casper

Hello, I am a BMW enthus, I am thinking about replacing my Z4 30. sport with an SLK, I come to this forum and notice it has almost no attendance. days go by and there are no new posts, and for the very few posts, no one answers.

Why? In the BMW forums you can see tons of new posts, they always reply , etc.

Why is this forum so poorly attended?

ClayJ

There is lots of activity on the AMG SLK55 forum. Much less activity on this one -- just a matter of ownership and membership, I guess....

BostonSLK350

I agree, there is fairly low traffic here, however people can only post, responds and work as a result of having people belong to the forum. I am not sure how many people currently actively view the threads regularly but if we want more traffic we have to continue to tell more and more people about it!

slk55lvr

I love both MB and BMW cars and i agree this forum doesn't get nearly the activity that bimmerforums does. I'm not quite sure why either, but perhaps it's the age range of typical buyers. The BMW board definitely feels younger, and maybe more likely to use the internet to express their opinions.

CalifSLK

Well, this forum is listed lower on the main page and there is the AMG one above. People saw the "R171" and click there. There is probably no need for both. BenzWorld is not organized like this and its R171 area icludes all engine sizes and is very lively.

taroliw

yeah, when asked i generally point people to BenzWorld since their R171 forum (for both AMG and not) is much more active than here.

-1-

I agree, I would like to see more activity. I'm a member of the Corvette Forum, Cadillac Owners forum, Mazda6 forum. More daily activity and passion for their vehicles. I check this forum at least twice daily. Let's do more.

pushatam

I am a rather passive but active member, I just enjoy reading and learning about what y'all have to say about the new slk. I do not own one and I am just saving up and educating myself by reading posts. There might be others like myself who dont have anything to contribute but just enjoy this piece of the forum. In a way, the lack of posting is peaceful and makes each new post more meaningful. by the way, I am saving and hope to pick up an slk350 this fall.

-1-

Great strategy!

evanichka

just curious... what made you want to replace your z4 with slk? any other considerations like z4m, boxster? slk280/350/55?

casper

It is my wife's car, she has had the Z4 for 3 years (Lease is up in April) and wants to get different car but same style (convertible two seater).
She does not like the boxter looks (she says she does not know if the car is coming or going, it looks the same from both ends) and she does not care much about hp. She fell in love with the SLK and is pretty much set on it.
Of course I enjoy it too, but my daily driver is a BMW 545i sport (I need the four seater).

CalifSLK

I tried the SLK (R170), Boster, 350ZX, G35 Coupe in fall of 2004. Then my wife decided on the R171 and we got a cancellation from a guy who ordered it early.

Ynot

Bimmer forums are a lot more active b/c they have more students, younger ppl w/o anything else to do except to browse the forums, and kids who wish they have a bimmer, MB are still viewed as 'old man's car,' to most of them. SLK is not a cheap car, most are owned by older ppl who doesn't browse these forums. I would love to see more traffic but I rather have a mature audience, if I want it to be immature, I frequent bimmer forums. It all balances out. Works for me.

Shinigami

Go to www.mbnz.org if you want an SLK R171 forum which is very active. The AMG one on this forum is better if you just want to concentrate on the AMG model, but mbnz has more people for general R171 discussions.

(although I suggest you hang out on both, better chance of finding the "good stuff"... and if you can read German, mbslk.de has a great forum).

Easy-SLK

I think the idea here is that this Forum becomes busier, not that we divert people off to another forum.
The benzworld forum I find full of snots. One of the guys who frequents that board has been barred from this forum for shooting his insensitive mouth. Just type in Miroj and see the sort of people that are respected on the benzworld board.

Ynot

Geordie, is that you??? lol...

The other forum is more active, b/c it has a better moderator, you ask a question and within minutes, get a response.

Easy-SLK

Thats not a function of moderation, its a by product of the number of people who hang out there. HOWEVER, its only a small core of people who take part. Resulting in the same boring old fart attitudes and self opinioned attitude.
I find it narrowminded and repressive.

Easy-SLK

Shinigami excepted !! I think he cool cos hes the weight loss kid !

CalifSLK

You can tell pretty quickly which one you want to participate and which one you want to skip. To each their own, right?

jbanks15

i've been called many things after 20 years in the army but I don't think 'snot' was one of them. Thanks for the compliment! LOL!

wil_sutton

There's another good reason this is not as highly trafficked as the BMW sites you've all overlooked. The bottom line is that there are lots more Z3s and Z4s in the world than there are R170s and R171s. BMW doesn't really make a niche car (unless you count the Z8, which is gone and was quite a bit more expensive). I won't speak for other models, but there's not a day that goes by I don't see a dozen Z3/4s driving around. I sometimes go days without seeing an SLK (other than mine) on the road. Granted, I live in Chapel Hill, NC which is no metropolis, but the ratio pretty much speaks for itself.

Also, present company excluded, of course, the age thing DEFINITELY plays into it. The only R171s I've seen have been driven by older folks. Not to say they don't use the internet, but I can't exactly see grandpa sitting in front of the forums, either... I tend to see lots more younger people (especially younger women) driving Z3/4s.

just a thought...

-1-

I agree, less total owners and the average MB owner is older. As a result, I'm sure most (not all) MB owner are not typical "do it yourself-ers". Forums are wonderful. I appreciate the cross flow of information and "how to do" tips. I would say that the average age of the SLK owner is "probably" lower than the overall MB average.

Duo-Art

I like both forums. You get different slants on each one. I also use to visit the Canada site and German Cars.. but I can only handle two sites and still find time to work.

Ynot

So do I, if you think this site has low traffic, try the Canada site. I haven't been able to access the german car forum in a long time. Low traffic and nothing to read is actually good for my employer.

ClayJ

I for one seriously miss GermanCarFans forums....