Tuning World Bodensee 2024

Tuning World Bodensee is not only one of the biggest events on the car show calendar, it’s the biggest tuning show in the whole of Europe. Often dubbed the European SEMA, this extravaganza of all things aftermarket takes over the whole of the world famous Messe Friedrichshafen, a simply enormous convention centre in Southern Germany. Basically, if you have anything to do with the tuning world here in Europe - be that car builds, manufacturing, offering services, or producing the world's best detailing products - this really is the place to show off what you do. And it means that of course we’d be here… and it’s got nothing to do with having an amazing time last year at Tuning World 2023, either. Well, maybe a little.

Anyway, this year the show was the second stop on our 2024 European Tour, not long after hitting the awesome XS CarNight in Umag, Croatia. But the good news is that all this meant we could ship some of the best projects on the AF feet on a huge car transporter directly from the south, while simultaneously towing our AirStream pop up store all the way from the UK. Suffice to say that this time we’d be laying on a bigger stand than ever, including appearances from our V3 VW Caddy, and two fully-stocked stores – the big American Trailer AND our new-look VW T2 Bus Shop. Just to help bring the queues down for all those essential detailing products. Yep, it's all part of the service.

But that’s not all. With our Pandem Yaris GR displayed elsewhere at the show, and our 1954 Chevy being invited to go head-to-head with the best builds in Europe in the prestigious European Tuning Showdown competition, we had plenty to do just to get the stand set up, the stores stocked up and all the vehicles looking their best for this awesome event. Then again, this is exactly what we do, right?

What with over 1500 of the best tuner cars on the planet perfectly buffed and on display, there’s no surprises that there’s not only quite a bit to see, but it takes quite some time to get round the whole event. It's no wonder that it’s open for a full 4 days, eh?

Now, as you’d expect most of the cars were from the German stable, this is their manor after all, but there was one or two other surprises, too. And why we couldn’t possibly show you everything we loved, here’s a bumper gallery of some of our favourites and all the other stuff going on over this 4-day weekend…

And about our Chevy and that European Tuning Showdown… well, we only went and won it!

For such a prestigious competition it’s quite the achievement for us and our 1954 Chevy Stepside. And we’re proud to say that taking the title, while completely unexpected, not only makes us all extremely proud it’s a fitting testament to the hard work put in by everyone involved in the build over the last few years.

This particular project was first conceived in 2019 for our 20 Year Anniversary and, in its original guise, it toured the UK and Europe taking on some of the biggest events for a good couple of seasons, it also became one of the biggest attractions at The Auto Finesse Detailing Academy – the project that everyone wanted to see!

More recently though, our ultimate retro pickup underwent a 2-year-long nut and bolt rebuild, along with a new bare metal paintjob and a whole load more custom touches and intricate details. What you see here is the result, and most likely the famous AF project on the whole fleet. Much more than that though, this one was built soley for our own amusement and really is part of the TeamAF family. So, with that in mind, all the prize money that comes with winning the ETS has been donated to a local children's charity.

You can see the full story on the competition and get a closer look at this money-no-object project in our article AF Chevy Stepside Scoops The Top Spot At Tuning World.

Want to see even more from the show? Of course you do so check out our exclusive video below...

So, as you can see, it was a busy weekend our in Germany for the mighty Tuning World Show, but one that was even more rewarding than most.

Thanks to everyone who attended and all those who popped by our stand to check out the cars and pick up a detailing product or two. We just can’t wait for the next one, so if you fancy it in 2025, which of course you do, keep an eye on the official Tuning World Bodensee website for everything you need to know.

In the meantime, be sure to check out the Behind The Scenes Section Of Our Blog to see more event reports from around the world, much more of our 2024 European Tour, and to keep up to date with the latest news on all things Auto Finesse.