Rudy

Well if your only reason for being a member of the club is to get the Roundel, then yes, cancel your membership.

If you use the membership to get $1000 back on a car purchase, get discounts on parts and accessories, and/or participate in club events like driver's schools, etc. then you can simply throw the Roundel away each month when it arrives and continue to benefit from the other aspects of membership in the CCA...

Blackonblackonblack

Well if your only reason for being a member of the club is to get the Roundel, then yes, cancel your membership.

If you use the membership to get $1000 back on a car purchase, get discounts on parts and accessories, and/or participate in club events like driver's schools, etc. then you can simply throw the Roundel away each month when it arrives and continue to benefit from the other aspects of membership in the CCA...
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Yeah you're right Rudy. It's just that I just joined a month before the Oktoberfest here in Pasadena and needless to say, I was a little disappointed with the turn out -considering LA is considered to be one of the car meccas of the world. Events were moved, the convention center shows closed early due to lack of attendance, so I couldn't see it during the later hours that had been advertised...after paying for it! Too bad I didn't know about the $1,000 rebate as I purchase my car just before the event. That was 3 months ago and I just received the first notice of where and when my chapters hold their meetings. I'll give it a shot however and see what the climate is in the local chapter. Hopefully it's close to as encouraging as this forum is!

northernmonkey

Mercedes Benz (excl SL's,SLR) - all their saloons are pretty bland IMO, nice cars, just not exciting to look at or drive, OK the AMG ones great are but they are big ???? over here.

Audi - like MB, good solid cars, would probaly say interior quality better than BMW and MB but sadly when i test drove them found their engines/ride/handling was way off the pace.

E60 vs E39 - simple test, park an E60 next to an E39, sorry but the E39 great car it was, but just looks dated now in every way when compared to the E60. A few people criticised the E60 for things like poor ride but BMW took the risk to push ahead with technology like run flat tyres etc etc...these things are new and will get better over time. It would have been sad if BMW had played it safe and simply produced a slightly fresher version of the E39.

BMW took a big risk with Bangle'ism ok the 7-series still aint quite right, but the Z4,6-series,E60,1-series,new 3-series,X3 all look great on the road and have a real presence. Compared to the usual curvy euro-boxes we see on our roads the new BMW's stand out a mile (ok not always a good thing as they also attract the vandals...little f--kers).

I think a lot of people who slated the designs are now getting used to them and in a lot of cases starting to like them a lot. BMW certainly don't seem to be having much trouble selling the cars.

Jimbo

As soon as I first drove the E60, I totally liked it. The exterior (which I also like) came along with the package.

I owned a 320is for over 10 years.

Wilchwitz

Just a few more comments...

The thing I like best about BMWs is that they are designed and produced to be BMWs. Take a look at Lexus and you see an awful lot of Toyota. The same with Infiniti and Nissan. There is a lot of VW content in Audi. But BMWs are only BMWs.

And I also want BMW to remain independent and for that BMW must sell a lot of cars. That means appealing to more than just the Bimmer hard core. I think that BMW should be commended for being able to broaden the customer base while retaining the essence of the BMW driving experience. Look what has happened to Jaguar, Volvo and Saab since their takeovers. Its hard to argue that the new models from these companies reflect their tradition.

The new design and technology direction at BMW is the right one. I learned a long time ago that in business its always better to obsolete your own products than to have your competitor do it for you.