Thoughts on B-fest 09

This was only my second bimmerfest, so based on my experience this year's event was great! The weather was perfect and the people were chilled out. I think it far exceeded 2008 in some important ways:

1. Excellent, picturesque, virtually dust-free location
2. Abundant parking for everyone
3. Great selection of vendors and specialty booths
4. BMW NA was present (I think that's big)
5. The most incredible selection of BMWs in one place I've ever seen (including a perfectly resto'd 507)
6. Nice t-shirt
7. FOOD & BEER!

I think there were a couple of generous raffle prizes. What would you guys think of actually paying a nominal price for the tickets next year? There wasn't much incentive for anyone to hang around til the end, and as a result the raffle was a bit anticlimactic. All in all, the organizers deserve thanks high praise for a job well done! I got bimmerfest on my calender as an annual tradition.

I agree with the general theme of most people.

-Great event - best location ever!
-The german food+beer was awesome (brat+warsteiner)
-We really need to get the parking organized (sort by series, e-code, year, motor, etc. - the more the better)
-Have the awards and raffle done much earlier (noon!)
-Enforce the rules (no revving, no dogs, whatever. if you don't enforce trouble will escalate every year)
-Have more events (where was Steve Dinan's lecture this year? How-to's would also be great)

Either way, I'll be back next year!

Originally Posted by thxalot

I agree with the general theme of most people.

-Great event - best location ever!
-The german food+beer was awesome (brat+warsteiner)
-We really need to get the parking organized (sort by series, e-code, year, motor, etc. - the more the better)
-Have the awards and raffle done much earlier (noon!)
-Enforce the rules (no revving, no dogs, whatever. if you don't enforce trouble will escalate every year)
-Have more events (where was Steve Dinan's lecture this year? How-to's would also be great)

Either way, I'll be back next year!

Well normally I'd agree with this.
But this time I don't quite.
Being that I have friends who drive the new E9x or a E39 and I drive a E46.
We like to park next to eachother to hangout and have our cars next to eachother.

Other then that. Everything else sounds good.
Although I wasn't even aware of another food area or drinks on the other side.
So maybe I'd like that to be more clear of where everything is.
Like the little event paper they gave us at the entrance would be nice if there was a venue map on it. So that we knew where everything was.

Originally Posted by MalibuMafiaV

That's what bimmefest started out to be.
And I like that feel. I'm pretty sure that's what bimmerfest is suppose to be anyhow
One giant BMW meet. Not a car show with tons of events going on.
I don't want it to turn into a hot import nights show of retardedness.

Nobody wants that!

I just wanted more "BMW-ness" out of Bimmerfest. To me if felt more like a import car meet than a Bimmerfest.
We dont want a bunch of flashy concerts or events but it would be nice to have some more BMW related workshops and speakers. Definitely something to keep the crowd there most of the day.
It seems like from other posts on this subject that some of my complaints were not warranted since there was German food but then that prompts me to bring up another complaint: Need to better inform the entrants (that are paying $40-$20 per car) where everything is on the field!

Overall, it was ok. Just not great in my book.

Originally Posted by Missmodena310

yea me too i was gonna bring my princess but heard you couldnt bring dogs

yeah i was going to bring my two pits since they LOVE riding a long with me.

well this was my first bimerfest and i will have to say its not my last.....i had a blast being out there it was fun...the drive from ontario to LA was dope ty smilez for organizing that and the drive from LA to SB was insane and the show was dope seeing everyone's car and putting faces to cars .........i am for sure gonna be back next year with a better looking e46 lol

This was my 1st Bimmerfest. I had a great time & loved all the Beautifuls(my name for BMW's). I agree $6 for a beer IS too much. They said we were not allowed to bring our own drinks in, but some buddies of mine brought their own and no one bothered them at all. It was absolutely an awesome event and being on the grass was nice.

The only "bad" part of it was right when we drove in and were parking a man wearing a jacket that said BIMMERFEST on it was directing cars and he told me to follow three M3's, drive past the camara crew and park in the front. He said they liked my car, a 1 series, and wanted to use it in a short film. So I began following the M3's and a guy in a golfcart came driving up, fast and screaming at me to turn around, yelling I was going the wrong way, stay where I was supposed to be...I told him I had been directed over there. He screamed back, "He doesn't work here. Don't listen to him!" He was a complete asshole and it kind of bummed me out.

Other than that it was a blast!

Originally Posted by MalibuMafiaV

My thoughts.

1. Needs more then one food stand. Line was way to long and it was impossible to get food.

2. I think some sort of shade tents with chairs/tables provided would of been good.
It was getting hot and I got burned! ow lol.

3. Entry fee was WAY to much $40s?? $20 was already to much before. But $40.... that's a bit crazy.
I understand the venue is probably much more expensive to rent etc...
But the sponsors / company booths should be paying for that.

Other then that stuff.
I had a great time! There was so many more cars and so much more to do. I didn't even have enough time to walk around everywhere to look at all the cars.

#2 is a good idea I got burnt too. So did everyone else I know that attended, even with sunscreen on.

Originally Posted by Ashleigh

#2 is a good idea I got burnt too. So did everyone else I know that attended, even with sunscreen on.

lol it was raining when we were driving up there so i figured i didnt need sunscreen and left it in my car and got burned like no other lol

My first Bimmerfest and I would like to share my two cents.

Read lots of complaints about parking costs. Just make registration a requirement up to the last week before the show, for those that do register pay $20, $40 for those that did not register. You could give the option to prepay online if they KNOW they will be there.

Centralize the food....one area for all the food with a large marked canopy.

Move the Sponsors and Vendors to the outside perimeter to give more space for "show" vehicles and booths

I would have liked to see more separation of models, but understand its not the easiest when you have a line of 100 cars waiting to get in.
Even separating by 3, 5, 7 and other might be a bit better. I guess the car owners can help out with this and schedule mini caravans to the show, that way more if the same models arrive at the same time and park together.....like the 320s
A lot of cars got lost in the mix because of poor placement.....some of the guys directing parking traffic placed cars badly. Some were placed front to front or crooked.
More volunteers could help with this and even help with separating models, a volunteer meeting the day before would keep everyone on same page. The volunteers cars could each be placed where the beginning of a line would be. Of course the volunteers would have to arrive early and would not have to pay for entrance.

the show was great and looking forward to going next year.

Some good feedback here, and I like how everyone liked this year after what it was like last year.