My BMW E34 Project: Bimmerfest 2012...

Sergio and I were again invited to participate in yesterday's Bimmerfest 2012 held at Bonifacio High Street. Because of a smaller display area, this year's edition was limited to 38 cars - selected by the BMWCCP officers as the best representatives of BMW's current and historical model range. Of course, we were entered in the 5-Series lineup and being one of the older models, also in the Heritage category.

Bimmerfest is a day long event and I felt this year's venue was particularly good. There were a lot of places to hang out in and our location along the 9th Ave crosswalk meant foot traffic would be heavy. Since a major road had to be blocked off for the day, organization was crucial and a main requirement was to have the cars positioned early in the morning. It was because of this that I initially (but reluctantly) turned down the invitation to join. Unfortunately, I had some important errands scheduled in the morning and then had to drive Tina to the airport later in the afternoon for her flight back to HKG.

As it turned out, things fell into place. I was able to finish those errands the day before and Tina was able to move her flight to an earlier departure. This meant I could be in the venue by mid-morning although I wasn't sure if I could still be accomodated. There was only 1 slot left for an E34 and the organizers reserved the option of reallocating that spot to another model if needed. In any case, it was good that when I arrived and asked the officers-in-charge if I could still get in, they gave their approval.

After settling in, the rest of the day was spent hanging out with my fellow BMWCCP members and then on to dinner and a few drinks at 7th High, a nice restaurant/bar along High Street. We were having an absolute good time until somebody noticed that it was already past 10pm. The final program was to start shortly and the event itself would end at 11. So we all made our way back just in time for the start of the awarding ceremonies, the main event for the display participants. Every year, 9 trophies are given out for different categories and little did I know how things would get even more interesting.

So there I was, standing along the side, minding my own business, when the first award is called out for "Best in Interior", and its for Sergio! Not that I harbored any intention of not wanting to win but it did come as a big surprise because aside from doing a thorough cleanup, I made no other special preparation for the show itself. I guess the judges were able to appreciate that everything in the interior was as good as it could be considering the fact that the car has been on the road for 20 years now. No dashboard cracks, upholstery tears, missing or broken switches with mostly everything as it first came out of the showroom.