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It was the Monday after HybridFest 2006 around 10 in the morning on I44 about 150 miles east of St Louis - sunny day. I saw an unusual pink sports car....then again and again - all pink. Turns out that about fifteen BMWs were donated to the Susan G. Komen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_G._Komen) foundation for Breast Cancer. Believe it was founded in Dallas where I live. It looked like the entire line of BMWs were in this processional - all of the with New Jersey licence plates. Sure enough, BMW is a corporate sponsor (http://www.komen.org/intradoc-cgi/idc_cgi_isapi.dll?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=992) of Susan G Komen

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/DSC04377.jpg

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/DSC04376.jpg

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/DSC04378.jpg

Those guys nearly ran me off the road about a year ago. I caught a glimpse of a pink-tinged fleet of objects in my rear view mirror which turned out to be these "Driven to Find a Cure" bimmers weaving through very heavy Hartford traffic and splitting lanes at 90-100mph. I can think of few better causes than cancer research, but that experience pretty much killed their image for me. I hope for everyone's sake that they've adopted a more sane manner of getting from A to B.

Ive seen them in Tulsa.

wow lets spend some of the reasearch money on luxury cars....

such horse radish image is everything and in my eyes these people are a sad joke.

I would have to say that the convoy of BMW vehicles mentioned at the beginning of this thread was pretty well-behaved, since they were passed by an Insight :)

http://fastxtc.homeip.net/misc/deltaflyer.jpg

He was getting a traffic side draft ;)

He was probably just trying to get out of the way of those maniacs! :)

Hi FastXTC:

___I’ll be! Your first post and it includes a pic of Chuck in his “Silver Beauty” cruising down the road! Where did you take the pic anyway as it sure is a nice one? Was that on I44 down south of St. Louis too?

___Good Luck and welcome aboard at the same time!

___Wayne

I would have to say that the convoy of BMW vehicles mentioned at the beginning of this thread was pretty well-behaved, since they were passed by an Insight :)

http://fastxtc.homeip.net/misc/deltaflyer.jpg

Great shot!

Also, my apologies for taking forever to respond - no excuse on my part. :o

I think my speed was 65-70mph (even 75mph) at that time.

It was on I44 about halfway between St Louis and the Oklahoma state line.

This picture shows the BMW caravan best....

A friend forwarded the address for this thread and was excited that I see the pictures. To be honest I was a bit hurt by the responses of a few. I ask that you please take the time to read this and possibly check out the address below before you finalize your opinions. I just want to offer some facts in hopes of changing some opinions here.

1) The Susan G. Koman foundation manages these events not BMW. The Susan G Koman foundation appoints a representative for each city to over see the event. With that comes the responsibility of finding drivers to transport the cars to the next dealer in their region. If you see a convoy of these cars being driven irresponsibly that means the representative is not doing their job correctly. They have chosen the wrong type of people to put behind the wheel and they do not have a handle on the group.
For the last three years I have donated my time to work at Susan G Koman events. I am not a representative of the foundation. One thing I do for them is to work with their St Louis representatives to select drivers to transport the cars in this region. I am a coach for Teen Street Survival School and I instruct at local adult driver schools. So I am very careful with whom I select for this task. I don't usually drive the cars myself but I am present to oversee that everyone is taken car of and that they behave. On his particular drive from St. Louis to Springfield I was not in attendance. But I know who was in charge and have complete faith that she would have informed me if any of the drivers were not responsible.
If you see a line of these cars anywhere in the USA being driven in an unsafe manner I ask that you please bring this up to the Susan G Koman foundation and possibly to BMW North America. I know this type of behavior is not what they have in mind.
Brick I agree with you that finding a cure for cancer is a worthy cause and that is why I donate my time. Please know that if you saw a group misbehaving it was the cause of one irresponsible region and not the foundation or BMW

2) "wow lets spend some of the research money on luxury cars....
such horse radish image is everything and in my eyes these people are a sad joke."
Wow is a good word for this statement as I'm amazed.
The foundation does not spend any money on these cars. BMW North America donates the cars to the foundation. Then for every mile driven during a test drive and during the transport drive, BMW of North America, Inc. contributes $1 to the Komen Foundation on behalf of the driver. So far in the past nine years BMW has donated over $9 million dollars. And they have pledged a 2006 guaranteed donation of $1 million. The cars are offered to the public to drive in a manner that does not allow the dealers to use this opportunity for a sales tool.
Philmcneal I hope the information I have presented at least changes your opinion enough to see that the foundation and BMW have honest intentions.

As I said I am not a representative for the foundation, I am a husband and father who decided a few years back to get involved with this cause. And I am proud of participating in any of the Susan G Koman events. I ask you to please go to the site below and read about the foundation, the drive for a cure... before you paint a broad stroke opinion about an entire organization.

http://www.komen.org/intradoc-cgi/idc_cgi_isapi.dll?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=298


Thank you for reading my response,
John Hoffner

JOHNHOF,

My intention was to make this a positive thread. I thought it portrayed BMW in a positive light. The drivers were cruising at about 65mph - within the stated speed limit.

Once a thread is started, it can go in many directions. I am still amazed about the directions topics can go in.

