Can't wait to put M badges on my 4.6is...

[Gixxerboy63]

BTW, I would never put an M badge on my X5! (however I just may put a supercharger on it and go look for an M-car to play with!)

...Oh wait, I have an M3 steering wheel that has a small M at the bottom... Does that count?

[powers1]

A friend of mine also got the same letter
Officially ,it has been said that the 4.6is was going to be tagged as an "M" car but BMW run into legal issues as they wanted to name the 4.6is a MX5 ,and that model name already owned by Mazda!!!
Like the OP ,I would never stick an "M" badge on my X5 but I dont agree that you need to do a 12sec quarter to be an "M"!Loads of "M" cars that dont manage that!My E30 M3 didnt!
Thats my contribution to the thread

[Turbo_Bimmer]

Originally Posted by powers1

A friend of mine also got the same letter
Officially ,it has been said that the 4.6is was going to be tagged as an "M" car but BMW run into legal issues as they wanted to name the 4.6is a MX5 ,and that model name already owned by Mazda!!!
Like the OP ,I would never stick an "M" badge on my X5 but I dont agree that you need to do a 12sec quarter to be an "M"!Loads of "M" cars that dont manage that!My E30 M3 didnt!
Thats my contribution to the thread

I would like to see that letter. If someone could scan that letter (with personal stuff removed).

[mobilejo]

Originally Posted by Turbo_Bimmer

I would like to see that letter. If someone could scan that letter (with personal stuff removed).

Which letter? The OP posted a scan of the letter reffering to the 4.6 as an X5 M in his first post. I presume you are talking about a letter regarding the whole 'MX5' naming issue?

I personally don't believe that. Do you really think if BMW wanted to give a car M status it would be prevented from doing so PURELY on the basis of that naming issue? I doubt it - they would have just called it an XM5 or an X5 M (which they of course did recently). So why would that have been a problem back then? BMW would have known about the existence of the MX5 as they've been out for ever, and would never have even thought twice about naming their own car after a Mazda even at the initial brains storming stage, let alone let it get to the level of legal troubles.

Also, don't M cars actually get breathed on by the M division? Meaning that if the 4.6 was ever produced with the intention of it being an M they would have been built with M specific parts. And so it wouldn't have been possible to drop the M in a last minute re-brand? Just thinking out loud

[Turbo_Bimmer]

Originally Posted by mobilejo

Which letter? The OP posted a scan of the letter reffering to the 4.6 as an X5 M in his first post.

OK, I'll check tonight, since at work many sites (pics hosting) are blocked.
Thanks.

[powers1]

Originally Posted by mobilejo

Which letter? The OP posted a scan of the letter reffering to the 4.6 as an X5 M in his first post. I presume you are talking about a letter regarding the whole 'MX5' naming issue?

I personally don't believe that. Do you really think if BMW wanted to give a car M status it would be prevented from doing so PURELY on the basis of that naming issue? I doubt it - they would have just called it an XM5 or an X5 M (which they of course did recently). So why would that have been a problem back then? BMW would have known about the existence of the MX5 as they've been out for ever, and would never have even thought twice about naming their own car after a Mazda even at the initial brains storming stage, let alone let it get to the level of legal troubles.

Also, don't M cars actually get breathed on by the M division? Meaning that if the 4.6 was ever produced with the intention of it being an M they would have been built with M specific parts. And so it wouldn't have been possible to drop the M in a last minute re-brand? Just thinking out loud

You missed the point ,mate!I never said there was letter,just said that it was ".officially said" that Bmw would have wanted to name it MX5 but legally couldnt as that name already been taken.MX5 would be the logicall name to call it,since Bmw already had M1,M3,M5 and M6...... ..so "IS" ,it was.