Every major brand on the global stage comes with a story as illustrious as the journey it took to where it is today. Brands evolve and go through different stages. Just like people, brands are born, learn to crawl, take baby steps, go through stages of growing pains, and mature. Along the way some brands perish, re-emerge, re-incarnate into something completely new… while some others simply continue to sail through… going from strength to strength.
Here’s an interesting fact behind the brand journey of BMW, the inventors of the now famous tagline “The Ultimate Driving Machine”.
Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) was founded in 1916 in Munich, the capital of Bavaria. BMW’s famous logo made its first appearance on a 1929 Dixi. A remarkably simple symbol; silver lettering on a circular black band with four equal segments of solid blue and white – an homage to the colors of Bavaria. The origins trace back to World War I, when the Bavarian Luftwaffe flew planes painted in Bavarian colors, affording the pilot a view through his propeller of blue and white segments.
This inspired the stylized design into one of the world’s most recognizable brand logos. The consistency is legendary, with only minor touches over the years. BMW is On-Code with the smart, clean-cut, upscale and sporty image that is portrayed through the precision-engineered cars and motorcycles.
Check out the build quality of the BMW water pump (left) vs. the Meyle water pump (right). The BMW pump on the left is a used part, the meyle is brand new! Beware of the cheap stuff!
10 Questions with the Brother and Sister Team from Bullrun’s 3rd Season Michael Schlee
Excitement is building as the 3rd season of Speed TV’s hit reality show Bullrun is set to return February 18th. The automotive gauntlet is set to excite viewers once again as 12 teams race across America in hopes of claiming the $200 000 grand prize.
Over the past few weeks I have been conducting interviews with several of the competing teams from the 3rd season of Bullrun. This time around I had the pleasure of interviewing Team BMW, the only brother sister team on this year’s rally. Consisting of driver Jason Arias and co driver Kristina Arias, Team BMW entered Bullrun with their BMW 335i.
As one of the youngest teams to enter the rally, it is anyone’s guess how they will fare. We will all have to watch the show to see what happens. Read below to see their answers to the 10 questions.
1. How did you first hear about Bullrun?
-Kristina: I randomly saw it on tv one day and immediately was hooked!
-Jason: We watched season 2 every week! We weren’t lucky enough to know about the show during season 1. After the 2nd season ended we watched every episode of season 1 we could online.
2. What was it like when you received the final call indicating you would be on the Bullrun Reality show?
-Kristina: I was driving and pretty much had to pull the car over because I was so pumped. I swear I had a heart attack.
-Jason: When my sister called me, I didn’t know what the hell she was saying because she was talking so fast. All I heard was “freaking Bullrun!” (laughs)
3. Were you at all apprehensive about bringing such a new vehicle into an automotive challenge like this one?
-Jason: Helllll yeah! It’s our daily driver for god’s sake!! There were some advantages to having a newer car. It should definitely be more reliable than an older car would be. It also has its disadvantages if something were to happen its not necessarily as easy to fix when you have limited tools and technology available to you.
4. Team BMW is Bullrun’s first Brother and Sister Team. What made you two decide to do this together?
-Jason: Pretty much, we’re a badass team
-Kristina: And we knew we’d be amazing.
-Jason: I get sick of people very easy so I couldn’t imagine being in the car for that long with anybody but my sister.
5. Most siblings wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure of Bullrun together. I take it you and your sister are close?
-Jason: Bullrun is intense! I’m not gonna lie. I wanted to throw her out the window more than once!! (Laughs). But yeah we are very close.
-Kristina: Super close. I hate to admit it but I totally idolize him. Great, now his heads gonna get all big. We get along most of the time.
6. The last BMW team to appear on Bullrun was in Season 1. Many BMW enthusiasts wanted to see a better finish. Did you feel the pressure heading into the rally?
-Kristina: I felt the pressure to do well not just because of BMW enthusiasts but in general. I mean who wants to be the lame team.
-Jason: Of course we wanted to make BMW enthusiasts proud. But it’s hard to say what they will think of us and our performance because when you’re at home watching it’s easy to say “I could have done that better.” or “my BMW is more vicious.” All I know is we did our best and let it all hang out!
-Kristina: Its hard to compare us to the other teams from previous seasons because a lot has changed and we had the advantage of watching 2 seasons before. We kinda knew what to expect.
7. When you arrived at the start line for Bullrun Season 3, what went through your head as you saw who and what your competition would be?
-Jason: The first thought in my head was “Am I really on Bullrun!?” It was a lot to take in. We were so lucky!
-Kristina: I still can’t believe we were on Bullrun. We definitely were the least qualified to be there.
-Jason: There were a lot of crazy cars and for a second I thought we might have been in over our heads.
8. You are one of the youngest competitors to ever be on Bullrun; in any season. Heading into the competition, did you feel this could be an advantage or disadvantage?
-Kristina: We’re young and ready to do whatever it takes. Go big or go home! That mentality definitely is an advantage I think.
