Mike's Alpine White 1991 318is

[2mAn]

Thats awesome to see her taking pics. Shes already a better photographer than me!

[mike.bmw]

The 2020 NCC Fall Foliage Tour

On October 24th, my six-year-old daughter, Avery, and I participated in the National Capital Chapter (NCC) Fall Foliage Tour. An NCC tour consists of a group drive to a particular destination via a scenic route on “fun roads” as planned by the group’s tourmeisters. For this tour we met up at my favorite NCC sponsor shop, RRT, in Sterling, VA and then drove on a collection of epic mountain roads through Shenandoah National Park and George Washington Forest to Harrisonburg, VA. The 318is performed beautifully. The new fuel pump has made a world of difference. The current suspension, wheel, and tire setup make carving backroads very enjoyable, but not overly harsh.

Along the way the few masked and socially distanced rest stops provided nice opportunities to get out and stretch. When we arrived in Harrisonburg, Avery and I enjoyed the lunch I had packed while the rest of the group went off to eat lunch elsewhere. On the return trip the group stopped at a few locations for photo opportunities. Over the course of the nearly 11-hour event, Avery and I racked up over 270 spirited miles. Between my work schedule, Avery’s distance learning, and everything else going on in our lives right now, it was very special to get away for a day and have some memorable father-daughter time.

Avery has shown interest in taking photos, so for this occasion instead of using her “kid’s camera”, I let her use my previously retired Pentax k-x DSLR. It was a big hit. After giving her some pointers on how to hold the camera, how to zoom and focus, and how to frame her shots, she ended up taking a number of really cool photos over the course of the day.

While driving through Shenandoah National Park, I did spot two E30s (driving separately) near Skyline Drive. These were the only E30s I saw all day. At a passing glance, they were both lightly modified and very clean. I exchanged waves with both - it’s always nice to get a wave from a fellow E30 owner.

I ran the turbofans on the front wheels for this event. I hadn’t planned on running them at all, but before the group headed out in the morning a friend asked what they were (he had seen them on a FaceBook post), so I installed a pair on the front wheels to show him. After a full day of spirited driving (and braking) up and down mountain roads, they’re still in perfect shape.

The route from RRT to Harrisonburg, VA:

Fall Foliage Tour - Route To Harrisonburg by mike.bevels, on Flickr


The route back to RRT:

Fall Foliage Tour - Route Home by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Cars staged outside of RRT ready to start the tour:

DSC_0732 by mike.bevels, on Flickr


Someone’s ready to take some photos using a “real” camera:

DSC_0716 by mike.bevels, on Flickr


The caravan drives through a small town in VA:

DSC_0752 by mike.bevels, on Flickr


The view from the back seat (photo taken by Avery):

The cars drove on squiggly roads. by mike.bevels, on Flickr


A group photo opportunity (photo taken by Avery):

IMGP7134 by mike.bevels, on Flickr


The parking deck in Harrisonburg, VA (photo taken by Avery):

The cars parked for lunch in Harrisonburg. by mike.bevels, on Flickr


Soon I’ll be asking her for photography advice:

DSC_0754 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

[Rambl.n]

It’s nice to see such a well organized build thread

[mike.bmw]

Bare BBS RS look so nice, but the fans are incredible... Oh to have decisions like that

Thanks! It's nice to be able to change up the appearance within a couple of minutes by simply installing or removing turbofans.

Not a fan of the fans

but having such an "easy" option to change the look is nice.

My 6 hour drive home in the E46 got me thinking about another E30 build lol... luckily the MR2 is still fun and not annoying... yet... lol

Haha, to each their own. I thought the last round of photos worked better with them off. I never intended to run them on the wheels all the time, but they're a fun addition every now and then. And they're certainly a conversation starter. :-)

I think you've got a great garage combo right now- the MR2 and the E46 touring. Reassess your car situation after the baby is born once you find yourself with some free time. If the MR2 is drivable and fun, keep it around for a while. Though, car seats do fit quite well in the back of an E30. ;-)

[Blake B]

A guy was selling the CAD files to Turbo Fans to 3d print them, and I've just been sitting on files for awhile. Maybe it's time to fire up the 3d printer?

