|
In my experience, public opinion varies by manufacturer and model.
When I was in high school, my cousin had a G35 coupe. Everybody and their brother made fun of him when he took the Infiniti lettering off the trunk and put on a Skyline badge to replace it. Regardless of the fact that it indeed was a Nissan Skyline in Japan, it didn't matter to anyone. Yet nobody I knew made fun of those who had a 350z and swapped the badge for a "Fairlady Z" other than for the name being a little strange in the US. Once explained, it clicked, and they moved on.
Nobody thinks twice when someone swaps a BRZ/FR-S badge for a GT86 badge, even though this is the exact same situation as the G35/Skyline thing.
And now this brings me to BMW. BMW themselves are putting M badges on non-M models, so this emboldens people to slap them on themselves. I had to hold myself back from correcting my brother in law who was looking at a 7 series and said it was the M model (as in a M7). In that case, I just come off as condescending if I say anything. Laymen car shoppers actually believe these M sport lite models are full on M cars, and BMW is to blame for this. I don't get bent out of shape over it - it really doesn't bother me that much. But when I've tried correcting people to inform them, in most cases it just ends up being an awkward conversation that I wish I didn't start.
Now I just let them live in blissful ignorance. It doesn't bother me, but it sure makes them feel a whole lot better about themselves.
|