The Latest From GQ HQ

No no, I’ve not wet the bed – just been waiting for Farage’s odds to tumble but with Starmer doing a worse job then I in the comms department that seems unlikely!

Maybe the UK’s Trump moment is nigh after all… Farage or ChatGPT for PM next?

As many of you know I love a bit of positivity and speaking with so many of you each day, I do pick up the general vibe, with one owner saying to me recently, “I don’t care what Labour throw at me – I will do better!” Yes, that one stuck with me.

While on the subject of speaking with you all, I am definitely seeing an increased level of interest on the investment side of things which carries its pros and cons. Bar the obvious, more demand and less supply of our over engineered golden ears cars, the cons are out weighing it for me.

It used to be, “I bought it ‘cos I love it”. It now seems to be evolving to, “What do I think will go up in value next?” Don’t get me wrong, if you can combine the two it’s a win win but let’s not forget the simple thill of ownership and driving as the P1’s. I mean, most of the classics drive terribly anyway! Take my Louts Carlton for example 🤦🏻‍♂️

On from there we launched a few new internal initiatives early this year, a team project car which is being led by Hayden being the most exciting – look out for more on that via our socials as it comes to life, literally.

More formally, we also all signed a 10-point Pledge to each GQ owner and the service we offer you – an ask us anything approach to you and your car life. Many of you I hope are already experiencing it with all your comings and goings across, Service, Repair, Detailing, Restoration and now Sales of course.

While on the subject of our supporting services, as many of you are waking up post big freeze please don’t hesitate to reach out, from tactical MOT’s to pre Spring/Summer servicing your GQ Crew and I are just a click away.

Moving on to GQ Sales now – this was an exciting part of our growth last year, not necessarily from a financial point of view but more from a trust perspective. Many of you will know that sales wasn’t an area I wanted to move into for ‘salesy’ reasons. But with so many incredible examples coupled with the trust earnt on both sides it has swiftly become an absolute no brainer – why would one go elsewhere when the car is already here with cars changing hands off market over coffee.

So, if any of you are thinking of selling or currently looking for something interesting do reach out – I would love to hear from you and support your adventures this year. In the meantime, here are some of your other fellow GQ owners doing the same.

On the other, much slower side of things is the restoration part of the business – and 14 months later we finally finished the underside restoration of an E34 M5. What an incredible project with even more astonishing results. Read more on that right here.

And if all of that wasn’t enough we even found time to open GQ Braintree! A product of the GQ alumni this ex GQ-er enjoyed his experience with us so much he decided to buy-in via our Area Partnership scheme.

I must also take some time to share my thanks to those of you who recommended us to your friends and family – being on the cold face of calls can be tiring and without getting too deep, slightly lonely at times. However, it struck me at Christmas, I’m not actually alone! You awesome lot have been telling people about us in your droves and now half my calls have an instantly friendly dynamic. So, thank you!

I know you are not doing it for money but in recognition I do wish to share my appreciation by offering up to £1,000 for a successful introduction. Some of you have been using it as discount or as simple service and repair credit for your alloy refurbs or annual service. So, thank you again for all of the kind words you must be using out there – it really isn’t going unnoticed 🙏🏻

With organic growth in mind, for anyone wanting to go one step further in support of us below is a list of the little big things that can really add up – following, liking, sharing, commenting, Google reviewing etc. they all go a long way so here is a page covering all that jargon!

For those of you still reading, I’ll start wrapping up now by sharing my latest listens and late night viewings. Starting with the Chris Harris and friends’ Podcast still remaining a top weekly hit. You’ll be pleased to hear that the watch list is equally cool but much shorter with Supercar Driver’s NA Heros | Class of 2010 and Hegarty’s E36 V8 spot with Mr Catchpole topping the list since we last caught up.

So, with my CS now gone the current take-away car at home is the black rat, again. Seems I too will be keeping an eye on the owners cars for sale ahead of Spring. That is providing Labour, Farage or ChatGPT don’t mess things up!

Here’s to a positive 2026 for each and every one of us - let’s spread it around.

Tim and your GQ Crew.

What's on the ramp?

In the latest instalment of what’s on the ramp we hear from our resident M specialist at GQ’s restoration studio.

BMW are a magnificent company with a long heritage of driver centric cars and for myself the period of the 1970’s 80’s and 90’s were their golden period when the qualities derived from their continuous alignment with motorsport creating a fabulously stylish and innovative brand under the exciting umbrella of M Power.

I’ve owned and still do the last hand built BMW in the form of E34 M5 3.8 covering some 200,000 pleasurable miles never sold because of the way they get under your skin. This particular subject however does not belong to me but is one of the last 50 cars specifically for the ‘Uk only market’ built in Orinoco Green 35no with mint green leather interior or Rosso Red 15no with champagne leather. In line with past special commemoration E34 M5 models of their race drivers (Cecotto and Winkelhoch) it was supposed to have been named The Soper.

