kwhelan 241 Report post Posted January 2 Awfully quiet round here over the hols, although there seems to have been a gradually dropoff for a while on posts and topics.bloody facebook I assume. Just curious to know how this place works and evolved, nothing sinister or competitive or personal, just I check this and a few other forums every day and know whats required to run, moderate and fund a board so after only being here for probably 10-15 years I wondered how it all started and its owners history's. When I started there were really helpful sponsors and contacts which were great but overseas shipping cut into their business models too much I suspect. People on here, I've always found there seems to be an unwritten law you didn't scam or cheat anyone, I got alot of really helpful info from people like jochen back in the day but with the newer cars things have moved on and I guess less things you can actually do yourself so the value of knowledge helping others becomes less needed. Still plenty of old Bmws out there though and there's some really great info in posts of decades ago here so it would be a shame if they were ever deleted from the internet I miss builds from HellBM, peoples lapvideos of track days, some characters like Ron whom after seldom agreeing with, I still liked their different way of thinking and knowledge. There's some still some impressive builds here on now, which are amazing that people take the time to photo and document everything. This seems to be a very car only forum unlike some others that include alot more off-topic threads which is fine but it does create less banter I suspect.Perhaps I'm just old but I prefer a forum to a facebook group. anyone still lurking around from the old days? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olaf 3317 Report post Posted January 2 Pretty sure I don't count as 'old days', though have been here a while. Great to see the place continues to evolve. 3-Pedals/Ron was - and remains - a serious loss to this community. A bunch of us in Welly all met on here and restarted the local BMW Car Club NZ chapter in Wellington, which continues to build after 6 years. There's plenty of value here, and agree better - generally - than bookface. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle 1662 Report post Posted January 2 Forums started to die when facebook etc became the new medium. Most of the older members moved onto other things as you tend to do when you age. Forums owners stop being involved and big car meets/cruises were getting harder to pull off for various reasons which accelerated things. Forum is only as good as it's members. This place would actually be dead if not regulars contributing. Lots of lurkers for sure some of which are only after parts or car deals. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
C-130 Hercules 571 Report post Posted January 3 4 hours ago, Olaf said: 3-Pedals/Ron What happened? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
E30 325i Rag-Top 2956 Report post Posted January 3 2 hours ago, C-130 Hercules said: What happened? Seemed to rub a lot of other members up the wrong way. After a temporary ban from posting managed to get another raft of complaints as soon as he posted again. When I mentioned this to him he didn’t want to be “part of a toxic forum”. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle 1662 Report post Posted January 3 2 hours ago, C-130 Hercules said: What happened? Some people couldn't handle alternate view points without crying. Same reason any Off topic discussion tends to gets shut down. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kwhelan 241 Report post Posted January 3 3 hours ago, E30 325i Rag-Top said: Seemed to rub a lot of other members up the wrong way. After a temporary ban from posting managed to get another raft of complaints as soon as he posted again. When I mentioned this to him he didn’t want to be “part of a toxic forum”. really? you actually had complaints wow,kinda don't blame him then. I don't get why people if they don't like it can't just skip on, no one forces you to read a post and then be offended 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Driftit 2078 Report post Posted January 3 TBH there was nearly a complaint every time he posted something. And he was doing it on purpose much of the time. The founders Ollie and Andrew drop by every now and then. Ollie has just listed his Bimmersport E30 Series car for sale on the forum. Even comes with keys to the forum. There are still many old members lurking around. But Facebook did harm the forum space. Only now are forums starting to make a come back as people are hunting for info on classic cars. Facebook is a black hole for anything older than about 12 hours. Searching is non existent and near on useless. The only thing it is good for is meet ups. Many of the younger kids (18-25) at work don't even have Facebook. As that is for their parents. Many of my friends and family are quitting it as current social media takes it's toll on their lives. There is so much info on this forum and others that are similar. I do still get angry at the great Photobucket purge. So many lost important images. 3 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gaz 1060 Report post Posted January 3 17 hours ago, Eagle said: Some people couldn't handle alternate view points without crying. Same reason any Off topic discussion tends to gets shut down. Funnily enough neither could he. Usually it would start off ok then end up with here is 26 reasons why I'm right and your wrong 2 1 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
E30 325i Rag-Top 2956 Report post Posted January 4 16 hours ago, kwhelan said: . I don't get why people if they don't like it can't just skip on, no one forces you to read a post and then be offended I know what you mean, but when it’s a response to something they have posted then it becomes a lot more personal. It wasn’t a general “I read this and was offended” type of complaint. Which is kind of why there are forum rules and guidelines. As Dan said I think a lot of it was deliberately provocative, which doesn’t always go down well on the internets as it doesn’t always come across as intended. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Driftit 2078 Report post Posted January 4 Oh I forgot to add that the Forum is hosted privately by James. Who is another OG to the forum. Most of mods came from just hanging around long enough. Jon and myself from the early involvement in the BMW race series. Ollie and Andrew both ran in the BMW series too. You are not going to find useful car info via dumpster fires like TikTok. So lets hope people bring their knowledge back to the forums where it can be stored. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MD13 494 Report post Posted January 4 (edited) I found this site while searching for e30 info about 20 years ago - pretty sure I bought an e30 door from Driftit. Some great build threads at the time... Tony (I think?) merging an e30 and an e46. Red with flared arches. A 4 door e30 with a super charger - think it was a sc14? Was a guy ( Crunchy?) with a boasted e34 Hybrid's lovely e30 with a S52 swap. Edited January 4 by MD13 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kwhelan 241 Report post Posted January 4 1 hour ago, MD13 said: I found this site while searching for e30 info about 20 years ago - pretty sure I bought an e30 door from Driftit. Some great build threads at the time... Tony (I think?) merging an e30 and an e46. Red with flared arches. A 4 door e30 with a super charger - think it was a sc14? Was a guy ( Crunchy?) with a boasted e34 Hybrid's lovely e30 with a S52 swap. cool thanks for sharing Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kwhelan 241 Report post Posted January 4 6 hours ago, E30 325i Rag-Top said: I know what you mean, but when it’s a response to something they have posted then it becomes a lot more personal. It wasn’t a general “I read this and was offended” type of complaint. Which is kind of why there are forum rules and guidelines. As Dan said I think a lot of it was deliberately provocative, which doesn’t always go down well on the internets as it doesn’t always come across as intended. Always trolls i guess not that he was really a troll , more always right your an idiot, it did get a bit tiring I remember during lockdown the board posts swelled as everyone had spare time. the topic of lockdowns went pair shaped and I remember getting pretty annoyed with a few lets say jacinda fans but I realise I'm in a minority in alot of my views but it was eye opening to see how much hatred appeared pretty quickly so get why general topics just don't work I would never consider contacting a mod though, to actually complain seems too much like cancel culture to me, But nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to the general public 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kwhelan 241 Report post Posted January 4 3 hours ago, Driftit said: Oh I forgot to add that the Forum is hosted privately by James. Who is another OG to the forum. Most of mods came from just hanging around long enough. Jon and myself from the early involvement in the BMW race series. Ollie and Andrew both ran in the BMW series too. You are not going to find useful car info via dumpster fires like TikTok. So lets hope people bring their knowledge back to the forums where it can be stored. without stirring things up, Is there any ideas for the future, tech moves on, file upload sizes for example, has anyone asked for help or donations. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
