Thanks for letting me in!

Paul Wegweiser

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Greetings to all you 3.0 Folks! It feels good to be back!


I’ve been away from the fold for about 15 years, but I am once again working with Maximillian Importing Company in offering parts for the E9 and E3 group! What follows will be long and perhaps boring, but I’d like to give you all a little background. I am not just another sales bot.

I worked for Max way back in 1989, and again for over a decade in the 1990s and early 2000s. Things have changed a great deal since I’ve been away, and I’m shocked and saddened at all the NLA parts I’ve encountered over the last few weeks at this new / old career gig. I can still recite the part numbers for upper armrest chrome caps and outer rocker decor panels from memory. Those vertical window and door seals? Yup. Those too. From memory. From 1989!


A little background and history: I have been raised with BMWs (mostly 2002s and E9s) since my folks brought a little orange car home in 1972, and I’ve been owning and working on them since 1985. My 84 year old father still owns the 72 3.0CSi he bought back in 1986 and he even ran the old analog CS Registry for a few years. His rants and opinions are the stuff of both legend and frustration for many coupe owners of that period. I’ll take this opportunity to a) apologize and b) take pride in my old man’s crazy gumption. *laughing*


My goal here is to find out what kind of high demand parts you all need and to offer you competitive prices on parts we are able to supply.


I do not currently have any magic wand at my disposal to source those hundreds of NLA parts you all desperately require, but we have a plan underway to reproduce some hard to find parts that are not yet offered through other vendors, elsewhere. Especially those here in the USA.


I also will offer technical assistance when possible here on this forum and through the magic of the internet ether. I’ve worked as a master technician in high end, full-tilt restoration shops performing exhaustive restorations on significant automobiles over the years. Although I’ve built a few million dollar cars, classic BMWs will always be my focus and where my expertise lies. “Attainable” cars are much more fun anyway!


Ever driven a $1 million dollar 300SL Gullwing? A 3.0CS makes one of those feel like a tractor mated with a hot water tank, instead of a vehicle meant for everyday beauty and enjoyment. Cars should be DRIVEN!


Max has hired my sales and consulting skills to improve and streamline the overall customer experience. So many things have changed and we’re changing with them. I now monitor each and every order that passes through the company, when it involves classic parts for the older cars. Some of you I have known for two or three decades, others I have never met. I hope to be a valuable resource to the community in offering both technical knowledge, and competitive pricing on parts. I put my heart in to what I do, and I have a 30 year reputation to maintain. I value that more than anything else on this Earth, but I know it takes constant effort.


Later today, or perhaps over the weekend, I’ll be posting some sale prices on items many of you need. Stay tuned!



And thanks again for having me!


Paul Wegweiser

Lead Classic Specialist

Maximillian Importing Co

[email protected]
 

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m5bb

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Here goes....... Paul is a wonderful person and a personal friend. We've had a lot of laughs and even though I knew who Paul was at the meet called The Vintage in NC. I didn't really know him well.
So one night at the host hotel in Winston Salem it's getting late and I'm walking the parking lot looking at cars and seeing how the drinking crowd is holding up ( and hopefully not sitting on my M5)
Paul is leaning over the hood of a 2002 with tools all around and on the ground. There is another guy working on something on the engine and being the engine builder and gear head that I am I walk up to see what is taking place. I look and can tell immediately that the cylinder head is coming off. I say hi in a nice tone and ask what happened............ whoa the guy raises up and looks at me and tells me to get the f out of there. Gee I thought I might offer some assistance, guess not. I looked at Paul and we both shrugged our shoulders and I walked off.
We have laughed about that for years now.
Just one of those funny little things you remember and when you make eye contact you have a big sh*^ eating grin on your face.
Paul has just made it through a year of cancer and survived. We all kept up with him and helped when we could and he is here with new eye brows to help us out.
I won't go into great depth but we have all had our mysteries about Maxmillian?
Why did they say they were Mobile Tradition and what did it mean?
I don't have those answers exactly but I see a company trying to get back into the fold and help us all out and as you all know finding parts folks that don't ask for a VIN number is special.
So give him a try or ask him a question and see if he can help you out. Lord knows BMW is sure not helping us.
Glad you showed up Paul, kinda of thought you would after our previous conversations.

Gary Beck
 

HB Chris

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Didn’t Maximilian use Mobile Tradition before BMW did? That is what I always thought. Anyway, BMW is now BMW Classic and we get the same old story, sorry, parts coming soon and they seldom do.
 

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Didn’t Maximilian use Mobile Tradition before BMW did? That is what I always thought. Anyway, BMW is now BMW Classic and we get the same old story, sorry, parts coming soon and they seldom do.
When I was first admitted to the asylum, when dinosaurs named Art Wegweiser roamed the earth, Max was the go to source. I believe, and pleazzze correct me if I am wrong, when Paul left things changed. It took three tries for them to ship me a dozen of the correct screws. Now he is back with his encyclopedia-like knowledge of our cars. And I will give him a try the very next time I need a part.

I could go on for half a dozen screens about Art. But I will spare you.

