Last night during the O'fest 2012 Awards Banquet, a very strong thunderstorm swept over the Columbus, OH Polaris Hilton Hotel at about 10:15 PM local time. While we all heard the thunder and the lights flickered a bit, we did not realize what had happened until people started looking out into the rear lot where most of the Bimmers were parked. A fairly large event tent, which had been used to display cars earlier in the week had been picked up by the storm winds and draped in a jumble of canvas and poles across some of the most valuable cars in the lot. Damaged were: A brand new 2012 3-series which appeared to take the hardest hit. The sunroof was shattered and the interior no doubt soaked in the drenching rain. The roof and the front fender were hit hard enough to distort the roof, popping the sunroof glass and bowing the back of the hood up at least a foot. I would not be surprised if this one is declared totalled. A pretty black e36 M3 which suffered a lot of shattered trim and body damage along with shattered drivers side glass and rain into the interior. This one was the toughest of all: the just restored tan E9 coupe which had literally just won the people's choice in the concours. This car was still under the tent debris when I left this morning. It appeared to have damage to the RF fender and trim. I hope the glass and interior were OK. This is the former Michael Izor E9 and can rightly be considered a BMW CCA national treasure. Hoping someone can confirm that the damage was "superficial" and the car is OK. A beautiful red e30 M3. Apparently a nearly flawless car. Could not tell how much damage as it was mostly still under the tent debris. Another heartbreaker: a 1986 M6. Another concours winner. Dented hood, LF fender, LR quarter panel and trim damage. Here is a photo I happened to take of the lot showing the cars before the tent went flying. In the nearest row of cars, you can see a green e30 convertable with the damaged M6 to its left. Just across in the next row, but in front of the red M6 is the tan e9, with the Red e30 M3 next to it in front of the green e30 convert. The 2012 3-series is between the tan e9 and the tent, the edge of which is seen in its proper position before it was blown over. The black e36 M3 later parked in the spot between the f30 and the e9. Thankfully no one was hurt, but this was a very sad morning for all in attendance. Hopefully the irreplaceable treasures can be repaired and the severely hurt f30 is readily replaceable.
Based on the layout of the lot & the options for "ding free" parking, I doubt anyone expected to find their cars damaged in the morning. My "B" would have sat next to the tent, most likely to be squashed like a bug. Sad Story, however I'd have to think hard to decide what hurts more, a broken arm, or a broken classic...
This was the worst multiple-cars-only disaster I've seen at any O'Fest I've attended; at least the timing meant we were all inside and nobody was subject to getting hurt - a real shame though, every car damaged was pristine, or beyond.
yeah, unfortunately I also had a view from my room. So Sad for our fellows. We had to lift it off the cars as the owners drove them out from underneath.
Everyone so far has missed that Richard & Toni Rusnak's silver '87 M3, parked closest to the tent, was also damaged. The right door was hit hard, shattering the window and allowing the rain in. It was the first car moved to cover under the car wash tents on the east side of the hotel. The Shirk/Izor E9 can and will be repaired. The door and fender were moderately damaged. There is a photo of Lonnie and Michael hamming it up by the car with crocodile tears the next morning.
That sucks too - they had moved it before I had gotten outside so I didn't see it. I must have caught the post-immediate aftermath, instead of the immediate aftermath.
It was a sad end to a fun week, but fortunately no one was injured. Saturday morning a group of club members, probably well over a dozen of us, pitched in to hold up the mangled aluminum structure and remains of the tent, supporting it, as one car was pushed out from under the mess and two others were started and backed out. The 2800CS had a badly damaged door and front fender along with some trim and hood damage. It drove home. The Henna E30 M3 had a big dent in the quarter panel and likely some cowl and hood damage. It drove home. The M6 had dents in several body panels but appeared driveable. The 2012 328i was hauled off by roadside assistance. The E36 M3 had substantial window and likely water damage and numerous dents - probably not driveable. I don't know if the badly damaged Salmon M3 was driveable. The tent was anchored by large barrels full of water. The trouble is the cable attachments to those barrels ripped loose. I saw 30 mph gusts listed on the weather web site but that should not have been enough to lift the tent across the parking lot.
I had the 1997 Black E36 M3 that was damaged in the tent incident We were able to tape the drivers side window shut with clear plastic and after removing shattered glass with the hotel shopvac, we drove it back to Michigan on Saturday. Aside from all the cosmetic damage done by the tent, the car was mehanically fine and I was very sad to let it go when my insurance company said that the damages are too extensive and the vehicle had to be written off. Good news is that they paid out a fair value on the car and I will be picking up my replacement M3 on Oct 20th. Slightly more expensive than the last one but also newer. going from a 97 to a 99 black on black again.
Wow! Sounds like a pretty nice outcome - glad to hear! Bet someone here would like to buy that "totalled" car and make it into a track car...
