A Beginner’s Guide To Essen Motor Show 2025

Part two of our 2025 Essen Motor Show coverage, and this time we’ve got a shift in perspective. Where Jeroen Willemsen is a veteran of the halls, Steve Edward now shares his take – from the eyes of someone much newer to the event.

– Mario Christou

The return of the Essen Motor Show (EMS) marks the end of another great motoring year in Europe.

With 57 years of history, it’s become a tradition for the EMS to conclude the year’s automotive events in central Europe. 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.

This year would be the fourth EMS that I’ve attended. 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.

There are a few ways to start your EMS experience, but my journey starts at hall 8 at the eastern entrance of Messe Essen – where the nearest subway station is. This is where you’ll be greeted with grassroots motorsports and smaller car clubs that showcase lesser-known race cars.

As you move to the neighboring hall, you’ll be greeted with the bread and butter of EMS – the industry showcase. Two halls are filled with everything automotive-related, including lifestyle products, audio equipment, wraps, wheels, exhaust and other performance aftermarket parts – everything you could ask for.

The constant every year is the “Tune It! Safe!” campaign from the German Association of Automotive Tuners (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 campaign.

Another constant at the EMS in recent years has been JP Performance.

As the country’s biggest content creator and automotive builder, JP Performance never disappoints, showcasing new neck-breaking builds like this year’s Skyline duo, as well as ongoing projects like the bare metal custom Jaguar E-Type.

The Tuning Experience in hall 5 has always been my jam – with roughly 150 cars from private owners on display in this hall, this curation represents the zeitgeist of Europe’s tuning scene and the current taste of the culture. Although it’s vastly dominated by stanced cars, 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.

But while the Tuning Experience always features a lot of new builds, some are the result of years of refinement. This Marrakesh Brown BMW Z1 on air is the work of a veteran who’s been in the German tuning scene for decades.

Certainly, you’ll see hints of the tuning taste of yesteryear like the custom fiberglass setup for the air tank in the trunk and polished chrome OZ Futura wheels – but make no mistake – this Z1 evolves every year and is among the most dedicated cars in the hall. You only need to see the leather-wrapped gas cap and struts to realize the level of detail, and this attention to detail extends to every corner of the car as nothing is left untouched. This year’s newest addition is the rare Wiesmann one of 500 hardtops that’s been color matched to the rest of the car.

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 final hall (or the first hall if you entered from the west side of Messe Essen) would be the last big hall in EMS – 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 race cars that usually occupy a corner of this area.

With over 500 exhibitors from 23 countries, it’s overwhelming to take in the whole of the EMS 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.