Steve
 

Paul Wegweiser

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Ahhh Gary... I believe you are mixing up and confusing at least two separate events. The car owner that snapped at you used a phrase like "I think we have it under control, so please just give us some room"...but indeed - he did it in a tone that I thought was worthy of an apology. The car was a real live 1800tiSA, and it was running on only 3 cylinders, while he had an 8 hour drive home, later that morning. He was understandably stressed out, but I didn't think that snapping at you was warranted at all. I recall sending you a private message apologizing for his behavior. I had only just met him that weekend, and he and I have become friends since (6+ years ago). Turned out a choke had rotated inside one of the Weber DCOEs and was inhibiting fuel flow from the accelerator pump jet. Not only did I get his car running properly...I got to DRIVE it! A REAL LIVE FACTORY tiSA! I can now check that one off my bucket list.

The head removal event was actually performed on my own car. I had a distributor get wonky during the drive from Pittsburgh PA to North Carolina, and while driving to dinner that night, lost the head gasket between cylinders 2 and 3. We limped the car back to the hotel parking lot, ate dinner, and then proceeded to replace the gasket (on my tii) in 93 minutes flat. We had folks holding flashlights, handing us towels, and one savior managed to show up with the correct head gasket from a local repair shop, in the nick of time. No head resurfacing, and performed under the worst circumstances, that head gasket held for another 4 years, until I rebuilt the bottom end of the motor in 2015/2016. My partner in crime for that event: Ben Thongsai. There's no other BMW tech I'd want next to me during a hootenanny like that!

Thank you ALL for the vote of confidence. The name "Mobile Tradition" was indeed the former corporate identity of what is now "BMW Classic". When they were still MT, Maximillian gained license to use the name in his advertising and internet identity. There's no bait and switch here. It's just a fact. Max has spent over 30 years forming relationships with BMW in Germany as well as in the states. It consumes a great deal of his time, and I'm here to ensure the consumer side of the business receives the same attention to detail. BMW is a huge corporation. Getting them to even acknowledge that a part is NLA or made incorrectly, or is worth reproducing is a task of MASSIVE proportion and one that moves at a GLACIAL pace. We're lucky they have any parts at ALL for some of our cars. Yes, the prices are often absurd and based on some soul-less algorithm... but we're doing the best we can. Things are changing, and I am personally monitoring each and every e mail and order that passes through the company, in order to improve the overall customer experience.

Paul Wegweiser
Lead Classic Specialist
Maximillian Importing Co
[email protected]
 

m5bb

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Ahhh Gary... I believe you are mixing up and confusing at least two separate events. The car owner that snapped at you used a phrase like "I think we have it under control, so please just give us some room"...but indeed - he did it in a tone that I thought was worthy of an apology. The car was a real live 1800tiSA, and it was running on only 3 cylinders, while he had an 8 hour drive home, later that morning. He was understandably stressed out, but I didn't think that snapping at you was warranted at all. I recall sending you a private message apologizing for his behavior. I had only just met him that weekend, and he and I have become friends since (6+ years ago). Turned out a choke had rotated inside one of the Weber DCOEs and was inhibiting fuel flow from the accelerator pump jet. Not only did I get his car running properly...I got to DRIVE it! A REAL LIVE FACTORY tiSA! I can now check that one off my bucket list.

The head removal event was actually performed on my own car. I had a distributor get wonky during the drive from Pittsburgh PA to North Carolina, and while driving to dinner that night, lost the head gasket between cylinders 2 and 3. We limped the car back to the hotel parking lot, ate dinner, and then proceeded to replace the gasket (on my tii) in 93 minutes flat. We had folks holding flashlights, handing us towels, and one savior managed to show up with the correct head gasket from a local repair shop, in the nick of time. No head resurfacing, and performed under the worst circumstances, that head gasket held for another 4 years, until I rebuilt the bottom end of the motor in 2015/2016. My partner in crime for that event: Ben Thongsai. There's no other BMW tech I'd want next to me during a hootenanny like that!

Thank you ALL for the vote of confidence. The name "Mobile Tradition" was indeed the former corporate identity of what is now "BMW Classic". When they were still MT, Maximillian gained license to use the name in his advertising and internet identity. There's no bait and switch here. It's just a fact. Max has spent over 30 years forming relationships with BMW in Germany as well as in the states. It consumes a great deal of his time, and I'm here to ensure the consumer side of the business receives the same attention to detail. BMW is a huge corporation. Getting them to even acknowledge that a part is NLA or made incorrectly, or is worth reproducing is a task of MASSIVE proportion and one that moves at a GLACIAL pace. We're lucky they have any parts at ALL for some of our cars. Yes, the prices are often absurd and based on some soul-less algorithm... but we're doing the best we can. Things are changing, and I am personally monitoring each and every e mail and order that passes through the company, in order to improve the overall customer experience.

Paul Wegweiser
Lead Classic Specialist
Maximillian Importing Co
[email protected]


We'll I am 70 and when you've been to as many of these events as I have the facts get a little mixed up. I have attended every Vintage except the first. Word wasn't our yet.
See you this year Paul. Already registered with two cars. The coupe for it's first outing in 3 years and of course the trusty E28 M5 with black interior. 1 of 30.
I hope my son and wife will drive the M5 or I will be looking for volunteers. But I still laugh at the grouchy 1800 owner.
 
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