Time for a BMW forum?

JHMEG

I'm not sure if BMW owners feel the need to mention 'BMW' regularly, or if there is a disproportionate amount of BMW owners and fans visiting this forum, or what it is, but I did a few searches this evening of Thread Titles in this forum for all the popular makes.

BMW is mentioned almost twice as often in thread titles as the bigeest selling marque in Ireland, Ford (it's either them or Toyota or VW). Here's the count:


BMW - 470
Audi - 223
Alfa - 128
Fiat - 124
Ford - 289
Toyota - 206
Honda - 200
Nissan - 171
Renault - 115
Porsche - 28
Peugeot - 113
Merc/Mercedes - 159
Mazda - 105
Skoda - 62
(can't search for VW, too short)

Is it time for a BMW forum?

kdevitt

Might be to do with some of the regular posters having BMW in their sig - such as kbannon

kdevitt

....and me.

Edit - oops, just noticed you said thread titles! Guess they're just popular, and unpopular, and unreliable.

JHMEG

kdevitt wrote: »

Might be to do with some of the regular posters having BMW in their sig - such as kbannon

I only searched thread titles.

crosstownk

I don't think I'd be in favour of splitting the forum by marque. If anything, I'd like to to see a forum for mechanical which would separate the 'problem' threads from the 'what car should I buy' threads.

But I do agree, there is a high count of BMW threads. I know VW was not in your search list, but it does seem to be regularly featured on the Motors Forum - nearly as much as BMW - perhaps more.

JHMEG

crosstownk wrote: »

I know VW was not in your search list, but it does seem to be regularly featured on the Motors Forum - nearly as much as BMW - perhaps more.

No it's not, nor is it anywhere like it. Currently Page 1 has BMW in 3 thread titles, and there is no mention of VW. I would say VW is somewhere around Ford or Toyota.

NBar

Love my BMW

maidhc

Meh, A BMW forum... would it be like a Ghetto for the motors forum?

crosstownk

JHMEG wrote: »

No it's not, nor is it anywhere like it. Currently Page 1 has BMW in 3 thread titles, and there is no mention of VW. I would say VW is somewhere around Ford or Toyota.

I take your point. But from what I see from regular use of the site, there are plenty of threads involving VW. Granted that most of them are technical questions - which tells a whole other story!

Still, I don't think a dedicated BMW forum is warranted. There are already plenty of BMW forums on the internet. This site is a bit more generalised - if you get my drift.....

Seth Brundle

I think if the motors forum was to divide further, there would be more demand for something like a motoring law forum

JHMEG

Would someone explain to me why there is such a disproportionate amount of BMW threads?

Max_Damage

I reckon there should be a foglight forum.

mick.fr

Hold on here.
Isn't a BMW forum here?
Funck me I have been told it was, I am out of here.

lol

maidhc

JHMEG wrote: »

Would someone explain to me why there is such a disproportionate amount of BMW threads?

a) People who "like" cars tend not to drive Fords or Hondas (ultimate driving machine etc)... of course I don't agree
b) BMW drivers like to talk about their cars
c) This is a motors forum, and not many Kia Picanto drivers feel the passionate enough to talk about their motors
d) Some people believe the hype that BMWs are somehow different to all other cars
e) All of the above.

DaBreno

Coz they are are an excellent car. Would love a 5 series. Have to wait til the kids and wife leave home.

mick.fr

DaBreno wrote: »

Coz they are are an excellent car. Would love a 5 series. Have to wait til the kids and wife leave home.

Hu? Planning a divorce or murder?

E92

There are so many inconsistencies just looking at this statistics JHMEG mentioned anyway. Toyota comprehensively outsells Honda(15.02% vs 2.16% last year), and is the biggest seller by a mile in the country yet there are only 6 more threads on Toyota than Honda. For every Alfa sold in the country, 399 other cars were sold, yet they feature more often than Fiat, who's market share is over 5 times that of Alfa.

