Homecoming 2002 As I wait for my Sunday morning breakfast to be delivered from Second Avenue deli, I am poring over JonT's pics and can't resist posting about my HC 2002. Twelve of the pics are mine, the rest are Jon's. I hope Jon will forgive me for posting his pics before he even gets home, or Roanoake, Virginia, where he is headed right now. I would call him but his cellphone went on all the wet rides at Dollywood with Tim and Irene UK, and unfortunately his phone couldn't swim. I couldn't drive to HC this year because of Mom's tenuous stay in the hospital, but I got to do the parts of Homecoming that mean the most to me. BMW may have stopped making the Z3s but the Z3s have not stopped making friends. As my friend (and friend to all Z3s) Michel Potheau, President of the BMW Car Club of America always says: "It's not about the cars, it's about the people, dummy." The best thing about Homecoming is seeing the people I have grown to love so well over 5 years and 2 continents all in one place, with loads of Z3s. As I write this, 500 Z3s are driving home, when they get back they will post hundreds more photos and stories... This is only about 50 pics, a big difference from the 58 pages I posted of last year's HC01- which were eclipsed by the tragedy of 9/11. I posted at 3am September 11, 2001, before the whole world changed, the Russian Tea Room closed and the last Z3 was produced. Dr Biggly picked me up at the airport in his pickup truck. He used to have a Z3... one day he will have an MZ3, or MZ4. Within a minute we found a Z3 to follow into Greenville. Upon closer inspection the plate identified real RoadsterGal Betty ///M, MS PILOT from Virginia. We tailed her and the 10 or so Z3s in front of her- watching as people leaned out of windows to ask what was going on... So many vanity plates from all over the country and Canada (where are the Mexicans?) Ohio and Arizona... Funny, they use quotation marks in North Carolina vanity plates. Naturally, I agree this fellow from Louisianna has ZEE BEST color combination, although that red on red is pretty amazing- and unusual. I didn't have to miss Emmy, every time I saw a Boston Green with a Black roof. GRNPA Z3 has the right idea, as I pop my first bottle of Freixenet with Connie from Missouri This is the special stuff imho, that's Fred Kern (FWK) from Vermont, Aloha Frank from Hawaii, now Maryland, Teachum from Chicago and me, then Zeegar and his daughter fron North Carolina just hangin out... Ron Weathers from Upstate NY and I are doing the official South Carolina Homecoming Dance... and soon there's Denise...Zoom (back facing us in LeatherZ cap) from Seattle, Big Daddy "I don't dance" from Oregon, and Carol Weathers helping Ron hold me up (hey, this time I wasn't driving so I was drinkin...) Originators of the Z3 community, those who led the way in many mods and fixes, Bryan from Texas- (if you have a Supersprint on your six-cylinder you should probably thank Bryan, he surely corrupted me, if you have DTM tips you should thank him and his Elephant (anyone have those links I lost?) twice. Also see his definitive post on MZ3.net). In fact, Emmy is in a lot of ways just following in Bryan's Boston Green '97 2.8 footprints, blaring the Rolling Stones down the Dragon. You can see more of Bryan's car on page 70 of the December '98 Roundel Magazine. Bryan also proposed to his wife Jean at HC 2000. That's BruceT formerly of Chicago in the yellow glasses, now of South Carolina post- Dragon new tradition Thursday pre- HC BBQ host this year... owner of the highly Dinanized and modified ADLT TOY Bright Red 97 2.8 who came from Chicago to Fixit Day last year... we're having a '97 2.8 secret official meeting when we were joined by '99 2.8 owners Brent and Connie from Missouri, carrying a gift we were each given from the generous folks at Zymõl this year. Bryan's hand signal may look like something else, but it is the secret official invitation to get lost with him trying to find the Jack Daniels' distillery on the way to Homecoming. Be sure to follow Bryan to see the best graveyards Tennessee has to offer... ;) All too soon we're back at the hotel with another of the great things about Homecoming, getting a room that lets you look at your car, and seeing it next to a friend's car, like this shot from JonT's room looking at his car parked next to Originator KathyM's GELB Z3 Mroadster from Chicago. Brent demonstrates the proper techinique for adding an "I" to your "Z3", lining it up with the offical lining up tool, an Altoids box. This way, when 20 Z3s pass another on the road and they yell across the highway "HEY HOW DO I FIND YOU?" you can just say "iZ3" and when you pass them, they will get the url. :) Easy to remember, and an oem BMW part (part number 51-14-8-108-831). One more piece of chrome for your car... I was unbelievably lucky. I got a