-Marlin-

This subforum is one big for sale sign and hardly dedicated towards owners discussing their C63's. It's all vendors anymore.

Doesn't it loose sight of the purpose of the forum in general at this point?

Merc63

I agree it's annoying. I can't even find posts, it's all for sale crap. This forum used to be awesome now it's like going on eBay.

m a x i m u s

Not to mention all of the repetitive posts about the same 3 topics. Sorry, I had to say it. Lol.

BLKROKT

Agree. I posted here, to no avail.

https://mbworld.org/forums/suggestio...-spamming.html

Do there really need to be 20 vendor posts on the front page? All of them bumped by the vendor? No discussion, not adding anything to the community. Just SPAM.

m a x i m u s

Honestly, the vendor posts don't bother me, but maybe the mods could create a separate vendor sub-subsection or something. People that are interested will probably go browse. And I assume these vendors are sponsoring our forum. If this is the case, banner ads could take care of that.

m a x i m u s

Oops, sorry, I just made the same suggestion that you did in your other thread. Strange that I never saw it when it was fresh. But then again, may be not so surprising ...

sytfu_colan

It's because our community is very small, so the only way they could get the exposure and our attention is spamming here. I don't really blame them, but what really annoys me is that a few vendors here don't even know the product they're selling and marketing.

C63TSgt

It gets to be a little much. I appreciate the individuals with C63 specific parts for sale posting here, because those are the only parts I care to buy, and sifting through wheels and tires in the classifieds takes forever since very few fit our cars. BUT, there is a vendor section for those guys, maybe a C63 specific vendor section would be better? There really should be each section broken down by model. I literally only care about C63 parts for sale, vendor products, questions/answers. If there was an individual section for each that would be super.

SaphGreyC63

LOL I am guessing this is in relation to the massive spam by Vivd today? With ten threads all in a row? Yeah, thats' annoying.

All I see like you guys, is vendors bumping posts. "PM Sent" "Wednesay Bump" etc. Rather than do that, just post actual deals.

Best vendor in my eyes is Eurocharged. They come in, make one thread, rarely bump it, and give an ACTUAL DEAL for the forum users. Not the same price you basically get everywhere else or if you just ask.

Southways

I suggest action speaks a lot louder than a thread such as this.

I have a template I have used on several occasions, usually when there are 3 or more "bumps" that add no value to the forum. Feel free to copy it.

****
Dear <insert vendor name>
I note on <insert date> you felt the need to bump your unsolicited advertisements on the C63 forum. I respect that you have a business that sells products & you want to attract customers, however do you consider that it is insulting to forum members to imply that we are unable to use the search function, or that our memories are so bad that we have forgotten your "special deal" in the short time since your last unwanted bump.
I hope you will consider this PM as constructive and reduce your self-promoting repetitions. The next time I am seeking a product that you offer I will search for it, and if there are erroneous posts (bumps) subsequent to this PM, I will not be purchasing anything from your company.
Hoping to see less repetition & more value ... Thanks.

****

xxaarraa

OP, my thoughts exactly. I thought the C63 section was strange the moment I joined. I remember the old W210 E55 and W203 C55 sections being very different - with actual content and discussions.

Here, it seems its either vendors posting "PM us for pricing" or young kids asking about "what wheels fit my car" It has a distinct E46 M3 forum feel, to be honest. I hated that forum.

BLKROKT

Vivid has a reputation for being SpamMasters. Just ask the 6SpeedOnline 996TT guys All their bumps and multicolored bold huge hyped type is not a new technique from them.

It would be one thing if they added anything to the discussion (and this goes for other vendors also). Weistec and Eurocharge seem to be the only ones who know any sort of discretion, and you're right that their posts add something to the community. They are a part of it. They contribute their knowledge. They are also known as (among) the best - not a coincidence.

I don't know if it's because these C-Class Mercedes are not as much of an "enthusiast" car as some other brands (seems to be a lot newbies, or people more concerned with fitting the most carbon and biggest rims possible), but the other thing that really annoys me here, is all the responses for "PM with shipping" etc. Normally, one would see a post, and if interested email or PM the vendor/poster. I don't get the process here of posting on the thread to PM. If you want a price, reach out to them directly. It's not hard, and far less annoying than making the rest of us scroll through to see if there's any useful content.

If you ask me, vendor bumps should be outlawed here. Vendor posts should be un-replyable. Like many many other reasonable forums do. There's enough space for banner ads, and as someone else said above, there are subsections for vendor posts. If someone likes your product, they will reach out.

As long as we, the members, continue to allow and encourage this, the further this forum will continue to spiral downwards, and people who actually have interesting things to say post less and less.

realjones88

The issue is that anyone that owns a car like a C63 has a lot of disposable income. Assuming vendors pay a flat fee they can spam their hearts out and it doesn't cost them any more per post, so they are going to spam as much as possible to try to secure a sale.

You can add them to your ignore list which will at least cut down on the spam inside threads started by regular members. For example, I have racing brake ignored because they spam literally any and every thread that mentions brakes or brake pads. If we are having a discussion about replacing brake rotors cheaply, no one wants $2500 brakes. Thanks.

