Techno-Classica Essen 2022

[Christoph]

The fairs are alive! From March 23 to 27 the Techno-Classica in Essen opened for the 32nd time. The 31st was in 2019, a terribly long absence of the "World's leading fair for classic cars" and so on, as they call themselves in all modesty. BMW Classic had chosen to show up a month later in Stuttgart, so the terrain was left to the BMW Classic & Type Club Section. Ten clubs did their best to build a decent booth, generously supported by BMW Classic. Attendance was quite good, given that visitors (and exhibitors) were not used to large indoor venues anymore. The brave were there, though, and most of us put our masks anywhere until the organiser informed us we would all get done by the local authorities.

Exhibits ranged from a 1928 Dixi Ihle Roadster to the Z8 and a K1 motorcycle. We had several M models as well as an untouched early 528 E12, all brought by club members.

The BMW E3 Club presented a beautiful 1972 3.0 S in Malaga with grey cloth interior, a rare colour in Germany and the most delicate interior of all. The owner calls it a "driver", everybody else disagrees. It was strategically placed near the 3.15 CSL so everybody had to take notice. The owner of the CSL, by the way, loved it that much how well his car was received that he also took it to Stuttgart a month later.

Several BMW Group Classic people paid our booth a visit and liked it which is good for us BMW Clubs. We were most suprised that Trevor Dean showed up, de facto the head of the BMW Clubs International Council, after David de Bruyn's sad passing. He came all the way from New Zealand to Germany for the Techno-Classica. He may have had other appointments, too. Trevor also kindly joined in when BMW Classic did their BCCM Live podcast on our booth. Note: If any of you has seen and recorded it I'd be most grateful to get a copy. BCCM Live really is live, there are no official copies.

You may have read it elsewhere: For me, the Techno-Classica was halfway during a ten-week marathon and the first large fair in ages. Taking good pictures was just impossible.

 

[CSBM5]

Awesome, thanks! The E3 looks fantastic. The wheels appear to be 7"x14"? The outer lip just looks too large be be the standard and similarly appearing BMW wheel from the era. I know Alpina made 7x14 wheels for a while, but I don't think these are them.

Any more pictures??

 

[Christoph]

All correct. The wheels are 7"x14" Alpina style, early version. To my mind, Alpina had them produced at Ronal and BMW at FPS (Pedrini). Alpina wheels never show the manufacturer, BMW wheels do. The only noteable difference between the wheels on E3 and E9 is the inner circle which should have been painted black, of course. As the owner of our 3.0 S says, the car is only a driver.

 

[Markos]

Alpina wheels never show the manufacturer, BMW wheels do.

I’m not sure what you mean by show, but Alpina wheels produced by Ronal have “Ronal” cast on the back of the spoke. Alpina wheels produced by BBS have “BBS” cast into the lug area. I’m not sure if/when the 14” wheels were produced by Ronal. The early 5 hole CSL alpinas shown above have no manufacturer cast into the spokes.

 

[Christoph]

Not sure I understand exactly. I was only referring to the 7"x14" as shown in the pictures, not to later or larger wheels. Alpina used at least two different versions, with or without extra holes between the lug holes. I've seen cast stamps from '73, '74 & '78 so far when looking. Not enough attention paid, you may say. Last year I inspected and bought a set for a friend but cannot remember a hint to the manufacturer.

What I meant foremostly are the signs on the outside of the wheel. If the wheels (7"x14") were produced for BMW, the inner circle shows the BMW sign as well as the FPS sign or whoever cast them. BMW must have begun using them (& having them cast) in 1971 for the first CSL, my guess. Wheels as pictured produced for Alpina seem to show only the word "ALPINA" on the inner circle but not the company that made them. From the outside I have looked at quite some sets and not seen anything except for "ALPINA". On early wheels it looked just like the font here, later wheels had a wider design font.

What I noticed, at least, are differences in readability of the lug circle marks. On Alpina wheels it seems usually poor. BMW wheels are mostly better. The nicest and clearest are the 6"x14" BMW by FPS wheels for E3 & E9. Don't know, again, about the E12 and on 6"x14", however.

My apologies for any confusion caused by my post or posts.

 

[E3-3.0Si]

The fairs are alive! From March 23 to 27 the Techno-Classica in Essen opened for the 32nd time. The 31st was in 2019, a terribly long absence of the "World's leading fair for classic cars" and so on, as they call themselves in all modesty. BMW Classic had chosen to show up a month later in Stuttgart, so the terrain was left to the BMW Classic & Type Club Section. Ten clubs did their best to build a decent booth, generously supported by BMW Classic. Attendance was quite good, given that visitors (and exhibitors) were not used to large indoor venues anymore. The brave were there, though, and most of us put our masks anywhere until the organiser informed us we would all get done by the local authorities.

Exhibits ranged from a 1928 Dixi Ihle Roadster to the Z8 and a K1 motorcycle. We had several M models as well as an untouched early 528 E12, all brought by club members.

The BMW E3 Club presented a beautiful 1972 3.0 S in Malaga with grey cloth interior, a rare colour in Germany and the most delicate interior of all. The owner calls it a "driver", everybody else disagrees. It was strategically placed near the 3.15 CSL so everybody had to take notice. The owner of the CSL, by the way, loved it that much how well his car was received that he also took it to Stuttgart a month later.

Several BMW Group Classic people paid our booth a visit and liked it which is good for us BMW Clubs. We were most suprised that Trevor Dean showed up, de facto the head of the BMW Clubs International Council, after David de Bruyn's sad passing. He came all the way from New Zealand to Germany for the Techno-Classica. He may have had other appointments, too. Trevor also kindly joined in when BMW Classic did their BCCM Live podcast on our booth. Note: If any of you has seen and recorded it I'd be most grateful to get a copy. BCCM Live really is live, there are no official copies.

You may have read it elsewhere: For me, the Techno-Classica was halfway during a ten-week marathon and the first large fair in ages. Taking good pictures was just impossible.
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I recognise a few people here

 

[skully]