Good Evening,
In response to the overwhelming number of new users on this board, some of the senior members (well, 1 anyway) have decided to pro-actively write a second "Read Me First" post for new users. It seems that the first one, "stickied" at the top of the forum, is apparently too difficult to find.
Please remember, you MUST respond to this post before you will be allowed to start any new threads. Feel free to respond now so you don't forget.
Good work! :applause: You now have 1 post and are an official member :cheers:
So what do you need to know about M5Board.Com?
1. Search is your friend. I know, "New Thread" is right there and it is sooo tempting. But search first instead. Trust me on this.
2. SMG/misfire/CPS/etc. question - do a search. No matter what problem you have, I guarantee someone else had it first. Heck, 20 people have probably had it. Even the newest of these cars are pushing 20+ years old now, and this is, bar none, the greatest repository of M5 knowledge on the planet (short of the minds of some of our senior members). So do us all a favor and do a search.
2A. Of course, you already know how to search, right? I mean, how hard can it be? The answer is "Very". The site search feature works - sort of. Google seems to work better, just add "site:m5board.com" to your google query. This tells google to search this site alone.
2B. Avoid bumping old threads. If after doing a search you don't have an answer you're always welcome to start a new thread. But I mean, that $5 taillight posted a decade ago that you just found is gone by now, seriously.
3. This is a forum of adults. Rudeness has no place. There is a real live human on the end of each and every post. Be respectful and you will be respected. Act like an infant and you will be treated like one. And please remember, there are active members on this board with 2K+, 3K+, even 5K+ posts. They didn't get that many posts by being wrong a whole bunch of times. Respect their wisdom and take an appropriate tone in your responses; you may very well be right in your argument, but alienating a senior member of the board due to a poorly phrased response is not in your best interest. You will find that the active membership, which you will be welcomed into, all know each other quite well...
4. WRITING IN ALL CAPS IS CONSIDERED YELLING. So don't. If you accidentally do so, please take the time to push the backspace key and type it again normally. This is standard internet protocol, but worth repeating.
5. Spelling and grammar errors are normal. Everyone makes them. And some of us even take the time to correct them. "Why?", you might ask? Because it makes it easier for other readers to understand your question / response. And though it may not seem like it, this is in everyone's best interest. You get more relevant feedback, and the rest of us don't have to decipher your gibberish. Lastly, English is a 2nd language for many of our members; let's not make them translate lousy English to proper English in addition to translating it to their first tongue! Note that I'm not referring to the infrequent typo here or there, but rather posts that are rampant with poor grammar.
6. If you are thinking about posting a thread about which oil to use, which oil not to use, which oils are BMW certified, which oils are the "best", which are the "worst", or anything that generally involves oil, DON'T. Instead, use the Search button. In case you haven't noticed it yet, it is in the top right corner of your screen.
7. If you must post an oil related question, be prepared to receive the following responses or simply be ignored:
8. Many members, myself included, post our modifications or improvements to the Beast. As contrary as this may seem, unless we specifically ask for feedback, we don't care if you like it. So please, before you hit send on that post telling us how much you don't like it, just close the window and move on.
9. You can subscribe to a post without posting "Following" in a useless response. Simply click on "Follow" (it is up there below the Search bar - you found the search bar, right?).
Again, I welcome you to the board, and remind you that if you have not yet posted a response to this unauthorized FAQ you should do so now -- otherwise it won't be sitting at the top of the page waiting for the next new member
Oh, one last thing: After you achieve approximately 2000 posts you will be welcomed into an exclusive group. Consisting primarily of grumpy old folks - in M5 experience, not physical years - who have little tolerance for questions that have been asked (and answered!) 1000 times already and even less tolerance for spelling errors and name calling, this group has been dubbed (just now, by me) the "Coalition Against Newbies Idiotic Theories", or "CAN IT". We can't help that we're grumpy, and sometimes we let out our frustration through posts like this. Thanks for taking the time to read it, and enjoy the board :cheers:
Doug
In response to the overwhelming number of new users on this board, some of the senior members (well, 1 anyway) have decided to pro-actively write a second "Read Me First" post for new users. It seems that the first one, "stickied" at the top of the forum, is apparently too difficult to find.
