Jim Levandoski has been a member of the BMW Car Club of America since 2000. He is originally from the Boston area where he was an active member of the Boston Chapter and a judge at many of the BMW Concours events. He was also and remains a moderator on Bimmerforums.com.
Jim moved to New Mexico in 2016 and became a member of the New Mexico Chapter. He has participated in many Chapter functions since, including being a judge at our Spring Fiesta Clean Car competition. Jim won the Chapter’s fuel economy competition on the 2017 Spring Tour, but the NM Chapter event he remembers most is the 2019 Fall Tour to Los Alamos.
Jim has an E39 540 with a manual 6-speed that he has extensively modified and maintains himself. A few of the many modifications include: NOS progressive 2 stage controller with port injection and 10 injectors; Snow Performance methanol/water injection; Dinan Stage 5 engine software; VAC under drive pulleys; Dinan carbon fiber cold air intake (CAI). He also installed long tube headers, an electric cutout, and a Vibrant muffler which makes it the sweetest sounding 540 around!
Jim’s other passion is working on his new ’33 Ford hot rod. It has a tube frame and a gel coat fiberglass body which is still awaiting paint. It has a Corvette LS3 engine with approximately 440HP and a 4L65e tranny, The differential, a 3.55 LSD with independent rear suspension, is from Ford Racing. The car should weigh about 2400 pounds and has AC, heat, power windows, electric power steering and 4 wheel disc brakes. Jim reports it has been getting a lot of “love” lately, but he is coy about giving the big reveal date. Jim plans on hosting a NM BMW CCA “Garage Day” when it is safe to do so.
