[SenorFunkyPants]

Swamp calculated a very conservative (ie low) number of 4,500 actual E9x M3 owners out of the 220,000 total members of M3post....and most owners seem more than happy to vent their frustration on M3post when they have an engine failure.
There are also past BMW debacles (with the E46 M3 for instance) which can be used to measure how forum members respond to car failures/problems and compare it to the current situation.
True its far from ideal but I think it gives at least a decent indication of where we are at.
On the other hand there are so many excuses put forward when the data indicates something contrary to that desired/expected, which in itself devalues objective analysis of what data there is.
Most people seem to think that BMW specified a too tight bearing clearance even though Clevite themselves stated that "they couldn't see it". People believe what they want to believe, facts don't always come into it.