Does anyone even visit this forum anymore??

[moatilliatta]

I will agree with that, and they make up for it by doing crazy finance terms like over 72 months. I think the less free time thing is partly because the pace of the world and how we are so connected, it makes work last 24/7 because its tough to walk away.

Imagine paying 70K for a new BMW, probably 80K after interest for 6 years and now its worth 20K when you pay it off and due for repairs and maintenance. What a hole. I love traveling to places that don't have cell phone service.

[Court M3]

Still remember that interior your had in your car, twas quite droolworthy......

[Staszek]

I generally think that the dollar is worth less makes people work harder for the same cost of living people had in the 50-70's equaling less free time. Less hobby time.

All cars get inflated when the you couldn't afford your dream car when you were young and have some extra cash now.

I will agree with that, and they make up for it by doing crazy finance terms like over 72 months. I think the less free time thing is partly because the pace of the world and how we are so connected, it makes work last 24/7 because its tough to walk away.

[moatilliatta]

I generally think that the dollar is worth less makes people work harder for the same cost of living people had in the 50-70's equaling less free time. Less hobby time.

All cars get inflated when the you couldn't afford your dream car when you were young and have some extra cash now.

[roguetoaster]

...and inflation. Yeah, I took it there.

I naturally assumed you were only referring to the inflated E30 market prices, and not the world in general.

[moatilliatta]

Andrew325is BINGO. I feel Facebook has been a better platform for selling items locally just due to the sheer volume of eyeballs. But aside from peddling wares I feel like it's basically a platform for questions that have been answered a million times over by younger owners that don't even know the forum exists (with plenty of useful DIY's if they'd only take the time to look). I hate that at age 33 I'm already turning into the "get off my porch" type, but some of the banter is honestly unbearable (if illegible) a lot of the time. The majority of my car knowledge was attained by scouring the forums and putting in the time to understand what I was doing and why, and If I had been spoon fed answers on social media the instant a question popped into my head I probably wouldhave learned a fraction of that. Some of the Instagram projects are cool, but I agree that it all seems geared more towards marketing their "brand" than enjoying the car and the process. The forum has always felt like a bunch of normal dudes who like tooling around on cars and meeting up to drive and drink some beers in the garage, and I like taking the time to read through someones thread (sometimes years long) and seeing where the cars have progressed. Not possible on those other platforms. Needless to say I'm on here usually everyday, sometimes more than once if work is slow.

I am also 33, the also feel I've reached the "Get off my porch mentality". Working 100h +/- weeks for years has changed my perception.

Instagram project post are like TV shows where you see the end result, none of the hard work or details, then everyone dreams they can do the same. Followed up by, I hate to sell my project car ad on FB marketplace. But I do wish the best for anyone who is actually trying hard.

Get that dead end project car of my facebook lawn.

The flip side of the coin is that cars consume a lot of life that not many are in the position to give, especially with all these new newfangled distractions, and inflation. Yeah, I took it there.

[fitswell]

It seems like everyone is moving to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, etc, but I still like the traditional forums better. The format on Facebook is really awful and you can't categorize anything nicely. Facebook just isn't set up for archived information. It's all 'in-the-moment' attention, mostly to show you ads so companies can market to you.

Good post. Aside from the larger volume of users that was mentioned, one of the bigger advantages of r3v on Facebook, IMO, is that you may get an answer quickly if you are in a pinch. Our forum format isn't very conducive to that. Also, users tend to enjoy scrolling through the images in the posts because, after all, humans are visual beings and a picture says a thousand words. The big takeaway is that this forum must continue to evolve to stay relevant and useful. Going about business as usual on the web frequently ends in death. Don't get me wrong, we have some awesome build-threads and DIYs on here but if we want to keep this forum active we need the owner/mods to *actively* address shortcomings. It also wouldn't hurt to be innovative and try new things. I can't help feel like I'm using a bit of a dinosaur which isn't doing much to bring new (and younger) users as well as new sponsors.

If you look at r3v on Facebook, every other post is somebody selling a non-30 car (sometimes a non-BMW car) or random parts. The other day, someone posted a hatch for a e36 ti - in a e30 forum too much garbage for me. I'm gradually migrating to reddit (although it lacks good classifieds) and back to this forum after years of absence (for the classifieds).

[2mAn]

Thanks for that caveat. Haha

Just picked up my worked heads for the M3 from a local machine shop. Nice and shiny, decked, and valve job, but nothing noteworthy to post about.

I nice shiny head is definitely pic worthy

[MR E30 325is]

Honestly I can take the political stuff, but half the facebook car pages seem to be obsessed with intentionally reposting the same thing over and over again. I mean word for word the identical post, it's brutal.
Don't get me started on the insane volume of Ads or how broken some of the link/notification functions are.

I kind of appreciate what r3v has become. Much more chill, and still a good number of regulars that seem to have their shit together and have something cool to share (e30 or otherwise).

Thanks for that caveat. Haha

Just picked up my worked heads for the M3 from a local machine shop. Nice and shiny, decked, and valve job, but nothing noteworthy to post about.

[2mAn]

I still lurk here on the forums. Like most people here, I too miss how active it used to be. Facebook has taken over and killed most forums and Craigslist. I would love to delete my Facebook account as I'm tired of seeing all the political posts but its really the largest platform for car groups and buying/selling.

You should update your thread

[Northern]

I still lurk here on the forums. Like most people here, I too miss how active it used to be. Facebook has taken over and killed most forums and Craigslist. I would love to delete my Facebook account as I'm tired of seeing all the political posts but its really the largest platform for car groups and buying/selling.

Honestly I can take the political stuff, but half the facebook car pages seem to be obsessed with intentionally reposting the same thing over and over again. I mean word for word the identical post, it's brutal.
Don't get me started on the insane volume of Ads or how broken some of the link/notification functions are.

I kind of appreciate what r3v has become. Much more chill, and still a good number of regulars that seem to have their shit together and have something cool to share (e30 or otherwise).

[roguetoaster]

The sentiment that FB is bad, but since it's the prevailing format we might as well use it is the same thinking that has flooded the roads with Crappy Utility Vehicles. So, just buy used, and just skip FB to communicate to those crappy companies that you won't tolerate their garbage.

[Codym42]

I still lurk here on the forums. Like most people here, I too miss how active it used to be. Facebook has taken over and killed most forums and Craigslist. I would love to delete my Facebook account as I'm tired of seeing all the political posts but its really the largest platform for car groups and buying/selling.

[roguetoaster]

One could just collaborate a bunch of scraped posts and compile into a book. :P

That you then sell exclusively on FB...

[Albie325]

Andrew325is BINGO. I feel Facebook has been a better platform for selling items locally just due to the sheer volume of eyeballs. But aside from peddling wares I feel like it's basically a platform for questions that have been answered a million times over by younger owners that don't even know the forum exists (with plenty of useful DIY's if they'd only take the time to look). I hate that at age 33 I'm already turning into the "get off my porch" type, but some of the banter is honestly unbearable (if illegible) a lot of the time. The majority of my car knowledge was attained by scouring the forums and putting in the time to understand what I was doing and why, and If I had been spoon fed answers on social media the instant a question popped into my head I probably wouldhave learned a fraction of that. Some of the Instagram projects are cool, but I agree that it all seems geared more towards marketing their "brand" than enjoying the car and the process. The forum has always felt like a bunch of normal dudes who like tooling around on cars and meeting up to drive and drink some beers in the garage, and I like taking the time to read through someones thread (sometimes years long) and seeing where the cars have progressed. Not possible on those other platforms. Needless to say I'm on here usually everyday, sometimes more than once if work is slow.