Tofu Warrior

I've found the sales reports very useful in terms of getting a feel for what kind of sales pressure dealers are under, which was one of the things I used to build a case for extracting a price concessions from dealers when I bought my E60.

But this isn't something chatworthy so I agree with other members....very useful (please continue to post!!!) but not something I would have a discussion about...

ULtraPLanet

Put me down for 1 of the views and 1 of the downloads on BOTH of your posts this month. I would also be suspicious of the way they count views over there at dot org - 3700 sounds a little fishy to me.

gmartin

Like TFW I find the numbers quite useful. I don't necessarily feel they are a litmus test for Bangle. It is somewhat distressing about the last month drop in 5 sales. Many members love their cars but decreased demand may lead to lower residuals and resale values. See Depreciation Blues THread - hopefully this is not a trend.

kigerka

I enjoy the report that you produce. I also read the post you make and go from there. I oocasionaly pull the info to see what is going on. It also seems that more people are joining from other regions than the US. They may not be as interested.

Just my to ?.02

BMW.Aaron.TeamF1

Hello Fred !

I think you are doing an awesome job every month. The guys in this forum know that the place to argue and dispute the sales number for your report is over the other site ( bimmer.roadfly.org ).

pennetta

Ditto. We would like to hear about recalls, new products, and future products.

Gizmo

Lets face it.

There are a number of vocal (and in some cases, mentally challenged) individuals over at Roadfly who appear to dislike the E60. This dislike is purportedly based on the vehicles styling, as even these individuals have to admit that it is the best performing 5-series vehicle to date. I believe there are likely other factors also at play: affordability of the new 5 for some, the knowledge that the E39 has been superceded, and psychosocial matters inherent to "trolling", etc to name just a few.

The sales data, like anything else perceived to validate these individuals beliefs, will be used to start flame wars and the like. But that does not mean the provision of this data should be abandoned. Rather, the trolls should largely be ignored.

Keep up the good work. I personally dont derive much from the numbers, but would be interested in them if I were purchasing a new E60. I generally find ALL new data regarding the vehicle interesting and must thank individuals such as you for taking the time to make helpful and interesting posts.

JDN

Fred, I really appreciate your time and interest in posting BMW sales. I like to know how they are doing and contrary to some in the group, I like to see sales of this model comparing well. If people aren't buying the car, then resale value . . .
Also, I like to see them on the road and right now I rarely see one. I see more of the new 7-series than I do the E60.

I don't discuss the numbers very much because they pretty well speak for themselves. So, I hope that the lack of discussion will not dull your enthusiasm for the numbers at all. I really do not like to read all of the pro and con and mis-diagnosis that goes on over on RF. The noise level over here is much lower and more productive.

Thanks for sharing your numbers with us.

Rudy

Fred, add me to the long list of people who truly appreciate the work that you do. Thank you for adding this board to your list of boards to publish your data. When a couple of us asked you to include us in your reporting, we were honored that you agreed.

I, for one, don't think "number of views" is a fair barometer to use when comparing this site and the RF site. The software they use over there, to me, is designed to maximize clicks so that they can maximize revenue from the advertisers. (I'm not privvy to how they count a "view" but I'll bet the count is skewed somewhat based on how the messages are setup on the screen.)

Clearly they have more people over there so number of views, clicks, or whatever will more than likely be higher than here. Keep in mind that just last week a major "upgrade" was made to this board and there are people dedicated to growing it further. You can see evidence of this growth just by how many members are added daily (and how many more per day are added since the upgrade).

As others have said, it's about the quality of posts, not the quantity. Sure, we're all current/future E60 owners so our agenda is mostly about our specific model but I think I speak for others when I say that it is interesting to see the reports you provide. No matter what the sales figures are, I still love my car. Over on RF, your numbers are clearly used by many to spark a debate that we simply don't want any part of.

If people here seem less interested, I wouldn't take it personally. We just have a different agenda -- we're all respectful of each other and we're not here to participate in childish debates.

FDMeloan

I would like to thank everyone who responded to my question. You give me a perspective that I did not have previously and your input is sincerely appreciated.

One of the reasons that I post the sales data is that I think it is extremely important information for a prospective purchaser to have when making a decision as to when to purchase their new BMW--regardless of the model. It has always been my view that the weak link in the BMW world has been customer service and dealer treatment of prospective customers. One of the problems from my point of view is that there is not a level playing field when it comes to information as consumers need to be aware of sales data and dealer incentives in order to make a fully informed purchase.

While I can't provide dealer incentive info as I don't work for a dealer (and I wouldn't be allowed to provide it if I did) I can provide the sales data.

Finally, it is my view that a BMW dealer would have more happy customers if they didn't try to hide information from their customers. Unfortunately, I don't know any dealers who agree with my perspective.

My $.02. YMMV