Why do some people debadge "special" cars?

[Huz-Z]

I'm putting some M badges on my lawn ///Mower.

[xQx]

Originally Posted by Huz-Z

I'm putting some M badges on my lawn ///Mower.

in your defence, your lawn mower probably has more power than some of the cars BMW is putting M badges on these days.

I mean, fair enough ///M are keeping up with AMG by tuning every model released, but WTF is with the factory ///M branding on entry level BMWs?

[Chihuahua]

Less weight makes the car go faster.

[N52UNED]

Originally Posted by claasmi

I plan on debadging my 128i, but only because I think it looks cleaner and I have 3 stage intake, headers, exhaust and tune so it is quite a bit faster than a stock 128i and I feel it deserves to no longer be labelled as just a 128i.

I've been on the fence for a bit regarding to debadge or not to debadge.

With that, I'm pretty much right there with ya. I have a 328i with a 3IM and BPC tune for a 330i ... so my 328 is pretty much a 330+. But with that I wouldn't go as far as badge it as so.

I've seen a few BMWs around without badges, and frankly I do like the clean look ... but I do have to admit that the first thought that comes to mind is they want to hide the fact that their BMW is simply a -25/28i with some aftermarket wheels and a spoiler. There's a lot of -35's in my town and I haven't seen a single one that's been debadged.

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by N52UNED

I've been on the fence for a bit regarding to debadge or not to debadge.

With that, I'm pretty much right there with ya. I have a 328i with a 3IM and BPC tune for a 330i ... so my 328 is pretty much a 330+. But with that I wouldn't go as far as badge it as so.

I've seen a few BMWs around without badges, and frankly I do like the clean look ... but I do have to admit that the first thought that comes to mind is they want to hide the fact that their BMW is simply a -25/28i with some aftermarket wheels and a spoiler. There's a lot of -35's in my town and I haven't seen a single one that's been debadged.

But those who know can tell a 320i, 328i, 340i and M3 apart fairly easily. Maybe it's because I worked in Germany for a few years, but I tend to assume debadged cars were done for the clean look, nor trying to oversell what they are.

[mike@Vossen]

Full photoset by clicking here

We just sold it and it was totally debadged and/or blacked out. All the emblems except the Mercedes symbols were removed. The RennTECH badges were also never added.

This wagon put down close to 850hp and 1,000 lbs of torque.... sleeper? Maybe.

Why was it done? Overall to give it a cleaner look than with the badges.

[N52UNED]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

But those who know can tell a 320i, 328i, 340i and M3 apart fairly easily. Maybe it's because I worked in Germany for a few years, but I tend to assume debadged cars were done for the clean look, nor trying to oversell what they are.

I totally understand where you're coming from ... but I'm in the camp of .... those who know BMW's can tell ... but those who don't have a BMW doesn't really, and will likely go mainly by badges, and that's who it's really for.

Maybe that's partly because in my area, BMWs are very popular with the Senior Citizens ... so if you're sporting a -25/28 your car can really be dismissed as ... "Eh, who cares, it's only a 328? My grandmother drives a newer 328 than that. They should've gotten a 335." As I stated before ... I have yet to see a 335 debadged. The closest is swapping out the chromed badges for black ones.

Heck, look at some of the pages in the forums ... there's a slew of folks who are adding M-Sport effects to their N52's and even going as far as going with dual exhaust. I can't see someone going through all of that and keeping a 25/28 badge. Not matter how much they say they're going for a "cleaner look" ... its hard not to call BS.

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by N52UNED

I totally understand where you're coming from ... but I'm in the camp of .... those who know BMW's can tell ... but those who don't have a BMW doesn't really, and will likely go mainly by badges, and that's who it's really for.

Maybe that's partly because in my area, BMWs are very popular with the Senior Citizens ... so if you're sporting a -25/28 your car can really be dismissed as ... "Eh, who cares, it's only a 328? My grandmother drives a newer 328 than that. They should've gotten a 335." As I stated before ... I have yet to see a 335 debadged. The closest is swapping out the chromed badges for black ones.

Heck, look at some of the pages in the forums ... there's a slew of folks who are adding M-Sport effects to their N52's and even going as far as going with dual exhaust. I can't see someone going through all of that and keeping a 25/28 badge. Not matter how much they say they're going for a "cleaner look" ... its hard not to call BS.

I've debadged all of our N54 and N55 cars and left the badges on our N20. I honestly see more feeble old folks driving 335i and M3s, but that's likely just a side effect of the DFW car market, where an AMG or a Bentley Continental is considered a basic grocery getter.

[N52UNED]

Originally Posted by mike@Vossen

We just sold it and it was totally debadged and/or blacked out. All the emblems except the Mercedes symbols were removed. The RennTECH badges were also never added.

This wagon put down close to 850hp and 1,000 lbs of torque.... sleeper? Maybe.

Why was it done? Overall to give it a cleaner look than with the badges.

First off ... that's one WICKED wagon.

Isn't there a badge on the hatch? (not including the Merc emblem)

[N52UNED]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

I've debadged all of our N54 and N55 cars and left the badges on our N20. I honestly see more feeble old folks driving 335i and M3s, but that's likely just a side effect of the DFW car market, where an AMG or a Bentley Continental is considered a basic grocery getter.

