Whatever happen to ac schnitzer and hamann?

[monterey]

They were big when i had my last bimmer now i don't hear anyone using them anymore.

[shimmy23]

still big in a retro sense IMO. Lots of guys still running their stuff, but as throwback. thats how I see it.

posting a pic of a hamann car to make this thread section appropriate.

[Rat3d ///M]

They are big in Germany. I just did a tour of AC Schnitzer last summer and there was a tour of Hamann as well (didn't get to go on that one though). My M3 had AC S pedals when I sold it.

[KwlAznKid]

wow i sort of forgot about them, I remember they were huge when i had my e46s lol i even had quite a few acs parts haha

[Solo_M_Tech]

The market has been flooded with thousands of cheaper companies and kinda pushed them back into a european market only. They are kinda like the Euro Dinan tuners. They are still doing things but since they are higher end/ higher priced and have a smaller following.

[eroc0808]

I'd have to say Uber///m nailed it. I've been in the aftermarket industry for 25 years and sadly once eBay and ecommerce came about, many good quality manufacturers got swept under the rug. It's become a challenge to find anyone who makes a quality product because anyone that did make great stuff got beat by guys sitting on their couch importing absolute crap from overseas and selling it from their living room for 1/16 the price. Now when you complain of the product not working or fitting all they have to say is whoever installed it did it wrong, and it's Installers fault. Lol. Good rule of thumb, if the companies main phone line is a cell phone, run far away. Bottom line you get what you pay for and most people don't care what they get as long as they can say "look how much I saved!" So people capitalize on that. I am definitely not one of those people and demand quality so I seek it out. I wish eBay would burn to the ground personally. Quality control just doesn't exist anymore. It's cheaper just to argue with angry customers on the phone who were fooled into thinking there $200 carbon acs replica should be as nice as the way more expensive original. Sorry for the rant.

[Blindside_137]

While the above posters aren't wrong, they would have a lot more business if all their stuff wasn't so ugly.

[Rat3d ///M]

Originally Posted by Blindside_137

While the above posters aren't wrong, they would have a lot more business if all their stuff wasn't so ugly.

Agreed. Im not a fan of AC Schnitzer's cosmetic crap, in fact the only reason I had the pedals (the only AC Schnitzer part I had on my car) is because a guy I knew here in Germany was selling the pedals for a damn good price ($100) brand new, and I bought the dead pedal after the fact just so I had a matching set. That being said, they are a quality company and they make quality stuff. Some of it is ugly, but quality nonetheless.

[sterile stork]

Part of the decline of these companies is their adherence to a dated styling persona--if you look at the product offerings they brought to market for the E92 you'd quickly get the sense that the pieces were merely larger versions of pieces from the E36-era. Unfortunately they quit innovating and kept with the same formula that suited them back in the late 90's early 00's.

[Edward]

I kind of see these tuners as the type that can put together an entire modded car pretty well but for a very expensive price. People these days, especially the ones who aren't just looking to blindly throw money at a unique solution like to come up with their own builds taking the best from what everyone has to offer.

The best performing and subjectively best looking build would probably utilize components from 7 or more companies.

[sterile stork]

Originally Posted by Edward

I kind of see these tuners as the type that can put together an entire modded car pretty well but for a very expensive price. People these days, especially the ones who aren't just looking to blindly throw money at a unique solution like to come up with their own builds taking the best from what everyone has to offer.

The best performing and subjectively best looking build would probably utilize components from 7 or more companies.

Moreover companies like IND, GMG, Performance Tech, etc. exist that have proven on many occasions to be far more capable of generating awe-inspiring builds by sourcing parts from multiple vendors, the best of the best sort of thing as opposed to the jack of all trades mentality of the ACS and Hamanns.

[SheaButter]

Because you'd have to be an idiot to spend over $2k on an AC Schnitzer front lip, knowing it's only a matter of time before it takes road damage... (Points to self). I'm actually really happy with the lip, but I'd never buy it again due to it being so expensive for something that's ultimately going to get destroyed by a rock....