So really this thread is pointless, and JHMEG's own stats prove why. And if we're going to wonder about the disproportionate amount of BMW threads relative to the amount of them out there, then it must raise the question about why there are a disproportionate amount of threads about other makes that are far from big sellers here.

I notice that when people talk about Fords or Toyotas they often say "I'm thinking about a saloon type car" or "I'm thinking about a small hatchback" or whatever, whereas for BMW it is more "what do people think of the BMW E46" or "what BMW should buy" etc, so that would also explain the apparent large number of BMW threads.

Here's a link to the SIMI stats, and by the way, the only car makes that outsell BMW are Ford, Opel, Nissan, Peugeot, Toyota and VW, so they are the 7th most popular car make here(out of the 39 the SIMI list):
http://www.simi.ie/showcontent.asp?SubsectionID=10

DaBreno

mick.fr wrote: »

Hu? Planning a divorce or murder?

Gonna attempt back door secks tomorrow night. And call out her sisters name mid-thrust.
Let the cards fall where they may.

bazz26

I think there used to be nearly as many Alfa threads on here as BMW threads though lately it has gone quiet. Though most of the Alfa threads end up in pointess slanging matches anyway.

I don't think dividing the forum between different marques would be useful to be honest.

E92

bazz26 wrote: »

I don't think dividing the forum between different marques would be useful to be honest.

+1. There are already other forums for this purpose. Bimmerforums, VAG Drivers etc.

Things should stay the way they are here.

Orange69

E92 wrote: »

VAG Drivers etc.

lol

E92 wrote: »

Things should stay the way they are here.

Ya i think the forum is fine as its is.. except perhaps a separate worship area for really nice cars such as the evo, impreza, skyline etc

JHMEG

bazz26 wrote: »

I think there used to be nearly as many Alfa threads

There are only 128...

JHMEG

E92 wrote: »

There are so many inconsistencies just looking at this statistics JHMEG mentioned anyway. Toyota comprehensively outsells Honda(15.02% vs 2.16% last year), and is the biggest seller by a mile in the country yet there are only 6 more threads on Toyota than Honda.

Yet there are more threads with BMW in the title than there are with Honda AND Toyota COMBINED.

Fey!

There are also a disproportionate amount of threads of people bitching about BMWs, and there's one asking if we should have a seperate BMW forum. Perhaps these ones skew your figures a bit?

Wishbone Ash

E92 wrote: »

Toyota comprehensively outsells Honda(15.02% vs 2.16% last year), and is the biggest seller by a mile in the country yet there are only 6 more threads on Toyota than Honda

Toyota/Honda?


That reminds me - time for bed.

*yawn*

JHMEG

fey! wrote:

There are also a disproportionate amount of threads of people bitching about BMW

Are there? Can't say I'd noticed.

colm_mcm

You're not taking into account examples like:

Need headlight for Focus, or Should I buy a Corolla

BMW models are usually numbers, so most posters will write BMW 316 etc.
There seem to be a disproportionate number of BM owners on here though, probably because more "drivers" buy them?

milltown

I can't claim to be neutral here but I think Colm has hit the nail on the head. BMWs tend to be bought by car enthusiasts (cough, and poseurs). While other marques have cars that are aimed at enthusiasts, BMW is a brand that is aimed at enthusiasts. Granted, there are some very ordinary cars in the line up, but apart from the hairdressers and estate agents I think people who buy them are passionate about cars. They can't always afford to run the BMW that would satisfy their passion but they have a stepping stone.

There are many here who are very vocal in their support for BMW. Some would even match your own Honda horn JHMEG! But for whatever reason, BMW seem to polarise opinion. An inordinate amount of threads along the lines of "What is it with BMW drivers?" for example. Also, for my suspected enthusiast reasons above, when asking a question you will rarely find a technical question posted, then after several make/model/year replies find a post saying "sorries, it's a 2004 E46 325Ci".

galwaytt

Fey! wrote: »

There are also a disproportionate amount of threads of people bitching about BMWs,

Indeed. As a local mechanic said to me a while ago.....Thank God for German cars - otherwise, I'd have nothing to fix !!

