What happened to 5 Series Forums?
01-08-2011, 09:11 AM
#12
Contributors
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: So Cal, USA
Posts: 14,776
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 545iSMGSilver GrayAuburn Dakota LeatherLogic 7 Premium SoundSports Package
Also, in addition to what swajames said as the cars reach maturity and end of life cycle there's less and less to be discovered by people, everything has been posted and talked about, nothing new. So older members have "seen" the same posts come up time and time again and not interested to talk about the same thing they did 3 years ago.
There's of course moving onto other cars... Porsche, Merc E63, etc...
There's of course moving onto other cars... Porsche, Merc E63, etc...
01-08-2011, 09:46 AM
#13
Senior Members
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,026
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I've been on the forum for only 1.5 years but i have also noticed a huge slowdown, especially in the last 6 months.
I think its very sad as there are so many great topics from the past that show how good it can be.
I take it that with the introduction of the F10, the E60 is no more the "hot new model" as it once was, and people just arent as interested in it as before. And it seems other forums became the hotspots for F10 enthusiasts, which may also be fewer due to the model being more conservative in looks.
Anyways, I can only hope that as time goes by more mods will be available, also cost less, people will do more retrofits and we will at the end see some much more exciting E60/61 projects that has been the case so far. For example bimmerforums have a great E39 community, despite the E39 not being into production for 8 years now.
I think its very sad as there are so many great topics from the past that show how good it can be.
I take it that with the introduction of the F10, the E60 is no more the "hot new model" as it once was, and people just arent as interested in it as before. And it seems other forums became the hotspots for F10 enthusiasts, which may also be fewer due to the model being more conservative in looks.
Anyways, I can only hope that as time goes by more mods will be available, also cost less, people will do more retrofits and we will at the end see some much more exciting E60/61 projects that has been the case so far. For example bimmerforums have a great E39 community, despite the E39 not being into production for 8 years now.
01-08-2011, 09:51 AM
#14
Contributors
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Harrisburg, PA area
Posts: 804
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: SOLD...Jet Black 2008 550i M Sport with SAT, black interior. RPI exhaust and air scoop, 35% huper optik tint all around, CF roundels, flat black kidneys, Springfield Armory XD-40 jet black in glove box, charcoal filter removed.
First this belongs in the Lounge or somewhere other than the F10 discussion thread, no? Second, is it just me or is it ironic that the OP, who's observing that the site is dead, is a member for over 7 years and only has 90 posts to his screen name? First time poster, long term lurker? I mean if its boring or not interesting to you anymore, post something that is interesting or of interest to you?
I think part of the problem (and who the hell am I to know, just my opinion) is that alot of the 'old timers' learned all they wanted or needed to learn a long time ago and now the new 'used' E60 crowd is learning it for themselves. They ask the same questions over and over, but to them it's new - nothing wrong with that, although it is rather boring seeing the same shit posted over and over. To the poster they are looking for the help and assistance and experience you have all offered over the years - that they see from looking through the site. yes they should search more and find their own answers, but honestly the search function takes awhile to learn and just isn't the same, or doesn't provide the same user experience as actively interacting with other enthusiasts.
I know that I personally have been bored by the site myself lately, but still find some cool stuff now and then. Things ebb and flow, and the site will do the same. I truly hope, however, that it isn't dying. This is hands down the best internet forum I've ever been associated with, and the knowledge to be gained is priceless.
I think part of the problem (and who the hell am I to know, just my opinion) is that alot of the 'old timers' learned all they wanted or needed to learn a long time ago and now the new 'used' E60 crowd is learning it for themselves. They ask the same questions over and over, but to them it's new - nothing wrong with that, although it is rather boring seeing the same shit posted over and over. To the poster they are looking for the help and assistance and experience you have all offered over the years - that they see from looking through the site. yes they should search more and find their own answers, but honestly the search function takes awhile to learn and just isn't the same, or doesn't provide the same user experience as actively interacting with other enthusiasts.
I know that I personally have been bored by the site myself lately, but still find some cool stuff now and then. Things ebb and flow, and the site will do the same. I truly hope, however, that it isn't dying. This is hands down the best internet forum I've ever been associated with, and the knowledge to be gained is priceless.
