M3 is a BMW, people

[eye.surgeon]

I don't want to be "that guy", but BMW has been making a very popular and successful car since 1986 called the M3. Many of you have owned one, I have owned 2. We simply can't refer to the Model 3 as the M3. It would be like Burger King coming out with a new hamburger and calling it the Big Mac. To this day every time someone refers to their M3 I think oh cool they have a M3, oh wait they're calling their Tesla an M3.

Someone has to come up with something different. I'm not the creative type, it won't be me.

 

[SO16]

I don't want to be "that guy", but BMW has been making a very popular and successful car since 1986 called the M3. Many of you have owned one, I have owned 2. We simply can't refer to the Model 3 as the M3. It would be like Burger King coming out with a new hamburger and calling it the Big Mac. To this day every time someone refers to their M3 I think oh cool they have a M3, oh wait they're calling their Tesla an M3.

Someone has to come up with something different. I'm not the creative type, it won't be me.

TM3

 

[fastpanda]

TM3

 

[spindrome]

Thank for bringing up.

 

[Dan203]

If BMW's sales keep declining they may no longer be making an M3 and we'll be able to co-opt the term.

 

[SoCalDriver]

I agree, I’ve disliked that abbreviation from the beginning for the same reason.

 

[CharleyBC]

I got swatted for that over a year ago. But not being a BMW person, I hadn’t heard of the M3, so I needed the lesson.

For convenience in forum posting, I have an auto-replace defined. Whenever I type “m3”, it replaces it with “Model 3”!

PS: A comma in the right spot in the title would be nice.

 

[JGard]

I love it. We have an M3. BMW has an M3. Mazda's can be called an M3, too. The more confusion the better!

 

[brianman]

I don't want to be "that guy", but BMW has been making a very popular and successful car since 1986 called the M3.

Please refrain from using "M3" for any vehicle as it is ambiguous. "BMW M3" is more precise.

See how that's basically the same thing as demanding that Tesla folks formalize as "TM3" or "Tesla M3"? Likewise for Mazda.

There's a reason Wikipedia has disambiguation pages:
M3 - Wikipedia

M3 (hieroglyph), the Ancient Egyptian baker's tool hieroglyph -- 3200 BC
Miles M.3 Falcon, a 1930s British four-seat cabin monoplane
Fifth and Madison Avenues Line - Wikipedia -- 1932

M3, an ISO metric screw thread size -- 1947​

BMW M3, series of German high-performance cars, introduced in 1985
Mazda3 - Wikipedia -- 2008
Tesla Model 3, American electric car, introduced in 2016

Time to get over your BMW bias.

 

[jmaddr]

I've had an E36 and an E46 and I've said M3 referring to my Tesla many times. That's scrilidge on my part. Shame on me. I'm going to start saying TM3 from now on.

 

[CharleyBC]

Too bad Ford didn’t let Elon call it the Model E.

 

[fajitamondays]

Ha, the nomenclature doesn't bother me. Perhaps if I had history with owning a performance BMW it would.

I come from a VW background, and I would always shake my head when people would say, "It's just a Golf", "Why would you spend so much money on a Golf?" I had a tuned GTI.

 

[ewoodrick]

I think that folks only use M3 when it tends to be obvious, like a Tesla forum. ImI responding on a phone and it just takes forever to type the extra letters, Model 3

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

why not T3
TM3 sounds cumbersome

 

[CMoZ]

I don't want to be "that guy", but BMW has been making a very popular and successful car since 1986 called the M3. Many of you have owned one, I have owned 2. We simply can't refer to the Model 3 as the M3. It would be like Burger King coming out with a new hamburger and calling it the Big Mac. To this day every time someone refers to their M3 I think oh cool they have a M3, oh wait they're calling their Tesla an M3.

Someone has to come up with something different. I'm not the creative type, it won't be me.

Well you're that guy

-Subaru Liberty, Jeep Liberty
-Dodge Daytona, Ferarri Daytona
-Fiat 600, Mercedes Benz 600
-Fiat 500, Ford 500
-Maserati Sebring, Chrysler Sebring
-Ford Sierra, GMC Sierra
-Pontiac GTO, Mitsubishi GTO, Ferarri GTO
-Dodge Lancer, Mitsubishi Lancer
-Ferarri F150, Ford F150

The list goes on and on get off it M3 is an easy shorthand

 

[Dan203]

why not T3

 

[afadeev]

TM3

I only use TM3 / TM3P to avoid confusion.

If BMW's sales keep declining they may no longer be making an M3 and we'll be able to co-opt the term.

BMW sales are actually up monthly vs. last year, and YTD vs same period for the prior year.
Tesla sales are down M/M, and Q/Q, but up YTD vs same period last year:
U.S. Auto Manufacturer Sales Figures | GCBC

Please refrain from using "M3" for any vehicle as it is ambiguous. "BMW M3" is more precise.
See how that's basically the same thing as demanding that Tesla folks formalize as "TM3" or "Tesla M3"? Likewise for Mazda.[...]
Time to get over your BMW bias.

Don't be silly.
Any car guy knows what an ///M3 is, and it's not a Mazda or a Tesla!

Granted, majority of Tesla owners are not "car guys", thus the discussion in this thread!

a

 

[BZM3]

I don't want to be "that guy", but BMW has been making a very popular and successful car since 1986 called the M3. Many of you have owned one, I have owned 2. We simply can't refer to the Model 3 as the M3. It would be like Burger King coming out with a new hamburger and calling it the Big Mac. To this day every time someone refers to their M3 I think oh cool they have a M3, oh wait they're calling their Tesla an M3.

Someone has to come up with something different. I'm not the creative type, it won't be me.

beyond agree with this. pissed me off for so long seeing people refer to it has M3 in their posts.. thank you for shedding light!

 

[Dan203]

BMW sales are actually up monthly vs. last year, and YTD vs same period for the prior year.
Tesla sales are down M/M, and Q/Q, but up YTD vs same period last year:
U.S. Auto Manufacturer Sales Figures | GCBC

How can that list be right when it lists a total of 57k sales for Tesla for Q3 when we know that Tesla sold 97k Model 3s in Q3 alone?

 

[T3SLAROD]

EVM3

 

[woodisgood]

Well I agree and disagree, because there's a distinction between writing it and saying it. A lot of people use "M3" as shorthand on the internet, and this being a Tesla forum, I think that's perfectly reasonable.

I haven't heard anyone ever SAY "Em three" referring to Model 3.