BBS at Bimmer Invasion, Dezerland Park

I met the organizers of Bimmer Invasion a few years ago, in the midst of the Covid pandemic. One of the members had inquired about LMs for his F80 a few weeks earlier and went on to purchase them from Euromotive Performance and scheduled the installation on a day I would be in the area.

I went to the shop during the installation to meet Ken Fong (IG: @thedailydriven) and the rest of the group. Ken was passionate about filming educational videos for the BMW community and showed me some videos they had shot. Watching his content quickly hooked me as I had set up a makeshift studio in my house to shoot some content for BBS and requested his assistance.

I invited Ken and the team over one Saturday to pick their brains for shooting photos. That is how it all started. During that Saturday, we talked about their plans to organize BMW events to bring the community together in Florida.

I wasn’t surprised when they called me and invited BBS and I to their first event in Melbourne, Florida in 2021. Attending that event convinced me that they had all the tools to put together a great BMW event.

In February of 2022, BBS sponsored the BMW Invasion of Orlando event and realized that the guys at BMW Invasion had found the formula for organizing a strong BMW event that brings the community together. Last year’s event at Dezerland Park was a great success, so it was a no-brainer when they asked if I would be interested in sponsoring the event this year.

It was an unusually chilly and windy day on February 18, 2023, when we arrived for the setup of Bimmer Invasion 2023 (formally known as the BMW Invasion). The tents needed some stakes to hold them down because the wind was strong enough to send tents that were not secure sailing.

Despite the name change, the event drew a big audience with over 4000 in attendance. Over 1500 passionate BMW owners showed up to display their cars inside and outside Dezerland Park. There were over 30 repeat sponsors and over 20 new sponsors on hand with setups of new activations.

There was an exhaust sound-off competition and a burnout competition. There were judges on hand to judge the following events: Best of Show, Best Wrap, Best Engine Bay, Best Interior, Best Classic BMW, Best Coupe, Best Sedan, Best Convertible, Best Wagon, Best M, Best Non-M, Best A90 Supra Best Modern BMW, and Best Wheels. There were prizes for first and second place only. The BBS display featured a BMW F90 M5 on FI-R and a BMW F30 335i. We laid some giveaway items along with some BBS merch and accessories for sale.

The activity in the booth was fast-moving. Many show attendees stopped by to buy their favorite BBS merch and inquired about our new BBS Unlimited wheel mounting system. As the day warmed up we got busier and stayed active throughout the rest of the show.

The BMW F90 M5 on display at our booth was fitted with a custom-painted set of 21” FI-R in BBS White Gold on Michelin Pilot Sport 4. Christos Kantzavelos (IG: @FSHNGRY) had a stunning car with a KW HAS kit, Dinan tension links, and ball joints, Eventuri intakes and inlets, Eisenmann Downpipes, and an M Performance Titanium exhaust system. The M5 was so well equipped and so loved by fans and judges alike, that it was voted the Best Modern BMW of the show.

A BMW E46 M3 on display at the PSI booth fitted with BBS E88 Motorsport wheels in a custom black-on-black finish was voted the Best Wheels of the show.

Unfortunately, our BMW F30 335i belonging to Michael Keavney (IG: @carswithkeav) with custom chameleon green wrap with CI-R wheels, did not make it into the contest after it was damaged by a flying tent from another vendor. It sustained scratches to the rear driver-side pillar and the rear carbon fiber wing.

There were activations from leading companies in and out of the industry:

CSF Cooling was on hand with cars on display from Titan Motorsport, a respected tuner from the Orlando area.

LiquiMoly was the title sponsor and had multiple activations inside and outside.

Many tuner shops from across the country set up activations and came to network with the manufacturers that were displaying at the show. Companies like Kies Motorsports (who also had multiple vehicles inside and outside of the event) and Uro Tuning were two outstanding shops that displayed at the event. Bryan Kies from Kies Motorsports and Jeremy from Uro Tuning both stopped by the BBS booth to see our new BBS Unlimited wheel system. All were impressed by the system, which piqued their interest in joining the BBS family of dealers to sell our entire line of wheels including BBS Unlimited.

Companies unrelated to the BMW community saw value in attending and setting up activations.  Keller Williams and Bang Energy Drinks were two notable companies to take interest in the event and had their own tent and display. Other notable companies were: Valvetronic, Active Autowerke, PSI, Uro Tuning, Kies Motorsport, Thompson Auto, Clean Culture, RPI, Moton, Gloss Revolution, and Dynamic BMW.

There were international vendors and visitors that came from, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, England, Spain, and Jamaica.

 

The 2023 Bimmer Invasion of Orlando was a great success, and you can expect BBS to be there in 2024.