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    Welcome to the 500Eboard forum.

    Since its founding in late 2008, 500Eboard has become the leading resource on the Internet for all things related to the Mercedes-Benz 500E and E500. In recent years, we have also expanded to include the 400E and E420 models, which are directly related to the 500E/E500.

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    We hope you will become an active contributor to the community!

    Sincerely,
    500Eboard Management

Site Banner Question & Vote

Should the 500Ecstasy banner become a permanent 500Eboard site banner image ?

  • YES. Keep it as a salute to this site's heritage!

    Votes: 10 24.4%
  • NO. But keep it around for a year or more, than have people vote on it again.

    Votes: 4 9.8%
  • NO. It's been fun, but it's time for it to go.

    Votes: 27 65.9%

  • Total voters
    41
  • Poll closed .

gerryvz

Site Honcho
Staff member
Some weeks back, I added the old 500Ecstasy site banner to celebrate this site's heritage. My original intention was to have it as a temporary thing.

So, I put it to you, the members.....

header.php.gif
 
Can you post a copy of said banner in post #1...?

:mushroom:
 
I for one, feel we should keep the banner here permanently. 500Ecstasy was ground zero for meeting a good majority of members whom are here as well, as well as being an invaluable source (as this site is now) for all of my 036 info when I bought my car. I look at it as the fist playground we all used to play on and I would hate to hide the memories we had.

Seeing the higher percentage of votes leaning towards removing it makes me wonder why exactly wouldn't y'all want to keep it? Is it the bloody design?
 
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I think its great, it reminds me of when I first found the 500Ecstasy site and the countless hours I spent reading on it, drooling over the day that I would get a 500E.

I'm waiting for the day when all of the data from the 500Ecstasy site is combined here on the 500Eboard.
 
I'm waiting for the day when all of the data from the 500Ecstasy site is combined here on the 500Eboard.
+1. While I'd love to regain all that lost information, I simultaneously dread that it will also expose how completely ignorant I was back then! Yikes!!

:duck:
 
I've spoken with Scott and we will be getting together, in San Francisco, in early October. Given that since the last time we met, along with his (former?) MB mechanic Benny Lui, who has the hard drive containing the site, nothing has happened in terms of re-instating the old site, I will once again put in a plea to obtain this hard drive so that we can integrate the old content into this site. It would be a simple feat, technically, to integrate two identical vBulletin sites together given that they are running on the same version of the same software platform. It's a simple import as all of the data is in the same format.

The only thing would be to combine members from this site and from the old site, and hopefully ensure that their post counts were updated to reflect contributions and activity to BOTH sites. But, that has all been done before so the process is documented. I was able to do this even when migrating our members from the old phpBB system that powered 500Espot.com to the current vBulletin platform that powers 500Eboard.com, so it's very definitely technically possible to do this too, given it's the same software.

Let's keep our fingers crossed and see what this round brings us.

Also ... 500Ecstasy was MUCH lighter than this site on "how to" material. For many users, I've found that the HOW-TO and technical information brings much more value in terms of learning how their car works ... or if inclined, how to maintain and repair it.

Cheers,
Gerry
 
We're running pretty solidly, so far, for nuking the banner. I'll let the poll run for a full week before doing anything.

Perhaps the Vookster will start a full-fledged "Save the 500E.com banner!" campaign.

[youtube]89-kml2qklg[/youtube]
 
.
It is a lot of hidden information on 500ecstasy, no doubt about that, but I will split the information in two main groups;

1. Technical stuff
The major part of the Technical stuff has over the years been repeated and covered up here. If we ever see that hidden info again, I guess we wont find much rare and necessary topics, which we haven't chewed through here. Just look at the time from 500Espot, up to now I've hardly seen a thread continue from that part, only a few, and I have never searched up anything from that time. We have simply developed past both 500Ecstasy and 500Espot.

2. Nice stuff
The Nice stuff is "only" for memories.. I don't say it should be ignored because it contains the social part and all the "Hello, I've just bought my first 500E..." But on another side it is more important to maintain the historical perspective of the 500E/E500 community since its very beginning and having the complete history.

As for the banner - I would like to see the 500Ecstasy banner rolling over as it does now. Additionally it would be nice if that banner contained the very first launch date of 500Ecstasy - stating the beginning.

:oldster:
-a-
 
I would say that a lot of the technical info here is of far more depth and accuracy than it was on 500Ecstasy, as new sources of information have come to light. Plus, GSXR is a lot smarter than he was about the .036 8 or 9 years ago.....
 
I would say that a lot of the technical info here is of far more depth and accuracy than it was on 500Ecstasy, as new sources of information have come to light. Plus, GSXR is a lot smarter than he was about the .036 8 or 9 years ago.....
8 or 9 years ago, I could barely spell .036!!!

:wormhole:
 
I'm still sore at the 500ecstasy site. Though I think the banner is great and understand why it's here, I plunked down $400 in donations and the site went down literally a couple weeks later. I'm sure Scott's a nice guy, but that just sucked. So I'm torn, keep it up for the entertainment, bring it down because it brings back memories of the accident and loss of $. Hrrrmph.

jano
 
Scott should have refunded your money, that's lame.

I donated $200 to 500Ecstasy, but not as close to the end as Jano. I don't expect to get my money back, and I've understood that those money was sucked up to keep the site going. But Mr.Scotty boy should understand that he is obliged to give out that information to us, especially since he has absolutely no use of it.

I'm still sore at the 500ecstasy site. Though I think the banner is great and understand why it's here, I plunked down $400 in donations and the site went down literally a couple weeks later. I'm sure Scott's a nice guy, but that just sucked. So I'm torn, keep it up for the entertainment, bring it down because it brings back memories of the accident and loss of $. Hrrrmph.

jano

I agree, it is most for the memories, but also to keep the entire history - it is the very first internet source about the 500E/E500 which we teamed up on, and which Gerry has brought on in a great manner. I keep asking myself, why is Scott sitting on this?!?
 
