I just jumped over to this thread from a link in the 07 forum. I don't know if its quite the scandal that some have made it out to be, but I have to give props to the Mininuts for showing such restraint with their posts on the matter. No doubt they have so antagonized the M7 supporters in the past that everybody is ready to bite their heads off, but rather than focus on the wise cracks I see many posts where they laid it down even handedly. Good for them - jinky, camelpilot, and where's skip? Huh? He usually can be as sincere as he is wise cracking where as the others are more consistently impertinent. Skip usually shines at moments like this? Swore off NAM?

Well anyway, I doubt they are eager for praise from me, but I've hurled barbs at them before so I'm willing to give positive reinforcement when its warranted.

The vendor should just make a statement, then move on already. Its just a coil-over..

 

I personally and the rest of the NUTs appreciate the above comment. I believe it carries even more weight coming from an occasional adversary. Unfortunately, Skip seems to be in NAM limbo. He is able to read, but his posts are getting moderated. However:

 

yeah jinky and skip love u too lava.

 

I am curious....... Now that the topic of this thread has been sufficiently muddled, the people that complained the loudest have nothing to offer to the discussions to improve the forum. Is it because they had a different goal in mind? And yes, I am talking specifically about Onasled and Partsman.

 

did they know about it? I just happened to stumble upon it by accident. They could have easily missed it.

Just a thought....you could PM the link

 

Well, when Mark proposed jokingly that some members need to be voted of the island, Partsman was the first one to get in line. See post #323. So it would seem he was paying attention up till then. And in my experience, where one goes the other follows.

 

Sorry i thought you meant the other thread you started about improving the forum.....which has no link in here. So i was just suggesting posting or sending them that link.

I re-read what you posted and i guess you meant the forum improvement talk going on in this thread. My bad

 

Rally may have a point. I am talking about these two threads in the Site Feedback forum"

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=111714

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=111504

 

I had no specific goal in mind, and i'm pretty sure onasled didn't either. We just get tired of you being the first and only one to exploit an issue or bad experience someone may have had with M7. I don't see you being that way in any other thread with any other vendor.

 

I am not the only one. I am just the most vocal. I notice that you are not accusing me of making anything up. Just so my intent is clear:

I have owned 4 different items sold by M7. One of them is still on my car. The other three had to be removed. (While you have taken some personal shots at my mechanical ability, what you don't know is that all the parts were installed by Steve's Auto Clinic. Same shop that works on Randy's (M7) car. This is not a reflection on my abilities, but a result of my schedule.)

To continue, had I been aware of the issues with the other three, I would have given a second thought to purchasing them. But just as you try to do with me any opposing opinions are ridiculed and their source is ostracized to the point where the person gives up (any one recall andy@ross-tech.com?). Hence the purpose of my involvement is to allow future customers to make a decision based on someone else's personal experience vs. vendor sales pitch.

The reason you do not see me being that way with any other vendor is because I have not had any problems with any other vendor. The vendors I have dealt with are (in no particular order): Outmotoring, Detroit Tuned, MiniWorks, Mighty Stripes, MTH, TireRack, Texas Speed Works and a few other's I can't recall.

Had your sponsors been a little more forthcoming in their advertising and their dealing I would have no reason to be the vocal advocate that I am. Feel free to contact me via PM if you would like to discuss this further.

 

I don't think i've ever accused you of making anything up. At this point in the timeline, I may question it, but you obviously had some kind of issue(s)with M7 parts in the past. (fitment, etc.)
Yes, you are the most vocal so that makes it look like you are the M7 Haters Club president, which is fine with me. When I go into a thread that has a question or issue with an M7 product,(or any product for that matter) I go there to maybe help the OP. You seem to go there to keep bumping it to the front.
Not knowing what the parts were,(other than the USS)and not knowing what (if any) kind of research you did before buying the parts, it's hard to comment on. This kind of stuff happens all the time when modding a car, I just chalk it up to "lesson learned" and go a different route.
Understandable, but you could have just exploited/bad mouthed M7 once, and then moved on. You just keep wanting to remind us of your past dealings with them. Everyone on this site knows that you are not big on M7 products, people, testing, etc. Can we just get past it?
I agree that any and all vendors should discuss any issues/fitment problems(that they are aware of) that you may or may not encounter during the install and afterwards. Being that every MINI is a little different in build, they may not be able to advise correctly on some issues or even at all until it is brought to their attention.
As for the PM, I would rather have the discussion right here so the other members can see that we are able to discuss this like adults. I actually thought about giving you a number to call so we could talk and maybe end this dumb sh*t.

