I cut my teeth autocrossing and tracking cars in the mid 90's when I scrambled together disposable income for R compounds and brake pads. I had a good handling Honda (B18C) and looked up to all the E36 and handful of E30 M cars as people who wanted to have fun, and knew the M package was better at it. Along with the M cars, dozens of other fun cars and people helped me in my car culture development to appreciate the right tools for track jobs.
Only as I got older and could afford higher end cars did I notice the 'exclusive' effect: so many special edition cars like M bought by people who want to feel a certain way. I don't blame them: its their money, do what you want. Just saddens me when they will never be put to G tests in a track or open enough road: they deserve to be rode hard
I do object to a notion that this has watered down a brand or anything like that: BMW still makes the M car, so go buy it. You don't buy it for what other people think when you are an enthusiast (and this is an enthusiast site) you buy it for what it is.
I happen to have a more exclusive 3 series then the E90M: all it has done is give me commuter joy along with lots of emissions anguish. Had I gotten the slightly used M (I debated) I would have paid more for fuel and wondered about bearings over the last few years.
Either way, I got the modern BMW enthusiast experience
- b