Monster Beats Solo HD vs. Bowers & Wilkins P5

I am a huge fan of my Monster Beats Solo HD by Dr. Dre. You might have noticed that already. I love the design, the colors, the thick cables and—of course—the phat sound. Although the quality is really crappy (I had to fix my headband and ear pads with (double-sided) duct tape), I never thought I would ditch 'em. Till that moment Bowers & Wilkins asked me if I would like to give their P5 headphones a shot.

To be honest: The conservative design of the P5 is not my cup of tea. Maybe I am not old enough for Bowers & Wilkins' restrained and classical design. But the quality of their luxury materials is unbelievably high. Ok, as I pull off the cables of my Monster Beats minimum three times a day (when the cable gets caught by door handles, for example), I will see how often I can do that with the P5.

Bowers & Wilkins gave me a pair of their headphones to play with them on my flight to Detroit. So I had enough time to compare them with my Monster Beats. The sound of the P5 is incredible. Once you get "used" to it. To explain it with an example: You probably know what it is like when you switch between snapping photos in a camera program mode and shooting raws. At that moment you shoot your first raws, your images looks pale, kinda washed out and somehow boring. But they are looking natural. No hotted up eye candy.

In comparison with switching your camera settings it is the same when you compare Monster Beats with Bowers & Wilkins P5. At the first moment the P5 may sound too soft. But it will not take long and you will not miss the typical "American" sound of Monster Beats any longer. But you will love the pure sound of Bowers & Wilkins. 

Will I send them back to Bowers & Wilkins? No siree. I will case-mod 'em!

NAIAS 2012: Detroit Out Of Focus

I just had to borrow thess beautiful photos from Dylan Culhane my travelling companion Kai Petermann just posted on his brand-new site "For Love And Glory". They are just gorgeous. Please make sure you do not only pay Dylan Culhane a visit, but also Kai's main site stilsucht.de. Kai is by far one of the best truffle pigs I know out there, and if you want to know what is hot and fresh – just follow him. In this regard, Kai, you make me blush. Thanks for your opening "For Love And Glory"-article!

While Kai has been in Detroit with Ford, I was invited by Mercedes-Benz – as a guest of their tradtional New Year's Reception and to be present at the unveiling of their new generation Mercedes-Benz SL. As soon as my Aperture has navigated me through my pictures, I will post some details. 

Needless to say the SL is a beauty, isn't it?

Continental Extreme: Chromjuwelen En Route Travelogue

You may still remember our last Chromjuwelen En Route tour called "Continental Extreme". And if you do so, you probably wonder what happened to us and our self-attempt with the 1964 Imperial Crown. And why you have never heard any time later about that project. Here is the simple answer: It took us donkey's years to sight our material. And to understand what happened. In Los Angeles, in Las Vegas, in Dubai.

3000 photos and several hard drives filled with video material later we get a breath of an idea: WE HAD A BLAST! We just published our (German) travelogue, including a selection of 332 photos ("Los Angeles, Las Vegas (SEMA 2011)", "Dubai (Dubai Motor Show)"). So is time to get lost. Our Chromjuwelen En Route Road Movie will follow in January. 

At this point we would like to thank once again some guys for their help:

• Klaus Rasch (race-dezert.com): Thanks for helping us buying and overhauling the Mopar! And thanks for feeling like home every time we are in LA.

• Mike Musto (mrangryinc.com, ridelust.com): Dude. This has been the fourth time (!) I was trying to ride your #§%#* Winged Warrior. And I failed again. It must be jinxed. But you know what? I will keep on trying. Hell Yeah.

• Frederik Faidhi (select-nano.ae): If you will ever be in Deutschland ... can you help us polishing our Imperial Crown? Just kidding. Thanks for your open sesame!

• Phil McGovern (crankandpiston.com): Damn. We have to come back. And not only for the reason we have to do this dune thing with you guys.

Mates – we take a bow.

Mission: Impossible 4 Ghost Protocol, BMW Munich

"Mission: Impossible 4 – Ghost Protocol (Phantom Protkoll)" just had it's European premiere in Munich, at the BMW Welt. Accompanied by Tom Cruise aka Ethan Hunt, Paula Patton, und Simon Pegg I had the privilege to enjoy massive explosions, fabulous car chases and tons of sci-fi gadgets.

Usually we meet a lot of brand officials at events like these – but it seemed BMW, our host, followed the movie motto "Ghost Protocol" at that evening. Well – if anybody @BMW reads this: Thank you for the invitation!

