The E30 M3 List was founded on March 5th, 1997 by a core group of E30 M3 owners interested in sharing information and creating a resource pool for the enjoyment and maintenance of the M3. Matt Brumwell, Ben Thongsai and Filippo Morelli launched the list along with approximately 20 founding members.
Most founding members had experienced various mailing lists and were displeased with the low content level and poor behavior of list members. The most critical aspect to the List was unanimously agreed as being high quality traffic with a community of strong respect amongst members.
Two decisions were made with regard to how the list would operate:
- The list would be "by invitation only" -- any existing member may invite a new individual to the list, simply by dropping the list administrator a note. It was asked that people use "good judgement" in inviting individuals to the list - list culture was important to the initial members.
- Moderation would not occur, except in the case of personal attacks or out of subject context mail.
Today the E30 M3 Mailing List is part of the E30 M3 Special Interest Group. Any member of the E30 M3 SIG automatically becomes a member of the List and its resources. Growth of the List has been approximately 125 people per year. In 2001, the membership hovers around 900 people worldwide, exchanging over 10,000 e-mails throughout the year.
