[Justin*]

My contribution to the thread is kinda two parts...sorry in advance. This isn't exclusive to M cars. You'll have this with any special production car that shares a chassis with a standard production car. I've experienced this with 98% of the cars I've owned. People (including everyone of us) just want to feel good/special in general. There is nothing wrong with that. I say if it makes them feel good to put an M badge on a standard model; great. I only wish I could be so easily pleased when it comes to my cars. It would save me a lot of money.

People doing this used to irritate me to no end when I owned my Camaro SS and 04 Cobra. Well, I still own the Cobra for the time being. Anyway, I think driving the M3 has changed me somewhat. Although, I didn't feel snobbish with the Ford or Chevy in looking down on them for trying to be something they aren't. Now with an M3 I do feel like a snob when I do that. I can't explain why it is different now; but it is for me. Having said all that, I do still smile when I see a car someone has put a badge on to make people think it is something else whether it is a mustang, Camaro, bmw, etc.