A low growl disturbs the silence of the early morning mountain pass, a leaf quivers. The rumble accelerates into a throaty roar and birds take flight. Suddenly, the leader rounds the bend and there it is, in all its steel and carbon glory, the hunting pack.
Well, that’s more or less what it feels like to witness a convoy of two dozen performance BMWs out on a Sunday morning breakfast run. Pardon the artistic license.
Bobby Nitro spoke to Rayaan Jacobs, part of the collective that put together the breakfast run.
Rayaan, owner of a Yas Marina blue M4 F8 says of his choice of performance Beemer: “It’s the raw, untamed yet responsiveness of the car that attracts me.
“I bought it about four months ago after previously buying and selling quite a range of BMWs.”
By his reckoning, he has graduated to BMW, saying: “I was into Hondas back then, but you grow, up you know. I have been a fan since school days, seeing my dad and his BMWs. It is a family car, but also an enthusiast’s car.”
The collection met in Surrey Estate, convoyed to the N1 at Winelands, then headed through to Franschhoek for breakfast, over the pass and then home.
Asked what other BMW he admired, Rayaan mentions the old school 535i as being “very sought after”.
The owner of this 1986 M car, Ghaleeb Theys, adds: “It’s certainly a collector’s item, as far as I know there are only four in Cape Town, of which three are running.”
When asked what he liked most about it, Ghaleeb says: “It’s a real driver’s car, with no real driver’s aids. Without these fancy things, you can really feel the road through the wheel, which for me is the thrill.”
Ghaleeb, now that he’s found his car, adds: “I’ve wanted one through the years, have bought and sold the[m] before, but this one is finder’s keepers.”
Mustapha Singh, who you’ve seen on these pages before with his BMW bike, brought his M4 competition pack to the run.
The pack upgrades the standard (if you can even call it that) M4 with racing seats, a bit more power, different wheels and sturdier suspension. Just right for racing.
Mustapha says: “We tried to get all the Yas Marina Blue Beemers out, and I think we had four. It was great to be out and about with like-minded people, talking mods.”
Bobby asked him what advice he would give to anyone starting out on a BMW-owning journey, and he says: “When it comes to the performance of BMW, respect the car, it is unforgiving and definitely not a joke.”
The performance BMW is on the dream list of so many Cape petrolkoppe, because the M range has such a long history, and specialist engineers maintained “high standards”.