The Roundel is Hopeless/Clueless

[CSteve]

When I saw the cover of the recent Roundel my spirits soared. There was the nose of a coupe. And a lovely one at that.

Alas, on the table of contents page they identified the blue coupe as an Orange 2002!!!!

The article had lots of pictures of BMWs but NONE, not one of a coupe. Not even a bumper or taillight.

Many of the full page columns are ego trips. When my membership expires I will not reup.

They don't care about us.

Steve ONeill

 

[jranmann]

I heard about that Steve and haven't been a member for so long i can't rememeber! Sick and wrong striving for advertising dollars makes for a sad magazine when the good ol' boys that used to run it (guys like us?) take off for the hills in disgust, don't it?

Here's a shot from very 'hilly' Norway (with the snow tires on) just to help soothe the pain!

Cheers!

Ran

 

[HB Chris]

Steve,

Could it be because it doesn't give the Dinans and others any business? Last time I checked my coupe didn't have a chip!

 

[bert35csi]

When I saw the cover of the recent Roundel my spirits soared. There was the nose of a coupe. And a lovely one at that.

Alas, on the table of contents page they identified the blue coupe as an Orange 2002!!!!

The article had lots of pictures of BMWs but NONE, not one of a coupe. Not even a bumper or taillight.

Many of the full page columns are ego trips. When my membership expires I will not reup.

They don't care about us.

Steve ONeill

Stopped my subsription about 2 years ago. Don't miss it one bit. Just a bunch of useless and non-interesting information and pics on the newer Bmw's.

 

[84E24]

Why not contact Roundel >>

Why don't each and every one of us contact/email Satch Carlson (editor in cheif ) at [email protected] and tell him why you don't take the magazine and how you feel about the misrepresentation in their Sept. issue.

While I have enjojed the fame of having my car on the cover I am very disapointed in the Roundel that they either they don't know the difference between a 2002 and a 3.0 cs or the information they are putting out is never checked or verified for a basic mistake like this.

I agree with the others here about the content of each issue. It is about advertising and to sell the newer cars and if they do write about the older ones 9 times out of 10 its about a 2002.

So, if you all feel that strongly about what you have written here pass it on to Satch. I have and I requested that they need to do a full article on the few remaining coupes and pay tribute to the keepers of the most beautiful cars of its time and one of BMW's most perfect designs of all time.

What do you think ??

 

[dang]

I agree that its disappointing not to see much about coupes, but I can't say I'm very surprised. Its a numbers game and always will be. I work at a German car wrecking yard that specialized in VW's for over 25 years (now all German). The decision was made about three years ago to get out of the air-cooled VW's because of two reasons... they were getting hard to find and we weren't making any money on them (supply and demand). It was a good decision, even though we get the occasional whining from an air-cooled enthusiasts.

I would be happy with one good article a year about a coupe, and maybe three or four about 2002's. That's just numbers speaking.

An alternative would be to start an articles section on this site and do it ourselves! ;-)

Dan

 

[x_atlas0]

Indeed Dang, we are in the decided minority, as far as BMW owners go. I would be shocked if the Roundel said much at all about us. The rag as a whole is indeed almost a big advert for the newer cars. However, I do not think this is entirely their fault, as pretty much any shade-tree mechanic with a newer BMW will tell you that you can't do nearly as much as even 1 generation ago by yourself without a full diagnostic/control rig. This severely limits most of what enthusiast groups talk about, namely how to fix, change, and improve their cars.

 

[m_thompson]

I won a 325iS in the BMWCCA raffle and have received two BMWCCA $500 rebates on new cars so I will keep my membership and subscription active.

 

[Stan]

Coupe Fest East

Check out the August 2000 (yes 2000) issue of the Roundel
The last really good issue that covered out coupes.
Stan

 

[Bouliac]

yea Roundel

I disagree, actually, with the negative assessments of Roundel here. Reading between the lines (and in the case of Mike Miller right out loud), It's pretty clear that the editor and the columnists drive E34's or earlier cars and hate the luxury techno-liner direction taken by the engineering, not to mention the styling of BMW since the late 90's Look at the full page ads by BMW NA and you understand why they have to give lip service to the new stuff. Even there, I give the editor a lot of credit for the recently introduced (since Satch has been there) comparison articles matching up Bmw models with the competition. They pull punches in the the conclusions, "still the best blah blah blah", but the line by line comparisons are pretty honest, and brutally so. And as an owner of a E30 ix I will defend Jenny's column to the death. If your BMW collection stops in 1974 than you can live without it, obviously, but I would advise any member of this group with more recent cars to subscribe, its well written and its a real club magasine : they print every letter to the editor, no matter how nutty (except those that trash dealers by name) and the publish every picture of kids the members send in (which I think is great)

