Replacing my bonnet star with a flat badge

[Bopo]

Evening all... I posted my 'Hello' message in the 'Introduce Yourself' thread just over a month ago.

I have an E350D with AMG styling extras which looks rather lovely, but I was slightly castigated by the badging militia for having both a sports grille AND a bonnet star.

Yes... my car is double badged.

OK, calm down everybody. Settle down. Nobody has been hurt. However, apart from committing a clear badging and forum crime, my wife doesn't like the gunsight on the bonnet.

With the power of Google I found an old thread on this very forum about a chap using a 45mm badge rather than 57mm as it fits nicely into the bonnet recess. The links in the thread don't seem to point to products that exist any more or point to badges that have 'AMG' on them. Now, my car has an AMG styling pack but I would never use that as an excuse to stick an AMG badge on it.

So, I have resorted to scraping around flea-Bay to find something suitable. I ordered a 45mm badge in black for a tenner but not sure if it will be correct.

Anybody got any recent experience of buying a new bonnet badge for a W212?

 

[vtaylor78]

Hi ,

I’m sure I read of someone that had changed said bonnet badge, but I can’t for the life of me remember who.
I’m sure they will post and offer assistance.

 

[Bopo]

Hi ,

I’m sure I read of someone that had changed said bonnet badge, but I can’t for the life of me remember who.
I’m sure they will post and offer assistance.

The only ref I found was the link in my first post. It would be great to hear if anybody has more recent experience.

The undoubtedly fake badge I bought (£8, not a tenner) is on e-Bay .

If it looks like cheap tat, though, it is NOT going on my car. Otherwise, I'll give the local MB dealer a call and pay the cost of an original part. I want to get it right as my car is beautiful and I don't want to mess it up for the sake of a few quid.

 

[RhodieBill]

Very easy to swap over, I had to replace a broken one on my clk.

Here is the video I watched to suss out how to do it....

Here's an Emblem with the correct fitting on the back: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes...168464?hash=item3648e47fd0:g:MXIAAOSwQwFb~h9C

 

[Bopo]

Very easy to swap over, I had to replace a broken one on my clk.

Here is the video I watched to suss out how to do it....

Here's an Emblem with the correct fitting on the back: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes...168464?hash=item3648e47fd0:g:MXIAAOSwQwFb~h9C

Thanks for the post. I'm not at all bothered about the mechanics of the swap... it is easy. Also, I'm pretty convinced that a a 57mm badge won't fit.

I want to replace the star with a badge.

I was looking for recommendations on good quality badges vs the older posts I linked to.

 

[sl500amgsport]

I think an AMG badge will do nicely, better if you can pinch a genuine one off a real AMG ;-).

Mercedes SL500 R231

 

[John Laidlaw]

Even genuine AMGs don’t have an AMG bonnet badge.
The ‘s’ versions however have a black and silver laurel wreath MB badge which I think looks better than the blue , especially on a black or white car.
I got one for my 212 from MB Newcastle , I seem to remember it was about £27...
Annoyingly I forgot to swop back over with the blue one before I traded the car , not the end of the world though.
It’s 57mm, if you PM me and I can still find it and you want it I’m happy to post it out to you

 

[Bopo]

if you PM me and I can still find it and you want it I’m happy to post it out to you

Thank you for your kind offer. I'll try the 45mm badge and let the forum know if it fits. If it all goes horribly wrong then expect a PM!

 

[Bopo]

Badge update (I know you've all been waiting...)

So I received the totally legit black badge from flea-bay. It has a thumb screw fitting that holds a backing plate onto the bonnet, then the badge is affixed with double sided sticky stuff. It is 45mm and fits perfectly into the recess where the gunsight was. In fact I can't see how a 57mm badge would fit unless it was lipped or contoured in some way.

On the down side, it is probably going to come off the first time I wash the car. Looks good, though.

I'm going to have a word with the Merc dealer to see if I can get one in black that has the correct 90 degrees twist fitting.

 

[Bopo]

I forgot to add a picture for anybody interested. I updated my post in the welcome thread as my double badge had caused some concern.

See <here>

 

[RhodieBill]

Looks very nice!

And anyway, I always thought that if you have the 3-pointed-swastika in/on the Grille you shouldn't have one on the bonnet....???

And talking of Grilles and Badges, I have one of these for a w124 that has been stuffed in my closet under the stairs for the last decade or more in case someone wants one? (Used to have it on my Coupe).

PM for price/delivery etc if interested..

 

[philharve]

Hi All

I, too, am considering a badge swap on the leading edge of my C230K bonnet. I want to swap the 'gunsight' (now gone missing) for a 'flat badge'. I prefer the 'gunsight' but there have been a spate of robberies/vandalism on most cars in and around the area where I live and fitting a new 'gunsight' badge is inviting trouble. These thefts happened many years ago where I live but my badge escaped that time. But once again some mindless soul(s) is out to collect car badges and they will be difficult, if not impossible, to stop. Are they being stolen for sale or just to build up a collection? I reported the theft to the police but they are not interested.

