Congratulations to this week’s BMW CCA Garage Goals winner, New Mexico Chapter member Rob Anthony! Rob has won a $25 Shop BMW CCA gift card and a $25 Griot’s Garage Gift Card thanks to this picture of his Dakar Yellow E36 M3, Baur TC2, and 330Ci ZHP!
“My wife and I are really trying to limit our exposure to people and do our part to slow the spread of COVID-19,” said Rob, “In some ways, the timing worked out perfectly, as we had been working as general contractors on a detached garage build on our property. (You really need somewhere to put those BMWs to follow the Siegel Seven-Car Rule!) I spent a few weekends testing out light fixtures (as a geeky scientist, I even bought a light meter to make sure I’d have enough light for those late-night garage sessions), adding insulation, and blocking to the frame. Christina and I then got to enjoy a nice “date” weekend of painting the whole garage and a follow up “date” the next weekend of installing lights. Christina is very artistic—she spent several nights researching how to paint clean stripes and then painting the M stripes on the rear wall. I think they turned out fantastic!”
Asked what got him to join the BMW CCA, Anthony said, “Two distinct events made me want to join the club: I discovered the discounts on parts at BMW dealers, and I discovered Rob Siegel.”
“In late 2013, Christina and I and our BMWs moved from Socorro, New Mexico to Fort Collins, Colorado. I stopped in at Cos BMW in Loveland to get some coolant, and they asked if I had a CCA membership for a discount. I didn’t at the time. I got home, did the math, and realized the membership would pay for itself.”
“Around the same time, I was up late at night googling something along the lines of “how many BMWs to own” and I stumbled across the chapter in Rob Siegel’s book, Memoirs of a Hack Mechanic titled “Siegel’s Seven-Car Rule.” I could only read one page in the online preview, but I wanted—no, had—to read this blueprint on which cars any enthusiast should own. I bought the book and fell in love with his writing. His messages and sense of humor really resonated with me. I joined the club soon after reading his book.”
“The really cool thing for me was that this all came full circle for me when Rob Siegel was out in Denver in the fall of 2016 for a geophysical survey, and I was driving back to New Mexico after successfully defending my geophysics PhD. I sent him a Facebook message out of the blue and he totally, on the spot, agreed to have dinner with me!”
“In the words of Rob Siegel, “So much of life is finding your group of people,” it didn’t take long to find many like-minded, generous, BMW-loving people in the CCA. Come for the discounts, stay for the people. I think it’s really that simple. I plan on being a member for life.”
As always, thank you, Rob, for your support of the club—and for your participation in our new BMW CCA Garage Goals giveaway on Instagram.
Want to win $25 Gift Cards from Shop BMW CCA and Griot’s Garage?
We will be awarding a lucky BMW CCA member a $25 Shop BMW CCA gift card and a $25 Griot’s Garage Gift Card every Friday! For a chance to win, all you have to do is post a picture to Instagram with the hashtags #BMWCCAGarageGoals, #GriotsGarage, and follow @GriotsGarage.
It will be a fun way for members to share their garage setups, what they’ve been working on, and what’s in their BMW fleet. Maybe you just finished putting a new coat of Griot’s Garage wax on your M3 or added some vintage BMW memorabilia to your garage wall. We want to see what you’ve been up to and share the passion! It will be a fun way for us to stay connected and interact while many of us are spending more time at home and in the garage.
We’ll announce the winner on Instagram, Facebook, and BimmerLife every Friday. Good luck, everyone!—Chris Hennecy