01-08-2011, 11:30 AM
#15
Contributors
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: South Dakota
Posts: 335
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I'll posit that in the last 5 years or so the number of issues (OK, except for HPFP) have been resolved by BMW, and newer models are relatively problem free. Remember all the problems with the earlier years of the e60? Not as many problems, not as much to discuss.
01-08-2011, 12:04 PM
#17
Contributors
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: FT. Bliss Texas
Posts: 2,674
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2008 528i, Space Grey, Nav, PDC, Premium, Sports, Grey Leather, Xenon, Cornering...
01-08-2011, 12:06 PM
#18
Contributors
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: FT. Bliss Texas
Posts: 2,674
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2008 528i, Space Grey, Nav, PDC, Premium, Sports, Grey Leather, Xenon, Cornering...
I have not been on here much at all.. Even though it is still my favorite forum. I am just busy doing almost everything.
01-08-2011, 02:33 PM
#19
Members
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 214
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The forum is is decline, there is no question. It is simply nowhere near the place it once was. The level of posting appears to me to be significantly down, in terms of both volume and quality.
The are a number of possible explanations and drivers for this. I'll offer two.
Firstly, as the price of the prior E60 fell and it became a more widely accessible used car purchase, we saw a significant influx of a very different caliber of member, offering little more than childish trash talk and "text speak" in expletive-laden but otherwise unremarkable posts. There's a place for levity in the forum, but not to the degree we sometime see. In the past we used to see some great threads, with interesting discussion, different opinions with generally respectful disagreement and some pretty cool topics. We simply don't see this to the same degree we once did. I accept this is a subjective assessment - what I find mediocre others find interesting, but I am sure that the longer standing members, and many great members from the past who for reasons such as those I've just articulated rarely or no longer post here, would agree with me.
The other is perhaps equally subjective, and I offer the paucity and the quality of some of the threads and posts in the F10 forum as evidence. My own judgment is that fewer buyers of the F10 are enthusiasts who buy the car for reasons that appeal to the "car guys" amongst us but buy it because it is an expensive, luxury, premium car with a premium badge on the hood. This is not a slam on the F10, it is simply that these "badge-buyers", who are, after all just as likely to buy a Mercedes, Audi or Lexus when the F10 lease is up, are simply less inclined to register and post on a forum. My judgment is that the F10 speaks to these customers (and let us not forget, their money is just as good as just as important to BMW as those of us who like to think we're still from the old school) perhaps to a lesser degree than the E60 did.
Whether it is the forum that is moving on and leaving those of us from the old-school behind or whether it is the converse that is true is largely moot - the net result is the same. The forum just isn't the place that it once was.
The are a number of possible explanations and drivers for this. I'll offer two.
Firstly, as the price of the prior E60 fell and it became a more widely accessible used car purchase, we saw a significant influx of a very different caliber of member, offering little more than childish trash talk and "text speak" in expletive-laden but otherwise unremarkable posts. There's a place for levity in the forum, but not to the degree we sometime see. In the past we used to see some great threads, with interesting discussion, different opinions with generally respectful disagreement and some pretty cool topics. We simply don't see this to the same degree we once did. I accept this is a subjective assessment - what I find mediocre others find interesting, but I am sure that the longer standing members, and many great members from the past who for reasons such as those I've just articulated rarely or no longer post here, would agree with me.
The other is perhaps equally subjective, and I offer the paucity and the quality of some of the threads and posts in the F10 forum as evidence. My own judgment is that fewer buyers of the F10 are enthusiasts who buy the car for reasons that appeal to the "car guys" amongst us but buy it because it is an expensive, luxury, premium car with a premium badge on the hood. This is not a slam on the F10, it is simply that these "badge-buyers", who are, after all just as likely to buy a Mercedes, Audi or Lexus when the F10 lease is up, are simply less inclined to register and post on a forum. My judgment is that the F10 speaks to these customers (and let us not forget, their money is just as good as just as important to BMW as those of us who like to think we're still from the old school) perhaps to a lesser degree than the E60 did.
Whether it is the forum that is moving on and leaving those of us from the old-school behind or whether it is the converse that is true is largely moot - the net result is the same. The forum just isn't the place that it once was.
Well said.
