325Ci Sport Coupe, Silver Grey with Black Leather and M Sports Pack II.
Used to own:-
1995 E38 730i V8, Black, 18" Fox RS3's, Custom Tint Glass, with Silver Leather
1985 E30 316 Black
http://www.villagephotos.com/pubgallery.asp?id_=1066854
Back to Top
E46ACS View Drop Down
Really Senior Member II
Really Senior Member II
Avatar

Joined: 16-April-2005
Location: Durham
Status: Offline
Points: 683
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-September-2005 at 05:25

As the organiser for the North East stand, and my first trip to Gaydon, it was a bit "made it up as I went along"!! I have read all of the above comments with interest, and I have to say that it was a great day.  Yes there where queues, but I was on site at 0815 and there was no queue then!

The test track did have an element of "Wacky Races" to it, but that just made all the more interesting!

We could of done with more space for our stand, but again, we where all limited by the total space available.  I learnt a lot form this year and am looking forward to next already. 

The guys (& Girl) in the office, special mention for Gerry, where a great help.

I did expect more trade stands, and did expect BMW to have a stand there, but in hindsight, that would have meant less space for the rest of us.

Thanks to all the guys that came.  The Scottish guys for keeping us entertained (as always). And to the organisers as a whole.  It might have been a bit dis-jointed at times, but it was a great day enjoyed by all!

My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with a girl who saw Ferris pass-out at 31 Flavours last night. I guess it's pretty serious.
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <123>
  Share Topic   

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 0.256 seconds.