Hot Wheels

It’s one of the biggest BMW shows in existence, and the centrepiece of the American BMW scene’s calendar. Total BMW simply had to go to Bimmerfest 2007.

Is this the way the future is supposed to feel?” warbled Jarvis Cocker, “or just 20,000 people standing in a field?” The song popped into my head as we queued to get into Bimmerfest, because it looked as though nearly that many people had turned up to the massive Earl Warren Showground in Santa Barbara, California. There were a couple of thousand BMWs for a start, filling the place’s parking area.

We attended the same show two years ago, and it was sizeable then. But Bimmerfest has grown significantly since. And why not? It offers a party for an ever-expanding community, with almost guaranteed sunshine. The Santa Barbara peninsula enjoys some of the most beautiful scenery in the American west, and it’s easy to reach on decent freeways. People travelled from all over America to be there, which if you’re from the north-east involves driving for several days.

But then, there was plenty to see. A healthy spread of names from the American BMW tuning world had stands, including Stop Tech brakes, Evosport, CEC Wheels and Turner Motorsport. As well as a stand showing off its new M5 tuning package, Dinan’s boss Steve Dinan gave a lecture on why his company has gone into big-time motorsport to take on the mainstream manufacturers.

In the US A, the BMW scene involves a rather younger crowd than in Europe and as a result, the BMW tuning scene is evermore vibrant. The majority of cars at this show wore aftermarket alloys and many were much more modified. The carbonfibre look is rocketing in popularity,and literally hundreds of cars had at least their bonnet in raw carbon. Many showed off whole bodykits in the lightweight material, plus many components under the bonnet and in the cabin. This is a trend that shows no sign of going away.

Although far outnumbered by modern cars, classic BMWs made a healthy showing. Leading the vanguard of these was Paul Di Mauro’s stunning Alpina B7 Turbo 6-Series, a concours-standard beauty that its owner describes as “a work in progress”. There were several very tasty and modified 2002s, too. Because the dryer US states don’t need their roads salting during winter, older cars last much longer and the Neue Klasse cars are frequently still in use as daily transport. Whatever the age of BMWs at the show, what impressed us was the stratospherically high standard of their presentation.

A Battle of the Bimmers was running, which yielded winners in modified and stock classes, plus a best of show. But there were literally hundreds of cars present that would place very highly in a British show and shine event. “

All I can say,” wrote organiser Jon Shafer shortly after the event ended, “is that Bimmerfest has become exactly what I envisioned it would when I began planning the first one eight years ago.” Next year’s show is already being put together, and the future will feel very much like 2007, only even bigger still. Visit www.bimmerfest.com and start planning your trip.