Why no badging?

[johnm51 0]

I have a couple of Q's.

Firstly I am looking at E46 2001/03 and notice that some have no badge on the back denoting engine size or M if motorsport. Did they come out like this or is it panel damage and the badge was not put back on?

Some M/sport do not have an the usual M/sport steering wheel but is divided in two. Is this an M/sport wheel?

Off the subject,

I find it annoying with some Tme dealers how they have a big spiel about themselves how trustworthy they are how long they have been in business how all their cars are hand picked.

B****r all about the car and 4 pics all of the exterior

Well that's my moan look forward to your answers

Edited July 22, 2010 by johnm51

[pureboiracer 0]

have noticed a few cars without badges like that. not 100% sure why though.

and if it does not have M or Motorsport badges on the s.wheel, sill plates, rear boot, grille, seats, then i doubt its a motorsport, more like a bmw with a couple of motorsport extras.

a genuine m.sport usually costs a fair amount more though.

take that with a pinch of salt. i could be wrong.

[bmpower 3]

'De-badging' was an option when the vehicle was new. The main motorsport options were bodykit, suspension, sports seats, black headlining, alloys, steering wheel, interior trim, sill plates, lip spoiler.

I sell cars for a living and think it is very important how long a business has been around for - if they have been around for a long time they must be doing something right. If you've been in business for 5mins who knows how much longer you will continue? There is alot of trust involved. However we at least take a picture of the interior....! The company I work for has been in business not far off 40years and sells more than 200 cars a month.

On the subject of hand-picking cars - this is true in our case. Most of our used vehicles come from trade-ins. We keep the quality stuff and wholesale the s**t. We rarely buy cars in as we are pretty self-sufficient but when we do we make sure we pick what we want.

My 2c from the other side of the coin...

Edited July 22, 2010 by bmpower

[johnm51 0]

'De-badging' was an option when the vehicle was new. The main motorsport options were bodykit, suspension, sports seats, black headlining, alloys, steering wheel, interior trim, sill plates, lip spoiler.

I sell cars for a living and think it is very important how long a business has been around for - if they have been around for a long time they must be doing something right. If you've been in business for 5mins who knows how much longer you will continue? There is alot of trust involved. However we at least take a picture of the interior....! The company I work for has been in business not far off 40years and sells more than 200 cars a month.

On the subject of hand-picking cars - this is true in our case. Most of our used vehicles come from trade-ins. We keep the quality stuff and wholesale the s**t. We rarely buy cars in as we are pretty self-sufficient but when we do we make sure we pick what we want.

My 2c from the other side of the coin...

Fair enough.

But you have to admit like I said "some" do go on more about themselves and not enough about the car. After all you went there looking for a car.

Wouldn't all cars be hand picked or can you buy in bulk?

[bmpower 3]

True - and i would agree to a point. However sometimes buying a car has nothing to do with the car itself. People buy cars for all types of reasons. People will buy from somewhere and someone they like - not just because of the vehicle.

I've sold $60,000+ vehicles over the phone and internet without test driving. I've lost count how many cars i've sold without a test drive full stop.

Bear in mind also, and this applies more to new cars than used, we get shopped all the time - there is nothing stopping people buying from another dealer out of their area, sometimes business details can win this. As an example, recently i sold one company 3 vehicles and another company 5 vehicles - the only reason they bought them from my workplace was because of me and the company. Both 'shopped' us to other dealers out of the area and had better deals than us, but in the end bought from us.

Vehicles come from all sorts of avenues, trade-ins, auctions, dealer-only auctions, wholesalers, other dealers, manufacturers, importers etc sometimes in single units and other times bulk bought.

PS: We have a few e46's on our yard - if interested PM me and i'll give you the links.

Edited July 22, 2010 by bmpower

[RvT 9]

Debadging , from what I see, is more common on lower cc cars where the owner wants to have a new BMW but doesn't want 316 or 318 badged on the back so their friends will think they have a larger cc car than they really have.

In Singapore, the road tax is on an tiered system where the larger the cc, the higher the cost of a years rego. Not sure if it has changed since a few years ago but a $80k new BMW would cost an additional $80k for a 7 year licence (total $160k to get it on the road !!!). It was SQ's way of limiting the number of cars on the road and it worked. After 7 years, they would sell off the cars as the cost to buy another licence was too expensive.

Anyway, it was very common to see 5 series BMWs on the road there, debadged to save embarrassment as they usually had a 518 or a 520 motor in them. If you had a large 535 or a 540, you wouldn't debadge it as a rule as you want to show off.

[antil33t 90]

I guess it works that way too,

I reckon if I was buying a Brand New BMW, I'd probably tick that option myself. I think the back looks cleaner with just a roundel, and no badging.

[kiwi535 538]

Debadging , from what I see, is more common on lower cc cars where the owner wants to have a new BMW but doesn't want 316 or 318 badged on the back so their friends will think they have a larger cc car than they really have.

