I've been pondering if my 2023 BMW X1 XDRIVE28I with M-SPORT package has "fake" badges or not. It is absolutely not a "M" car. I only ordered the M-SPORT pack because I liked better-looking bumpers, sport seats, M-style steering wheel and paddle shifters(the last one being the most to me, as they are only available of the X1 is ordered with the M-SPORT package).
My X1 was one of the very first U11 X1 to arrive in the US, according to my dealer. It was ordered in 2022 as soon as BMW announced it for the US. Thanks to the pandemic shortage, it has a few things that got deleted. However, it also came with these fender-mounted "M" logo badges on both the left and right fenders.
It was NOT supposed to be on any US-market X1...(or any other BMW, according to my dealer) Yet when it rolled off the truck a few months later, coming from BMW's port in Brunswick, Georgia, that was the first thing I noticed. There were a few other people watching the truck driver unload it, because it was the very first X1 to arrive at my dealer.(in fact, it arrived even before the demo/loaner X1 they ordered) My salesman said I got bonus free badges. None of the other BMW X1 I saw on the road or at the dealership ever since had them.
However, in the last couple of years, I've had people on the street asking my why I put those on. (other BMW drivers, obviously) I explained that it came like that. Then I discovered this thread and apparently putting these on a US-market BMW is considered to be "fake" badging?
Are they really "fake" if they were attached to the car by the BMW factory in Germany?