Goodbye BM3W
Goodbye BM3W
Author
Discussion

jarrod

Original Poster:

234 posts

290 months

Monday 18th December 2006
quotequote all
Sadly www.bm3w.co.uk is shutting down at the end of the year. Full details are in the lounge forum on the site. Just thought those of you on here that are infrequent visitors may like to know.

CatherineJ

9,586 posts

273 months

Monday 18th December 2006
quotequote all
Oh no, that's such a shame.

Gareth W

80 posts

272 months

Monday 18th December 2006
quotequote all
Indeed, a real shame.

CatherineJ

9,586 posts

273 months

Monday 18th December 2006
quotequote all
Why on earth would BMW have started legal procedings against them.

dazren

22,612 posts

291 months

Monday 18th December 2006
quotequote all
A great shame. Not just M3s, they had a useful E39 M5 section as well.

dazren

22,612 posts

291 months

Monday 18th December 2006
quotequote all
CatherineJ said:
Why on earth would BMW have started legal procedings against them.



Ditto. WTF are BMW playing at?

Link here:

www.bm3w.co.uk/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=493191&an=0&page=0#493191

Edited by dazren on Monday 18th December 17:09

Paul.B

3,949 posts

294 months

Monday 18th December 2006
quotequote all
None of the links are working! I wonder if the closure has happened already???

Paul.B

CatherineJ

9,586 posts

273 months

Monday 18th December 2006
quotequote all
Was working not so long ago when I went to read the statement.

neil_cardiff

17,113 posts

294 months

Monday 18th December 2006
quotequote all
dazren said:
CatherineJ said:
Why on earth would BMW have started legal procedings against them.



Ditto. WTF are BMW playing at?

Link here:

www.bm3w.co.uk/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=493191&an=0&page=0#493191

Edited by dazren on Monday 18th December 17:09


Daz any chance you could copy over the text?

dazren

22,612 posts

291 months

Monday 18th December 2006
quotequote all
Works for me, but you may have to be a logged in forum member to see it.

DAZ

nbetts

1,455 posts

259 months

Monday 18th December 2006
quotequote all
An excellent site - crammed full of informative and knowledgeable individuals - BMW for whatever there reasons have really shot themselves in the foot big time if you ask me. BM3W must have generated loads of revenue for BMW by attracting potential customers like me to the brand... I know I bought a CSL because of BM3W.

I can only guess as to what the Legal threat to the site was and whether it was the straw on the camels back or the main reason for the site owners to close up... but BMW attacking a site that predominately attracts enthusiasts to the Marque... is a poor show.

BMW - You should be ashamed;

dazren

22,612 posts

291 months

Monday 18th December 2006
quotequote all
matt said:

BM3W - The end of an era.. Thank you, and goodnight.


Following a lengthy review and many discussions, the team that run and manage BM3W have taken the tough decision that BM3W will not continue into 2007.

Since we launched in early 2001 we have thoroughly enjoyed running the site and creating one of the busiest BMW M owner sites on the internet, all of which would have been impossible without the input and contributions of the thousands of members past and present.

We understand this may be a disappointment to some on the site and ask that you understand that this decision was not made lightly, and that there are many issues to consider when running a site such as BM3W, ranging from financial, legal and most of all huge amounts of personal time for the entire admin and moderating team that help the site run smoothly day to day.

Also, last month BMW initiated legal proceedings against BM3W to have it removed from the internet. While this is not the reason we have decided to take such action and we strongly dispute the claims they have made, it certainly has not helped, and we have no desire to get caught up in an expensive or lengthly legal argument and ruin what has been a very good 5 years.

Therefore, on December 31st BM3W will be taken offline. If you have any pictures in the gallery, or private messages in your inbox that you wish to retain you are encouraged to take copies of these NOW. You can select to email your PM's to yourself using the option in your Inbox as none of this information will be available after this date either online or by request.

I wish to thank everyone who has ever been involved with BM3W for making it what it is today, and additionally give the following people a specific mention (in no particular order) who have been instrumental in creating and/or keeping BM3W alive:

Elliot, Darren, Neil@Domino, Thorney, Mark, John_P, AndyB, TonyCL, Zod, Andy Cook, JohnH, Gareth, LeeLee, Rod, Ian Cox, Dorian, Mike Stove, Tim@Mobilecentre, Ben, AndyH, M3CSL, RNeils, SteveD and all of the blue star holders.

Oh, and a special mention to the Hippos.. they know who they are

I hope like me, that some of you have made some life long friendships from BM3W and I wish everyone every success for the future and again thank you for your support over the years!

Have a superb Christmas and a great 2007.

Cheers
Matt


Matt, if you are unhappy with me quoting your message on this forum please let me know and I'll delete it.

DAZ


Edited by dazren on Monday 18th December 17:24

POORCARDEALER

8,666 posts

271 months

Monday 18th December 2006
quotequote all


BMW arrogance shining through again.............what is their problem?

bmgm3

10,480 posts

273 months

Monday 18th December 2006
quotequote all
What reason does BMW give for the action ? Unless they are hosting copyright material and logos etc, what's the problem ?

neil_cardiff

17,113 posts

294 months

Monday 18th December 2006
quotequote all
dazren said:
matt said:
From the site


Matt, if you are unhappy with me quoting your message on this forum please let me know and I'll delete it.

DAZ


Edited by dazren on Monday 18th December 17:24


What on earth are they playing at - as someone mentioned earlier - sites like these only serve to strengthen the devoted followers of the marque by allowing the exchange of information between enthusiasts.

However, by alienating those who serve to only spread the good word of BMW, they'll end up with more adverse publicity as a result...

Vesuvius 996

35,829 posts

301 months

Monday 18th December 2006
quotequote all
Sounds to me like there was some stuff on there that BMW didn't like. So they have threatened the site owners with legal action personally unless they shut down.

BMW were probably not best pleased about the stuff around the warranty price hikes for a start.

I am afraid that BMW have shown their true colours here. I am glad I got rid of mine, and no mistake.


Edited by Vesuvius 996 on Monday 18th December 17:57

POORCARDEALER

8,666 posts

271 months

Monday 18th December 2006
quotequote all


Fact is the warranty claims that pushed up the prices of extended warranties to ridiculous levels showed the failures of the product which BMW wouldnt like..........thank goodness for free speech, or is that going to become as rare as a reliable M car!

MTUK

62 posts

238 months

Monday 18th December 2006
quotequote all
A real shame. I've been a member since 2001, on my second E46 and picked up no end of useful info before my first car M3 in 2001. Infact it's BM3W that inspired my enthusiasm for the car when thinking of buying.

Hello by the way, first post

Edited by MTUK on Monday 18th December 18:36

slinky

15,704 posts

279 months

Monday 18th December 2006
quotequote all
Shocking.. although not suprising!

BMW should really embrace the owners communities (as Mazda do) rather than try to destroy them..

If their product is substandard, they should sort it, not kill the community that points out it is broken!

agent006

12,058 posts

294 months

Monday 18th December 2006
quotequote all
It happens at both ends unfortunately, several Skoda mechanics were threatened with P45s for giving advice on an internet forum.