LOL! Yeah I've noticed that while in DFW. IF I had $60k to drop and wanted prestige over new ... I'd seriously look at Bently too ... quite a bargain when you think about it.

Here there's a slew of "seniors" driving 335's and M's too ... as well as a crap ton of Z06's. Such a waste. It's like owning a Ford Raptor in a city.

[MightyMouseTech]

I know what kind of car I drive, I really don't care if the person behind me knows. It looks better without them. All my cars are debadged.

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by N52UNED

LOL! Yeah I've noticed that while in DFW. IF I had $60k to drop and wanted prestige over new ... I'd seriously look at Bently too ... quite a bargain when you think about it.

Here there's a slew of "seniors" driving 335's and M's too ... as well as a crap ton of Z06's. Such a waste. It's like owning a Ford Raptor in a city.

Ha, one of my neighbors has the shiniest Raptor I've ever seen. I don't think it's ever seen rain, much less dirt and certainly not mud.

[mike@Vossen]

Originally Posted by N52UNED

First off ... that's one WICKED wagon.

Isn't there a badge on the hatch? (not including the Merc emblem)

It had the longest name I saw on the back

Mercedes-Benz E63 S 4 Matic... we took them all off lol...

We left the Benz emblem.

[P1]

In Europe, you order your new car from the factory, unless you buy one from the showroom floor. And there's MAYBE on example of each version. So most of the time, you're ordering it and waiting a few months. When you put together your specification, one option is to order it without badges from the factory. So you cannot really say you like the way it comes from the factory, because it really could have been delivered at the dealership without badges. Every single BMW my parents have ordered new has been ordered without badges.

[Don Molina]

Originally Posted by AIRPOWER

De-badging is pretty popular in Europe because of the high theft rate in larger size engines.

People in the USA do it because they think that it's cool to do because Europeans do it.

Nope, also thieves don't need badges to tell a car.

Originally Posted by kgroschi

Well in Germany the chance of your car getting keyed increases tremendously with these badges. There is too many extreme liberals or green peace activists there that just can't tolerate you drive around in a M760Li V12 beast.

A-holes be a-holes regardless of badge.

People in Europe are just more understated. It's a cultural/mentality thing.

Originally Posted by Red Bread

I had a friend with an E39 M5 that replaced the M5 badge with a 528i badge because it kept a lot of people from messing with him, and if he chose to mess with someone, they'd occasionally think a 528i was monstrously fast.

I've posted this before, and this guy wins big time

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by VR-Tech

I recently picked up a second hand 2013 135is, and it was in pristine condition. Everything was great except one thing - it was debadged. Not sure I understand the logic of this, especially when this version is limited to 800 in the USA. Granted you can turn the regular 135 into the "is", but technically the "is" was limited run, hence somewhat special. Why would somebody want to debadge such a car?

Regularly produced cars I can understand, but not sure if you do it on a special one. Sort of like why debadge a 1M.

Any thoughts?

Persoanlly I just don't like the look of the normal model badging on BMWs. But on M cars with the M followed by a clean number and those M stripes looks good.

[MrZerg]

When I bought my 335i it was already debadged - my car is black on black and basically completely stock, I assumed it was just to lower the profile to attract attention for theft or something. I do agree that its clean looking, but without any modifications under the hood I sort of feel like theres not much incentive to mask the model. Though once I get some time to do some upgrades I will probably appreciate the debadging more

[TTV8M]

Originally Posted by VR-Tech

I recently picked up a second hand 2013 135is, and it was in pristine condition. Everything was great except one thing - it was debadged. Not sure I understand the logic of this, especially when this version is limited to 800 in the USA. Granted you can turn the regular 135 into the "is", but technically the "is" was limited run, hence somewhat special. Why would somebody want to debadge such a car?

Regularly produced cars I can understand, but not sure if you do it on a special one. Sort of like why debadge a 1M.

Any thoughts?

Maybe they wanted it to be a sleeper car. Fool the Honda Civic drivers into thinking it is a base model and not a power model

[TTV8M]

Originally Posted by P1

In Europe, you order your new car from the factory, unless you buy one from the showroom floor. And there's MAYBE on example of each version. So most of the time, you're ordering it and waiting a few months. When you put together your specification, one option is to order it without badges from the factory. So you cannot really say you like the way it comes from the factory, because it really could have been delivered at the dealership without badges. Every single BMW my parents have ordered new has been ordered without badges.

I wonder if they charge you for the badges over there

[dizz81]

Holy 7yr necro.

Since I'm here. Like most others said. It's a cleaner look. Plus who cares if people see what model you have or don't have.

[5ive7even]

For me, the chrome X5 badging on a car I optioned with the M-Sport packages to get everything blacked out (except the badges) just plain sucks. BMW got lazy on that one....car should have come with black badging. So off the went... Easier to keep clean anyway.

[G MONEY]

I left the Nissan badge on the GTR so when I start pulling on them, they get reminded that it’s a POS Nissan