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To debadge or not to debadge?

15K views 106 replies 55 participants last post by  miamiboyca 
#1 ·
I personally like the debadged look and IMO the caboose is much cleaner without the badges.

I asked one of my colleagues what he thought and he said "what is this The Fast and the Furious" so now I am second guessing. Is this a childish alteration? I am not looking to fool anyone into thinking the car is something that it is not.

Thoughts?
 
#3 ·
I personally like the debadged look and IMO the caboose is much cleaner without the badges.

I asked one of my colleagues what he thought and he said "what is this The Fast and the Furious" so now I am second guessing. Is this a childish alteration? I am not looking to fool anyone into thinking the car is something that it is not.

Thoughts?
I am on the fence as well, there are too many badges esp with the xdrive but then again I don't want to feel like a poser trying to make people think its an m5 or something
 
#4 ·
Debadging has looked good on every BMW I have ever seen. Can't think of one time where I saw a debadged car and thought 'wow, what a (insert defining word here)'.
 
#5 ·
I always debadge my cars.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I personally like the debadged look and IMO the caboose is much cleaner without the badges.

I asked one of my colleagues what he thought and he said "what is this The Fast and the Furious" so now I am second guessing. Is this a childish alteration? I am not looking to fool anyone into thinking the car is something that it is not.

Thoughts?
Difficult one. I never know what to think. If you've added 50 hp...that would help me with it. You can alway put them back I suppose.
 
#7 ·
I like the debadged looks and have done it on several cars. I think it is more important that you like how your car looks; much more so than how friends or strangers think how it looks.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Personally, I'm not a fan of de-badging. What's the point? The only thing on the back of your BMW is your model number. I don't think you'll remove the Roundel, right? The xDrive (I don't have xDrive) badges are on the side and are separate, so it's not like there is a cluster of "stuff". Your choice though, of course.
 
#10 ·
Personally, I'm not a fan of de-badging. What's the point? The only thing on the back of your BMM is your model number. I don't think you'll remove the Roundel, right? The xDrive (I don't have xDrive) badges are on the side and are separate, so it's not like there is a cluster of "stuff". Your choice though, of course.
The xDrive badge is now in the back, so the rear trunk lip looks like a kid with braces. :yikes:

BTW, I like to use a plain body colored license plate frame and replace the blue on the Roundel to match the body color (or black in the case of a white car) to create a clean and simple look. A small amount of customization gives the car a look that is different from everyone else's. If you look at my sigpic, I replaced the oversized look-at-me chrome kidney grill with a nice body colored grill on my X5. A small change, but it cleaned up the front of the truck nicely. ;)
 
#11 ·
Debadge IMO.

Every car I have ever owned has had this mod. Not childish or ghetto like "Fast and the Furious" at all. It actually looks cleaner. To pose as an M5 would be throwing on M5 badges; not removing whatever badge you have. I talked my wife into it on her 535i and she loves it. The roundel is enough for us.
 
#13 · (Edited)
How do you debadge it? Is it just glued, or what?

If I was speccing my car myself, I'd certainly have made it debadged (possible here) - but it was a stock unit from the 2012 left-over, for a price I couldn't resist :)

Piotr
 
#17 ·
I use dental floss, then GooGone, and then a quick shot of spray wax. Others have used a hairdryer to soften the glue.
 
#16 ·
DE-badged my Z4 of the long sDrive 35i badges on the side under the Roundels and de badged the Z4 badge on the trunk. I love the clean look, and it is much easier to clean. For re sale They are very easy to put back on with 3m auto body tape.
 

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#20 ·
To each his own. I personally don't like the look. But my opinion doesn't matter. I paid 70k for my 535. Someone might have paid 75k for a 528 with more options. Don't tell me what to do with my money and I won't tell you what to do with yours. Just a thought....

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Bimmer App
 
#25 ·
Debabge... cleaning and waxing much easier.
 
#26 ·
+1 for De-badge. Looks much cleaner and as many have said, I love the symmetry. I find it funny when people who have no enthusiasm, passion or understanding of automobiles make statements they don't understand (ie. removing an emblem makes you "Fast and the Furious").

Also, please don't think twice about being a "poser" because of any mod. If you like it, DO IT!
 