So it’s a rare car and one of Garage Queen clients also shares the love of the old school tactile nature and the glorious straight six, it’s a car that demands to be driven to extract the best of it’s performance and handling whereas the next generation E39 M5 had V8 torque in buckets that required less driver focus.

There are particular items that appeared on the 3.8 litre models one in particular being the EDC (electronic damper control). This was an electronic switchable device providing a soft comfortable setting or tightened the damping for press on motoring. As time passed they started to leak, the cost for replacements spiralled from the hundreds to the thousands and eventually BMW stopped producing them. We use a European company who are one of many who tried and in their case succeeded in finding an affordable solution but this is not the point of the story.

In chassis number terms this car is 332, and over time the EDC system had been replaced by a bespoke set up using Bilstein dampers along with polybushes with a delete of the self levelling system. However, it’s tight and firm brilliance were not in anyway compatible with our rough and poor undulating road surfaces, the car was crashy and noisy and impossible to drive swiftly on our B roads without a great deal of discomfort and driver effort.

With my own car I discovered years ago that the EDC system didn’t suit my driving being either too soft or to harsh (the set up was perfect for Germany however) and so I discovered that the genius that is AC Schnitzer had developed their own non electronic system and as luck would have it managed to bag the very last set available comprising of front and rear dampers, front springs and matching anti roll bars.

With a slight reduction in front ride height the handling was brilliant, it firms up for the important corners but retains compliance in the straight ahead. Having experienced around 150k miles on the AC Schnitzer set up I was confident in recommending it to the owner of 332.

This then is the story of that journey - it started with sourcing a secondhand ACS kit, having the front dampers overhauled by Bilstein whose dampers they were but to AC Schnitzers specific damping rates which are etched into a code on the dampers themselves.

The kit was in reasonable condition and so decided that we would take a chance with leaving the rears alone having checked with the specialist whether they would be able to repair if necessary (being a sealed unit) which they were.

The project started in March 24 and the car was eventually completed in May 25 not a situation on the suspension kit which might ordinarily take a day or two to swap but because once the work got underway there were a whole host of issues that one might find in a car that has lived a life on our salty uk roads for 140k miles and 30 years.

We found severley corroded brake, fuel and self levelling fluid lines that run the length of the car, patches of corroded metal that had to be cut out and reformed. The fuel tank had areas of rust and just starting to weep. It appears as though the rear end had a knock affecting the geometry to the offside rear.

And so the complete underside of the car was stripped to its individual parts, all new mountings and bushes were fitted/pressed in (the polybushes discarded). Where possible new nuts/bolts/washers were fitted or where unavailable the parts were re plated.

New brake, fuel and SLS lines were fitted with new mounting brackets (when possible) all the heavy componentry i.e. radius arms, rear sub frame and macpherson struts etc. etc were stripped by blasting and repainted in 2k primer and satin black top coat.

New wheel bearings were fitted along with brake dust shields. The differential was leaking and upon stripping down the LSD, the drive surfaces were contaminated, this was entirely rebuilt with new plates, bearings and oil seals.

The exhaust heat shields were rotten at the fixing points and were mostly replaced where possible.  The front brake discs replaced with a partly worn set as BMW are out of stock, the rears were new. The callipers were blasted and refinished to OE spec with new seals. A new SLS switch was searched for across the world with out success in the end a secondhand unit was sourced where the mountings were re plated along with making a new control rod.

The exhaust system was thankfully sound and simply rubbed down and repainted. Eventually it was all back together and the car delivered to a local garage to have the suspension and tracking aligned and for it’s MOT. The engine started immediately following the work but it proved difficult to get the emissions correct until the garage finally managed to get the required heat into the cats through some on the road fast running.

It provided a sense of purpose and satisfaction to save this fabulous car and have her running strong and reliably with a completely restored underside. The icing on the cake was the new set of Michelins Pilot Sports finest fitted to the newly restored twin spoke alloys and a fresh detail to make the paint ping once more.

If anyone fancies a coffee, has any questions or needs any support with a similar project feel feee to reach out.

For anyone really interested in how far we went below are just a few (dozens) shots taken candidly during the 14 month process along with a video at the bottom from collection day.

Meet Norman

Don’t worry, Sid is still with us. Current working as the teams pool car and still munching miles like nobody's business. Providing we keep putting oil in the old ship I doubt he will ever let us down.

So, enter Norman.

Joining the GQ Crew as the latest workhorse lets address the elephant in the room. Yes, D3 not B3. Seemly dividing opinions at GQ HQ.

