WBMW, Intel execs have already said in interviews that they were inspired by BMW's numbering scheme.
Thank God they weren't inspired by Acura's lettering scheme. To this day, I STILL can't remember which letters correspond to which models. I liked it better back when they had names like "Integra", "Vigor", and "Legend." Now it's RSX, TL, CL, XL, LL, LA, whatever.
WAcura