Jo Fischer: Calendar 2012

We are not the biggest fans of "calendars". But there are always some exceptions. Like this one. This one is a MUST HAVE — regardless of whether you hang it to your wall or use it as a "coffee table calendar". The point is: there will not be a better opportunity to get 13 Jo Fischer photographs for a special rate of EUR 39,-.

When Jo Fischer and Jörg Heikhaus aka Heliumcowboy Artspace asked us to "fuel" Jo's Calendar we did not have to think twice. Jo has shot a ton of breathtaking photos for us — Agnostic Front, VW Berlin, Ken Block, Jesse James, B.J. Baldwin — so it is a matter of honor for us to support him.

Head over to Heliumcowboy Artspace to place your order. 

Chromjuwelen Brand Ambassadorship extended by Continental

Holy cow! Our Chromjuwelen Brand Ambassadorship just has been extended for another year by Continental. If you don't fear a German article, follow this link.

We could not be prouder. That's awesome!

Busted!

Yeop, we've finally met our soulmates from Crank & Piston in person (... as you can undoubtedly see). They are doing an amazing job — head over to their awesome site an get lost!

* Note to self: Send an invoice to Monster Headphones for product placement ... 

Chromjuwelen En Route: Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Dubai

The most stupid mistake you ever can make? Buy a typical "needs some TLC" and "runs and drives" car and hope it will take you from A to B. Ha – we just did that. Deliberately. In our case A is Los Angeles, B stands for Las Vegas. And the car is a 1964 Chrysler Imperial Crown. Mopar or no car.

We are in preparation for take-off. Our mission is to shoot another Chromjuwelen Road Movie. Destinations: Los Angeles (October 31 till November 2), Las Vegas (SEMA Show; November 3-6), Dubai (Dubai Motor Show; November 7-12). Motto: Continental Extreme.

If you are interested how far the Imp' will take us – or if wanna join us – just hook up on our Instagram, Tumblr or Twitter. Btw, we are still looking for car culture stories in Dubai (underground, drift, off-road). Unfortunately our contact to Dubai is broken down. If you have got a tip, just shoot us an email!

Oldtimer-Tankstelle Brandshof

Hamburg's hottest place in town: Oldtimer-Tankstelle Brandshof. Just hit one of the images for more photos.

Continental and Chromjuwelen at the IBM Social Business JamCamp

I just had the honor of being one of the keynote speakers at the IBM Sociel Business JamCamp. Yep — IBM. My job: presenting our Continental Brand Ambassadorship, which we hold since over a year. And explaining how we use "Social Media". 

It was very interesting. We are used to present our work to potential partners, but this was our first time we showcased our work in a completely differnt "social" context. Just in case you are interested — here are my (German) slides.

Oh, btw, thanks for the picture, Nicole!

Mercedes-Benz: COMAND Online Apps

A few weeks ago Mercedes-Benz invited my wife — who works as a contributing editor for an UK based lifestyle magazine for over ten years now — to Palo Alto. For those who aren't familiar with all the interwebs tech talk: Palo Alto is kind of the epicenter of all the Silicon Valley high-technology companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Tesla Motors, Facebook and Google. When Mercedes-Benz founded the Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, Inc. in 1994, the headquarter in Palo Alto was the first Research & Development Center of an automotive company in Silicon Valley.

Mercedes-Benz invited selected media people to provide insight into their latest tweaks of their multimedia System "COMAND Online". Only a few months after the launch of the new multimedia generation, Mercedes-Benz is extending the range of integrated apps: new apps for Facebook, for Google Streetview and Google Panoramio will be available for COMAND Online from this autumn. Additional apps which have already been introduced are Google Local Search and Weather and the facility for downloading a route which has previously been configured on a PC using Google Maps and transmitted to the car.

Over a dozen additional apps are planned in the medium term. These are currently under development, in some instances in collaboration with innovative start-ups such as the US talk radio operator Stitcher, the Twitter short message service and the popular music providers Pandora in the USA or Aupeo in Germany, for example. The new apps will be usable by all customers who drive a Mercedes-Benz with COMAND Online and will be provided by Mercedes-Benz via the so called Daimler Backend Server — so customers can update their COMAND Online without going to a Mercedes-Benz dealer. An overview specifying the telephones on which the COMAND Online apps can be used is available at the website www.mercedes-benz.com/connect.