 

That is not true. But whenever an opposing opinion is offered, the source immediately gets ridiculed and "gang banged" but the supporters. I go to those same threads to offer a balanced point of view.

Maybe we have different approaches, or values. I don't appreciate for the "lesson learned" to be on my dime. Just because things happen all the time, it does not make it acceptable. I am sure you can come up with your own examples.

I am sorry, but you are wrong. The only time I bring up the past is when asked. My intent is not to remind those who already now, but as I have said before, to present a balanced review to those who don't. There have been several discussions where the person doing the questioning decided to go the M7 route. You have never seen me ridicule them for their decision. There is no limit on how many times I can express my view. That's just the way it is.

We seem to be in agreement on this point. So perhaps you can answer this for me. M7 is aware of issues with several of their products. Both from me and others. The ones I am personally aware of are:

Strut Bar: may require additional work/modification to the hood liner. Granted, not a big deal for most, which makes it even more curious that they do not mention it anywhere.

USS: well established fact that there are fitment issues with Miltek and Alta exhausts. Some can be worked out, some can't. Once again, no warning anywhere on their website, or in any brochures I've seen.

Coil overs: Recently a poster advised that there is a fitment issue with the Coilovers on the GP cars because of the 18 inch rims, requiring spacers at the very least. I know this is a new issue, but I still don't see any mention of it from the M7 representatives.

By contrast there are several examples of products that carry advisories for fitment. From SS break lines and SS kits for different model years, to Engine Dampeners, to suspension parts that the manufacturers are aware will not fit convertible models. I am sure there are a few others I am not aware of.

My question is obviously why M7 refuses to do the same?

 

I can't speak for M7, all I can do is see if Peter might add some type of advisory to certain products that may have fitment/install issues.

 

I am curious to see his response.

 

Any news?

 

Any news on what? I believe that the first time, you might have misread what he said.

He said that all he can do is talk to M7 to find out what parts have fitment or install issues. He did not mean to say that he was asking peter any specific question currently....so I'm not sure which response you are looking forward to? He simply meant that he talks to Peter in order to gain information about products the he is interested in.

 

Oh, I see. I thought he meant he will ask Peter if M7 would add advisories to the products that are known to have fitment/install issues since he talks to him on regular basis.

I guess whoever said it is easy to misread what is said on these forums is absolutely right.

 

I think the issue here is all about marketing. Its irrelevant where a product is made it’s all about the brand name. That’s why BMW a German company well known for rear wheel drive cars, took a super cool brand name and look from England called the MINI as the wrapping for there first front wheel drive hatch. Instant credibility, from brand recognition. How many people would buy a BMW fwd hatch if it looked vaguely like a Honda civic and was called BMW Civic? Some for sure ….. But I doubt it would be as successful a marketing ploy as the MINI

M7 is a brand with a suspension product that would benefit from an association (how ever remote) with any large well know European or US manufacturer of suspension parts for obvious reasons, mainly the long history of racing and development. So its makes sense from a marketing stand point for M7 to deny any connection with unknown brands and foster the perception that the product may have some link with US or European manufactures. It also adds an air of mystery to the product that has got it noticed! And that’s great marketing!

M7 has exploited the consumers own prejudices to sell its product. Is that a good thing?

If M7 are successful it will not matter what they sell or where it came from the fact that it has the label M7 is attached to it will be enough for most buyers. The brand name M7 has become a commodity in its own right through clever marketing.

The Korean manufacturer even used the M7 connection to try and boost its sales locally! Hows that for an endorsement, the product must be good because an US company stocks it……………

 

No, I think you read him right; he just talks and doesn't follow through, which is exactly my own personal experience with the man (makes you a promise and then retracts it).

 

Yes, I agree; the flaming gloves come off when someone clearly lies to you. See my prior post.

I'm still catching up here. Was a comment ever made by Peter about the origin representation Chris claimed was made to him?

 

Don't stir a fire that was put out long ago. There is no reason to get back into this. Any questions you have can be found by reading the thread.....everything has been answered. We don't need the flame war starting back up.

The abridged version:

The coilovers are Made in Korea
The M7 advertisement tells the truth by saying "Not made in tokyo or japan"
Chris claims to have been told "no asian countries at all" in a phone conversation with Peter
Thread is started.
Peter talks to Chris about it via PM (after this thread was started) because Chris was the one lied to.
People got banned and warned......thread over.

