Just looking at all these quotes about the M badge is hilarious to say the least. It seems my fellow Americans are very badge/label conscious. As an American who has been living in Europe for 17 years and has been a BMW owner for the last 13, I have seen all types of BMW's on the roads of Italy, Germany, Austria and the rest of Europe. Many BMW's that I see here are not even available in the USA and they come with M badges without the number designation unless it is truly an M car like the M3 or M5. In addition the M550d xDrive sedan/wagon and the BMW X5M/X6M 50d 5.0d xDrive is very prevalent over here, and these cars have M badges all over them including the hatch.
http://www.autoevolution.com/engine/...0d-xdrive.html
I have never heard any of my European friends complain about M badges as incessantly as on this post. Besides, a lot of BMW's here don't even have badges on them to begin with and most people here don't just slap badges on their cars. Furthermore in most of the USA, especially those living in and close to large cities; you can't even drive your M cars to full potential due to traffic speed limitations anyway. For those with the M Sport package, I would recommend if you do want to put the M badge on your car, take the number designation off and just have the M on the hatch. I have the X1 M sport as well but I'm leaving it as is. Waiting for the X4.