 

[Ives]

Roundel Interaction

Coincidentally, previous to this post, I contacted Roundel to try and get their magazine because I had seen it mentioned on other earlier threads on this forum. I have several BMWs the most current a 2002 Mini Cooper S as well as an E39 and an E46. I have been over the last 3 years mostly a lurker on E9 Coupe and very much enjoy the information and opinions that the members share. My initial experience with Roundel was, and I said it to them, "You've got to be kidding me?" (a negatve connotation). What happened after that was completely unexpected. I was emailed several times as they tried to explain their response and finally to my satisfaction made me believe that they care. I would agree with previous postings that, on the surface, we are a relatively insignificant economic opportunity for them and their target consumer but they have not taken into account the fact that many of us have been buying new and used BMWs for a long period of time. I bought my first new BMW in 1968 a 2002 Silver/Black.

Their management now knows about some of the negative posts and this could turn out to be a good thing. My dealings with them turned out to be honest and forthright from both sides although this could be an isolated incidence. Maybe a more constructive relationship can be fostered with Roundel by making our opinions known and emphasizing our strengths as a forum that is interested in "most" things BMW. It will be interesting to see if we get a response from them and how it develops.

Regards Jon

 

[x_atlas0]

The degree of the Roundel changing could also be linked to the change in the average BMW buyers. I don't see nearly as many enthusiasts in E9X cars, if you catch my drift.

 

[chicane]

Chicane on Roundel

Wow, Roundel sparks more controversy than coupe prices.
I like Roundel and happen to think that it is one of the best club magazines around. Show me a production class magazine of that caliber from any other major car club.

First off, all E9 owners (or Hoffman era classic and vintage BMW's) are a mere fraction of BMW owners and this trend will only continue so I wouldn't expect more than a coupe story a year. I own mostly newer BMW's so I am very interested in tech articles for the E46 and E36 because that's what I have and what most BMW owners have. Even when E9's were new they were a high dollar, low production run vehicle and father time has not been generous to the coupe.

I join the club, not for the magazine, but for the camaraderie and the events, and more importantly the discount....

Not to mention that ANY of you guys could write a story for submission about your coupe, include some pictures and I'll bet you would have a very good chance at submission into Roundel....so stop whining.

 

[BMW CCA]

Did we make a mistake?

Okay, so you caught us! We don't often make mistakes...of this caliber, but when we do we like to go big. Please know that no offense was meant to the Coupe or to its owners and fans. We happen to like the Coupe's ourselves. Sometimes the sun glinting off all that beautiful chrome blinds us and well...you now know what happens next.

Why don't we have more articles about the old cars in Roundel? That is a question best answered by a frequent one we get from the other side of the equation. "Why aren't there more articles about mods and new cars?"

The short answer is that we are a Club made up of BMW enthusiasts of all stripes and colors and model tastes. Roundel has to find a way to appeal to everyone, but we have limited, and very expensive pages, with which to satisfy.

Why so many ads in Roundel? Your membership fee is split out three ways. $15.30 is rebated to your primary chapter. $15.00 subsidizes the cost of your Roundel subsciption and $9.70 is held for administrative purposes. The part of your membership fee that goes toward Roundel covers about 50% of the cost of Roundel. The rest of the cost is paid for by our adverstisers.

I hope the above helps explain our position. Chicane is absolutely correct that if you write an article and submit pictures they will likely find their way into the magazine. Members and their interests will always come first. We will do our best not to muff up the credits and ask that you always feel free to offer up your suggestions on how to make Roundel and the Club a better fit for all of us.

