BMW Car Club of America, Tidewater Chapter

What the chapter covers

The Tidewater Chapter of the BMW Car Club of America calls itself “The Official BMW CCA for the Hampton Roads Region.” Its About page says it is the seventh oldest chapter in the club and serves 700 members in Eastern Virginia, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The site’s banner marks the years since 1971, its original chapter bylaws date from 1972, and its mailing address is in Virginia Beach.

The chapter runs on volunteers, and the board list on its site showed gaps at the time of reading: the president and newsletter editor seats vacant, two officers serving on a temporary basis, and a call for nominations. Its volunteer page offers roles from a single event to a board seat.

What it runs

The About page counts about 20 events a year and names the mix: “driving events, socials, dinners, tech sessions and charity events.” Names that recur on the chapter’s calendar and in its photo galleries include a Dragon Drive weekend in October, a Back of the Dragon trip, fall foliage drives, a Pumpkin Fun Run, a Whine & Cheese Drive and Bimmer Lunch socials. The chapter marks its own birthday with an anniversary banquet; the 54th was held in October 2025.

The chapter also runs Tire Rack Street Survival schools for teen drivers at the North Carolina Center for Automotive Research, 310 Technology Dr in Garysburg, North Carolina. The national calendar lists the next one for Saturday, November 21, 8am to 5pm, with the chapter “performing another Street Survival this year again.”

Das Kummet and the email list

The chapter newsletter is das Kummet, which the membership page calls bi-monthly. Its newsletter page holds back issues in PDF to 2001 plus newly digitized issues from 1971 to 1984; recent issues have been quarterly, and the latest posted at the time of reading was Q3 2024. A weekly email list carries club events and activities.

The website’s upcoming-events panel still showed 2025 events at the start of November 2026, so the national BMW CCA calendar and the weekly email are the more current places to look.

Joining

Per the membership page, becoming a BMW CCA member makes someone a Tidewater member automatically if they live in Eastern Virginia, on the Eastern Shore or on the Outer Banks, or if they choose Tidewater as their home chapter, and the chapter charges no dues of its own. Visitors are welcome at events, where a current member can help them sign up, and the membership chair answers questions about the national office. National prices are on the BMW CCA page.