[Overtaxed]

I've owned a few BMWs, a Jag, RR, Lex, MB. I like to find a group of people to talk about cars with/share tricks/tips/etc.

As a current RR owner, the forums are just so weak compared to this (and other) BMW forums. There might be 10 posts a day on some of them, compared to BMW where the active forums have 100s or 1000s of posts a day.

Now, I realize that compared to RR, BMW sells a lot of cars. But the same seems to be the case for other "highline" vehicles, BMW owners just seem much more interested in talking about, working on, modifying, and spending time learning about their cars.

I'm wondering if it's just numbers, or if the type of people who buy BMWs are just more likely to be "into cars" vs the type of people who buy other brands?

Interestingly, my other car is a Ford pickup truck; and those communities are crazy active too. All kinds of mods, coding tips, tire discussions, lifts, etc. Now, given that the F150 is one of the best selling vehicles in the country, that's not a huge surprise, but it does seem that Ford pickup owners (and I suspect others, just never ventured to a GM forum) are pretty rabid about their vehicles.

[chad86tsi]

I think it's both.

I'm a car guy, grew up dirt poor, lusted for all the cool cars as a kid that I thought I could never have. Did my own repairs and service (still do), know tons about everything automotive. I've been a very active member of "car enthusiast forums" since the late 1990's.

Fast forward a few decades and I can buy what I want, I get an M760i. I promptly join this forum and discover almost no discussion in the 7 series forums, and what is there doesn't seem to be many "enthusiast" members, or certainly not of my same type. It seems I'm not a typical 7 series buyer. But I also clearly know there are simply fewer of them in the world to create owners that would join such a forum, it's both factors really.

[..Rush..]

I think that the only other group even more passionate, and obsessed are the Tesla Owners Group. They actually worship their Overlord Elon Musk lol.

[Overtaxed]

Originally Posted by ..Rush..

I think that the only other group even more passionate, and obsessed are the Tesla Owners Group. They actually worship their Overlord Elon Musk lol.

LOL, that's more a cult. I kind of like Teslas, love their sales process and could deal with the QC issues (I think). But I don't have one for many reasons, one of which is because I don't do "fads". No iPhone and no Tesla.

[c1pher]

Although, I no longer own BMWs, I still am active here because the threads are more interesting. It seems like on some of the Porsche forums there is some air of “I’m better than you” from some of the members, even when asking basic questions.

[ppointer]

I had an S5 for just under a year. Audi owners seem to be almost as passionate and engaged as BMW owners. I also follow a couple of MB forums, and there is definitely a drop in traffic for that make.

[SteezeforMyBimmerMon]

Originally Posted by ..Rush..

I think that the only other group even more passionate, and obsessed are the Tesla Owners Group. They actually worship their Overlord Elon Musk lol.

Cannot argue with that. Porsche owners are maybe second on the list and BMW 3rd. I would call these the mainstream owners...

There are also lots of Mini, VW Bug clubs out there where some real whackos that are fun to hang out with but these are all niche clubs. Jeep and off-road vehicles have their own thing as well.

[allinon72]

Other brands tend to lean towards the luxury side, while BMW tends to lean more towards the performance side, even with non-M models. Those interested in luxury cars are far less likely to modify their cars. If you're into performance/driving dynamics, you're likely into the aftermarket, which breeds discussion on forums. Finally, BMWs at least up to this point are just cheap enough where owners are willing to modify them. I don't have any data to back this up, but I would bet the higher the MSRP, the least likely to modify, thus the least likely to get involved in discussions about tinkering with the car.

Again this is just my conjecture.

[Overtaxed]

Originally Posted by ppointer

I had an S5 for just under a year. Audi owners seem to be almost as passionate and engaged as BMW owners. I also follow a couple of MB forums, and there is definitely a drop in traffic for that make.

Saying this as a former BMW (and soon to be again) owner, Audi and BMW owners are definitely neck and neck for one metric. Who can drive more like an a**hole. Seems there's something about either of them that just makes your happy go lucky soccer mom suddenly decide that she needs to do some tire testing to see if they'll come apart at 125 mph.

On a serious note, I wasn't think about Audi, but I'm not surprised, those I know who've owned them are generally pretty passionate about cars.

[KevinGS]

Originally Posted by Overtaxed

LOL, that's more a cult. I kind of like Teslas, love their sales process and could deal with the QC issues (I think). But I don't have one for many reasons, one of which is because I don't do "fads". No iPhone and no Tesla.

Teslas and Iphones are fads?

fad (noun):

an intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something, especially one that is short-lived and without basis in the object's qualities; a craze.

10 years+ for the Model S, and the Tesla Roadster was born almost 20 years ago.

And the Iphone has been out for like 10 years.

So I think these are surpassing the definition of a fad, especially since there's no sign of either going away anytime soon.

Teslas and Iphones aren't like parachute pants, cabbage patch kids, beanie babies, and Nextel walkie-talkie phones.

Having said that, likewise, I have never owned either myself and don't plan to unless forced (love my S10+ and my M3 and M4). But calling them fads is a stretch at this point. I think they can be officially labeled as "trends", even though we're doing our best to resist them.

[Overtaxed]

Teslas and Iphones are fads?

LOL, fair point, poor choice of words. I try not to do "follow the herd". I honestly kind of like Tesla's, but they are way down on my list because I'm not keen on what they signal to others. Apple products I think are grossly overpriced and underspec compared to PCs (although, to be fair, the M1's are very interesting). I have an AMD Ryzen because, if I can avoid the "herd" buying Intel, I will.

I like to swim upstream.

