zimmer26

Tried the dental floss, I came closer to slicing thru my hand than getting the damn lettering off- those puppies are on there. My dealer said they would do it for $45- 1/2 hr labor. Kinda sucks but I think I'll just have them do it and if something bad happens, they're responsible for fixing it.

bagwell

to me, de-badging is someone that has a C240 making believe he has a C32 or C320.

but I guess its just me....

maybe remove the star and put the Ferrari horsey ??

session

i kind of like the cleaner look; if i debadge i wouldn't leave any text.

JeT

I must have read it on CSportsCoupe.com forums. Someone just did it successfully using a hairdryer and floss. It isn't a half hour job...its like a 2 minute job...but if you are worried about your paint job, best get the MB guys to do it.

SoCal240/6

No, you won't have any problems whatsoever on your car if you take the lettering off. You can likely just pull them off with your fingers.

I'm not a big fan of debadging (normally because the badges are not too obtrusive and its done 95% of the time by the C240, BMW 323, 525, etc. models, almost never by the bigger engined models), but on the Hatchback I'd make an exception, for a couple of reasons.

1. There is WAY too much lettering going on there. K-O-M-P-R-E-S-S-O-R??? Too much. Plus, its a goofy looking word. Plus, its unnecessary. Kind of like on American cars when they put a big "Fuel Injection" badge on, or "Disc Brakes" on the hubcaps. What's the point, and who cares?

2. Anything that helps de-emphasis the back end of the Hatchback is a good thing.

The big D sticker is obviously dumb (WHY????) and should be the first thing to go.

SoCal240/6

To the contrary, if you are worried about your paint, you should do it yourself, and not put it in the hands of some anonymous hack at your dealership.

Who cares more about your car?

JeT

True...personally I would do it myself...I don't even trust the dealer to wash my car. I always specifically tell them not to wash it when I have the car in for service.

avlis

It took me longer than 1/2 hour. I used heat and floss but, the floss proved useless. I could have used my fingers to pull them off after they were heated. I spent a lot of time removing the glue residue.

Benzer

It does yield a cleaner look on the Coupe and minimising the fatal attration effect to it's rear end

Peace

Tai230K

I did a survey with my friends roughly 8 females and 2 males..... all 8 females said badged..... both males said unbadged.... very weird...

JeT

Were you using Oral B floss?!! Took my mate a couple of minutes with hairdryer and floss...of course the residue needs to be taken ofF with care...they must use different glue in our part of the world.

jlm

It may be true that many debadged cars in the US are the lesser models in the line. Curiously, when I picked my car up in Europe I was paying particular attention to what de-badged cars looked like and which cars were de-badged. It seems that MB owners in particular like to debadge their cars, and the up-scale cars get debadged MORE often than the lesser models. Most of the big Benzes I saw only had the star in back.

I am in the process of completely de-badging (even the grill) because I like the clean look, and don't much care if anyone else knows what car I drive. After all, it just advertising!

JeT

People with lesser models tend to rebadge their cars with higher end model badges. I see alot of BMW 318 owners do this...even though its so obvious its not an M3!

avlis

We're talking DE-badge, not RE-badge...

Freddy

Yes "debadged" cars are very popular in Europe. Most Germans like their cars without any badges. Most people dont debadge them, they order them like that. I, for example, ordered my coupe without badges. Looks clean and no need to use hairdryer/dental floss.

Matt230K

You can use a piece of string or something thicker than dental floss if it hurts your hands that much. Sometimes even a piece of string hurts, so I can imagine how dental floss would hurt. And it helps if you have some kind of solvent to remove the glue, otherwise it can take a very long time to get it all off.

JeT

No kidding Einstein! The point I was making is that lower end models don't usually debadge, they rebadge...thats how it is in Oz anyway.

Boo2

Well, here in the U.S. it is mostly lower end models that both debage and rebadge.

zimmer26

If I had a C240, I'd leave the badge because it would look like trying to pose as a 320 or C32 which many people do- its cheesy! I think it works in the coupe's case because a) there is only one engine (not trying to pose) b) there is way too much lettering on the already busy rear end. Final answer: I'm losing the badges and paying the 45 beans so I don't have to bother with it. I'm on mod #2 after just 8 months!! Mod #1 was the alloy e-brake pedal pad- crazy right! It does look better and I hear its good for 3hp!

Accord

Actually, there is more than one varient of the coupe: C32 AMG, C30 CDI AMG, C230/180, C220 CDI, and probably some more that I am forgetting about.

Not all of them are available in North America though.

zimmer26

Yeah, yeah I know I was talkin about here, but ofcourse you're right.

AndrewK

Well it was a Euro Delivery car so it was on there from the factory and I just never took it off. Its not like I bought it and my Euro front plate just to give the impression that it was a Euro car. I know you love those kind of people! :p

BlackC230Coupe

its much nicer de-badged, heres an older pic of mine i just found.

Jim Banville

I de-badged the rear of my C240 because I like the cleaner look, NOT to fool the 1% of drivers behind me that might know the difference between C240, C320 or C32. I consider myself an "automobile enthusiast", but up until about 6 months ago, when I became interested in buying a German sedan, I had NO idea what the letters and numbers on the rear of MB's stood for. There are SO many variations! If I would have seen "C32", I would have probably thought the "0" fell off since I have noticed over the years that most MB model numbers are three digits and end with "0"

zimmer26

I don't really see how C240 is "not clean", but whatever. As long as you're not trying to come off as a 320 its all good. I consider myself an enthusiast as well and I can tell you that I wouldn't be able to tell the difference at a glance. If however I saw a 3, C, or A4 debadged I'd assume it was a 318/325 trying to pose as 328/330, C240 as C320, or 1.8 A4 as 3.0 as there are many examples on the road. The other possibility is an M, C32, or S4 trying to go undercover, which is understandable and is why the M badge deletion is on the bimmer's option list (or at least I think it is.) I guess its more of a case with the bimmer because their badges are or were at least drilled through the sheetmetal which would be trouble that I don't think many 330 owners would care to bother with. In general I'd bet that the vast majority of debadgings come from the smaller siblings in their respective classes with the exception of the hotted up (M, AMG, S Audis) trying to go unnoticed. This is far better than if you were to dress up your C240 as the C32 by rebadging, those dorks are probably most plentiful and the most easily found out, and laughed at the hardest. But that's just my cynical opinion.