Dear Minneapolis BMW Owner’s Group Members,
Well I guess it's now official, the Northstar chapter has decided to copy the original "Minneapolis BMW Owner's Group" and start having their "Monthly Gatherings" like us. Stories of legal issues that they were complaining about are something of a farce; they even went as far as to publish it in the official Northstar chapter's newsletter.

All I have to say about the whole thing is that there are enough BMW enthusiasts to go around, but it's funny that they have to grab a concept from somebody else in order to gain member participation. The thing that makes it even more ironic is that as a national organization receiving $$ from its members, but it only has about 10% membership participation?

I invite you all to sit down with them and enjoy what they have to offer. Our groups may appear similar, but the quality of the organization and planning are extremely different from one another. I won’t complain about anything other than my views on the concept of going for unplanned, unscheduled drive are, they’re ludicrous! I can't believe the possibilities of taking random people to a random place (driving in several high performance cars made for the Autobahn) with no directive or organization. I know what happens in these situations (since it happens with some of the motorcycle groups I have ridden with) and the testosterone level will always get in the way of common sense and somebody either gets a ticket or worse yet, somebody does something extremely stupid in the process of showing off. I don’t believe in this kind of activity because of the liability and if I consider having any type of driving event, it will be highly structured with a directive instead of “Just a cruise.”

I sound kind of bitter, well yes I kind of feel that way. When I started this group, I wasn’t even a member of the BMWCCA. I started this group because I LOVE MY BMW! I wanted to share my feelings and passion for my car and how it makes me feel with others. I want to hear what others have to say about their cars and learn things from those I meet through this group. I feel the Northstar chapter is starting these “Monthly Gatherings” because they are becoming desperate for more member participation.

The Northstar chapter is a wonderful organization stemming from the BMWCCA. It has a lot to offer with respects to car control clinics, technical support and its knowledge base, a nice newsletter and several wonderful people running its organization. I can’t understand how it knew about us, our concept and went as far as to having direct contact with our organization, then decided not to pursue something in conjunction with our group? I have brought up several thing in our gatherings that the Northstar chapter has to offer such as their Advanced Car Schools and Car Control Clinics during our January gathering and I went as far as to bring in two BMWCCA driving instructors to discuss the dynamics of car control on the track and what to expect from the schools. I have every intention to continue pushing membership in the BMWCCA and participate in its events. As to my understanding for them to sneak around our back and pull a stunt like this is unprofessional and low on the ethical scale, at the very least it represents a sign of desperation in my view. I hope they catch wind of this posting and understand the work I’ve done over the past year with getting things started and how I plan to take this group to bigger and better things. Sometimes the best of things are always imitated, but never duplicated, in your face on that one!

-Eric Kozar

Founder of Minneapolis BMW Owner’s Group
TechnoBMW.com & Yahoo Groups “MinneapolisBMW”
Contact: estonbach@aol.com