The inappropriate badging thread

[rorywquin]

Do it! Rory, it will look great, nothing to do with yours "only" being a 400 and not a 500, it'll just look better, nice smooth, clean back end, (so to speak) and just a tad easier to clean, you know you want to.

Yea I do for exactly the reason you stated.

 

[Ron240]

Agreed except for removing badges.

IMO, removing badges is a little of the same thing. You mainly see it on lower spec cars of a particular range (yes there are sometimes debadged “sleepers” but rarely).

I remove the badges mainly because I think it looks much neater without them, not to mention easier to clean. It has nothing to do with wanting my car to appear something it is not, that is for the people who stick on AMG badges.
My previous CLA was the 250 which is very rare on the road and is the most powerful below the AMG models, but I removed the badge.
My CLA 35 was badge City with AMG on one side of the boot and CLA 35 on the other, then it also had silly TURBO 4MATIC badges on both wings. It now looks so much cleaner and neater without all these badges.
Having said that some of my cars I think a single badge was suited to them so they were not removed - ST, Type R, S3.
I suppose it is horses for courses.

 

[rorywquin]

I remove the badges mainly because I think it looks much neater without them, not to mention easier to clean. It has nothing to do with wanting my car to appear something it is not, that is for the people who stick on AMG badges.
My previous CLA was the 250 which is very rare on the road and is the most powerful below the AMG models, but I removed the badge.
My CLA 35 was badge City with AMG on one side of the boot and CLA 35 on the other, then it also had silly TURBO 4MATIC badges on both wings. It now looks so much cleaner and neater without all these badges.
Having said that some of my cars I think a single badge was suited to them so they were not removed - ST, Type R, S3.
I suppose it is horses for courses.

Not disputing your reasons.

Most de-badged cars I see are usually not the “top end” of the range. Perhaps because it is easier to clean, or the owner prefers a clean look (as I do) but I reckon most of the time it is to disguise the fact that it is from the lower end of the range like my car.

 

[AMGeed]

My latest came already de-badged. It's not a cooking model but I quite like the clean look on the rear.

 

[Blobcat]

Not disputing your reasons.

Most de-badged cars I see are usually not the “top end” of the range. Perhaps because it is easier to clean, or the owner prefers a clean look (as I do) but I reckon most of the time it is to disguise the fact that it is from the lower end of the range like my car.

In Germany they almost always debadge the top end models

 

[rorywquin]

In Germany they almost always debadge the top end models

Yep. Apparently they don’t want to appear to be bragging.

 

[Ron240]

In Germany they almost always debadge the top end models

I'm sure I remember a while ago seeing BMW having a badge delete option when specifying a new car.
Mercedes do not have it otherwise I would have chosen it twice. It was my dealer that had to do it when preparing my cars for delivery.
The UK seems to be badge obsessed when it comes to cars.

 

[Blobcat]

I'm sure I remember a while ago seeing BMW having a badge delete option when specifying a new car.
Mercedes do not have it otherwise I would have chosen it twice. It was my dealer that had to do it when preparing my cars for delivery.
The UK seems to be badge obsessed when it comes to cars.

It was a £50 option on Mercedes at one time to not have the badge fitted…

 

[Ron240]

It was a £50 option on Mercedes at one time to not have the badge fitted…

What a rip off!

 

[Blobcat]

What a rip off!

More of a ”peel off“ but I see where you’re coming from…

 

[Rob7seven]

In Germany they almost always debadge the top end models

True, but the original reason is not what you might think. Some years ago there were a number of kidnappings of high profile people, leading industrialists among them, occasionally even sometimes murder was involved, so the risk did exist. The much feared Baader Meinhof gang were notable exponents. This made it a good idea not to advertise your wealth too openly, though most of us could easily identify a debadged expensive car quite easily. Although Deutschland is a lot safer today, the practice has survived, but now it's mostly a form of inverse snobbery, a rather feeble attempt to appear one of the common, or maybe just slightly commoner folk.

"...das ist nur für die kleinen Leute!"

I can promise Blobcat and others though, that AMG badges on cars that wouldn't have come with one is a practice even more widespread in Germany than it is in the UK, they're absolutely everywhere over there.

 

[SmartAmg]

I can promise Blobcat and others though, that AMG badges on cars that wouldn't have come with one is a practice even more widespread in Germany than it is in the UK, they're absolutely everywhere over there.

Wonder if they've got a thread like this on there forum's.

 

[BRN9121]

Slipery slope that.
The factory felt my car should be badged CLS 359d - by your logic, I can't de-badge it.
The factory felt my car should not have a spoiler - can I not add one?
The same for painted calipers/privacy glass/quad exhaust/retc.
Surely, your car - your choice. Even if it does provide the rest of uws with a little smile

You're complicating it, let's stick to what I posted. And that's putting an AMG badge on a Mercedes Benz.
If you can show me proof of the factory putting that badge on a model that is not AMG powered, please do and I will step back in humility and apologise to you.

 

[dry run]

You're complicating it, let's stick to what I posted. And that's putting an AMG badge on a Mercedes Benz.
If you can show me proof of the factory putting that badge on a model that is not AMG powered, please do and I will step back in humility and apologise to you.

Not looking to complicate things and certainly don't think you or anyone else has anything to apologise for.

I was merely light heartedly pointing out that your view could equally apply to a whole host of modifications. Honestly, I'm not that bothered what people stick on their cars. it is after all a very "first world" issue

 

[Rob7seven]

To enlarge on my previous post a little, adding badges and bits to cars used to be a very big thing in Germany years ago, though I haven't noticed it quite so much in more recent years. I remember being in a large supermarket near Munich, possibly mid to late 1990s, and the place had an entire row of cosmetic car add-ons, largely inspired by the DTM, Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft for short, which was by far the biggest thing in motor racing in that Country in those days, still pretty big today. Irmscher and Steinmetz for Opel, AMG and Brabus for Mercedes, but the largest display by far was BMW M fake badges, stickers, stripes, and even body parts like extended sills and big spoilers, imagine something like that in your local Tesco. Although they'd been superceded years before, they even had complete striping sets for 1980s BMW E30 M3 racers, including the wide red and blue stripes that went diagonally across the bonnet from side to side. I saw a set on an old and tired 3 series, probably a 316 or 320 in the car park outside. BMW works racers were always white, but this car was silver, you could see the colour through the stripes, and it looked really crap.

 

[JBell]

I remove the badges mainly because I think it looks much neater without them, not to mention easier to clean. It has nothing to do with wanting my car to appear something it is not, that is for the people who stick on AMG badges.

Exactly that

 

[BRN9121]

I just don't understand why we just don't all remove the badges from our cars?
We pay a premium and are expected to advertise for the manufacturer?

That's it, I'm removing all mercedes badges from my cars tonight.

 

[Blobcat]

I just don't understand why we just don't all remove the badges from our cars?
We pay a premium and are expected to advertise for the manufacturer?

That's it, I'm removing all mercedes badges from my cars tonight.

There’s quite a few around Bradford do that, black everything out.

 

[s5tuart]

I've come very close to removing mine every time I clean it.
I always get tufts of microfibre stuck under the letters!

 

[Blobcat]

I've come very close to removing mine every time I clean it.
I always get tufts of microfibre stuck under the letters!

My Porsche specialist - well his apprentice did with the "S" off the back - he snapped the end off and then glued it back on with superglue...
They fitted a new one once it was pointed out... I supposed I could have asked for a GT badge instead...