Need your honest feedback about BMWCCA

[m3dragon]

Because I am a crazy person and organize events, I reached out to BMWCCA for support in the 15 years of E46 M3 event. While I chatted with them, I got on the topic about how to entice BMW Enthusiasts and younger members to join the national club.
Short story is I have the blessing of BMWCCA to make this post to gather feedback on how BMWCCA can offer more things to have enthusiasts and younger members join the national club.

Please post your honest replies below and I will gather them to send to national. Please also ask all of your friends to chime no matter what their thoughts are so I can present their feelings to national.
Forum admins, please help forum members find this so we can get our voices heard. Also please add your comments on how BMWCCA could support the forum if they are not already doing so. The forums are the backbone of the enthusiast community so we need your input whether good or bad.

If people cannot reply to the forums please have them email me at [email protected] with the questions below.
1. Are you a BMWCCA member currently?

2. What is your regional club (if you don’t know just say don’t know)?

3. If you are not a member, what was the reason for not joining?

4. Have you attended any meeting or event with any BMW chapter?

5. What are activities you would like to see the BMW chapters do in your area?

6. What activities would you like to see on a national level?

7. What type of programs would you like to see BMWCCA support?

8. Do you want BMWCCA to find ways to help enthusiasts with acquiring parts for projects?

9. Open comment / suggestion.

[LostMarine]

drop prices, thats all they need to do

[hifiguy@gaphix]

I'm actually a fan of the club, even though some years I don't participate as much.

Membership is like $45/yr and they publish a full-on monthly magazine that's been rated the best car club publication around. There's also local chapter newsletters and discounts for local businesses. However, the best perk is $500 cash back for every new/cpo bimmer you buy. In fact I joined the BMWCCA one year before getting my M3 just to get the incentive (which turned into free mods!).

The events appear to be pricier compared to other HPDE's, but once the extras are factored in, such as 2day exclusive track use, included meals, swag, and bimmer nuts for instructors and organizers, then it's actually a bargain.

Having been a member for 10+ years, I've attended various events (including family oriented ones), written articles for the newsletters, received discounted admission to car shows/museums, and met some similarly passionate bimmer heads.

It is true that most members are seasoned drivers and the younger generations are not as involved. There isn't one solution to solving this, but that membership raffle drive did seem to help. I'll put some thoughts together and answer that questionnaire. Thanks for reaching out!

[bobS]

I think they need to educate younger enthusiasts with what the club has to offer. I had no clue you get rebates on buying cars, a magazine, etc and I've followed the BMW scene for a while. I agree they should lower pricing as well.

They need to sponsor BMW forums, sponsor more events logger than bimmerfest (I think they sponsor it?) and hold events that are not BMW cca only once in a while so people will want to join. I saw they had a car meet at bmw's headquarters in north jersey but you had to be a BMW cca member to attend.

[LostMarine]

I think they need to educate younger enthusiasts with what the club has to offer. I had no clue you get rebates on buying cars, a magazine, etc and I've followed the BMW scene for a while. I agree they should lower pricing as well.

They need to sponsor BMW forums, sponsor more events logger than bimmerfest (I think they sponsor it?) and hold events that are not BMW cca only once in a while so people will want to join. I saw they had a car meet at bmw's headquarters in north jersey but you had to be a BMW cca member to attend.

by price i didnt mean to join, i meant for events. I think if they offered events for about 150-200 instead of 300+ then it would be more feasable. I would rather pay a 250 fee to join and 150-200 to participate at $300 events, than 45 to join and 275 to race

[m3dragon]

thanks for the feedback guys. keep it coming.

[Sticky]

1. Are you a BMWCCA member currently?

2. What is your regional club (if you don’t know just say don’t know)?

3. If you are not a member, what was the reason for not joining?

4. Have you attended any meeting or event with any BMW chapter?

5. What are activities you would like to see the BMW chapters do in your area?

6. What activities would you like to see on a national level?

7. What type of programs would you like to see BMWCCA support?

8. Do you want BMWCCA to find ways to help enthusiasts with acquiring parts for projects?

9. Open comment / suggestion.

1. no

2. none

3. no point

4. yes

5. races

6. roll on races

7. BimmerBoost.com

8. No

9. BimmerBoost.com

[m3dragon]

Thank you all that have answered the thread so far. I am going to let the threads run until Nov 8^th before I start to compile the data.

I wanted to address some of the people who chime in with their post whish could be summed up as “the club is what you make of it”.

The point of me doing this was to make the first step to help BMWCCA / chapters change to be in line with the majority of the enthusiast crowd. By no means will things change overnight as that requires more steps but you can’t get there without taking the first one. The replies many of you posted are excellent ideas and in line with what I first suggested to National in May of this year.

Last thing I wanted to address is those who posted on some the different forums that are arguing with me about making these threads.

I took on this project on my own with the blessing of National because I am an enthusiast like most of you. I also have a unique perspective as I stated a national club run by volunteers that faces the same issues as BMW. I am not getting anything for my time and energy and I chose to use the forums VS. a survey tool so that people could see others replies and comment. So if you feel that me taking my own time and energy to benefit us the BMW enthusiast’s community is something to argue over then I don’t know what to say other than, at least I did something then sit on my hands.

Thank you all again for posting and please let others know to chime in so I can present this to National. After Friday I will compile all the replies and post a summary to all the forums with what others have said / suggested.

