FORT WORTH, Tex. -- Oktoberfest goes on with or without vendors. But the relationship with BMW CCA and their sponsorship participation shaves hundreds of dollars off the true cost of attending Oktoberfest, including renting racetracks, autocross courses, and concours sites. Not to mentionproduct discounts and all those free baseball caps, T-shirts, and yellow FLIR microfiber cloths.

A highlight of Oktoberfest’s first three days, Sunday through Tuesday, included the vendor exhibits in the Fort Worth Hilton ballroom. Some two-dozen vendors showcased tires, performance parts, garage accessories, and new technologies. In some cases, one vendor wants to be THE vendor for that line of business and grumbles if a competitor wants to be part of Ofest. In the cases of tires, the more the merrier: Bridgestone, Dunlop, Michelin, and Yokohama co-existed nicely in the grand ballroom. Bridgestone sponsored the autocross – correction, autocrosses, both the Monday Bridgestone Mineral Wells Airport autocross and then, owing to scheduling conflicts that blindsided the organizers, the hasty move Tuesday to what became the Bridgestone LaGrave Field Autocross. Yokohama sponsored the Monday and Tuesday driving schools at Motorsport Ranch.

Michelin sponsored the E30 M3 reception Tuesday night. (Can’t recall which day’s reception was which? Michelin’s was the mashed-potato-cocktail (plus toppings and fillings) reception, and it was far, far better than the description suggests, especially with auxiliary roast beef and turkey carving stations. Don’t confuse that with Sunday’s cheese-and-crackers reception or Monday’s burrito station reception) Michelin also sent its transporter to the Street Survival School Wednesday, where the canopy alternately provided shelter from oppressive sunlight most of the day and the brief but vigorous morning shower that threated – for about an hour – to bring a halt to Fort Worth’s run of 90-degree October days. Dunlop sponsored Wednesday gymkhana. And Tire Rack sponsored the BMW CCA Club Races at Motorsport Ranch Saturday and Sunday that led into Ofest. It’s also a principal sponsor of Street Survival.

Technology vendors
FLIR Systems brought in a 6 Series equipped with the BMW NightVision system that uses FLIR’s thermal imaging technology that lets the driver see as much as 500 meters down the road. FLIR was also the source of the hundreds (thousands?) of yellow microfiber cleaning-and-polishing cloths.

BimmerNav showed off upgraded navigation and Bluetooth systems that let many BMWs going back to the late 1990s have the most current (give or take the iDrive versions) of navigation and Bluetooth.

BMW NA’s many roles
BMW of North America continued to provide test cars, including a fleet of 5 Series diesels (USA prototypes), for test drives. It brought in the Mobile Tradition transporter and showed off a pristine M1 and two recent vintage M3 racecars. And BMW provided the Friday night keynote speaker, erstwhile E30 M3 racer Steve Soper.

Autobahn Motorcar Group, a Fort Worth BMW dealer, had a transporter at several events and provided covered, air-conditioned workspaces for many of the hard-core concours contestants.

And many others...
See our slideshow for a rundown of Oktoberfest 2007 vendors and sponsors.

Slideshow.