Ultimate driver's car? Ha !

Btw - you mean, this ISN'T a BMW forum :eek: :eek: :eek:

HungryJoey

Have to say as big of a BMW fan I am, its fine the way it is. Although I can't see boards.ie ever hosting a BMW section In a million years.

Hj

galwaytt

So it will be like motors except the "google it" knowlege is doled out by an even smaller bunch of smart arses.

Edit:

galwaytt wrote: »

Indeed. As a local mechanic said to me a while ago.....Thank God for German cars - otherwise, I'd have nothing to fix !!

Ultimate driver's car? Ha !

Btw - you mean, this ISN'T a BMW forum :eek: :eek: :eek:

We have a winner :rolleyes:


bmw-driver.net is your best bet.

Raiser

Good idea - you could have a Sub-Forum. Best thing to do would be to make it a subscription service, perhaps ~€100 pa, to add exclusivity. Then strip out a lot of the functionality; such a signatures, searches, smilies etc. - making them only available as "extras" for an additional fee.

- Why not make them feel right at home

colm_mcm

Raiser wrote: »

Good idea - you could have a Sub-Forum. Best thing to do would be to make it a subscription service, perhaps ~€100 pa, to add exclusivity. Then strip out a lot of the functionality; such a signatures, searches, smilies etc. - making them only available as "extras" for an additional fee.

- Why not make them feel right at home

nice one!

jayok

Raiser wrote: »

Good idea - you could have a Sub-Forum. Best thing to do would be to make it a subscription service, perhaps ~€100 pa, to add exclusivity. Then strip out a lot of the functionality; such a signatures, searches, smilies etc. - making them only available as "extras" for an additional fee.

- Why not make them feel right at home

By that reckoning we could also have a Toyota dedicated forum that would always be available, but would only available in the Plasticy theme. In addition to this team, entry and exit from the forum would cause this tinny, light sound. The only function within the forum would consist of POST only to help keep the reliability up and costs down. Any sort of advanced enhancement such as Search would be excluded and people who use this forum really don't care about anything that could enhance the experience of the forum. All they want to do is to be able to POST from A to B nothing more. There will be no subscriptions options available (even if you want to pay for them) as this keeps hosting (aka manufacturing) costs down. This would not be seen as a problem as everyone who would use the Toyota forum will be happy to be exactly the same as everyone else.

(sorry couldbn't resist it! ):)

Orange69

jayok wrote: »

By that reckoning we could also have a Toyota dedicated forum that would always be available, but would only available in the Plasticy theme. In addition to this team, entry and exit from the forum would cause this tinny, light sound. The only function within the forum would consist of POST only to help keep the reliability up and costs down. Any sort of advanced enhancement such as Search would be excluded and people who use this forum really don't care about anything that could enhance the experience of the forum. All they want to do is to be able to POST from A to B nothing more. There will be no subscriptions options available (even if you want to pay for them) as this keeps hosting (aka manufacturing) costs down. This would not be seen as a problem as everyone who would use the Toyota forum will be happy to be exactly the same as everyone else.

(sorry couldbn't resist it! ):)

Twas funny the first time, but ghey the second time!

jayok

Maybe - but at least I got at funny picture posted as a result (that I'll used again!)

E92

jayok wrote: »

By that reckoning we could also have a Toyota dedicated forum that would always be available, but would only available in the Plasticy theme. In addition to this team, entry and exit from the forum would cause this tinny, light sound. The only function within the forum would consist of POST only to help keep the reliability up and costs down. Any sort of advanced enhancement such as Search would be excluded and people who use this forum really don't care about anything that could enhance the experience of the forum. All they want to do is to be able to POST from A to B nothing more. There will be no subscriptions options available (even if you want to pay for them) as this keeps hosting (aka manufacturing) costs down. This would not be seen as a problem as everyone who would use the Toyota forum will be happy to be exactly the same as everyone else.

