Xeron

I saw what appeared to be an SL 55 with an AMG badge on the rear of the car and proper exaust pipes. However, the car didn't have the V8 compressor side badges on it. Fake?

IdriveFast

could be de-badged

a good way to tell if its a good AMG is to look inside, if the seats dont say AMG or the gauges, its probably a fake

the SL55 also has smoked tail lights, as opposed to the red tail lights on the SL500

Fabulous E320T

I saw at the dealer fully debagged S55 '05 - no V8 compressor, AMG or S55 badges . But it was real S55.

GDautosport

i have mine debadged on the sides...

shoes

There is a little known factory option code which builds the car without the V8 Kompressor badge on the sides. The rear badges still need to be pried off.

awiner

Debadging the sides makes for a much cleaner look in my opinion. The side badging always looked cheap to me.

OzSL55

I remember when debadging thing started. It was a bit more than 10 years back and began with people who owned the top spec models who wanted to be more descrete and that's cool. What I really hate since then are the prentenders and posers who debadge their entry model Mercs or Beemers with the sole purpose of making people think they're driving the top of the line models. That seems to be the case in 9 of 10 times these days when I see a car debadged. As clean as it makes the car look, I now wouldn't debadge my SL55 for fear people will start asking me how I like my SL320 .

awiner

I debaged the V8 Kompressor emblems on the side of my car. Never really had any doubters since from the side they can see the massive 8 piston AMG calipers through my 19" HRE wheels..

OzSL55

That's true of people who know what they are looking at. However, where I live that would be very much the exception not the rule. They unfortunately don't pick up well on those kinds of details here and would jump all too easily to the SL320 conclusion I'm afraid...You should've seen how many idiots tried to tell me my clearly FORD badged Lightning was a nice 'Chevy' at a car enthuasts gathering, let alone all those who have around town. The same goes for my 850CSI, all I hear from people is nice 850 or 840 and that's with the badges.

Henrik

What's the point with a badge? Showing off?

I don't know what's the case with the AMG models but in Germany you seldom see a Merc with a badge.

ima55r2

It does look cleaner, but I wouldn't use the word cheap if you think of it as a $25,000 badge package.

awiner

No, it's plain cheap. The letters start to twist from the heat of the hot summer sun out here in California. Also, snags from toweling the car dry don't help on each individual letter either. Mercedes could of come up with a better emblem if you ask me. Then again, I'm very ****.




On the E, CL, C, SLK and S the side badging breaks up the clean lines of the side of the car.

On the SL it isn't as bad because of the SL's grill.

CynCarvin32

Agree fully!

I take the badges off my AMG cars for many reasons but the best one is I dont need everyone knowing it is an AMG car. If the person is not smart enought to see what it really is they do not need to know!

Also the cars just look better with no lettering on them. When in Europe I always think their cars look better with no badges on them. Its a simple way to make the car look cleaner.

Lastly it is easier to wax the car with no letters on the back or side. Water gets around the letters and spots and dirt is hard to clean in those small little cracks.

I have a C230k daily driver beater car and I am not sure if I want to take those letters off. If I do people will think it is a C32 and it really is not. I have a set of C32 brakes I am putting on (4 piston front and 2 piston rear vs the stock 2 front and single rear) and with no letters on the back people might think it is a C32 when it really is not. Being below the radar screen is good but being a wana be is wrong.

I think AMG cars are how they drive no how they look so forget the letters!

OzSL55

I've got to say I still like having the badges.

I didn't aspire to driving M series or an AMG for many years to not be proud of it or want to hide what I'm driving. Frankly, I also don't want give the pretender debadge crowd any satisfaction by debadging mine. I also don't mind sending a warning to the 'try it on' crowd, for all those who think there going to rev the guts out of their Honda Preludes or Mitsubishi Lancers and launch past you at the lights . These are the guys at the lights sitting on the inside in a lane that ends in 50m who are sure the are going to blow you away since to them you are driving an badgeless SL350 (it's not like they're going to hear the note of 55's V8 since they've put a huge fart pipe on their car or have music blasting). It might be nice to be steathly in the event that someone with a decent sports car pulls up beside you for a bit of fun, but to me 90% of the time it's the other type.

CynCarvin32

Frankly those are the very ones I don’t want to know what I have. Its a rice rocket... let it go... I hate those crap box's its more fun to let them buzz off like a mosquito while you just idle away in style. Plus racing those cars is a risk for it’s not likely insured well and every now and then a 400 hp civic could cross your path. The last thing you expect when charging down that soon to merge to one lane section of road is for that civic to be right next to you at 70 mph. If it were a lancer or STi, it is quite possible that by this point you would be seeing their over sized rear wing. But if that is the case... fear not it’s still a pos compact car.

Different strokes for different folks. I want to blend in for I don’t buy cars to show who or what I am. The M or AMG portion of the car is not the look it’s the fun you get when you drive and own it. But if you like it leave them on! That’s why it’s your car!

Either way it’s a fun car!

To be honest my SL still has its badges on the back but that is simply because I am fearful that I will scratch the oh so perfect black paint in the process. My C32 was naked and my E55k is also running around with not labels on its deck lid. With the E55, it looks like an E320 and I love it. Pewter paint sure does just blend into the landscape.

waldis

does anyone have a picture of how the car looks like with no side v8 kompressor badge?

also, lets not forget that you can also looks at the tail light to see if its a sl55 or not.

GDautosport

here...

OzSL55

I knew 'lancer' would be taken the wrong way, I should have said Hyundai... We have had genuine Subaru WRX STi's and Lancer EVO's here for many more years than the US. Blind Freddy can spot them a mile a way and although I never fear them too much in the SL, I'd prefer to be in my Cobra to ensure I dust them properly. When I'm at lights in front I generally never idle away as I like to keep slightly ahead of the traffic where possible. What I then hate is when you get one of these clowns in a junior ricebox on the inside that's thinks they are going to get around you somehow. In an end of lane or situation where parking is allowed in the left lane (think right lane, US), the vehicle in the left lane must give way to the one in the right lane at the merge point if any part of the right lane vehicle is ahead of the left lane vehicle at the time. I find if you let them fly off and overtake most of the time they'll sit in front of you cruising and you end up going around at the next opportunity. They often then try to take you on because they're young d*ckheads and think you're challenging them somehow by overtaking.

Anyway, that's enough of my sidetrack for time being. I enjoy my badges for my own reasons and as was said, each to their own...

ima55r2

How's this one?