[Westside Guy]

After reading the posts in this recent thread I decided to post a poll.

https://g29.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=2004687

What is your preference, a Z4 that has rear badges or one that is debadged?

I am also adding two other choices, change to gloss black rear badges (which I recently did) or just keep the the Z4 badge and remove the 20i, 30i or M40i badge on the right side.

[gkgeiger]

JMO, when you de-badge you de-value.

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by gkgeiger

JMO, when you de-badge you de-value.

IMHO, that would be true only for the top of the line M40i.

[RavenGX]

depends on the car for me.

if i had a 20 or 30i i would remove all, i like the clean look, but since there are so little differentiating features between the 20/30 and 40i.
i re-added my badges on the 40i after wrapping the car.

when my car was green i had the bronze badges, now that it's purple i switched to black because it matched better with the color scheme i was going for

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by RavenGX

depends on the car for me.

if i had a 20 or 30i i would remove all, i like the clean look, but since tere are so little differentiating features between the 20/30 and 40i i re-added my badges on the 40i after wrapping the car.
when my car was green i had the bronze badges, now that it's purple i switched to black because it matched better with the color scheme i was going for

Don't forget that your car's color is the true unicorn!!!

[ebirotedu]

In my case, Frozen Grey and Shadowline trim with black wheels seems rather achromatic to me. I like the bit of subtle color contrast the badging adds. Also, the Z4 has no other badging on the exterior, at least in the US, so it doesn't strike me as remotely over-badged. My one complaint about the factory badging is that for Shadowline trims the badges should be gloss black.

By way of comparison, I removed the SHELBY letters from my stripe-less GT500 the same week I took delivery, and it still had snake badges on the grill, the front fenders, and the trunk decklid roundrel. I had thought to remove the fender badges as well, but it turns out they were bolted to the fender.

So, not a fan of overbadging, but subtle understated badging is fine.

[Westside Guy]

I totally agree with you that the badges should be offered as an option in gloss black if you’re getting the Shadowline trim!

[Balr14]

Any time I go to a local car meet, when I see a debadged car, I assume it's a lower model, regardless of brand. I think most people feel the same way. People who don't know BMW models could very well assume a badged lower model is better than it actually is.

[StanDiego]

Originally Posted by Westside Guy

What is your preference, a Z4 that has rear badges or one that is debadged?

I'm on the fence whether to debadge but my preference would be black chrome Z4 and 3.0 decals on the rear, no "sdrive". IMHO the sdrive is ridiculous. Technically, the M40i is sdrive also so what purpose does it serve on the 30i? Those who know what sdrive means already know the Z4 is two wheel drive and those who don't know don't give a flying flock.

As someone else mentioned, every time I clean the car, I snag the towel on the badges so I'll probably ultimately remove them. Devalue the car? Hah! Okay, so spend $50 to put them back on before selling or trading.

[Pprior]

Originally Posted by gkgeiger

JMO, when you de-badge you de-value.

Disagree. When we picked up multiple cars in Germany from European delivery we found that most there came from the factory debadged. That's how we ordered ours.

If you want you can stick the pieces in a bag and reattach them when you sell the car. It's not hard to do.

PPF installers remove and then reinstall over the PPF all the time. Me - I'm full debadge as it looks super clean and love not having to wash around them.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Originally Posted by Pprior

Disagree. When we picked up multiple cars in Germany from European delivery we found that most there came from the factory debadged. That's how we ordered ours.

Europe is Europe & the badge, de-badge thing can't be compared to the US. Lived in the UK for 8 years. Asked one of my employees who was importing ex police Harleys for big bucks why he drove a FORD Escort sized company car instead of a top line which he was entitled to. Answer was "I don't want to drive a Rich Mans car".

Could be mistaken, but doubt it, because going back to 2011 with a 335is 7DCT the debadged smaller engined cars greatly outnumbered the badged big engine cars on the BMW forums.

Anyone can look at old threads & see this trend. Not making a judgment on the intent, just stating what I have seen over many years.

Also its not unique to BMW.

[stlcdr]

I get the impression that BMW people are particularly sensitive to the badges.

I've debadged my Ford Expedition (of course, I have the 'lowly' XLT...). I do think it's one of those trends which comes and goes.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Originally Posted by stlcdr

I get the impression that BMW people are particularly sensitive to the badges.

I've debadged my Ford Expedition (of course, I have the 'lowly' XLT...). I do think it's one of those trends which comes and goes.

I left the XLT & MAX badges, one on each side of the tail gate, on the truck. Think they are the only badges on the truck.

The closest I came to a de-badge was the Suburban which drowned at the beach. Grandson called the Darth Vader truck as all the badging etc. was black.

[SpeedyATL]

I'm on the fence. I like the clean look but as many have said, it's usually the lower models that are debadged. I also like the black badges as my car has the shadowline pkg. So, I'll probably just keep what I have from the factory....at least for now.

Nice idea for a poll though, I am curious how the results turn out.

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by SpeedyATL

I'm on the fence. I like the clean look but as many have said, it's usually the lower models that are debadged. I also like the black badges as my car has the shadowline pkg. So, I'll probably just keep what I have from the factory....at least for now.

Nice idea for a poll though, I am curious how the results turn out.

Since I switched to the gloss black badges last week several of my neighbors have told me that they liked the way they looked without me pointing them out. The owner of my PPF shop that installed them also loved the look.

Personally I think that they give the car a more sophisticated look, especially when viewing the car from the rear and seeing them along with the black ragtop.

[stlcdr]

Chrome is out; black is in. Black is the new…black?

[hilld]

Originally Posted by stlcdr

Chrome is out; black is in. Black is the new…black?

Good thing my car is all black.

[SparksInMI]

i actually removed the Z4 and left the m40i;

[Horseman]

I'm thinking of actually applying a matte wrap on the Z4 and M40i badge