Car club · Knoxville, Tennessee

Smoky Mountain Chapter BMW CCA

The Smoky Mountain Chapter is part of the nationwide BMW Car Club of America, serving enthusiasts throughout East Tennessee with drives, track days, tech sessions, and socials. After graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi, I joined the Army and served for almost 30 years, spending the last 11 in various assignments dealing with the Middle East. After retiring from the military, I took a job with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where I worked in the national security area for 13 years. I was a Porsche owner for over 30 years before discovering BMW — after a visit to the BMW Performance Center, I traded in my X5 for a 2012 M3. Since then I've owned an M2, M3, M4, and now an M5. I joined BMW CCA in 2012 and became chapter president in 2014, where I continue to serve today. Bob and Martha have lived in Seattle, Houston, Dallas, Paris, Baltimore, and now Oak Ridge, joining BMW Car Club chapters along the way (including Lone Star remotely while in Paris). Bob's appreciation for BMW began in college, when he helped a friend replace shocks on a 1600 and admired its engineering. While living in Paris he reconnected with Lone Star friends and attended a BMW driving school at the Nürburgring; that summer of 1990 also included a side trip to the Berlin Wall shortly after it began coming down. A BMW CCA member since 1988, Bob's favorite car today is his 2022 M240i xDrive, which he loves driving on the endlessly challenging roads of East Tennessee.