If you like BMW's I would recommend joining. They have a great magazine that's equal to or better than other auto mags. If you are considering buying a BMW, joining BMWCCA gets you a rebate, $500 or so when you buy a new BMW. I've been a member for 7 years. Besides my MCS I own an X-3 and a M-roadster

 

CCA members single-handedly brought the e36 M3 sedan (or the coupe, I can't remember which) to US shores, so who knows what we could do with a more prominent position within the CCA as MINI owners.

Long term goal? How about growing the MINI population of the CCA to eventually break off as the MINI CCA?

mb

 

I just traded by Cooper for an '07 "S", and I can certainly see the change you describe. Obviously BMW has a lot of quality and experience to bring to the MINI table, and that's great. I think my fear, and I know it's shared by others, is that they will take their eye off the ball. They need to remember what makes a MINI a MINI. The R56 is more refined, to be sure, but I don't feel that anything has been lost in the translation. Let's hope they stay on track!

 

I'm keeping my R53s. Yeah, I could sell them and get the R56s, but I want to stay "more MINI" [at least among the "new" crowd] and less BMW. It upsets me in a way that the "new" MINIs keep getting bigger [ie., the R56, the "new" Clubman, the planned SUV], and I think this will continue until the MINI gets so big or has so many models out there that BMW will start doing away with the smaller cars that we so adore.

 

I'm with you on this..

At the recent BMW CCA Oktoberfest Club races the Direct of Club Racing sat next to me during the hour long enduro. We had quite the conversation of how to attract more Mini owners into club racing. There are classes where the Mini is competitive against the BMW's. He felt that a few more Mini's racing would attract other owners to come out and watch and then join. my feeling is the CCA needs to reach out to Mini owners and show that we are welcome. We did agree that more Mini related coverage is needed. Since he does have the ear of Rondels editors I'd like to think that we will see more. In the long term what we get out of BMW CA is what we can put into it. We can't we embrace a group that does show they are interested in us as members. The more Mini owners that do want to become members mean the more the club will do for Mini owners.

 

Agreed. I think the enthusiasm tends to stem from the racing for a portion of the club, and since the MINI is barely represented in that arena, the participation in the club is minimal.

What if MINI owners had all BMW owners do as far as club racing options? The Director of Club racing seems to have the right idea here...

Hopefully Roundel will increase its coverage, but they also need to take their current readership into account. It might be a slow process, but it's one worth starting, and I can say that there is more coverage now than two years ago.

mb

 

Tha vast majority of Mini owners into motorsports, tend to belong to SCCA.

 

Exactly - the CCA needs to compete.

mb

 

Neither a BMW nor MINI owner (yet!) but I enjoy reading Roundel cover to cover non the less and feel it alone is worth the membership cost.

My Miata can't play in the BMWCCA driving event either but have attended a few BMW club social events ....in my Miata. One feels a bit out of place but folks in my area are a friendly bunch. I've participated (as an instructor) in three Street Survival Schools, a ralley and a couple of social events.

I if ever do buy a BMW..that BMWCCA $ rebate will have paid for all my membership costs....and should I eventually WIN their annual car raffle....it'd be an out of the park grand slam!

Yours in driving spirit...dare I say "Zoom, zoom"

Rick

 

Rick - you're not going to get any crap for your "zoom zoom" from anyone who knows how capable those cars are - hell, they were providing people with second gen. Mini-like driving experiences long before Minis were!

Glad you're active in the CCA - it's too bad about the vert. rule for track events, but it is what it is I suppose.

mb

 

Rick, I assume that the reason for the Miata not being able to play in a BMWCCA event is because its a convertible. Correct? Otherwise the local BMWCCA members usually are not that snobby.

 

As a MINI owner, I never even considered joining the BMW club? Why, because I don't consider my car to be a BMW - even tho I know otherwise. I guess I need to investigate this tho, there could be some real benefits to joining and participating in their events.

We have an active MINI club in the KC area, and while we don't do separate HPDE events, we do take part in track events at Heartland Park and have a few members active in SCCA solo.

I don't know how I'd add BMW events to my already MINI crowded schedule........

 

That's why so many belong to SCCA. All of your cars are welcome! The national magazine, and specialty sport magazines and newspapers are great. You can play on both the local and national level.

http://scca.org/hub.aspx?hub=3

 

I think that most Mini owners who identify first with the BMW community do so because they were part of that community first and came to own a Mini from their BMW experience. To me, this is why Mini stands to create a great national organization - with the CCA's example and the enthusiasm of everyone else, there's no reason why a Mini CCA can't be as far-reaching and beneficial as the BMW club.

mb

 

Absolutely....convertibles..Miatas or others not welcome for safety reasons at BMWCCA track events...I have no problem with that at all and did not mean to infer anything. Sorry if my comments may have offended....

Rick

 

actually more like a Jaguar owner saying he drives a Jag not a Ford

Ford owns Jaguar

MINI is a sub company just like Jag to Ford or Rolls Royce to BMW or Fiat to Maserati or Porsche to VW

 

 

I have a question. My Husband is a diehard BMW owner and is a member of the BMW CCA. I am a member too by default (marriage) , I am a diehard MINI owner. He asked me why there isn't a MINI CCA? Not sure I can answer that. I have read stuff all over and can't seem to understand what is going
on with the decision for a MINI CCA. Does anyone have an answer? Also,
since I am a member of BMW CCA, am I able to get any of the
discount benefits from that association? Thanks.

 

How about a MINI CCA

 

How about a MINI CCA PLEASE delete this post i posted it twice by accident.

 

MINI shares BMW's over-engineering and my R53 has a few parts with "BMW" stamped on them.

This BMWCCA topic will get comical if BMW ever sells MINI.

 

I don't relate in any way with BMW owners. Most of my MINI friends are fun loving cheerful people who think that a bumper sticker reading "Millionaire in training" would look stupid on a MINI.

When I ordered my 4th MINI, my dealer was quite irate with me for not (according to him) stepping up to a BMW. I asked him if he knew the difference between a BMW and a porcupine.

He did not know. He does now!

 

MINI owners are more fun.

Has anyone seen a Yellow BMW flying a rubber chicken from the antenna?

A BMW painted red with an orange roof?

A Yellow ducky glued to the hood of a BMW?

Daisy wheels on a BMW?

A BMW with fake wood door panels and a surfboard on the roof?

MINIs are for fun, BMWs are for lawyers.

 

I've owned several BMWs before I 'stepped up' to MINIs. I've been a member of the BMW CCA for several years, although I let it lapse a couple years ago and am just now about to renew it.

I've found that most of the people in the BMW CCA fall into two camps. The track guys, and the (for lack of a better word) socialite snob types. I've never, ever, ever had anything but good experiences with the track guys. I've had several bad experiences with the socialite types.

Try going to Octoberfest for the first time when you don't know anyone at the age of 26 driving a new 318ti.....the track guys loved it and were great to hang with, the rest of the people looked at me like something they just scraped off of their shoe.

Had a similar experience going to a 'Christmas party' in Indianapolis one year. My father and I both felt rather unwelcome. So we stopped doing social events and just stayed with the club for the driving events, which attract a much more fun, friendly crowd.