-Jason: If you think about it, we were at a big disadvantage because between the 2 of us we only have about 8 years of driving experience. The other teams were older and more experienced. And I’m not even talking about track or rally experience; I’m talking about driving period.
9. I have interviewed a few of the teams already that you competed against in Season 3. I keep hearing that this year is going to be colossal. Do you agree?
-Jason: Yeah, each season gets better. The challenges get harder and crazier.
-Kristina: It will rock your world!
10. If given the chance would you do it again?
-Kristina: Definitely. I had so much fun. Living out of a suitcase, going place to place, even if it’s a random town with a total of 3 people, it was totally exciting.
-Jason: Probably the most exciting thing I’ve done in my life. And I would love to do it again.
Catch the 3rd Season of Bullrun on Speed TV Starting February 18th.
Ini adalah tahun kedua BMW akan berlaga di ajang World Superbike. Di bawah pengasuh baru, David Tardozzi, troy Corser dan Ruben Xaus siap berkompetisi dengan tim-tim lainnya.
Print: BMW’s glorification of new car smell and Kitchen Aid’s appeal to OCD foodies, courtesy of Ads of the World.
Video: The new E class forcibly takes its place in the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart (designed by UN Studios). In case you missed the hallowed Super Bowl commercials, they’re all available for viewing here. Not brand new, but Google’s “Search On,” which appeared during the third quarter, was a fave.
I had wanted an E34 5-Series BMW since I saw my first one in high school. While looking for ideas on mods, I found one for sale, and I finally decided to pull the trigger. I contacted the owner, who parked it in his garage until I could get the funds together. After a few weeks, she was mine.
The car was already tastefully modded with Euro trim, Vogtland springs, Euro lights, and AC Schnitzer Type III replica wheels. When I got it, I added Koni sport shocks and Kmac adjustable trailing arm bushings, and replaced the Type III replicas with real ones. I then replaced all the Euro trim as it had been pitted from highway driving. In addition, I resprayed the front and rear bumpers due to chips and scratches. I removed the one piece crappy door panels and replaced them with 95 multipiece panels. I removed the wood trim and sanded, primed, based and cleared them with PPG black, followed by wetsanding and buffing. I did the same thing to the outside pillars as they were flat black from the factory. I then upgraded to aftermarket HIDs but hated them. So I bought a set of Acura TSX projectors and Philips D2S bulbs and went to town cutting the housing apart. I made adjustable brackets and was able to fit the TSX housings neatly behind the BMW glass. The headlight output is incredible now! One of the best mods ever.
Next, I decided the current powerplant had to go. I had previously had a 1995 Nissan S14 (that I did a Silvia conversion on) and then a Volvo 850R wagon, so I knew I wanted a turbo. After some research, I decided to lose the non-VANOS M50 engine and drop in an M52 with VANOS from an E39. I pulled it apart; cleaned and painted the block; honed the cylinder walls; dropped in some S52 cams, ARP head studs, and a thicker head gasket; and had aluminum bungs welded on the oil pan and filter housing for turbo feed and return.
I made an appointment with BMW tuners Turbo Charging Dynamics to do a forced induction install. I gave them a deposit and gave the freight company a deposit to have the car shipped from VA to MI.
And then it happened.
The night before the car was to be sent to TCD, I found one of my other dream cars: a clean 1972 Datsun 510 with a race motor which the then-owner knew nothing about. I used the turbo money to buy the 510, as I had wanted one since I was a kid (my dad had a number of 510s and 240Zs when I was growing up). Unfortunately, I lost quite a bit of money in the deposits to TCD and to the freight company, but after getting the 510, I realized it was well worth it.
I picked up the 510, which was near rust-free and straight, but had lots of minor cosmetic and wiring issues. It also ran like crap. I removed the BRE stripes, the M3 mirror, and the ugliest hood ever. I found a free parts car which I got all kinds of good bits from: hood, driver seat, dash, door panels, mirrors, etc. I even sold the parts car shell for $500 in addition to selling $600 of leftover parts.
I pulled the L20 engine from the car and measured the bore. Turned out the motor was a rare, Robello-built L20 bored and stroked to 2.3L. The car also had an Isky cam, Nissan comp headers, twin Mikuni 44 carburetors with short Mikuni manifold, ITG filter, Crane fireball XR700 ignition, Roadster 5-speed mid-close ratio transmission, Troy Ermish front and rear coilovers (cranked up too high), front and rear sway bars, a Sparco racing seat, and a roll cage. Good mods overall, but poorly executed and some no longer working. So I took it all apart, cleaned, and rebuilt everything. I also painted the engine bay, added full dynamat and a new carpet kit to the interior, and wetsanded and buffed the whole car. Lastly, I went through and cleaned up all the wiring, trying to hide as much of it as I could.
I recently dynoed the car at 128 HP at the rear wheels, but I need smaller pump nozzles in the carbs, and am hoping for 135 RWHP.
The Datsun is currently the top-rated 510 on Cardomain and the second or third-rated of all models and years of Datsuns registered on that site (approximately 3000).