[KevinGS]

Originally Posted by SteezeforMyBimmerMon

Cannot argue with that. Porsche owners are maybe second on the list and BMW 3rd. I would call these the mainstream owners...

There are also lots of Mini, VW Bug clubs out there where some real whackos that are fun to hang out with but these are all niche clubs. Jeep and off-road vehicles have their own thing as well.

The Jeep fanatics are borderline cult-like too.

The Porschephiles are as passionate as BMW owners, maybe more. There are a lot more soccer-mom-ish BMW owners who aren't passionate about their BMWs, they're just luxury appliances to them. But you don't find nearly as many passionless soccer moms driving around in Macans, Cayennes and Panameras. So, per capita, pound-for-pound, I bet the average Porsche owner is more passionate than the average BMW owner.

[Overtaxed]

Funny how some brands seem to be able to drive high levels of owner engagement and loyalty where others.. Not so much.

Seems like there are certain brands that people buy when then really don't care at all about cars (Lexus, for example). They want a utility. Then there are brands that people buy only when they can describe the drivetrain in exhaustive detail. Very interesting how the market segments and manufacturers take advantage of that segmentation in their marketing.

[heavyD^2]

Originally Posted by KevinGS

The Jeep fanatics are borderline cult-like too.

The Porschephiles are as passionate as BMW owners, maybe more. There are a lot more soccer-mom-ish BMW owners who aren't passionate about their BMWs, they're just luxury appliances to them. But you don't find nearly as many passionless soccer moms driving around in Macans, Cayennes and Panameras. So, per capita, pound-for-pound, I bet the average Porsche owner is more passionate than the average BMW owner.

I actually see a lot of soccer moms driving around in Porsche SUV's.

[allinon72]

If there was a way to access the data, I bet we would all be shocked on how many ordinary people are driving M cars and either don't even know what it is or know and don't touch it, they just drive it like a normal car. A lot of these are leases. These are the cars most people are looking for when in the used market - unmolested examples. A very very small portion are enthusiasts that are enthusiastic enough to visit a forum.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

I always noticed the same thing. I was cross shopping Audi and Merc competitors and at the end of the day I could not find any DIY community or forums that were as big. Barely had replies on my posts.

[KevinGS]

Originally Posted by heavyD^2

I actually see a lot of soccer moms driving around in Porsche SUV's.

Yes, but I see more BMW SUVs with soccer moms and their kids than Porsche SUVs.

And with BMW Leases much more friendly than Porsche leases, the roads are filled with BMW SUVs, from X1s to 7s. Macans and Cayennes are more rare because of the pricing, and less of a need to pay extra for all that sportiness. Hec, the Macan is kind of small, so it can barely even fit teens comfortably. And then the Cayenne gets pricey fast with some options (options that are sometimes standard on BMWs). So, for all of these reasons, BMW SUVs rule the upper-middle-class suburbs, maybe the wealthy ones too.

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by heavyD^2

I actually see a lot of soccer moms driving around in Porsche SUV's.

I think he meant total number of drivers vs per capita. But yeah I have not seen many Porsche Macan/Cayenne driver who seem to be enthusiasts. They tend to drive the speed limit and look at their phone like any other CUV driver. It's frankly amazing how Porsche gets away with having such tight steering in the Macan given how the majority of their customers want nothing to do with it.

Occasionally I see a GTS being hooned. There's definitely some people who'd rather be driving a Boxster/911 but needed the practicality and AWD of the CUVs.

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by allinon72

If there was a way to access the data, I bet we would all be shocked on how many ordinary people are driving M cars and either don't even know what it is or know and don't touch it, they just drive it like a normal car. A lot of these are leases. These are the cars most people are looking for when in the used market - unmolested examples. A very very small portion are enthusiasts that are enthusiastic enough to visit a forum.

Some of my colleagues and friends have BMWs and talk about M cars at some point, but they are definitely not like us forum people. They are more passionate about the BMW brand rather than how a car drives. It's literally just a status thing.

[x622]

Originally Posted by c1pher

Although, I no longer own BMWs, I still am active here because the threads are more interesting. It seems like on some of the Porsche forums there is some air of “I’m better than you” from some of the members, even when asking basic questions.

There really is. My problem with these forums is that nobody is actually technical like what OP is trying to posit. I find on cars that are EDM that most people don't work on them themselves and take it to "shops" to get "packages" done. I even admit that I do less work myself since I simply do not have time to work on my car as much as I'd like to. I think has more and more of an impact the higher up in MSRP you go.

I look at it this way;

Do I like working on cars? Yes
Do I have time to work on cars? No
Is it cathartic? Yes, as long as bolts aren't stuck and a PAIN IN THE ASS TO REACH
Is there more cathartic things that take less effort? Yes, including things that don't have little bullshit designs that require you to move you arm just so to get this one nut off.

I go do those things and pay someone else to do the stuff I don't want to do. I don't really want to go balls deep in my engine bay to try and pull some stupid wires through to get a sensor I'm wiring up connected, I'll just pay someone else to do that and enjoy the fruits of that sensor being installed.

[shaneguags]

Originally Posted by ppointer

I had an S5 for just under a year. Audi owners seem to be almost as passionate and engaged as BMW owners. I also follow a couple of MB forums, and there is definitely a drop in traffic for that make.

me coming from a 2018 Audi S3, I'd have to agree. both brands have pretty good engagement in the performance side of things. there are lots of forum support and FaceBook groups which I love

[10"]

i was in Audi groups for years before 2013 when I moved to BMW. I'd say Audi and VW people were just as into their cars as the BMW people I've seen.

I don't think you can expect RR owners to really be into cars, sorry to say!