Thanks,
Frank Patek
Executive Director BMW CCA

 

[abe3.0CSi]

The "Star" Mercedes Benz magazine does a much better job then the Roundel...imho. I think Mercedes is very proud of their heritage and there are frequent articles on old cars....most of these articles are "front page" stories. Some of the new guys may like their new cars....but most would still appreciate the history behind their cars, where they came from, and the stories of the company we know as BMW.
Show me a man that does not like to read about old cars... and I'll show you a man who can't distiguis the difference between an E9 and a 2002...ooops.
abe

 

[chicane]

The "Star" Mercedes Benz magazine does a much better job then the Roundel...imho. I think Mercedes is very proud of their heritage and there are frequent articles on old cars....most of these articles are "front page" stories. Some of the new guys may like their new cars....but most would still appreciate the history behind their cars, where they came from, and the stories of the company we know as BMW.
Show me a man that does not like to read about old cars... and I'll show you a man who can't distiguis the difference between an E9 and a 2002...ooops.
abe

I'll put Roundel against "The Star" any day of the week. Just highlighting old cars doesn't make you magazine better. Like I said, if you wrote an article on your car and sent it in (with pics) the chances of getting published are VERY high.

 

[abe3.0CSi]

People don't just send in pictures and do articles on the their old cars...but you know best. Unfortunately, it too has sufferred in quality over the last 20years that I have received the star. I don't know enough historically about the roundel to comment on it. Even Porsche do a number of articles about older cars...this has never been an issue with either mb or porche and their members enjoy reading about those articles....even if they are young folks.
I would be in heaven if they came up with a magazine called "The German Trio" and all they talked about was old benzs, porsches, and bmws....
abe

 

[chicane]

People don't just send in pictures and do articles on the their old cars...but you know best.

I hate to break the news to you but that is exactly how it works Roundel is a CLUB magazine it is produced and authored by club MEMBERS. What dis you think, they hire some Pulitzer prize winner to compose stories about rusty BMW's. That is YOUR job and the job of all other members. It is no different than club members who do not show up at events then complain about those very events being canceled.

Unfortunately, it too has sufferred in quality over the last 20years that I have received the star. I don't know enough historically about the roundel to comment on it. Even Porsche do a number of articles about older cars...this has never been an issue with either mb or porche and their members enjoy reading about those articles....even if they are young folks.
I would be in heaven if they came up with a magazine called "The German Trio" and all they talked about was old benzs, porsches, and bmws....
abe

Like I said if you guys want to see more stories about coupe THEN WRITE SOME STORIES ABOUT COUPES and send them in....with pics.

 

[maxxfish]

I've got to agree with Chicane on this one. Granted, there is certainly a percentage of BMWCCA members that are not true enthusiasts; they got their membership for free when they bought their 7-series. They could care less about the history of the marque and have no idea what an E9 is.

I know, we all think we're the 'real' enthusiasts, since we own classic BMWs. But there are all kinds (and vintage owners are the VERY small minority). The racers (like myself) and track junkies think THEY'RE the real enthusiasts. The show-and-shine Ricers think THEY'RE the ones...

But just who is the average BMWCCA member? I'd venture to guess that a large percentage of them own a 3-series. Their cars have at least one aftermarket modification, whether it be bling, performance, or ICE.

They want to know what can be done to their current car, and what their next dream car will be. Would I buy an E92 M3? Hell yes. And although I can't buy one now, I'll certainly buy one in 5-7 years, so I'm happy to read up on it in the meantime.

Now Abe, I bet if you sent a picture and blurb about your car, it would end up in the "letters" section. Other than the political banter (and the F-ing runflat debate), this is where the members can show off their interesting rides.

Oh, and Sam Smith is one of the best automotive writers out there. His articles are true info-tainment. The how-to articles on the old cars (which they do have just about every month, BTW. And no, they're never about a CS) are just plain boring if they don't pertain to you and your car. Sorry, but most members could care less about how a Kugelfisher pump works....

 

[duane_sword]

I sent in my article/story on my E9 to Roundel... perhaps I should try again.... but the BMW Great Britain Magazine was eager to publish my article.... perhaps taking pity on a poor convict Australian living here in the USA.

I happen to like Roundel very much... I used to subscribe to Porsche Panoram (Porsche Club of America) magazine and I wasn't impressed, at least relative to BMW CCA's Roundel.

Satch as Editor keeps it real, finds the harmony between the new-BMsters and the old-school who go for the pre-Bangled variety.

I have encouraged several friends to buy BMWs, and each of them to become members of the BMW CCA strictly for Roundel.

Again, I am Australian, and often called "different"