SaphGreyC63

Will the ignore list ignore threads started by that person? If so, I think we found our solution.

jcfay

No, we wish. I started a thread with the same damn theme a few months back and we all raged, but nothing changed. Guessing the admins don't care and/or too much funding from the vendors goes to the company running this joint. It's a pain in the *** however and really detracts from the utility of the forum. And lame bumps. Boo Hiss.

SaphGreyC63

Yeah I remember that thread, was a part of that one too. It's just so annoying sifting through all the garbage to get to the one or two useful threads a day.

BLKROKT

The admins never replied to my post on the feedback forum. What's their incentive to act? It's not hard to make this forum a better experience. The vendors, and admins, treat this forum like the non-AMG ones (no offense). People buy these cars mostly because they are car enthusiasts, who are mostly the people who frequent this forum. Not because they give a **** about blacking out their badges, or seeing endless advertisements. We're adults and can figure out how to search for who sells what.

I'd really like to see a sub-forum here in the C63 section reserved for more technical discussion. I think that would solve a lot of problems for me at least.

hyperion667

anyone wanna buy a monkey?

black lavender

This is nothing compared to 6speedonline. Every thread is an advertisement.

BLKROKT

Up until IB took over in 2007 (I think), it was pretty good.
(ah ha, that's funny, IB owns mbworld also)

loungn14

lol ya we feel the same way. We are on so many different forums and it's a different story on every forum.

I personally like to just post a thread on a new product and let it ride its coarse, or post up in threads where people need help (not just in our products but everyone as we are car guys too!)

The admins did at a time yell at vendors for spam, but those days seem to be few and far between.

I personally liked the forums where the members would thumbs up/thumbs down posts and threads. Made it easy to get rid of junk.

HBC350

I have come to realize that that's unavoidable. New owners always have the same questions on every auto forum out there.

GRP

There are two issues.

The first is that the C63 is a mature platform and most of the issues have been covered in the past. The now much cheaper to own mature platform finds new ownership often with a younger demographic and the questions of old get reasked because some people seemingly have no search skills or simply like to get their post count up. I have seen it happen with other vehicles I have owned and forums I frequented.

The second issue is vendor spam which the forum owners could control but probably don't because they want to maximise their income by keeping vendors happy. I appreciate vendor posts for new items or great prices but the constant bumps or reposting the same ad **** me off. A separate grouping of the vendor ads (sort of like how the stickies sit at the top - I am not saying put them on their own page that no-one ever looks at) would let me scan over the current vendor offerings if I was interested. To the vendors that provide real knowledge and assistance rather than constant spruiking of goods with no prices I am greatful.

Post 10 from Ken has merit. Ken has real world experience of running one of the largest (the largest and the best?) premium aftermarket oem quality or better manufacturers in Australia. Return the spam and see how the vendor likes it.

SaphGreyC63

I agree with these ponits. The same questions over and over don't really bother me. I'll be honest, the search function only gets you so far with these. Will I find my answer? yes. Is it worth the time it takes sometimes sifting through threads and posts trying to find that answer when its something I know a fellow member will answer in minutes? No. Also, sometimes the same question comes up but there are new answers due to changes in the car from a PFL to FL, changes to technology, changes to new products. Again, those don't matter as much. Some of those threads, particularly those about rim offsets can be solved with a sticky. A ONE POST STICKY. One that simply lists all the possible rim/tire combinations. Sure its a lot of work but it takes care of the problem.

The vendor posts are where my blood starts to rage. As a business owner, I get it. You have products, these are your customers, and you want to sell them. Its as direct marketing as youc an ask for. The problem is the approach these vendors take (I won't name names but we all know who these vendors are). They spam and spam, they add weird text colors and sizes, they list a price which on a $400 item for $390 after stating MBWORLD SPECIALS PM ME FOR PRICE!. Just list the price right there. Some vendors, ie Eurocharged and VFR Carbon, I like them and am very likely to purchase from them (I have already and plan on the other) because I go to the thread, I see the product and it says $xxx + shipping. Bam, done. I know how much it is, no need to PM to find out a pair of small aluminum stick on paddles are an insane price. Just put the insane price right there and let those who are willing to post on your thread.

Basically, there is a correct way to utilize the forums and in essence maximize your gains from it by respecting the community, and then there is a wrong way. Some vendors do it right, some do it wrong.

jcfay

Bump for the monkey sale. Sorry, couldn't resist... And kudos to vendors like Eurocharged who do only really post when they have new deals or items. And they're always on the ball the reply to questions, too. Same to Weistec and I'm sure there are others that I've missed.

As far as repeat questions (can we talk about the appropriate oil please?), I'm able to find some of what I need via search. I think the previous poster is right - info changes over time (pre-FL versus FL), we collectively figure things out that we didn't know before, and so I don't mind the reposts. I know I've found some outdated/inaccurate stuff via search and then received the correct answer with a new question. So yes, it's a little annoying, but I don't mind trying to help people out as long as they've made some sort of effort. AT LEAST, mention that you did a few searches and are still confused. That's what the forums are here for, IMO.