Quote:
Originally Posted by Shiza
From a marketing standpoint I actually think its a very smart move for BMW to add the "M" in front of the higher trim level non-M cars. Your average consumer doesn't think about or realize that the 335i for example is a large upgrade from the base 330 or 328. This will no doubt help push the higher trim cars by separating them a bit from the base cars. Audi has proven this with their "S" cars.
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Brands evolve and get watered down all the time. putting an M badge on everything is just to drive volume sales and has little to do with enhancing the core brand of what M used to mean. Heck, BMW doesn't even stand for the ultimate driving machine anymore so the badging is not a surprise.
Perhaps in the new G platform, the differences between m340i and m3 comp may not be that different - hence the badging but that was not the case with the older (e9x, e4x) m3 and 3 series. Significant chassis, suspension and engine changes.