Tim-BlackE320

but what is the significance? Mine is badged, but here's a pix of one on Ebay that is not badged.

Just curious, does it have anything to do with where the vehicle was manufactured?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eb...gephotohosting

007

imo, debadging gives a cleaner and finished look..however i dont recommend removing the star also

E55 KEV

Debadging is done by the owner. Just pull the letters off or use fishing line or dental floss then use adhesive remover for the glue residue. I debadged my 98 E430:

sosh

Have seen numerous MB's with no badging. Its my thought that in at least some of the cases they have been hit and the repairing body shop did not replace the badges. If I were to look at a used MB for purchase and it had no badging I would be leery as its likely that its been hit.

E55 KEV

Hey sosh, anyone trying to sell a car which has been in an accident would surely put the badges back on and restore the car back to OEM specs to hide the damages and not disclose that the car was in an accident.

There is a difference in "debadging" which is a custom thing and missing badges from an accident.

sosh

I agree with you re debadging. From what I see around here, the folks with no badges are not the types who would debadge. In fact my neighbor with an older 4 matic was hit in the rear. Wnen he got his car back from the shop I noticed it had the 4matic and one other badge missing. He had not even noticed that they were gone. He is 78 years old.

livetodrive

E55KEV - I like the look of the double chrome exhausts on your 98 E430. Can you give us more details?

BenzE

This is my understanding of the 4matic badging:

E-class 4matics (sedans and wagons) with build dates in the first half of 1998 were un-badged from the factory. Hence, my 1998, build date 4/15/98, is unbadged. When I bought the car in January, my dealer actually asked me if I wanted them to "add" it. As far as I know, all following 4matics were badged unless the owners removed the badge.

Somebody at MBUSA once told me that when the 4matic returned to the E-class in 1998, MB was initially reluctant to release it badged as such (for example, my original sticker says E320 AWD sedan, no mention of the word 4matic) in the US because of previous owner's difficulties with the 4matic in the W124 chassis.

E55 KEV

livetodrive, that is the AMG exhaust I added to my 98 E430. Sound is very mild and barely noticeable inside the cabin. Mainly for looks - not going to get extra HP from it.

I traded it March 2002 and someone finally bought my old E430 in Dec 2002 with a free AMG exhaust, tinted windows, Alpine CD changer and chrome headlight rings I left on it.

MikeyE430

Debadged my E430 Sport using dental floss and WD40. Looks good, very clean, makes people wonder. Except for the sport badges behind the front wheels, mine looks just like a Brilliant Silver E55.