Ultimate BMW Show, Santa Pod. 23rd September 2007

Santa Pod is the spiritual home of drag racing in the UK, but it’s also proving to be a popular venue for other car events, hosting brands such as Volkswagen, Mini and now BMW. The Ultimate BMW Show is a great blend of timed runs up the quartermile strip, a drift show, slalom test, a Show and Shine display, plus an excellent array of BMWs displayed by forum and club members. You couldn’t move for E30 and E36 3-Series, but there was still a healthy representation of 5- and 7-Series thanks to stands from their respective registers.

The Show and Shine was sponsored by Total BMW and it was encouraging to see such a broad church of BMWs, from a stock 18-year-old 735i to a monster of a modified E36 3-Series coupe.

Away from the motoring action, there were also performances from the Renegade Dancers and an intriguing pole dancing show throughout the weekend – we were there purely for research purposes, you understand.

The organisers say the gate was up on last year, which is good to hear, as it’s definitely an event worth putting on your calendar. It’s a nice mix of fast machinery, standard and modified, old and not so old. Check out www. santapod.com for more info on this and other events, plus see our drift show video (on the right) from the event.

A brave conversion indeed – Alex Jones’ E36 coupe with modified E46 front end, and E60 5-Series tail lights. Seidl Tuning detailing all round, including carbon custom exhaust.	Z3s are springing up more and more at shows like this, showing a healthy appetite for standard cars to modify and wonderful Z3M coupes like this, owned by Chris Georgiou from Sutton. Despite its five-year vintage, it’s got just 7000 miles on the clock. Chris has owned it for three months, bought from a friend of his father who owns a BMW bodyshop. Having owned two E30s and an E36 320 before this, Chris is definitely smitten with his latest steed; there are plans to modify it with a supercharger conversion, while AC Schnitzer front splitter and rear spoiler are in the garage awaiting fitment
A super-rare C1 Alpina, based on the E21 shape. It’s a 1978 car, with very little changed since it was delivered new. It’s owned along with other E21s by Ivan Reed from Hemel Hempsted.	The E34 in shot runs on nitrous and is a seasoned drag strip contender, owned by Colin Hedger from Egham in Surrey. The E39 M5 belongs to a customer of Colin’s (he’s a mechanic by trade).