Off topic, but...

**740iSport303** · 01-03-2018, 03:24 PM

Anybody hear from Roger (TxDarth) lately? Haven't seen him here in some time and hope all is well.

**Mayorchuck** · 01-03-2018, 05:37 PM

I can tell you that there are many long time members who still sign in but do not post to the forum. I'm not far behind them myself. It's not for me to give specifics on a particular member but I think Roger is ok. He probably would not object to a PM.

**clarkitect** · 01-03-2018, 07:22 PM

I was wondering the same thing about Roger. Seems like quite a few long time guys that are fairly quiet these days. Pretty quiet around these parts.

**shanecarmaster1** · 01-04-2018, 08:47 AM

I've been noticing it as well, and have been doing some of the same. I searched through a lot of threads from 2008/2009 and MAN was that a heyday - so many peeps who made this forum bump.

I noticed that e38's are actually getting rare to see for sale, which might contribute as well. There are only a handful on eBay, and basically a couple pages on AutoTrader. I remember they were everywhere when I bought mine.

**SEVEN40iL** · 01-04-2018, 10:47 AM

Most of us OG members are still here, just lurking...

**Grady in Texas** · 01-04-2018, 01:38 PM

Seems to be a problem with the 3 different makes/models of cars I follow. Don't know if everyone moved to FB (true for one I think) or elsewhere.

**racer2086** · 01-04-2018, 09:18 PM

There are so many different places to spend your time now...between here, FB, Bimmerboard, etc. I think as the cars age, the owners turn over in time. I'm going to keep my car, so you're stuck with me. I come here when I have some free time to see what's going on and try to help. I'm in some of the FB stuff, but I don't log on to FB that much. And Bimmerboard's layout sucks big. I hate it and can't deal with navigating through it, so don't go there. It's like a forum from 1998. Wish it wasn't because there is a ton of knowledge there.

**Jamos** · 01-04-2018, 09:33 PM

Yeah that place drives me nuts!! Whenever I get a link from google to there, I just don't click it.

As for being OG and lurking - I figure once you've learned everything about your car, been through the motions, and helped enough people. The only reason to come back often enough is while working on a project or something related to the car. I'm always here when I'm doing stuff to the car, rarely otherwise =D

**SpeedyE38** · 01-06-2018, 10:06 AM

I see the same thing with other car forums. More established/regulars are not posting as much and are also using FB for quick updates.

I spoke with an owner of a forum not too long ago and his feeling was that forums like this have value in their "curated information". I think what that means is that you knowledgeable posters have figured out the tricks to keep these cars running or improving them, have put that to posts and now if the forum has a good search engine (and ranking method) can be knowledge that never goes away...and thus neither will the forum.

I get that because as I learn about this car, I can learn basics but also search and run across mods that might make sense and take my repair/build in another direction...all without stepping into a dealership. I really appreciate that. As an aside, I just saw a build thread (with links to websites that I can save) on an LS build. Whoa!

Anyway, I hope the "Rogers" of the world keep posting whether it is on this site or others. Newbies like me rely on them.

**RVAE34** · 01-06-2018, 10:33 AM

I was much more active before I was banned from forums at work. But I was just thinking about Darth too in the low mileage thread. Hope he is ok.

**dannyzabolotny** · 01-06-2018, 11:42 AM

Originally Posted by RVAE34

I was much more active before I was banned from forums at work. But I was just thinking about Darth too in the low mileage thread. Hope he is ok.

Man, it's a good thing my company doesn't know/care, because I spend most of my time on Bimmer Forums at work. I'm not as active on the E38 section anymore since I don't have an E38 anymore, but I still like to pop in every once in a while, especially while I was working on Cyclops' 740il.

**kouks** · 01-06-2018, 06:00 PM

I went "away" for a while since the car was working well and I was involved in the e34 rebuild. Now that the e34 is done and driving well, and the e38 crapped itself, I'm back crying in my soup bowl. Also, find that this is probably the most active sub-forum, other than the e36 kids area. There is almost no one in the X5 forum, crickets.

What ever happened to "Iceman"

**RVAE34** · 01-07-2018, 09:01 AM

E39 is a good one.

**Sobek** · 01-07-2018, 09:31 AM

Originally Posted by kouks

I went "away" for a while since the car was working well and I was involved in the e34 rebuild. Now that the e34 is done and driving well, and the e38 crapped itself, I'm back crying in my soup bowl. Also, find that this is probably the most active sub-forum, other than the e36 kids area. There is almost no one in the X5 forum, crickets.

What ever happened to "Iceman"

I hear you on the X5 forums - I've posted there in the past and never got replies to even basic questions. That was a bit sad. As for the E38, mine has been unregistered for months and may stay that way for some time yet, things have been tight and can't really afford to keep it registered for now... Let the old Jeep go unregistered too and just driving the most boring plain Ford Falcon, but it's on LPG so extremely economical and just about the most simple and reliable thing I've ever seen so it fits the bill for now. Really miss cruising in the 7 so much - when I'm actively driving it, I'm always keen to fix and mod things. Now that it's unregistered I could spend heaps of time doing all sorts of things on it freely but the motivation just isn't there, it's frustrating. Oh well, all in good time haha.