[2mAn]

Not a fan of the fans

but having such an "easy" option to change the look is nice.

My 6 hour drive home in the E46 got me thinking about another E30 build lol... luckily the MR2 is still fun and not annoying... yet... lol

[econti]

Bare BBS RS look so nice, but the fans are incredible... Oh to have decisions like that

[mike.bmw]

It was a solid weekend of E30ing. I met up with fresh_TD early Sunday morning to take some photos of his recently completed slicktop '91 318is. He has gone through this car bottom to top over the course of this year. He has disassembled and replaced, refurbished, or thoroughly cleaned pretty much everything on the car. The fresh paint looks amazing. He really did an amazing job with this one. It's an inspiration.

DSC_0755 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Of course I had to take some of the cars together. This may be the last time at this location. The security guard was very nice (seriously), but after 40 minutes of photos he respectfully asked us to wrap things up and head out. :-)

DSC_0815 (1) by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0783 (1) by mike.bevels, on Flickr

And a rolling shot on the way out...

DSC_0824 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

I spotted an interesting location along one of my regular routes. That's Dulles Airport in the background. I thought the sunrise and low-lying fog in the open field looked nice.

DSC_0726 (1) by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0714 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Next weekend I'll be taking the E30 on a "Fall Foliage Tour" setup by my local BMW CCA chapter, the National Capital Chapter. It's a full day of driving a planned route of exciting roads all over the state.

[2mAn]

I think He’s up to ~20 states driven so far... ahh to be young again.

[mike.bmw]

Last weekend east met west. If anyone is following on the FaceBook R3V group, freeride53 is taking an EPIC road trip in his '91 318i sedan. He started in California and has been making his was across the U.S. There have been some bumps along the way, but he has been persistent and is still going strong. I really look forward to seeing a summary of the entire trip.

He was in the Washington D.C. area last weekend and we met up briefly at my place - masked up and socially distanced of course. It was super cool meeting him and checking out his car in person, something I'd never thought would happen as we live 3,000+ miles apart. I've followed his latest thread for a long time and it has been an inspiration. In addition to hanging out, his power steering belt had decided to abandon him the day before, so I donated the relatively new one from my car (we had called around and the closest 10x800 v-belt was an hour away).

Good luck on the rest of your road trip, Sina!

DSC_0705 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0713 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

20201011_122457 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

[Powling]

You're right. An MT1 spoiler (black surround with alpine white insert) might look pretty good.

100% an Mt1 would really suit your car!

[roguetoaster]

You know, if you really wanted to do a rear spoiler change I have a NIB Pfeba unit that bolts in place of the "is" winglet.

[mike.bmw]

I was thinking "is" spoiler with a splitter, and after looking around it was Zender that always photographed their cars with turbofans, but an MT1 type valence would look great too. Clearly, one of those options is more readily reversible than the others.

Ahhhh, I thought you meant the trunk spoiler (which is why I suggested the MT1 trunk spoiler). Yes, the car has always looked unbalanced with the alpine white front spoiler. I had replaced the busted original "is" lip/spoiler with a new OEM piece that I had painted a few years ago. In hindsight, I should've just painted it black.

[roguetoaster]

You're right. An MT1 spoiler (black surround with alpine white insert) might look pretty good.

I was thinking "is" spoiler with a splitter, and after looking around it was Zender that always photographed their cars with turbofans, but an MT1 type valence would look great too. Clearly, one of those options is more readily reversible than the others.

[mike.bmw]

You know, I think you need a black spoiler with the fans.

You're right. An MT1 spoiler (black surround with alpine white insert) might look pretty good.