room upgrade to a jacuzzi (and those of you who have been following my Construction Drama know how I feel about jacuzzis) when the Wingate ran out of regular nonsmoking rooms. One of my raffle tickets won a front row spot for the Homecoming Panoramic, I gave the ticket to Brent and Connie because my car wasn't there. They let me stand with them, so I got to take a nice long jacuzzi, have nice leisurely breakfast, ride out to the factory nice and warm with a full night's rest. VERY unusual for Homecoming! ;D By the time I got to the factory of course the cars were already lined up, we could see them from the highway in the rain. A quick check of the booths find owner-vendors Devon and Beverly from Texas at their Roadster Valet booth, and Beverly's got paint matched Estoril Blue nails! (Waiting for her to tell us the polish information, I will add to the Z3 Girls/RoadsterGals nail polish code list, working on it.) And of course, The Z3 Leather Gods, Jon and Andy Maddux of LeatherZ.com and Seattle and Cincinnati respectively JonT's spot is not so bad, a few rows back, behind HAHALUA from Ohio and CO PERK from Texas... RichNY organized the Joisey Gals in Red White and Blue- his fairly famous NY MY ZEE filling in the spot that Emmy had last year, right in front! GOOD JOB RICH!!! :) The Joisey gals (names help?) with Dave Zeegar, Nathan Z3 Power, Maurice & Cindy from NC and Matt IHZP/RoadsterFan23 from Massachusettes When I caught up with Brent and Connie in my airport shuttle car, I was ecstatic to find that another winner of a front row spot were Mike and Diana MJDUDE of Oklahoma City. Mike and Diana had hosted their first Homecoming BBQ party in Oklahoma this Homecoming this year, as well as being the notary in the parking lot in HC 01, and the only voices that understood how I felt on September 11 last year, as they live as close to the Murrah Building site as I do to Ground Zero. Their post on September 18 helped raise donations for the children of food service workers lost in the disaster. I am crazy about Mike and Diana- and I didn't even realize they drive a Boston Green 97 2.8. I didn't miss Emmy a bit being surrounded by so many of her wonderful sisters and so many wonderful friends. Then Brent and Connie took that long drive up to the center position...the man in the black cap is the photographer, then you see Big Daddy (OR) and Diana (OK) on the left watching them pull in, while Tim UK on the right is taking pics- of course. This pic is just priceless... here's Brent, who is already Mr. Anal about his car, backing up with direction from an organizer, being careful not to hit any cars, or to hit Anders Warming, designer of the Z4 in the brown suit, or Dr. Helmut Leube, the President of BMW Manufacturing in the blue and white and black windbreaker and baseball cap with his family and Paul Ianuario of BMW Mobile Tradition with the blue umbrella... you can see Matt looking on from the far left with his Siena Red Z3 in the line up. I can't wait to see this year's Homecoming Panoramic Photo, I am standing with Tim UK, (Irene is out shopping) and JonT behind Brent and Connie's white Z3, beside Anders Warming and the rest of the BMW Manufacturing leadership in the rain with that big Z3 Grin across all our faces. I never made it inside the Zentrum, but Jon shows here that the photos from Z3 owners from last year are still up, but look here, a Boston Green Z3 in the picture. Gosh, it was so nice to see that color I adore everywhere! Here's Joe Marko of HMS Motorsport, another Z3 owner/vendor installing JonT's roof liner. Hmmm, I think I want one of those.... I was already home in NYC by then, the Empire State Building and the Metropolitan Life building lit up in Red White and Blue for Labor Day. JonT was at the plant until after dark last night, maybe the last car to leave, saying goodbye to the Red White and Blue X5 at the door. Until we meet again next year. Welcome welcome to the new Z4 (site coming to iZ4.org, I promise), I hope it is as wonderful for everyone and especially for my friends at the BMW Plant as the Z3. Oh and I am not about to say "Auf Wiedersehen Z3". Fugetaboutit. Thank you BMW for another great year of Z3s and Z3ing, and thank you to all my friends for making the last five years some of the best ever. Here's to the next five!

since September 1, 2002

1 HC 2002 Part 1 Thanksgiving~~ Part 2 Air Bag Light Reset~~ Part 3 Throttle Position Sensor and Leaves~~ Part 4 Filthy Cold Air Intake Filter~~ Part 5 K&N Filter and HFM~~ Part 6 Throttle Bodies~~ Part 7 Filter to Manifold, Superchargers~~ Part 8 Contact Points, Hood Stops, Spark Plugs, Coolant Leak~~ Part 9 Reinstalling CAI & Wheel~~ Part 10 Happiness is a Clean Engine~~ Part 11 Decorating Storage, Radio Anti Theft, Zpack~~ Part 12 Ski Harlem, 50,000 miles~~

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