onesixthree - 8/10/2005 2:59 PM
One person wants to debadge his/her car and people pull out their psychoanalyses. [8)] Do what feels right for you, not what the MB police tells you. Many with big engines debadge their rides just as much as ones with small motors. Not everybody likes to show off and it doesnt mean youre inferior. Some people are just too vain...
MUCH agreed!
The only “cons� to it are the ones conjured up by fellow Benz enthusiast. Otherwise, it’s all “pros�. Lets debunk the myths.
First off, there is a SEVERE blanket generalization (the scourge of the net) of a “debadger� that is, frankly, disappointing. While I can understand how one could reach the view of the debadger as a “poser�, it’s funny that the debunkers won't even considered what Scott said - it’s simply for a smoother “look�. At least Brett Diego did point out the waxing advantages.[
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I’ve owned BOTH a debadged ’93 300SE (S320) and currently own a badged ’97 S320. I bought the 300SE as is, debadged. I LOVED the clean look in the back. Somehow it looked even MORE “German.� (BTW, NEVER did I think to put an S600 badge back there, and actually think that practice of doing so is wack as hell. It’s the equivalent of stuffing a sock in your crotch, IMO.) People would run up and say “OH Man� is that a S600!?� (Realize, they are only asking because they heard in the latest song that that’s the model to have). I’d ALWAYS promptly answer, no it’s a 300SE. They would pause for the BRIEFEST of half-seconds, then, continue fawning. I wouldn’t even “update� it verbally to an S320. MB designated it a 300SE, I BOUGHT a 300SE, and I told people it’s a 300SE, (I dare say many a poster in this thread wouldn’t have done THAT, and would have called it an S320). I had a million chances handed to me to tell ‘em it’s a 500 or 600, and according to the above posts, it assumed that, naturally, I (and all debadgers) would. It is assumed that the debadging was done for X reason. And to assume that the S320 owner had no pride in his ride simply by debadging??? WRONG. (I just recently ruffled a few 600 guys’ feathers on this very forum by pitting my S320, pride for pride, against ANY S600, any day. Or any other Benz, for that matter. I’m sure some of you read that.)
I traded the black/gray 300SE in on the black/black S320. Badge on it – Beautiful! But I wanted the clean look like that of my old car on the trunk. Again, my old car was a 300SE, NOT a S600. (So even IF I was trying to pose, I was trying to look like a car that was actually badged even numerically LOWER than my current car.) HOWEVER, quiet frankly, the S320 badge looks very good with the post ’90 tail end updates. And, hey, why bother it or risk messing up my paint somehow? So it’s there, for now, with no immediately pressing plans to take it off. But that’s the ONLY reason why – I plain ole decided to leave it alone.
And YES, I WOULD consider debadging if I got an S600. (What then, I’m trying to look like a Maybach?) That V12 under the hood would do all the showin ‘n’ provin’ as to what’s what. They already asked me if it was a 600 anyway. Only difference is that this time, the answer would be “yes�. And any enthusiast worth there salt would figure it out in short order, so why not?
Another thing – I also own a W201 190E 2.6 liter. The liter badge is right on the trunk. The only higher factory model to get is the 16 valve, (with trunk badge designation) and you don’t see them that often. Guess what? I debadged IT. What, would one say I was trying to make it look like a 2.3? A 1.8? An S600? NO. I LIKE the CLEAN look. (The only problem was that the factory adhesive had gotten super hard in some spots, so it wasn’t a nice clean spot left when I was done. I have some touch ups to do anyway, and that will be one of them.)
Many top tuning houses actually debadged the cars when doing a full conversion, BTW. AMG used to churn out many a debadged top-line W126 560 back when they were an independent. Brabus would chuck your badge, ect, unless you specifically told them not too. So here they are are handing you back an OVER-the-top- of-the-line $120,000 SEC, with 30,000 worth of mods - zip zero nada badges.
The 3 categories of Benz Admirers:
1) Joe/Jane Public - Another falsity is that the general public will think the car is a 600. We enthusiast get caught up in our own little Benz world, and don’t realize, that the only thing Joe/Jane Average see when you pull up is that star on the grill and the trunk. Many can’t get past even that, and can only think “MERCEDES!�, or “S-CLASS!� The numeric designation doesn’t even come to mind, and even if it did, they don’t even know what it even means. Think of Aunt Gertrud and Uncle Larry; the only thing they know is that junior is doing well because “he drives a Mar-cedes�. The words S320-600 will never leave their mouths. I know this for daily FACT driving around in my modest little ’92 190E, and people act like I just rolled up in a new Bentley GT Coupe. I can’t convince many folk that it’s just a little old high miles “baby Benz� daily driver.
2) Enthusiast - The next category of person is the enthusiast. From the mildly knowledgeable to the text book student of MB, many things a poser would do to impress Joe and Jane is going to get spotted and identified by this group. Debadging will not only fail to leave the impression that the S320 is an S600, (assuming that was the intent), you will, in fact, LOSE respect before it’s over.
So whose left to impress assuming the above posted theories about the debadgers are true?
….the…
3) Poser – that’s who! Only another poser is going to be impressed when they see plain tail and think its and S600 or actually see an S600 badge on the back of your S320 with the standard S320 tailpipes, leather, and inline 6 under the hood and still be impressed.
So in the end, Scott, if YOU want to debadge because YOU know you are doing it for the look, and YOU know YOU are NOT a 600 wanna be, then why WOULDN’T you debadge? Good luck.