I have seen flat badges for sale on eBay but they seem to come in 2 sizes. My C230K is a 2000 model so which badge should I buy and how easy is it to fit?

Regards Phil

 

[John Laidlaw]

Hi All

I, too, am considering a badge swap on the leading edge of my C230K bonnet. I want to swap the 'gunsight' (now gone missing) for a 'flat badge'. I prefer the 'gunsight' but there have been a spate of robberies/vandalism on most cars in and around the area where I live and fitting a new 'gunsight' badge is inviting trouble. These thefts happened many years ago where I live but my badge escaped that time. But once again some mindless soul(s) is out to collect car badges and they will be difficult, if not impossible, to stop. Are they being stolen for sale or just to build up a collection? I reported the theft to the police but they are not interested.

I have seen flat badges for sale on eBay but they seem to come in 2 sizes. My C230K is a 2000 model so which badge should I buy and how easy is it to fit?

Regards Phil

Sorry I don’t know what size will fit yours, only thing is they are dead cheap on eBay. They are easy to fit, under the bonnet they have a spring clip you can press in with thumb and fingers or if they’ve stiffened up through age a set of long nose pliers will do it

 

[Bopo]

Adding to this: I have seen vids showing how you have to grip with pliers and squeeze, other vids show a simple 90 degrees turn anti-clockwise. My gunsight was the latter.

The base of my gunsight measured 57mm but being a genuine part was correctly fitted into the 45mm recess by having the correct shaped bottom (oo-err, etc)

The 45mm badge from ebay fits perfectly using a wing nut on the base and a shaped back-plate that orientates on the slots left by the oem bonnet emblem.

I hope all that nonsense helps.

If you want pics let me know. I'll be experimenting with engine detailing this weekend so I can take pics of the old star, new badge, fittings and likely the engine fire caused by my cleaning.

 

[philharve]

My thanks to ALL.

Since posting my enquiry (above) I have watched several short videos of the 'swap' and it is indeed very easy and cheap. I have ordered a 57mm badge from eBay but if it doesn't fit I can always buy the smaller badge and fit that instead. I will miss the 'gunsight' but I must deter the vandal somehow.

Regards Phil

 

[Bopo]

Nice one, Phil. Let me know if that 57mm badge sits flush... although I've no idea if the C has the same bonnet ridge as the E.

My badge sits inside the depression on the bonnet. I imagine a correctly sized larger one would fit outside it if it had the right profile.

I think a bigger badge would look a bit better on my bonnet if it went over the depression in the bonnet. An 'out-y' rather than an 'in-y' if I can compare to belly-buttons.

But... it would also have to be black rather than the usual MB blue... and I'm not sure if that is something you can get OEM.

 

[bembo449]

I really like the fact my 221 has the proper stand up star on the bonnet and not the generic flat disc item

 

[daibevan]

I really like the fact my 221 has the proper stand up star on the bonnet and not the generic flat disc item

Me too

 

[Bopo]

I really like the fact my 221 has the proper stand up star on the bonnet and not the generic flat disc item

Yeah, I liked mine, too. Sadly, the Mrs didn't and it was a bit of a duplicate given I've got a sodding great star on my radiator grill.

It does mean I've got to trust the parking sensors now, though. Without that star showing me the end of the bonnet (about a mile away, as it happens) I'm still a total dick at parking the thing. Early days...

 

[philharve]

Hi All

My 'plastic', flat bonnet badge arrived today and whilst I haven't found time to fit it, I did wonder what it would look like once installed so I temporarily stuck it on the bonnet with spit in order to photograph it.

You can see in one photo where the 'gunsight' once stood. An 'unsightly hole' remains. The former base of the gunsight 'star' will have to be removed from the bonnet before the 'new' base is inserted. Another photo shows the underside of the new base. There are a couple spring-loaded plungers underneath which retain the new base in the bonnet hole, which I note is recessed. Will the recess or diameter of the hole be a problem?

The flat badge has 2 parts: the new base and the "Mercedes Benz" emblem itself, which appears to have a sticky back. Once the new base is installed, the back of the emblem is peeled off and stuck onto the top of the new base, which is basically a shinny dome. I imagine the bonnet badge is in 2 parts so you can stick different emblems on the bonnet whilst retaining the same new base.

You can clearly see what the flat bonnet badge would look like. I expect there will be divided opinions as to its appearance. I like the solid, metallic feel of the genuine star. The flat badge is very 'plasticy' and I'm presently following a lead that might result in me obtaining a 'metallic' flat badge. Fingers crossed!

Regards Phil