As for Ice... best to let sleeping dogs lie, it was a situation that I don't think any of us are really going to get into talking about, to be honest.

**clarkitect** · 01-07-2018, 12:08 PM

It’s interesting to see the differences in the forums. Some like this are all mods and diy. People roll up their sleeves and work on their cars. Some like the X3 where I admittedly only lurked briefly will recommend taking the car to the dealer to get it fixed. They would never dream of doing guides.

**shanecarmaster1** · 01-07-2018, 01:10 PM

Originally Posted by clarkitect

It’s interesting to see the differences in the forums. Some like this are all mods and diy. People roll up their sleeves and work on their cars. Some like the X3 where I admittedly only lurked briefly will recommend taking the car to the dealer to get it fixed. They would never dream of doing guides.

These cars are really easy to work on

It's actually hilarious that they were conveyed as so mystifying when they were new, rationalizing high labor costs. The mechanics are pretty simple

**Mayorchuck** · 01-07-2018, 03:15 PM

Panjo ran many off. For those that were not around before classifieds became a mortal sin here, it was much more active with part outs and members more engaged with each other. I came in as a Mod just as Panjo was getting started. It wasn't fun, believe me. Some forums are over moderated (was probably guilty of that myself for awhile), while others have no moderation at all. Advertisers, esp Google, made it very clear that if the forum wanted their money, there would be no profanity or anything even close to it. That's why you will find I edit a post once in awhile. Otherwise, unless someone complains, I let the forum run itself. Can't speak for the next, or returning, moderator.

**kouks** · 01-07-2018, 08:49 PM

Originally Posted by Sobek

As for Ice... best to let sleeping dogs lie, it was a situation that I don't think any of us are really going to get into talking about, to be honest.

I guess I missed the fireworks.

**Jamos** · 01-07-2018, 10:27 PM

After the iceman comment, I was going to say, "Since we're wondering, where's Sobek these days!?"

Unregistered car, should be unregistered user! JK I'm sitting without plates right now too - waiting for spring is my excuse.

**franco90** · 01-07-2018, 10:51 PM

I have being in the forums for a while the problem that has always being here is the age , yes the age makes a difference and we had the OG's said something and the young guys would talk smack and OG's have left. Edwin was a big influence on the forums and he left. ICEman he was also good dont know what happen there.
this forum is dying and the OG are most on bimmerboard and the young guys on FB.
SO we need to all be respectful and keep the drama off this forum. trust me I spoken to Edwin and others and they feel that the new e38 crow young members (no disrespect) have cause friction
and the damage is DONE. for me I have to go on FB or bimmerboard or here to play catch up. my 2 cents.

**Aitch** · 01-08-2018, 10:51 AM

I've started posting on FB more as I've found E38 Empire to be one of the more active FB car groups I've ever seen. Which really surprised me for such an old car that isn't "sporty" or tuner-ish. But I keep coming back here because luckily this forum is pretty active, and I know that FB can never replace forums as a great repository for information. Either how-to threads, or threads with specific questions and consensus answers - I hope that never goes away and people keep adding to them (in general) in the future. I'm 38 now and came of age in the car world as forums hit their peak. While the chatter and friendships in each one is usually great, it's the collected wisdom that seems to be best preserved in this format and is really important.

And with that, eff you Photobucket lol.

**dannyzabolotny** · 01-08-2018, 11:00 AM

I'm on some BMW Facebook groups but they're not as good as the forums. There are too many clueless teenagers in those groups, and people who never want to fix anything properly.

**Coslin** · 01-08-2018, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by dannyzabolotny

I'm on some BMW Facebook groups but they're not as good as the forums. There are too many clueless teenagers in those groups, and people who never want to fix anything properly.

That's because these cars are at the affordable entry level car cost now. And with that, comes entry level repairs and personalization of their cars. I can't bust their balls too much, I did the same thing when I was 17 to my first car.

**franco90** · 01-08-2018, 07:53 PM

BSTAR was one of the first ones to leave the forums. I meet him and Edwin in 1999 in Florida.
the forums members come and go BUT you still got members that they think they know it all and when you try to correct them
it turns into a battle then they get banned

**Jamos** · 01-09-2018, 12:40 AM

My car was built in Sept-Nov 1994. It's Jan 2018. This forum has SO MUCH INFORMATION and SO MANY PEOPLE'S experience in it. Just because there are only ~25 "active" members here means very little. What matters, is when someone like Darth is such a contributor, owns such a low mileage example, yadda yadda, he makes an impression on people! To have his absence noticed is much more important than the fact this forum has info on it for my ~25 year old car, or that people get in arguments. That is what the facebook pages will never have. This level of community.