[ntg44]

As far as a real M car, no it isn’t. However the only people who really care are the ones willing to pay more for a real M in the first place.

To someone who doesn’t know the difference, they probably don’t care what car you drive anyways. The name M3 means just as much as the name M340i to the person who doesn’t know the difference - nothing.

The way I see it, M snobs were M snobs before the brand dilution and still are after it. And nobody really cares except for the M snobs. To clarify, I’m not calling all M owners snobs, I myself owned an M3. But if the M badge means that much, then the brand dilution didn’t change anything practically speaking.