I have been noticing more and more articles in the Roundel lately about the Mini’s and was wondering how many of you were members of the BMW car club of America. I have been considering joining but can’t find any information whether the benefits extend to Mini owners or just BMW owners…

What do you guys think?


Cheers!

 

Anyone can join BMWCCA. They are very welcoming of the MINI. From personal experience I know, in the Rocky Mountain, Los Angeles, and San Diego chapters BMWCCA has MINI classing for Autocross. They also are an excellent source for driver's schools and other events.

More information at BMWCCA.org

 

I am the Genesee Valley Chapter BMW CCA President and I write the Roundel column "Bimmer Lite". Local chapters that I am aware of are very happy to include MINI owners. You are more than welcome to attend the driver schools and autocrosses, not to mention all social events like picnics, parties, etc.

On a National level, BMW CCA is trying to do all it can to get more MINI owners as members. Roundel will never have as much MINI coverage as MC2, but we are doing what we can to have as much as possible on all topics. As for the National level activities, you can attend Oktoberfest, Gateway Tech, etc.

BMW Club Racing allows racers to race a MINI and even has a Spec MINI class - however, the car is still fairly new as compared to many of the other cars raced so the numbers are still fairly light. For example, e36 325s and M3s are much cheaper donor cars. You can get a high mileage M3 donor for under $10K... not many MCS under $10K.

On a related note, I am looking for column ideas and people to write about. I am not sure how many events I can attend as I do have a full time job, but please send me your ideas.

Vince
Bimmer Lite

 

Very helpful

thanks guys!

 

My son and I are BMW CCA members. We found the national club welcoming but our local chapter was run by a couple of people that had no use for the MINI. They drove my son away when he was a minor, even though he could run at events in other regions. We stopped going to their activites and went with NASA and SCCA instead. The local leadership just changed and my son is an adult now, so we may give them another try. I'm going to an autocross tomorrow, but it is SCCA.

 

I'm a member, and I've been to a number of their driving schools. They have very safe (and fun) schools, and the instructors are top notch (many of them are club racers).

 

I've been a member of BMW CCA for 3 years now. I've felt welcomed at various events. Not as welcome as a real BMW owner, but I'm not treated as an outcast either. To me it's been worthwhile for the annual membership.

 

I belong to the Peachtree chapter. I joined to get a discount and early registration for Driving Schools. I was made to feel very welcome at the last school and they were all very complimentary of El Kabong and the MINI in general. The school was a blast and I plan on going to as many as I can

Annette

 

I've been a BMWCCA member for going on 13 years now and have been with 4 different BMWCCA Chapters. I had a pleasurable expierience with each one of them. No matter what club you are with it's the people that make the club. You'll find that approximatly 10-15% of the total membership come to events on a regular basis. Of those that come, they are really there to have a good time with the rest of the members and enjoy each other socially. You'll have those that just want the discount that the club offers or just the Roundel magazine. You get out of a club what you put into a club. If you're an active member and enjoy people and share the same interests then most of the time you'll get along. There will be times when somebody will say or make a decision that you will not agree on and that sometimes pisses people off to where they do not want to have anything to do with the club. The BMWCCA club has been in exsistance for a lot of years and has become a well known organization with a diverse background of members. I would encourage you to take the time and go to a chapter event or driving school and make an effort to be apart of them. They are just like most MINI owners, they love thier cars and like to do things with them.