Please remember, you MUST respond to this post before you will be allowed to start any new threads. Feel free to respond now so you don't forget.
Good work! :applause: You now have 1 post and are an official member :cheers:
So what do you need to know about M5Board.Com?
1. Search is your friend. I know, "New Thread" is right there and it is sooo tempting. But search first instead. Trust me on this.
2. SMG/misfire/CPS/etc. question - do a search. No matter what problem you have, I guarantee someone else had it first. Heck, 20 people have probably had it. Even the newest of these cars are pushing 20+ years old now, and this is, bar none, the greatest repository of M5 knowledge on the planet (short of the minds of some of our senior members). So do us all a favor and do a search.
2A. Of course, you already know how to search, right? I mean, how hard can it be? The answer is "Very". The site search feature works - sort of. Google seems to work better, just add "site:m5board.com" to your google query. This tells google to search this site alone.
2B. Avoid bumping old threads. If after doing a search you don't have an answer you're always welcome to start a new thread. But I mean, that $5 taillight posted a decade ago that you just found is gone by now, seriously.
3. This is a forum of adults. Rudeness has no place. There is a real live human on the end of each and every post. Be respectful and you will be respected. Act like an infant and you will be treated like one. And please remember, there are active members on this board with 2K+, 3K+, even 5K+ posts. They didn't get that many posts by being wrong a whole bunch of times. Respect their wisdom and take an appropriate tone in your responses; you may very well be right in your argument, but alienating a senior member of the board due to a poorly phrased response is not in your best interest. You will find that the active membership, which you will be welcomed into, all know each other quite well...
4. WRITING IN ALL CAPS IS CONSIDERED YELLING. So don't. If you accidentally do so, please take the time to push the backspace key and type it again normally. This is standard internet protocol, but worth repeating.
5. Spelling and grammar errors are normal. Everyone makes them. And some of us even take the time to correct them. "Why?", you might ask? Because it makes it easier for other readers to understand your question / response. And though it may not seem like it, this is in everyone's best interest. You get more relevant feedback, and the rest of us don't have to decipher your gibberish. Lastly, English is a 2nd language for many of our members; let's not make them translate lousy English to proper English in addition to translating it to their first tongue! Note that I'm not referring to the infrequent typo here or there, but rather posts that are rampant with poor grammar.
6. If you are thinking about posting a thread about which oil to use, which oil not to use, which oils are BMW certified, which oils are the "best", which are the "worst", or anything that generally involves oil, DON'T. Instead, use the Search button. In case you haven't noticed it yet, it is in the top right corner of your screen.
7. If you must post an oil related question, be prepared to receive the following responses or simply be ignored:
- "Use the search button"
- "Not another damn oil thread"
- You must use BMW TWS or your car will explode
- You must use BMW 5W30 or your car will explode
- Mobil1 / Castrol / <INSERT your favorite brand here>is the best
- BMW only changed from TWS to 5W30 because it is cheaper
- Use whatever you want, run a Used Oil Analysis (UOA) and modify according to the results
8. Many members, myself included, post our modifications or improvements to the Beast. As contrary as this may seem, unless we specifically ask for feedback, we don't care if you like it. So please, before you hit send on that post telling us how much you don't like it, just close the window and move on.
9. You can subscribe to a post without posting "Following" in a useless response. Simply click on "Follow" (it is up there below the Search bar - you found the search bar, right?).
Again, I welcome you to the board, and remind you that if you have not yet posted a response to this unauthorized FAQ you should do so now -- otherwise it won't be sitting at the top of the page waiting for the next new member
Oh, one last thing: After you achieve approximately 2000 posts you will be welcomed into an exclusive group. Consisting primarily of grumpy old folks - in M5 experience, not physical years - who have little tolerance for questions that have been asked (and answered!) 1000 times already and even less tolerance for spelling errors and name calling, this group has been dubbed (just now, by me) the "Coalition Against Newbies Idiotic Theories", or "CAN IT". We can't help that we're grumpy, and sometimes we let out our frustration through posts like this. Thanks for taking the time to read it, and enjoy the board :cheers:
Doug