I want to stress my high regard for the Susan G. Komen foundation. It turns out the late Pricess Diana was going to Dallas in the fall of 1998 to help Susan G Komen, but of course she did not live long enough to do it. :(

Delta Flyer,
Thank you for the response and I took your post as a positive one. Your correct discussions on threads, email... of this nature can easily get taken out of context. I was really moved to help out after I attended a run for the cure with my daughter. Man it was very informative to see all the people there with pledges in honor of a lost one. I started seeing so many men my age with kids in tow and you could see they were there because they lost there wife. I just felt lucky to have my wife and daughter and decided to get off my butt and do something. It kind of hurt to see some of the things written here when I know the authors didn't have all the facts.
Thanks,
John Hoffner

If you want a different opinion, there is no place like the net. ;)

I have many times spoken and received replies of things overlooked - I'm sure that's what happened....

Hi John:

___Welcome to CleanMPG as we offer a rather unique aspect (sport as I see it) to the driving adventure known either as your daily grind (Commute), just driving to the store and back, or even while headed out on vacation with the family so as to limit emissions of both the SMOG and GHG type all the while saving fuel if in fact we are going to turn the key.

___I hope you did not come away as seeing the Susan G. Koman foundation being portrayed in a negative light in this thread. I did not see this coming from Chuck. He likes to take pics of interesting things while going down the road and this one piqued’ his interest as it would have mine. As Chuck alluded too, they were all in the right hand lane and they all appear to be driving very conservatively as they should be when promoting for the greater good. I applaud this more then any other in fact!

___My youngest son was diagnosed with ALL and is now 5.5 years beyond diagnosis and survived. We support more then our fair share of Cancer fighting charities as well as “Make a Wish”. I will pass on to you that GM put up the $’s to 5 “Make a Wish” hopefuls - recipients as they were all giving their speeches on a well known radio station/show early one morning in Chicago 5 + years ago. It immediately brought me to tears because my son was one of those recipients and his mom and I were standing right there next to him.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/ScottBirthdayG1.jpg
Scotty's First post diagnosis B-Day - Hair is disappearing and he is bloated from the Cancer fighting drugs in his system

___Although BMW is doing the right thing by supporting the Susan G. Komen foundation for the greater good, I wish there donations in terms of automobiles were all 3 series and BMW would join the rest of the world and get with the program by offering a Fuel Saving automobile technology. The 3 series are all stuck with V6’s today and it only gets worse as you move up the ladder. Although the 3 series V6’s are decent enough for a 6, BMW is not helping the US end its addiction. Now that UREA is being allowed by the EPA as a NOx fighter for diesels, we might see some of BMW’s mighty Diesel’s over here and see their own FE shoot through the roof. Throw in the DualMode hybrid drivetrain they have had their hands into with MB and GM for a longest time and they might come out in a much brighter light. A cleansing of the soul if I were allowed to speak bluntly. Nothing against the Susan G. Komen in the least but BMW has some rather large issues when it comes to some of my interests :(

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Wayne,

I'm glad your youngest son is considered "cured" (survived past five years with an excellent prongosis). Been fortunate not to have family members afflicted with cancer.

Everyone that is able to donate blood might consider doing something different than the whole blood. Platet donation takes about three hours, including the paperwork, but it is the equivalent to 8-12 pints of whole blood. It's for leukemia patients among others. Need to make sure your are hydrated the day of donation. If you are not sure you can donate, check this out to get an idea (http://www.carterbloodcare.org/wsf/eligibility.asp).

Blood centers no longer give money to donors, but offer other benefits. One is you accumulate credits to whom you wish when they need blood. A few months ago, someone at work had a daughter that had a close brush with death. In 18 hours she went from 16 and perfectly healthy to a red blood cell count of 55% and in the ICU. Took about three weeks to get out of the woods, doctors not for sure if it was lupus or what. I had donor credits, plus our workplace had it's 1st blood drive in about seven years. In addition to knowing this is life-saving and can defer the costs of blood transfusion, the blood center lets you know your total cholestrol cound three days afterwards. The reason I started working out is over a couple of years ago, my blood pressure was 160/100 - too high.

Wayne,
I am sorry to hear your son and family have gone through these times. And I am glad to hear your son is doing so good.

Hi John:

___Thank you for the reply and if you saw him today, you would be amazed. Just the sweetest 14 year old in the world. And growing fast as he just passed his older brother in height a few months ago!

___God gave us a second gift with his cure (the first being his birth) and I for one am most grateful …

___Good Luck and thank you.

___Wayne

Hi Chuck:

___We saw one of the Susan G. Koman BMW 330’s at the 2007 NAIAS.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/551/Susan_G_Komen_BMW_Details.jpg

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/551/Susan_G_Komen_BMW_330_Rear.jpghttp://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/551/Susan_G_Komen_BMW_330_Front.jpg

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Trying to jog my memory, this beamer seems to have had more pink than the ones on I44 in Missouri. Don't some of the Accords have a similar rear look?

I've figured that being heart-healthy prevents most major aliments - regular checkups for cancer takes care of the rest, knock on wood.