You have dealt with Partsman? Cuase that's who goaljnky talking about......

 

I was supposed to buy some stock front and rear grilles from blackie, but I backed out during our PMs because I just got a "not so good" feeling about the person and the transaction. I apologized to him, but apparently that not's good enough as this went down months ago.

You can see what kind of person he is to come into the thread just for this...
EDIT: Oh, and for this post to make it look like he has an interest in the thread...
When really he just wanted to make me look bad for not following through on the transaction.
I guess he's never changed his mind about a purchase. I said I was sorry, so move on.

 

Rally:

You have been a very reasonable conversationalist in both threads we have been in, as well as in PMs, so I am going to address this response to you. You seem willing to keep an open mind, even if you have formed opinions; we all have done at least that much about some of the vendors, their products, and each other.

To answer your concern, I was not stirring anything, but given that I have been in a few threads now where strong sentiments were expressed about the truthfulness of certain vendors (not just the one in this thread, which I know you know to be true, as you participated in those other threads too), I started reading this one with interest, late last night. By the time I was several pages into this thread I still didn't know what had finally happened about this supposed "lie", so I skip to the end. I still don't know what has happened exactly once I get there, but I do find none other than PARTSMAN darting into this conversation and then sort of pulling his patented disappearing act on goaljnky, which is exactly what he did to me in our private conversation that was about a relatively small transaction from the marketplace several months ago.

Now you see PARTSMAN doing his own version of character assassination here on me above, by telling the thread readers only part of this story, leaving out the most important part, which is sort of the recurrent theme with some of goaljnky's issues about what is and what isn't said by a vendor in their marketing (that some give you enough information to be able to say it was the truth, but leave out just enough to mislead you in your conclusions; I am not saying whether or not I share this belief, but I think it accurately reflects his POV – and he can correct me if I am mistaken). So? Do I simply say PARTSMAN is not worth my time of day and move on, allowing him to have misled anyone reading this smear about my character or do I show you how he misleads you about what took place?

Just consider that I see this as a public service too, as I know what he did with me, so it is not hearsay; this is first-hand experience and not just what I have heard he has done elsewhere. As this thread issue is resolved from what you say, I guess I am not really hi-jacking anything now, right?

The bottom line with PARTSMAN (and I have retained all the PMs from him as proof should he want to really bare it all, which I doubt) is that he made several promises in PMs to me about sending payment on a transaction that I could have concluded with other interested parties. After what was probably close to two weeks of being polite I ask what the heck is up with him over like a $40 sale? Was I miffed the sale didn't happen? No. I was miffed he kept making promises he never apparently intended on keeping and that I had packed up the parts already and taken them from my home in NJ into my office in Manhattan (with difficulty on public transit) in order to ship them, all based on his promises. I ultimately had to drag the package back to NJ, unwrap it all, re-sell the parts separately, meaning new packaging too. It was NOT about the money; it was about being inconsiderate and then copping an attitude trying to paint it as me being in the wrong.

Yes, sales sometimes don’t happen, for a variety of legitimate reasons (and some silly ones too), but when someone reassures you over the course of several weeks that they are taking care of it, then act like a jilted little girl when you call them on their act saying he was insulted by me simply trying to find out his intentions after all the failed promises he had made, well THAT is insulting. He just should have cancelled the transaction like a man early on and stopped procrastinating.

Was it a pain in my rear? I think you know the answer, especially when he copped the attitude, not me. He got a bad feeling; please give me (us) a break.

My '06 was barely a month old when the grilles came off, they had maybe 500 miles and were in perfect condition. What kind of bad feeling did he get? I was going to sell him crap for $40; that I had lied to him? No, he simply didn't like someone who expected him to conduct business in a business-like fashion. Then he claims he made an apology? He apologized for the delays after several of them, but with no excuse other than he “was busy”.

He didn't apologize in any real sense, as he said something sweet at the end like "you must be that other kind of Mini owner" simply because I wanted him to either do his business or get off the pot. He adds something to make himself out to be some big shot on NAM who has made many transactions here and some are over $1,000. Who cares what he did with anyone else? I know his treatment of our transaction was "I don't care if you're inconvenienced and I'll just string you along until I really make up my mind". Oh yes, he also knows how to punctuate well, by laughing about it with at least three of these . That's PARTSMAN for you.

 

Moderating somone's posts can be a questionable activity. It really should only be used with great restraint.

 

You both just need to let it go and quit posting it on the forums.