I have and have had plenty of original and repainted M's (and Nikon Rf's). There is nothing wrong with taking a chrome M and having it painted to the color you want. it is after all your camera and you can do what you want with it. Most of the resistance to the repainted ones has to do with collectors, who insist on originality and are willing to pay for it,
The black M's were mainly a product aimed towards the pro market. Black cameras stood out less when carried. Leica catered to it by supplying them and not all of them are on the "painted" M list. Leica would convert a chrome M2 or M3 for a reasonable cost if you so wished. usually you could hand it in to your local dealer and they would ship it to the authorized importer who would replace the chrome parts with black, or you could simply send it to the factory for the service.
The reason for the proliference of painted M's is that it is much easier to "fake" a black camera than a chrome one. Stripping the chrome is simple - rechroming is not that easy, particularly matching the slightly pebble grained finish of an early M3 or M2.
I still prefer my cameras black paint - it is a pleasant, tactile finish and it does "glare" less obviously when you carry it. They do wear, but if that is a problem, just have it painted again!
Of course, if you try to pawn of a repainted M as an original - that is a wrong, but they are usually easy to spot. Too much fuss about the whole thing anyway. If you like it black, have it painted or pay an outrageous amount for the original! Over the years i have disposed of most of my black paint M2's and M3's and collectors have been willing to pay "nutty" prices for them. I simply bought chrome ones and had them painted instead - usually a factor of 1 original black M3 would get me 3 repainted ones!!!!! They were just as black as the original one anyway and usually the paint job was better than Leica's original one - at least the repainted ones does not bubble and flake if it is done properly.