(sorry couldbn't resist it! ):)

ROFL!

To those that bemoan all the mentioning of BMWs, have you ever heard of something called voting with your feet? You know if you don't like something instead of being an Irish whinger, just ignore and don't post? Instead of being like all those eco-mentalists who keep whinging about Top Gear but keep watching it all the same. Or like all those who bemoan the fact that German Autobahns still don't have a speed limit on half of them but still use the Autobahn. No speed limit means you can go as fast as you like, not that you have to go fast.

If you don't like Motors then don't post here, it really is that simple.

And similarly if you don't like BMW or whatever you don't like then just don't post about them, but don't go imposing your ways on everyone else.

Its called a Motors forum for a reason. If I wanted a BMW forum, then I'd be in a BMW forum of which I'm spoiled for choice as it is. There are tons of them around! I know of no other Irish forum that covers everything, and that's the way I like it, and long may it continue!

I think JHMEG is trying to wind up all BMW fans though in reality and he obviously gets some sort of pleasure in it.

JHMEG

E92 wrote: »

have you ever heard of something called voting with your feet?

And why should we move? I'm suggesting a sub forum for ye to fook off to...

Mr.Diagnostic

The search result figures dont tally with the results I get for BMW, Honda or Toyota

I didnt search for any others

JHMEG

Mr.Diagnostic wrote: »

The search result figures dont tally with the results I get for BMW, Honda or Toyota

You did it wrong so.:D

jayok

JHMEG wrote: »

And why should we move? I'm suggesting a sub forum for ye to fook off to...

Brilliant! Says it all...

Raiser

JHMEG wrote: »

And why should we move? I'm suggesting a sub forum for ye to fook off to...

But then how would we ever learn how to merge back into traffic after undertaking 40+ cars via the hard-shoulder ? And anyway maybe if they do continue posting here somebody will tell them where their indicators are

Try those spiky, stick-like things near the steering wheel that you thought were medallion hangers !!!!

oleras

DaBreno wrote: »

Gonna attempt back door secks tomorrow night. And call out her sisters name mid-thrust.
Let the cards fall where they may.

Feck the BMW forum, im going home to try this tonight, time for a change anyway ( you can decide if i mean the motor or the wife)

E92

jayok wrote: »

Brilliant! Says it all...

+1. one law for some, another for others.....

Proves my point in a nutshell though really

Marcus.Aurelius

So long as it gets rid of all the BMW posters, sounds like a good idea.

JHMEG

colm_mcm wrote: »

BMW models are usually numbers,

Yes that did cross my mind, but so are Alfa, Peugeot, Audi, Mercedes, Rover and Saab.

junkyard

bazz26 wrote: »

I think there used to be nearly as many Alfa threads on here as BMW threads though lately it has gone quiet.

That's because it's finally sunk in that Alfa's are in fact, crap. It took some time but it was worth the wait.:) And stop the BMW bashing, it should be a shrine not just another forum. Or another thread could be started...........I saw a BMW today and took a photo.

E92

junkyard wrote: »

And stop the BMW bashing, it should be a shrine not just another forum.

ROFL:D!

That is the funniest thing I've heard in ages. There should be an award for posts like that!

f22

Orange69 wrote: »

lol



Ya i think the forum is fine as its is.. except perhaps a separate worship area for really nice cars such as the evo, impreza, skyline etc

Had to laugh at this.............. nice cars, ha ha ha. They are as ugly as most of the scrotes who drive them.

Gary ITR

JHMEG wrote: »

Is it time for a BMW forum?

No. No reason at all to split up the motors forum

Orange69

f22 wrote: »

Had to laugh at this.............. nice cars, ha ha ha. They are as ugly as most of the scrotes who drive them.

Dude, an Evo would eat your micra and spit it into the ditch without even shifting down a gear!