Lets settle the "M" issue once and for all...

[adrean8j]

Hey everyone I am finally back from vacation(it was great by the way-Holland and then the Gran Canary Islands-whew!!! ).

I am getting tired of everyone downing people with the "M" emblem on a car that is not a M3 or M5. In Germany when BMW makes a car with an M-sportpackett they put the "M" symbol on every part that is from motorsport. If you look at my car (its in the gallery or at my homepage:
http://members.cardomain.com/redbimmer5) it has M symbols all over the place: the steering wheel, rims, side molding, and the footboards(i dont know if thats what they are called but you know what I mean). Now my car is not a M5 and I did not put these emblems on myself.
On old E34's and E30's, BMW put an M-symbol on any car with the M sportpackage added on it......what do you guys think????

 

[Big Daddy]

I know that you can buy "M" packages on a non-M car, but I do not think that was the case back with e30's, this is a fairly new sales thing from BMW. I am not sure how BMW sells these packages, for instance I know you can get an M steering wheel, but I did not know you could get M door sills. I, and understand I am not snobish at all, dislike the idea. It seems to detract from being an "M". The car either is an M or not. What was wrong with the option of; 1: a BMW, 2: a Sport model, or 3: an M? To allow the purchase of an M item here and there devalues the purpose of being an M. Just my thoughts.

 

[adrean8j]

Well I think maybe that I like the visual style of the "M" cars and cant afford to buy(or pay the insurance for...lol) a M5. So when you buy a car with the sportpacket you get everything except the engine and exhaust. And yes they did make BMW's with M sportpackages for the e30 and e34. I live in Germany and I see them all the time. Recently they started adding M rims and molding and footboards to the deal. But my car has the the M-FAHRWERK II according to my paperwork(I think that is different shocks and springs and exhaust system-not 100% sure of everything included in the Packett-translating from German).
If WADULA is till around he can probably shed some light on the matter since he is a native.
PEACE PEOPLE!!!

 

[vlad]

I believe that BMW may have put the motorsports stripes on various cars, (my '86 325es has a few), but I do not believe that BMW has ever put an "M" designation on a non M car.

 

[adrean8j]

YES THEY DO.......I have seen it with my own eyes.....that is not saying that the car is an m3 or m5 or m6 or whatever. It is just an M symbol with no number after it just the stripes. I WOULD NOT SAY IT UNLESS I HAD SEEN IT.....ok, ok maybe it is a european thing.

 

[Marinakorp]

actually they did put a M540 on the e34... this was a 540 sport with the M5 brakes (basically)


While I do not mind folks adding the "M" packages to non ///M cars, I cannot stand the addition of the ///M badge.

My car came with some of the M goodies, but I would never think of adding th ///M badge


IMHO that is posing... that is not adding to the aesthetics of the car with the M effects... that's trying to pass for what you are not

I may add the M front spoiler, mirrors, because they look "better" but I am not trying to pass as an ///M5 ... because my badges (althou they have been "blacked out") state I am a 540

 

[Bryan330i]

This past Monday I was meeting with a professor to discuss a project that I am working on after work. In the parking lot I noticed a red 4 door 3 series that looked to be a 1983-1986, or I think around that period. The car looked very nice, as did most in that section of the parking lot-no junk found there for sure. I walked by the car because it had the “///M3” on the back but was a 4 door. It had other various M attributes like steering wheel, but not like mine in the 330i PP, an older looking style. I found this to be confusing because it looked far too authentic and did not appear to be modified at all. [???1]

 

[Wadula]

it is all fairly easy....the M itself is not the sign for an M3 or M5. If there is a car build by the M GmbH (the company in charge for the M3 and M5) it wears the ///M3 or 5 badge.

Just the ///M without number is the legal and original sign for having M stuff on board. that is it. I have a lot of those ///M's on my car, and i have no M3. But it is stock as it is and it is like this on purpose.

Everybody who says that one with ///M signs somewhere on his car (but the car actually has no M engine) is posing and only showing off, is not imformed.

///M = M stuff
///M3(5) = M car,

 

[Bryan330i]

it is all fairly easy....the M itself is not the sign for an M3 or M5. If there is a car build by the M GmbH (the company in charge for the M3 and M5) it wears the ///M3 or 5 badge.

Just the ///M without number is the legal and original sign for having M stuff on board. that is it. I have a lot of those ///M's on my car, and i have no M3. But it is stock as it is and it is like this on purpose.

Everybody who says that one with ///M signs somewhere on his car (but the car actually has no M engine) is posing and only showing off, is not imformed.

///M = M stuff
///M3(5) = M car,

That makes sense to me. Thanks for the information Number One. Do you know if there has ever been a 4 door M3?

 

[Wadula]

Yes there was. The E36 series had 2-door, 4-door, cabrio and station wagon as M3 versions. Personally i like the station wagon idea a lot. it's so sneaky as people rarely might consider that kind of car that fast

 

[Wadula]

P.S. i like that "number One" thing

 

[Big Daddy]

Hey Number One, did they ever badge an e30 with ///M from the factory as they are doing now. If so was it just a European thing or did they include it in the US? Also let us not forget the ///M6, and how do we now explain the ///M roadster and ///M Coupe? Darn life is too complicated....

 

[Wadula]

Councelor, as far as i know there was no ///M goodies in E30 models as they have it in E36 and E46 models. But i can be mistaken as i am only little familiar with the E30 series.

///M6, when it says ///M with a number attached you can be sure that it is a real ///M-car. with M engine and stuff.

M roadster and M coupe is the exception from the rule. normally, to stick to the rule, the cars should be named MZ3 roadster and MZ3 coupe. but that sounds crappy so they made them M roadster and M coupe only. but you are right, that is kind of complicated.

Concerning th X5 Bwm would run into a new problem as MX5 is not allowed to use. The Mazda Miata as you call it here in US is called MX 5 in Europe. Mazda has the copyright and BMW can not use it. What would be an appropriate name for the unlikely case that BMW makes an M version of the X5? M SUV? X5 M?

 

[Big Daddy]

///MXSUV, say that ten times really fast!

 

[MrElussive]

Nice car !! I love those 540i 6-Speed cars...they are REAL sharp.

 

[vlad]

The es/is e30's had the same seats, steering wheel, and stereo as the e30 M3, possibly a few other smaller items. Plus a sports suspension, but i do not believe that the suspension was the same as the M3.

 

[Big Daddy]

I have a 91 e30 318is that I bought from my brother who bought it new in Germany while he was in the Air Force. I know the suspension is not the same as an e30 M3, and no where is there an ///M badge of any kind on the car.

 

[vlad]

I guess I should have been specific. The e30 325es had m stripes on a couple of places, most notably the steering wheel. I was assuming that the 325is whould have had the same. I've never seen a 328is up close.

 

[ooo000HITMAN000ooo]

I think it is an american thing to put a badge on your car that says it is something it is not.

 

[Wadula]

putting an ///M badge on the car or at least parts of it does not mean you pretend to have an M3 or M5....that would need an ///M3 or ///M5 badge. the number makes the difference.