Europe’s Tuning Zeitgeist At The Essen Motor Show 2025
It’s the sign of the end of another great motoring year in Europe as the Essen Motor Show returns. With 57 years of history, it’s become a tradition for the Essen Motor Show to conclude the year’s automotive events in central Europe. And with the notoriety and its ability to cultivate the highlights of Europe’s car scene of all genres under one roof, it’s always a great way to end the year.
They have it all, from classic race cars and grassroots motorsport to stance builds and modern supercars - Essen Motor Show features everything from the European car scene that you could think of. This year would be the fifth Essen Motor Show that I’ve visited. While the scene changes each year, they’ve maintained continuity and familiarity throughout, and you can always expect an eclectic experience that reflects the current European automotive zeitgeist.
The bread and butter of the Essen Motor Show would be the industry showcase that spans two halls filled with everything automotive-related, including lifestyle products, audio equipment, wraps, wheels, exhaust and other performance aftermarket parts - everything you could ask for. Of course, you will see many of the latest and greatest performance cars on display at the industry showcase. The new BMW M5 is the hottest new thing and is dominating the halls this year.
To stand out from all the other vendors, companies will pull out all the stops to attract eyeballs, and my highlight this year has to be this Porsche 911 GT3 from Z Performance Wheels, which is covered with over a million crystals. Whether you love it or hate it, you can’t deny the attention this car demands. It just looks insane!
JP Performance is also a booth that always stands out in the halls of Essen Motor Show. With an ever growing social media presence and new ambitions, JP Performance never ceases to lift the standard for automotive builds in Germany. You’d think that the Pandem widebody Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 and fully built R34 GT-R is enough to steal the show, but you’d be quickly proven wrong.
Each year they always bring out something that’s truly one-of-one. And this year's highlight is a work in progress with custom welder Meister Megerle - a fully custom Jaguar E-Type that’s presented in its rawest form with unpainted panels and fresh welds.
A constant every year is the “Tune It! Safe!” campaign from the German Association of Automotive Tuner (Verband der Automobil Tuner e.V.) with collaboration with the state police and support from the German ministry of transport and Hankook tires. This year’s campaign car, an S650-generation Ford Mustang GT by the tuner STEEDA, made its way to the booth right around the time that I was browsing the hall. It’s quite a contrast to see an American muscle car in German police uniform for the campaign, but it isn’t the first one they’ve used for this role.
The TuningXperience in hall 5 has always been my jam - with roughly 150 cars from private owners on display in this hall, this curation showcases the zeitgeist of Europe’s tuning scene and the current taste of the culture. Although stanced cars dominate hall 5, Ringtools like the Team Schirmer built, S55-swapped BMW E36 also take space here. Not to mention a few all-out racecars like the time attack 2JZ Mazda RX-7 - a sacrilege to rotary fans perhaps, but it sure is one of the highlights of the hall.
Two more halls are dedicated to classic car displays as well as vintage automotive amenities - model cars, brochures, posters, you name it. Though be aware, you will be enticed to spend money when you visit one of these booths and see the wonderful prints of iconic cars of the past - like yours truly who walked away with a 1974 Porsche 911 brochure, a full catalogue of the 1985 911 Carrera 3.2, complete with paint samples, and a Japanese brochure of the Honda Beat, whoops.
The western hall of Messe Essen is filled with more industry showcases from big brands like ADAC, KW Suspension, Mercedes-Benz and the Nürburgring. One thing I noticed was the absence of the rows of historic DTM race cars that usually occupy one corner of this area, which I think is a missed opportunity.
With over 500 exhibitors from 23 countries, it's overwhelming to take in the whole of the Essen Motor Show in just one day. With so much going on at once, it's easy to miss the hundreds of hours that went into every build - but that’s the nature of a car show of this scale. That's why the show runs for a week, attracting visitors from across the continent to experience Europe's highlights.