Wow, so much hate for the op
I kinda see where he’s coming from tho... I definitely did not buy an M3 for exclusivity, and the more M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M6, etc, they sell doesn’t bother me at all. However, using the M badge on a non-M does do a couple of things:
1) it blurs the lines to the point that laymen have no idea the difference between an M-badged car and a real M
2) this one should bother all of you - it potentially has the ability to depreaciate your real M faster!
Number 2 is probably my biggest issue with it (not that I spend too much time thinking about it at all). With so many M-badged cars, people on the used market have more choice, and because of #1 above, they may buy an M-badged one instead of a real M because they don’t think it’s worth the premium. Otherwise they might save up and lust after the real one. That means we now have to price down our real M’s to compete with badged M’s!
So, exclusivity aside, BMW’s shenanigans could possibly affect us all.. and think about it - if the M-badge really is helping BMW shift more cars, then that badge DOES have a tangible value we should all care about...
Thanks!
S.