#27 ·
This is an interesting question for me because I've de-badged all my E-Classes before this car. Something about "E350" just looked too boring and ubiquitous to me, so I opted for the clean look.

On this car, with the black color and my chrome plate frame, I don't mind the look as much. Also, the "535i" to me signifies an engine I have enthusiasm over, so I don't mind having it plastered across the back.

Gonna debate whether I should go for the clean look or not.

As someone said here though, a de-badged car that's not modded to coincide with it (i.e just looks stock with the badge removed) can sometimes give me the impression of a car that got out of the body shop or something.
 
#28 ·
Here's a question for all of you... (If you owned one of the following) Would you debadge a M, M3, B7? If you would then go ahead and debadge whatever you want
 
#29 ·
Of course not, because as BMW enthusiasts we all know the prestige that comes with the M. I love our 535i but I know that my X5M is even more special. So that's why we opted to remove the "535i" badge but leave the "X5M" badge. Not trying to disguise our 535i since its pretty obvious (not rocking 550 exhaust or M badges); but the "M" on my X5M is coveted and something I'd like to show off. :D
 
#33 ·
I guess I just have too much pride in the 535i name to want to fool anybody to think of it as anything otherwise, then. :D 535i signifies something sportier than the 550i to me, which signifies brute smooth luxurious force to the nth degree.

But I still do some poseur-ing of my own, as I added an "M" license plate frame. Though, I don't think in this day and age where BMW already put 8 other "M" badges on my car, that can be considered "poseur" anymore. :D
 
#90 · (Edited)
DINAN badge

I guess I just have too much pride in the 535i name to want to fool anybody to think of it as anything otherwise, then. :D 535i signifies something sportier than the 550i to me, which signifies brute smooth luxurious force to the nth degree.

But I still do some poseur-ing of my own, as I added an "M" license plate frame. Though, I don't think in this day and age where BMW already put other "M" badges on my car, iem steering wheel, dead pedal, door sills, ect., that something like an M license plate frame can be considered "poseur" anymore. :D
I have an 535i M-Sport in dark graphite just like yours!

Not only that, I also got rid of a 2011 Mercedes Benz e350 like you also did....

People asked me "Why?" and I said "Well, think of TWO great German car companies: ONE builds trucks and buses; the other one builds motorcycles --so *YOU* do the math".





I too, bought an "M" license plate frame like you did - but am unsure yet whether to install it on the car or not. The body kit and wheels are that of an M, but it's NOT an M5 either.

Someday however, I may debadge it and pit THIS badge in its place:

DINAN 5

Those badges are free, but ONLY if you get there by modding according to their "point" system = so many points for each modification.

I couldn't happen though yet for a few reasons -

1. DINAN is an engineering company first and foremost, and it may be years till they are ready with the appropriate 535i mods; though they are working on them.

I know this because I was there at the DINAN HQ in Morgan Hill recently and talkd to the people there.

DINAN WILL match the 5/50 factory warranty offered by BMW, but it might void the factory one, though I doubt it.

2. I am going to pay the car off this month so it will keep my wallet pretty empty for a while, except for date money and gasoline!

3. An integrated DINAN setup weill include mods to the suspension, remapping, engine and brakes at least - perhaps transmission and wheels too.

This could be upwards of $20k if you go full boat - and as many of us know, that when you start modding, often ties you tend to push things to the limit or take things as far as they'll go.

From what I've heard, seen, read and personally know about the DINAN operation, they are among the best, for BMW, up there with AC Schnitzer and Alpina, I feel.
 
#35 ·
I guess this debunks the "I removed the badge because it looks cleaner"... Its amazing how much "cleaner" the car looks with M5 or M3 on it
 
#36 · (Edited)
Actually, even if M meant the complete opposite of what it means, M3, M5, etc. would still look much cleaner than any of 538i, 535i, and 550i, especially with xDrive for 2013+ being on the back left side. It just looks like garbage now. It's too cluttered.

I dunno yet what I'm going to do when my 550i xDrive arrives. The wife wants the badges on and I lean towards taking then off. Maybe I'll take off just the xDrive badge. Then maybe find an "xi" and just swap the "i" part out. Hehe.
 
#40 ·
Another +1 for De-badge. Again much cleaner.

If you do it. Once the pieces on off, looking at them off the car and on a surface - at least for me was confirmation of my decision.
 
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