Bimmerfest 2009 shown using Caligulatography (no 56k)

[Caligula]

Hi everyone, here's a little picture thread i put together on my trip to the Fest for the members of my forum, www.e36-tech.com. Excuse the some of the references and extended explanations.:D

As you know this past weekend was the tenth annual Bimmerfest event end my personal second in attending. For the last two days myself along with thousands of other enthusiasts descended on Santa Barbra for a weekend of partying with view of the best in BMW aftermarket. This year the event moved from the usual location the the Earl Warren Showgrounds to a completely new venue, a polo club a few miles south with vast manicured lawns for us to gather on. Several new friends were made as well as good times with old ones, and i even has a chance to meet up with some familiar faces here on The Tech. Halston (M3 Alpine99) was there with Bav Sound and DDM tuning, as well as Patrick (st3althbeam328) with Stealth Auto. Though most exciting were the first looks at many of the current and upcoming products for both our and newer BMW's.

During the last few weeks ive been doing what i can to fix the most obvious issues with my M3 with the limited funds i have available. Leaks from the oil filter housing, new underpanel (thanks Motion Motorsport), tinting, and trim pieces. I also had one hell of a detail done. I was planning to do some blue tape work on mine originally, but seeing it so ****ing clean, i couldnt bring myself to put anything on it. Ohh well.

My morning started early Friday. Joe Scarborough you sexy beast.

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All clean, the cleanest its been in months.

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You know that Mother's Back-to-black stuff? It works great on intake manifolds, valve covers, cowls, all that stuff in there. Ive found the best thing to use as an applicator are those black sponges that come on a stick and are used for painting. They have a chisel tips and are thin enough to get into most places without getting the serum on the painted areas.

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Now for the younger members here, let uncle Caligula give you a lesson. Real men only pack one suitcase, whether its for a weekend or a two week cruise. If you cant get it in one case, then you dont need it. Obviously tools and alcohol dont count. :razz:

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First before i headed north, i had to make a stop to pic up some parts for my own car as well as SQ Bimmer's, so i headed over to BMA parts. Pat and Yev give their best.

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From there i was off on the 101. Being a Friday there were few BMW's making their way up, and the weather began to look like rain. I had everything i needed, a Rockstar in the cup holder, my V1 Valentine pluged in, and the iPod running. The soundtrack coming up consisted of Tom Petty, Hendrix, and Pearl Jam.

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Arriving at Motel 6.

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I was hoping to have a full size E36-tech banner by this time, though i couldnt get the images i needed in time. So wat i did was to use a program called Posterazor to make a 10 foot banner by tiling sheets of paper. Only downside is that a poster of this size took over an hour to put together.

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Tried to put it on the wall, tape wouldnt stick. Tried the railing, wind kept ripping it apart.

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Fast forward to a few hours latter when i got back. We'll have something better next year. :(

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Later that night, the place was packed.

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Then the pigs showed up about teh noise and threaded to cite us all for open containers. **** em.

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Yegermiester E30.

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[Caligula]

The next morning after 4 hours sleep we woke up to clean the dirt that had accumulated on our cars from the rain the previous night. Despite that it was a sunny day on the morning of the convention. My i had been partying most of the night with my neighbors downstairs, turned out theyre all from the service department at BMW of Encinitas, just north of Sand Diego. Chill guys, most of the night was spent drinking Coronas and smoking the good stuff with Bob Marley on in the background. After cleaning up, we walked across the street for a little eggs and crepes.

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From there it we took off to the Polo Club for the fest. As you know it was at a private field this year, and as a result, there were CHP all over the place, such a shame as all they would do is stop cars for useless fix it tickets. Even with the larger area, there didnt seem to be that much tailgating going on, also some of my favorite sponsors, like TC Kline weren't there. Though the day turned out to be beautiful and i had a chance to make some connections with other enthusiasts and companies. Some of the most impressive were the FI kits on display by AA and VF engineering.

Also i hooked up with a company called Beisan Systems. http://www.beisansystems.com They are making VANOS rebuild kits, much like those utilized by Dr. Vanos. As well they were doing demonstrations on a Z3 of their rebuild kit's custom bearings and o-rings for everyone to view. Great guys, i hope to see them on here soon.

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This M6 was so ****ing beautiful. Note the individual headlight wipers.

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Some 2002tii's

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Beer dude!

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[Caligula]

Here is the upcoming AA supercharger kit for the E92 M3.

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Hey Abe, this guy stole your idea! You cant see but the entire block is red like the valve cover.

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Some of the M-Spired crew from the SFV. We had a whole easy-up tent for us to chill at while patrons drooled over our rides.

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Mine, Greg's, and Armen's M3's

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Few of the vendors. This one was selling colored glass mosaics.