[Sticky]

Last thing I wanted to address is those who posted on some the different forums that are arguing with me about making these threads.

Tell them to F off.

[m3dragon]

My initial response I typed out was a little harsher then what I posted. Then I stepped back and changed it LOL

[m3dragon]

Not sure those of you who are members saw, BMWCCA just sent out a survey which I only can surmise is because of the efforts I am doing to help. Or maybe it was just timing… LOL

Summary of the replies to the questions below across 25 threads I posted.

Complaint questions

Are you a BMWCCA member currently?
a. 70% - YES
b. 30% - NO

What is your regional club (if you don’t know just say don’t know)?
a. Most of the US replied. No Sacramento or LA area replies or I missed them.

If you are not a member, what was the reason for not joining?
a. Cost of membership is too high.
b. No local activities for remote owners and events are too far away.
c. Discounts on items are cheaper from online members that dealer.
d. Club track / autocross events are to expensive compared to others.
e. Benefits are not worth the cost
f. Poor advertising and had no idea about BMWCCA.

Have you attended any meeting or event with any BMW chapter?
a. 70% - YES
b. 30% - NO
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Improvement Questions

What are activities you would like to see the BMW chapters do in your area?
a. Cheaper track days and autocross events that are in line with others.
a. Less restrictive track / autocross event rules for convertibles so they are in line with others.
b. DIY group sessions to fix cars and make local knowledge base.
c. Detailing sessions to train and educate on how to keep your ride clean and new.
d. Regional Octoberfest supported by BMWCCA.
e. More drives / tour events with the understanding some people want to drive “spirited” and should be allowed to do so at the front of the pack.
f. Get dealers involved with the local club
g. Social events that are meet and greets and not just the club meeting.
h. Dyno group sessions/
i. Do not focus on wine tours
j. Day drives where the focus is having a drive

Combined these to make it easier

What activities would you like to see on a national level & what type of programs would you like to see BMWCCA support?
a. Better website that is easier to navigate and has the following:
a. Technical articles on how to maintain your car (partner with forums)
b. More social media presents with Facebook, twitter, Google plus
c. Vendor showcase of products and vehicle propjets
d. Modification ideas presented professionally so people can have information on upgrade ideas
e. Mobile app for people to find events in their region and nationally
f. Classified add on the website for people to find member cars for sale as roundel is old data and not as detailed.
b. Better advertising that the club exists to BMW owners new and second hand
c. All new BMW sales include 1 year of membership
d. More benefits with vendors
a. Free shipping being a BMWCCA member
b. Supporting forums to help promote activities for regional clubs
e. Roundel magazine
a. More articles on people that upgrade / modify their BMW to have higher performance
b. DIY articles on different models
c. Showcase regional chapters events or activities
d. BMW racing update section
f. Car control clinics need to be expanded to more regions
g. Teen driver control clinics / street survival schools
h. Allow more grass roots meet ups and activities to take place
i. National to listen to ideas and be willing to talk about regional clubs about issues they are having and assist in resolving them

Do you want BMWCCA to find ways to help enthusiasts with acquiring parts for projects?
a. Yes – BMWCCA to help members or vendors find hard to get parts from Europe
a. Help find discontinued parts that are still BMW made
b. Help in with finding technical assistance that forums and or local shops cannot find.
c. Help individuals that wish to source factory race parts to either race or other.

Open comment / suggestion.
There was a lot of comment here but in short, the BMW Club is what you make of it. While some chapters have great leaders and others have old do not care leaders, it comes down to if you want a more active regional club, get involved. The more involved the better your club will be.

Most people join because of Roundel and mostly keep their membership because of it.

[Sticky]

Seems like the exact same survey?

[m3dragon]

I find it funny they did a survey of members based on the same questioned I asked. Oh well lol

[Sticky]

I find it funny they did a survey of members based pretty much the same questioned I asked. Oh well lol

Seems like more than a coincidence...

[Steve B. CBR]

Because I am a crazy person and organize events, I reached out to BMWCCA for support in the 15 years of E46 M3 event. While I chatted with them, I got on the topic about how to entice BMW Enthusiasts and younger members to join the national club.
Short story is I have the blessing of BMWCCA to make this post to gather feedback on how BMWCCA can offer more things to have enthusiasts and younger members join the national club.

Please post your honest replies below and I will gather them to send to national. Please also ask all of your friends to chime no matter what their thoughts are so I can present their feelings to national.
Forum admins, please help forum members find this so we can get our voices heard. Also please add your comments on how BMWCCA could support the forum if they are not already doing so. The forums are the backbone of the enthusiast community so we need your input whether good or bad.

If people cannot reply to the forums please have them email me at [email protected] with the questions below.
1. Are you a BMWCCA member currently?

2. What is your regional club (if you don’t know just say don’t know)?

3. If you are not a member, what was the reason for not joining?

4. Have you attended any meeting or event with any BMW chapter?

5. What are activities you would like to see the BMW chapters do in your area?

6. What activities would you like to see on a national level?

7. What type of programs would you like to see BMWCCA support?

8. Do you want BMWCCA to find ways to help enthusiasts with acquiring parts for projects?

9. Open comment / suggestion.

1. Yes

2. Dallas

3. N/A

4. Not yet

5. Autox

6. None

7. None

8. They already do with their classified section

9. BMWCCA program is excellent overall. I love the program and am glad to have joined.