For sure, I am not the target group — as I use all those apps already on my mobile phone. But for everyone else, who is not such a nerd as I am, this is just a perfect way to get hands on the mobile internet.

Err ... wait a second ... can I jailbreak it?

Style Deluxe Opening Hamburg

A few shabby snapshots of Olli's shop opening (Style Deluxe Hamburg) I took with my mobile phone. The event was sorta family gathering — all the top nobs found their way to Style Deluxe's new location in Hamburg Bergedorf. Sourkrauts/Volksrodderz, BSG Racing, Faust & Heisler, Motoraver, Heliumcowboy, Jo Fischer, Cars From USA, Jens Dell´Ali, Carlos Kélla, Reinhard Garbers, Jules ... to name but a few.

Mr. Kaps, Mr. Cremer — Chapeau!

ADAC Trentino Classic, Italy

We just had a blast racing with Dirk Hattenhauer (Sonax, BSG Racing) in a souped-up 1977 Opel Ascona B through Italy (first photo). Our friends from Sonax invited us to accompany them on the ADAC Trentino Classic. To see all photos just hit one of the images above. Or follow this gallery link.

New Family Chromjuwel: 1972 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE 3.5

I just bought a new family jalopy. A 1972 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE 3.5 (W 108 S-Class).

This car – which was owned and driven by Helge "Motoraver" Thomsen and Felix "Kiez Kustoms" Hertel before – is a stunning beauty. Perfect patina, superb (rocker-)résumé, Mercedes-Benz V8. I think I am in love ...

Back to Daddy

Blame it on me. I am a bad person. I abused my 1972 Pontiac "LeSupra" LeMans – I left it outside.

The reason for this inexcusable outrage is I was shilly-shallying how to proceed with this project. When I brought the Pontiac to Oliver "Style Deluxe" Kaps, our intention was to do some body modifications and to create a mind blowing paint job. But in the meantime we figured out that there was still too much technical work to be done. As it would be batsh*t to paint the car first and tear out the drivetrain afterwards, I said: "Er ... wait a moment, let me think ...". This moment took me far too long, which is obvious when you see the pictures above.

Another thing was that Michael Wolf, the Dr. Frankenstein behind this incredible engine swap monster, never finished his work. And it was also me, who is responsible for this. I wanted to drive that car, although I knew it was not finished. To cut a long story short: the car just returned home to West Coast Resto, so Michael Wolf can finish his masterpiece. Which was high time I did this.

10. Hamburger Stadtpark-Revival 2011

Just a few snapshots from the 10. Hamburger Stadtpark-Revival. For more photos follow this link. 

Again and again it is astonishining, how much Motorkultur is around Hamburg. And how much people are taking care of it. Impressive.

Mercedes-Benz & Friends, Berlin Tempelhof

Prior to their huge "Mercedes-Benz & Friends" event in Berlin Tempelhof we had the privilege of discussing with Mercedes-Benz what it takes to be a "cool" (Young Classics) brand. The meeting took place in a small circle in their stunning Berlin Gallery. As we usually travel long distancies in our 1970 Mercedes-Benz W 109 we might be a little prejudiced regarding that question ...

Just hit one of the images above to visit our "Mercedes-Benz & Friends" gallery.

Decim8

I think I've fallen in love. With Decim8. As everybody is applying retro or vintage effects to images, this handy little app decimates them. Yeop—it destroys them. It makes your images look like a "corrupt JPEG on a dying hard drive". 

If you are a fan of streamlined pop music, get a Hipstamatic. If you get inspired from Throbbing Gristle (video above), Frontline Assembly or Trent Reznor, get Decim8.

Mercedes-Benz Brand Workshop

A couple of days ago, we were invited by Mercedes-Benz for a "brand workshop". We had a fabulous guided tour through the stunning Mercedes-Benz Museum, visited the design department and test drove a lot of cars. Just follow this link for more pictures.

The first car we tested — voluntarily — was the Smart Electric Drive. We had a lot of discussions regarding this car recently, so it was a good opportunity to form our own opinion. Um ... well ... interesting. But to be honest: most fun we had with the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. I think we can't hide our origin. The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG is a wonderful beast.

Gotta Go

A couple of days ago I had the pleasure to meet Roger Miret. He gave a concert in Hamburg with his band Agnostic Front and visited his Rumblers C.C. Chapter Hamburg.

For a full story (written in German) just follow this link.