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Originally Posted by drjolokia
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Originally Posted by dezzracer
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Originally Posted by Fuller
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Originally Posted by dezzracer
Love it. Love the Panda look too. Congrats on beautiful build. Would love it in my garage. Only thing I do not understand is how they can put official M color logo badge on a non M car. That's like putting an RS badge on non RS Audi. Or AMG on non AMG. Or an SS badge on a base Camaro, a Cobra snake on a base Mustang , SRT on a base Challenger.. etc, I could go on and on . Not one of those manufactures does that though. Why does BMW dilute an iconic top tier performance badge?
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It isn't the same designation as an m-car. It's an m340i. Notice how the m precedes the full 3 series model number. In other words it's a 340i with some Motorsport "touches", but it wasn't fully developed by the Motorsport division. The m340i also has the same 3 series chassis code as the 330i, which is g20. The full m-cars are the m preceding a single number like m2, m3 etc, and they have their own unique chassis code like f80, g80, f90 etc.
The m340i, m240i, are more like the Audi S* models, not the RS* cars, or the c43 amg, not the c63 amg. The Audi RS cars or Mercedes c63 or e63 amp would be closer to the level of the bmw m* cars. Even then, the cost between those models is somewhat similar, but the brands have differing philosophies in regard to performance in their hard core sports sedan line up. |
Ok I get it now... sort of. It still seems BMW overplays the iconic M logo badge though .
Given the M "performance"and M "sport" definitions you name one could then suggest (and accept) that Ford make a Cobra "performance" Mustang with the Cobra visual add-ons but not the 500 HP supercharged motor. Or Chrysler could market an SRT "sport" version... just throw a spoiler and splitter bits on it and some fancy SRT wheels. Or Chevrolet could produce an SS "super sport" Camaro . Their are several corvette version's but there is only one iconic Z06. Im ok with various trim levels or option choices on the build sheet, It just seems the top level hi performance car that BMW charges the "big bucks" for should be specific to that "special" badge. If not for bragging rights alone. If I did not know better , I would think the M340i MUST be faster , better, more exclusive and more expensive than a plain ol M3. Anyway, no big deal. It just doesn't make sense to me that BMW uses that iconic letter badge so freely. |
It seems like it should be the way you described but:
M8 > M850i
M5 > M550i
M3 > M340i
Etc.
Seems backwards lol. |
I think they should be completely independent. For example, Porsche doesn't even use the carrera designation for their performance GT cars. There's no confusing a GT car from regular 911 trims.
BMW should be doing something similar to avoid diluting the significance of Motorsport.
So the letter M should be reserved for the actual M cars and the sportier base cars should have a different designation.
For example, 340i S or S340i or etc.
But congrats to OP. Car looks great!