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For the third straight year, Z3s gathered from all directions for some Fixin Fun, to make new friends and to collect goods for those less fortunate. Everyone contributed to make it the best it could be, and it was the best Fixit Day ever. I don't exactly know why but this year every single person had a great time. The techs, the staff, the vendors (-OK John from Colors on Parade wanted to shoot himself but that's another story-) and all the Fixers just seemed to walk around with a wide grin on their faces. I dunno. I was the first one in, I was on my way to the table for a sandwich, I turned around- and it was all over! It's a good thing that Matt IHZP (Indy) and JonT and Dave Blue Highways and so many Fixers wrote for these pages, so here is what they said about the day. THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR CONTRIBUTING TO A GREAT DAY! Pics were contributed by Fixers: Dave and Dee, (Austin and Felicity from 10 minutes from now), Dave Blue Highways, ZBud (TUXZDO), Camille the Dragon Slayer, Aloha Frank, JonT, Lisa #1, Mario, Matt , Than Z3HatZ and Rachel, Esmerelda's Mom Please write me if there are pics or text you want to use and I will put you in touch with the author- everything on these pages is copyrighted to their authors. You must also link back to the page it came from if you use anything from this site. Thank you! You can tell whose pic it is if you can see the directory they are in, and I am trying to color code credits. It is the generous contributions of these people, the Fixers and the people at Daniels BMW, Rigalis Repair (Interiors), Colors On Parade (Paint), Automotive Dent Specialists, Zaino Brothers Show Car Polish, LeatherZ, Carlos Silva Car Detail, HMS Motorsport, Becker/Harmon Kardon Traffic Pro, and BMW of North America who come out on a Saturday and make it all possible and the Third Street Alliance Women and Children's Shelter for being there for the people who need them. Thank you! OK, back to the story... Matt IHZP Indiana Jones (Matt) and the Raiders of the Lost Time ~10:30am~ Friday, Littleton, Massachusettes Whoever said getting there was half the fun? It may be half the fun, but it's all the pain. Daniels BMW is about a 6 or 7 hour ride for me from Massachusetts, and the pain started very early. Everything hinged on getting up early. I hit the snooze button a couple times, I'll admit, and well, getting up early went out the window fairly quick. I don't have a good feeling about this. Friday morning I hurredly put on my new windscreen from HMS Motorsport, packed my bags and rushed out. By the time I got to work it was 10:30. The trap has been sprung, and I can see trouble heading straight for me. I felt like Indiana Jones looking up at the boulder coming at him in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and realizing... "Oh man, this is NOT good..." Dave Blue Highways Maryland 170 miles! Each Way! What was I thinking when I signed on as a participant in Fixit Day? Pushing my doubts aside, I continued to pilot my '99 Estoril Blue M Roadster from my home in Maryland to Allentown, PA. For the next three hours I intended to enjoy this cruise and to listen to the deep throaty rumble of my Dinan exhausts. Although the sky was a mournful shade of gray and the temperature was hovering in the 50's, I was determined to keep the top down. So what do you do with a car that is kept in perfect running condition and is already crammed with extra goodies? There was the full Dinan engine performance package, custom floor mats with "Blue Highways' embroidered in, chrome accessories from LeatherZ, a Dynamic Racing pedal set, a matching speedster cover from Bavarian AutoSports, an acrylic windblocker from Top Down and, - well you get the picture - lots and lots of toys. The mad dash at work begins to get as much accomplished as possible. Wouldn't you know, a deadline is handed down. I basically have to finish a lot of stuff before I can leave. ~7:06pm~ Friday, Littleton, Massachusettes To make a long story short, 7:06pm strikes on my watch, and I realize I can wait no longer. Quickly, I print out directions to Daniels and the hotel and prepare to leave. Golden idol...I mean...R/C car... in hand, I run out the door. The mad dash turns into a running panic since I know it's going to be pretty late before I get into Allentown now. Dodging the natives...I mean ... co-workers... I hurredly jump in the Z and make my escape. ~7:20pm~ Friday, Littleton, Massachusettes My only hope now is that I can make up some time on the road, if the traffic Gods smile on me. It's now 7:20pm. It's gunna be a long night, Indy. All too quickly, I reached Allentown. The concierge pointed out that there was special parking, an entire section of the parking lot lay cordoned off awaiting the influx of all that beautiful BMW machinery. Lisa #1 
Jon T writes: After Friday night dinner, a couple of us went outside to go check on our babies and take photos, naturally ;-)
~12:00am~Saturday, New York City Our intrepid adventurer is about to make the mistake of the trip, and receive a valuable education in web-based directions. The trip starts out perfectly fine; I make decent time for the most part, reaching NYC about 12:00am. Why am I going to NYC, you may ask? Well, the directions I got from both Yahoo! Maps and switchboard.com both sent me over the George Washington Bridge. I hit a slowdown near the Bruckner Expressway. "No problem," I figure. "I have to expect that I may hit a slowdown, though this is going to really put me behind." I had no idea. It turns out that the entire upper deck, and all but one lane of the lower deck was closed off due to construction. I suppose the ensuing traffic jam needs no description. Now here is where Traffic Pro, or a similar GPS system, would have helped me immensely. According to Rachel, it would have routed me around such traffic jams. If it did not, I still would have had the option of at least getting off and taking some local roads to get past the traffic jam. Having only my paper directions with me, there was no way I was going to deviate from them. NYC is not a place I want to get lost in during the wee hours of the morning. Who knows where I'd end up? It is a pretty big place, after all. Looks like Indy's cargo boat broke down in the middle of the Atlantic. At least he had Marion to keep him company. All I have is my driving CD's, and any radio stations I might tune in. As you can imagine, the CD's wore themselves out pretty quickly. ~ 2:40am~ Saturday, New York City (or thereabouts) I finally get through the construction on Jerome Ave. and get onto the bridge. Cue Indy theme... Crossing into New Jersey, I notice on the directions that I passed the exit number I needed for Daniels, or so I thought. Turns out after backtracking a couple of times to find the proper exit number, the reason I was totally confused was because I had a mental lapse and forgot I was still in NJ and not PA. I was on the correct road, looking for the correct exit number, in the wrong state. Why didn't this click in my head? I shouldn't be driving this late. ~ 4:20 am~ Saturday, Allentown, PA I arrived at the Comfort Suites, and look for the other Z3s. They're in a cordoned off lot with a "BMW Z3 Parking Only" sign. At 4:20am Indy doesn't have the energy to go get out and move the cones or the line to get into the lot, so the Z takes a front row space in the hotel lot. Checking in, I get up to my room, and realize it's 4:30am, and I have about 3 hours before I have to get up for fixit day. I set the alarm and pretty quickly fall asleep. Jon T 
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 Z3 Fixit Day 2002 Table of Contents |
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 Esmerelda's Page Z3ers.com |