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ET's Isetta

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[Caligula]

After the initial event, there was a post-bimmerfest cruise that started north of Santa Barbra, not far from UCSB. It started at 5:00pm according to the flier. After stopping for gas first, i arrived at 5:02pm. The place was deserted, and i was ****ing pissed. I was so angry, i turned around to go back to the hotel and get drunk, but then i thought "screw them, ill go on my own drive". I took a steep side road that dumped me onto highway 154, the highway that winds through the Chumash Indian reservation and is the main route to the Chumash Casino. I have never been up there during sunset, usually only time ive driven that road is at 11pm for a late night poker game with my friends.

Man it was breathtaking. The setting sun bouncing light off the mountains and creating a sheen of light over the lake that the highway curves around. Thank God for my V1 Valentine. There were CHP waiting all over the 154 for what i assumed would be the later route for the cruise i just missed. At the end of the 154, i jumped to the 246 towards Santa Ynez, then turned inland on a little twisting country road. The scenery was great with no mountains, but rolling hills with cows and steer grazing on both sides.

The road was great, full of twists and s curves, though it was actually WIDE with decent visibility, allowing you to take the corners faster with more confidence then say Mulholland Drive near my place. Heres some video i took, i would have been going faster if i wasnt holding the whole camera with one hand. :)

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I found them!!! It was such a twist of fate. If i hadnt turned down that road, i never would have run into the tail end of the caravan. I was so ecstatic i went racing down between cars to get into the group, again thank God for my V1.

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After we had all made our way back to downtown Santa Barbra, most of the drivers turned off to their hotels, though some of us kept going down State St. to the pleasure of all the on lookers.

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I was approaching the end of State St. which ends at the waterfront, assuming id just turn back to my hotel. Then the guys in the black M3 in the picture above pulled up and asked "hey, you know where these guys are going?", "nah man, im just following the guy in front of me", "lol, us too". A minute later they pull up "hey dude, you blaze?", i responded "**** yea, i just finished my last joint on the cruise, lol". So we turned onto Shoreline, and found some parking.

Man i got to tell you it was a great end for what stated will total failure with me missing the cruise. I got to find a cool twisty road, found the caravan, and then meet up with Kevin and Wally. We walked onto the beach and sparked up a bowl while the sun went down over the water, talking about the all the events over the past day. It was glorious.

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We headed back to my motel to get them some E36-tech.com decals and have a beer. By that time everyone had returned and was getting ready for the last night of partying.

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Sorry i dont have any more pictures of that night as the battery died right after taking this shot. I headed out with the guys from San Diego to State St. First stop was Daraghan's an Pub and pool hall. It was difficult to walk upright with all the fine ***** SB has to offer. We must have hit up like 10 different bars, stumbling from one to the next. By 12am i split with them and walked to the Q Club with Jesse, Gary, and the other SoCal guys. We stayed till about 2am, then went on a walk down the street to see the SBPD shaking down the drunks on their way out of numerous clubs on the one street. After a short while i managed to remember where i parked my M3, and the five of us squeezed into my fine leather interior and returned to our hotel.

[Caligula]

I woke up the next morning around 10am to the sound of S50 engines revving, and surprisingly with a much smaller headache then i would have expected. I rushed to shower and pack, as i had only about an hour till check-out. It was while i was packing bags into my M3, did i notice that someone at the hotel, probably one of the numerous NorCal kids that were there. had stolen the fog light deletes off my car.

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****ing punks. This is what happens when E36's and E46's get so cheap that any boy racer that would normally be driving a neon purple Civic can now plop themselves into our community.

Well not to let that spoil my last day in SB, i went down to the waterfront to fulfill a promise i made to myself the day i arrived: I would eat some bad ass seafood before i left. On the recommendation of the hotel clerk, i drove to 'the wharf'. This massive pier is completely wood floored and extends several hundred feet into the ocean. The view from any side of the platform gave a amazing perspective of the entire Santa Barbra coastline with the several small and large leisure ship moving through the waters.

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At the very tip of the wharf, i found what i had been looking for.

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There was a delightful aroma of fresh fish from the time you approached the entrance. I was delighted to find a long bar surrounding the kitchen where you could see countless crab and lobsters being prepared in front of you. Looking at all hundreds of crabs sitting in front of me in the tanks, it make you wonder how long it will take until the crabs all rebel and strike back against their human masters. :mad:

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If you i ever ask you to plan my wedding, you better have oysters on the menu. Cause Caligula loooooooves oysters. :yummy:

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The gift shop outside had this and i had to get it. Its so E36-tech, lol.

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Full of shellfish, i set off back to Thousand Oaks. Guns n Roses and Bon Jovi were on the playlist for the ride back.

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Surprisingly there was little rain during the trip, contrary to what the forecast said. Though looking back there is a scene of disappointment over all the things i didnt have time to do during the trip, or over what i expecting the parties to be like. Though when taking is so much information over something you love so much, theres bound to be expectations that no one can satisfy. Talking to Jesten, we may not be staying in the usual hotels next year due to the more and more unwelcoming reception weve been receiving not only from the hotels, but from the police and city of Santa Barbra as well. Next year, i can only hope that we will be back in full force with the complete E36-tech.com crew, showing everyone how a BMW meet is supposed to be done.
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