My stab ...
I am not versed at posting images using BBC code, so if someone can help out ... I would appreciate it. The link is:
http://www.bmw2002registry.com/imageHosting/images/rns7602/rns7602/e9motorsportrns.jpg
In short, those who know, get it. And if you dont ... The Motorsport logo evokes raw emotion. As the e9 is considered to be the first M car, I thought it made sense to base a badge off of it. I used all of the colors we see most often on our coupes - and those we do not - in place of the standard BMW colors. I agree with Shanon around design boundaries so some of this might work and tried to be sensitive to branding concerns.
Motor sports are a time consuming and expensive hobby. I figured that without writing anything out just having that logo would explain or speak to the addiction, craziness, money pit, etc.
I stayed up all night designing it and the last few hours trying to figure out how to post it. I'm done. The colors are festive, but I thought it should be eye catching yet still subtle. I agree that less is more, hence why the car is so clean and timeless. I wanted to put a hammer and a can of Por 15 in the propellors and put it behind the car out of jest but thought better of making fun of everyone and especially myself. We all have had Dear Old Bucket episodes. A friend said my car stood for "be my wife" due to the amount of time and money spent. I had to laugh and promised that if they ever left, I'd have something in my pocket.
Back to the design, I have met so many who did not know of the forum. I figured why not celebrate our beloved forum on the badge? Its a global resource and place of fellowship. I'm sure some will like and others may use it as a foundation for a better design - part of the design process. I thank everyone who posted first. It's always easier to edit or revise then to create new. BMW can be written into the black ban for our purposes but for the integrity of this site, I left it out.
Anyway, hope you all enjoy. As a trained historian and policy analyst, I had fun with the thread and having a chance to go back to my arts and design past. At the very least, we might get a new logo for the site, t-shirts/hats or stickers. We can write anything we want on it from "driven" to "no queens" (as in garage).
Happy September. Please feel free to comment or revise.