Bimmerfest Santa Barbara has always been held at the Cutter Motors BMW dealership in Santa Barbara, California, but for several reasons, one of which is the mammoth size of the ever-growing event, the show moved for the first time in its five-year history. Despite the NorCal vs SoCal show debacle from the prior month (see NorCal vs SoCal Euro 2004 show coverage in last month's issue), the Bimmerfest organizers opted to hold the May 1st event at Santa Barbara's Earl Warren Showgrounds. Luckily, the mayor of Santa Barbara contacted the Bimmerfest organizers and assured them there wouldn't be a flock of cops waiting to ticket anybody who dared visit the fairgrounds in a modified car.
As it turns out, Mayor Marty Blum isn't a liar. All day I witnessed only a handful of police passing the fairgrounds, and most seemed as if they were on normal patrol. It looks like several hundred enthusiasts complaining about police harassment raised a few eyebrows at city hall.
As for the event itself, it was possibly the largest Bimmerfest Santa Barbara to date. Despite the organizer's optimistic expectations, the show didn't quite fill both parking lots, but it did take up a sizeable chunk of the larger of the two lots - an impressive feat for a BMW-exclusive event.
Spread around the lot were various BMWs from the E46 to the E21. One of the nicer E21s was CJ Viola's Reseda green '79 320i. The motor was a 2.1 liter M10 powerplant with everything from forged pistons to titanium retainers, and the car sat on 15x7" Alpina wheels with polyurethane bushings. We were surprised to find a handful of other E21s sitting near Viola's - in fact, there were more E21s than 2002s.
Rennsport came out to the show with its fleet of nicely modded Bimmers. Included was a supercharged E46 330i with custom M3 bodywork and a supercharged Z4 with a custom widebody. Evosport, however, was showcasing its newest goodie for the E46 M3: a prototype centrifugal supercharger for the S54 motor. CEC was also doing its part by showing a modded E39 M5 (which belongs to eurotuner's ex-editor, Mike Shartsis) and an E46 M3.
At the far end of the show field was Sean Behem and his E36 325i. The car had been painted light blue, most of the body had been shaved and a widebody had been custom-molded to the fenders. While the interior was mostly stock, Sean said that before the end of the year he would have a custom fiberglass dashboard, partially inspired by Steve Brown's infamous '95 BMW M3 with its insane Alpine install.
There were a handful of E30 M3s present, one of which sported a carbon-fiber front end - and by front end, I mean a carbon-fiber hood, fenders and a bumper. With black wheels, Recaro driver's seat and rollcage, the car looked like it meant business.
If you're interested in going to the next Bimmerfest Santa Barbara show, or possibly one of the other Bimmerfest events that are organized around the country, head to www.bimmerfest.com.