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I'm still confused as to how and why this guy earned his God-like status. The only things I read about it is that he had a forum with hideous colors, which crashed and/or was down often, even wiping the whole thing, while accepting donations whilst running the site from his basement and then being away all of the sudden without even letting someone else take over or import the database. Even what I could find via the Wayback machine didn't really inspire any confidence.

Without wanting to put Gerry (even more) on a pedestal here, I would think this forum is run MUCH better than 500Ecstacy.

Could it be you are simply remembering the good ol' days because it was the 'first' and/or only E500E forum?
 
Jelmer,

There is certainly some nostalgia in peoples' minds for 500Ecstasy, from those who were regulars there. However your characterization is a bit off. Scott is a good guy and I consider him a friend to this day, though I don't often SEE him. The site was generally well-run until the last 1.5 years or so (mid-2006 through about late 2008) when it finally went down for good, came back up briefly, and then completely expired in early 2009.

There were some classic folks on there who are now largely gone ... guys like Talbir, LiquidIron, and others. It's where we learned to "Ball on a Budget." And it's where a lot of the folks who form the backbone of THIS site (i.e. Jimbo, Glen, GSXR, captruff, VinceC, Cannoli, omegabenz, Jono, and tons of others) first met and jived. This was a good 9-10 years ago.

In the latter few years of his site, Scott did take donations. I do not know how much he took in; I probably personally donated a total of $200-250 on several occasions, and I know that quite a number of others donated money as well. And I do know that Scott used at least some of that money to purchase hardware/software upgrades and better bandwidth into his apartment for the site. I will not impugn his use of the funds nor project what he did with them, as I do not know specifics.

Scott did run the site from his apartment in San Francisco using a purpose-bought PC server, and IMHO that was a mistake that I learned from, in terms of having this site hosted. Even then, my first hoster (fatcow.com) was pretty poor in terms of reliability, and when I moved to vBulletin, as part of that migration and domain-name change back to 500Eboard.com from 500Espot.com, I simultaneously migrated to a new hoster called 1&1. This firm has proven to be INFINITELY more reliable than fatcow was.

No one should be put on a pedestal. It is everyone collectively who makes this site what it is, not one or two or four people who moderate it. Trust me when I say that this community -- particularly compared to many if not most other MB forums on the Internet -- is a very very special place. And Scott played a large part in establishing, focusing and coalescing the 500E community 10 years ago. This site proudly carries on the legacy that he established, and I hope for many many more years to come. November 30 will be the five-year anniversary of this site.

Cheers,
Gerry
 
I keep asking myself, why is Scott sitting on this?!?
It's my understanding that Scott sold the hard drive (and 500Ecstasy forum contents), along with his 500E, to Benny as a package deal. So, assuming that is accurate. Scott isn't sitting on the data... it's Benny.

:hornets:
 
It's my understanding that Scott sold the hard drive (and 500Ecstasy forum contents), along with his 500E, to Benny as a package deal. So, assuming that is accurate. Scott isn't sitting on the data... it's Benny.

:hornets:
That is 100% correct. And the 500Ecstasy.com / 500E.com domains are still registered to Benny Lui (and continue to be renewed, but not used)
 
Maybe the hard drive(s) are dead and the data is simply gone? In any event, as a long time 500Ecstasy member/moderator and friend of Scott, I understand the interest and desire to keep those memories and possibly integrate them here. Otoh, as has been pointed out, the core knowledge base here surpasses what was collected on Ecstasy. To be sure, we are missing out on some great pictures and events and some key members. But there is nothing preventing those members to come here other than possibly lack of time/interest as they may have moved on to something else.

I vote we move on.
 
There was some very interesting technical stuff on the old site, for example LiquidIron's port-injected wet nitrous system. Or, Scott's custom carbon fiber stuff. I'd love to get that type of content resurrected for future reference.

But as Glen says, the majority of the old content has been eclipsed here, especially the "how-to" and diagnostic info.

:watchdrama:
 
We are still talking about a freaking banner, right? Data lost on the 500Ecstasy aside, no love for just a banner?
 
What I hated most about that banner was the "zoomp" (not "svzook") sound effect that it would make when you moused over each of the links....

anyone remember that ?!?
 
Maybe create a new, Jelmerized banner with the "svzook" sound effect on mouseover. Mmmm-hmm...

:wootrock:
 
Actually, I'd think a mushroom-themed banner to be more appropos....
Consumption of specific mushroom types may be required to make the banner attractive, i.e. "mushroom goggles". Dunno if that will gain wide acceptance.

:scratchchin:
 
I've been over Ecstasy for a while...

As for the banners, I say we rotate some fresh new graphics.
 
However your characterization is a bit off
Yeah, I understand that. I might not have made it clear in my post, but my "characterization" is based only on the posts I read on this forum; and they weren't all that positive :)

Jelmer .... should we tell him, or not ?!?
He'll find out. Eventually...
 
Scott should have refunded your money, that's lame.

To be fair, I never asked for it back - my issue is more along the lines of the bad situation right at the time I donated: the site went down and I got t-boned by a teenager.
 
OK folks ... the poll is closed, and 27 out of 41 votes say to nuke the 500Ecstasy banner. That's a pretty clear message.

It will go bye-bye ... gone but not forgotten, and even perhaps to make a reappearance again in the future....
 
I think I voted to keep it, but I have no history with 500Ecstacy. After seeing the flying head a few more times it got a little creepy.
 
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