I apologize for starting this thread. My intentions were not to start a debate or discuss the qualifications of applying an M badge. The opening line of the thread was just a way to get people's attention because I knew it was a contentious subject.

All I really wanted to do was share the letter. I found it very curious. Why did the letter (from BMW NA to a new owner) refer to the 4.6 as an X5 M? Was it a typo? Did BMW consider doing additional performance enhancements and later scrapped the idea? Was it just internal BMW lingo to reference the 4.6? Or did BMW originally create the 4.6 as an M and later realized it didn't quite deserve the M status? I just thought it was interesting. Remember...this letter was sent to one of the first 4.6 owners back in 2002.

Again, sorry for my inability to communicate my original intent. There is no debate here...just sharing.

P.S. I was never planning on getting M badges nor was I testing the water for responses. Just to be clear...