As if I need to justify but I will. He achieves late 30’s, early 40 MPG which maxes out just shy of a 500 mile range. Tbh, even that was a little disappointing. Not sure why BMW are so obsessed with fitting small fuel tanks (think E60 M5 and E90 M3). I was fully expecting to achieve over the 600 mark but some Einstein fitted a 59 liter tank. Stop it!

MPG and range were big factors in choosing the car actually. Gone are my MPH days and frankly visiting Mr E5 in the E90 (photo below) wore thin inside 3 months. So, said M3 was axed. (Yes it was a manual, yes I regret it). However, it is still in the GQ family so most importantly within reach.

On from there I remain happy with it and carry the new car feeling as the months fly past. He’s fast and frugal, sits the right side of the tech revolution and is discreet – with only ‘if you know you know’ type admiration.

Anyway, I am happy. For now. Ask me again in January!

As for the name, it is a bittersweet story – taking delivery at the time of a family friends passing. Some how, the name is rather fitting to the duties carried out. Not that that was any correlation to all the fond associated memories.

Thanks to the team here he was corrected and coated off the bat with wheels, glass and of course full body. Now for the winter to try its best while Sid matches on outlasting us all!

Porsche Stocking Fillers

Tying to get ahead of the curve (for once) and get our GQ owners Christmas wish list up and out – starting with these custom built illuminated Porsche signs.

Only a limited number are being made and the craftsmanship is astonishing with both coming ready to hang. The smaller crest is battery powered so no ghastly wires to worry about. Icing on the cake? Both are remote controlled! Winner winner, turkey dinner?

As if that wasn’t enough, we went for two design options this year, the smaller crest design or the XL typographic option of which the stand is more for show and we recommend wall mounting.

So, what are you waiting for – simply copy and paste the URL to your loved one and we are sure he/she/they(?) will get the hint! Alternatively, fill your boots and sort Christmas for yourself.

Orders come delivered to your nominated address (within reason) and come with a 12 month warranty, plug or charger where relevant. 2 weeks lead time and prices below.

Crest: £995 + VAT

Typographic: £1,995 + VAT

We have one of each on site at our Bishops Stortford facility for any owners wishing to have a play first.

To order yours, simply complete the form below and we’ll ensure it comes down the chimney:

For those of you that would like to see the making of, we have included a few candid action shots at the bottom of the page – arguably the best bit, enjoy!

Service Advisor

Are you completely obsessed with customer experience, being able to find the right solution and going on to manage the end to end solution often with multiple stakeholders? This might just be the role for you!

We are currently looking for a full-time Service Advisor to join our team in and around the Epping, Ware and Bishop’s Stortford areas.

The ideal candidate needs to be either a huge petrolhead, have a proven track record in and around vehicles, customer service and or hospitality and simply have a credible caring way about them. Strong attention to detail, collaborative and highly organised are further key attributes here.

This isn’t a job, it is a lifestyle.

Full training where needed will be given, the salary will be based on experience and you will need to hold a full UK driving licence and know your way around Microsoft Office 365.

The role offers some flexible working and ongoing support and training with bonus targets and further growth opportunities within the business.

If you think this is for you please get in touch via the usual channels or message us below – we would love to hear from you.

We're in Braintree!

Among the other exciting updates we have also been busy expanding the Garage Queens network in the form our of our Area Partnership scheme. We are now very proud to announce the opening of our new car storage facility in Braintree. Located on another secure and discreet development just outside of Braintree it offers all of the security, features, and attention to detail that you have come to expect only in, err – Braintree!

For anyone wishing to go for coffee feel free to reach out to Tim (we like to keep it simple here!) Glover directly.

And for anyone interested in discussing how the scheme could work for you, simply drop me a line and let’s grab a coffee.

Events Coordinator

There is a growing demand here at GQ for more regular events – that’s where (we hope), you come in!

We are looking for someone to help us set up and coordinate a regular events calendar. Including but not limited to unique events on our own turf but a curation what you/we believe are the must attend shows of the year. With a few road trips thrown in to boot!

The idea of having someone join the GQ Crew is very new and we are open to who or how it will take shape – is it part time, is it voluntary at first, is it a hybrid role while all the pieces fall into place? We don’t have all the answers (yet) but we are hoping whoever this might be is able to help!

Sound like a bit of you? We’d love to talk…

Area Partner

Like the idea of building something of your own using the GQ recipe?

This opportunity is to invest in your future and have your own successful and rewarding GQ geography.

All the short cuts, training, support, infrastructure and most importantly the secret GQ recipe will be provided, all you need to bring is a positive, can do attitude, an impeccable customer service manor and an eagerness to succeed.

Think you have what it takes? Complete the below and we’ll schedule a discovery call to find out!