In Singapore, the road tax is on an tiered system where the larger the cc, the higher the cost of a years rego. Not sure if it has changed since a few years ago but a $80k new BMW would cost an additional $80k for a 7 year licence (total $160k to get it on the road !!!). It was SQ's way of limiting the number of cars on the road and it worked. After 7 years, they would sell off the cars as the cost to buy another licence was too expensive.

Anyway, it was very common to see 5 series BMWs on the road there, debadged to save embarrassment as they usually had a 518 or a 520 motor in them. If you had a large 535 or a 540, you wouldn't debadge it as a rule as you want to show off.

my 535 came debadged

option 320 MODEL DESIGNATION, DELETION

then the dealers stuck M badges on,I think all the 535 "is" were like this,I think a deliberate by BMW to mimic e34 m5 s because they knew very few would be sold(M5 i mean)

[ssbmw 186]

my 535 came debadged

option 320 MODEL DESIGNATION, DELETION

then the dealers stuck M badges on,I think all the 535 "is" were like this,I think a deliberate by BMW to mimic e34 m5 s because they knew very few would be sold(M5 i mean)

Hi Paul,

I agree with you - I think nearly all the 535is's I have seen just had the m badge or were de-badged.

Another place that debading is rampant is believe it or not, Germany. Having lived there for a little while, I was astonished how many M cars I saw that were de-badged. Perceived by some apparently to be way cooler not to be flaunting a badge. Especially as they belt past you on the the autobahn at 255 km/h! Total stealth!

[Tristan 338]

some have no badge on the back denoting engine size or M if motorsport.

Refer to How to spot a genuine motorsport

[hybrid 1039]

Debadging was a 318i and 320i thing the japs usually did to hide the power model engine. It kind of caught on as a thing to do when youre modding.

Personally cant really see the point but yeah, its a personal pref thing I guess.

[johnm51 0]

Debadging was a 318i and 320i thing the japs usually did to hide the power model engine. It kind of caught on as a thing to do when youre modding.

Personally cant really see the point but yeah, its a personal pref thing I guess.

OK

How do you know with an E46 if you are buying a 2001/ 2002/ 2003? From what I gather they have a different line under the lights, in 2001 according to my research was updated in I presume late 2001. So why are some listed as 2002 when it clearly have a 2001 front.

I have put a hyperlink in but not sure if I have done it right.

You will see that this car is listed as a 2003 yet in pic 17 pre-delivery says 2002 and it has a 2001 front?

Am I missing something here???

[url="http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Cars/BMW/auction-272314002.htm"]

And there are others.

Edited July 25, 2010 by johnm51

[bmpower 3]

OK

How do you know with an E46 if you are buying a 2001/ 2002/ 2003? From what I gather they have a different line under the lights, in 2001 according to my research was updated in I presume late 2001. So why are some listed as 2002 when it clearly have a 2001 front.

I have put a hyperlink in but not sure if I have done it right.

You will see that this car is listed as a 2003 yet in pic 17 pre-delivery says 2002 and it has a 2001 front?

Am I missing something here???

[url="http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Cars/BMW/auction-272314002.htm"]

And there are others.

Cars can get a PD whenever. We do ours when the vehicles arrive at our dealership. The year of the car is determined by when it was first registered. For example if a 2001 build/model isn't registered until 2002 - it becomes a 2002 vehicle. Works the same if we get - say 2011 model and register it in 2010 - it is still a 2010 vehicle. fl and prefl vehicles always cross-over years because all prefl vehicle don't necessarily get sold before the new fl ones start getting registered.

[bmpower 3]

Pre-facelift and Facelidt have different headlights, grill, side indicators, rear lights, bodykit etc to name a few. Easyist was to pick them is the headlights, prefl light hook down on the corner, fl hook up at the corner.

[johnm51 0]

Cars can get a PD whenever. We do ours when the vehicles arrive at our dealership. The year of the car is determined by when it was first registered. For example if a 2001 build/model isn't registered until 2002 - it becomes a 2002 vehicle. Works the same if we get - say 2011 model and register it in 2010 - it is still a 2010 vehicle. fl and prefl vehicles always cross-over years because all prefl vehicle don't necessarily get sold before the new fl ones start getting registered.

Yes I can see 2001 being registered in 2002 but 2003? Did the the link work?

Are you with BF in the Hutt?

[bmpower 3]

Who says it was built in 2001? I've seen alot of prefl cars registered as late as 2004, and fl as early as 2002. Remember havin the import vehicles doesn't help, sometimes Japan etc get models earlier than we do - for example they could get a fl vehicle in 2005, and nz may not get the fl till 2007 - however if that 2005 jap vehicle gets imported into nz say in 2009, it is still a 2005 model - whereas the equivilent nz new vehicle would be 2007 or newer. Yes i am with them.

[johnm51 0]

Who says it was built in 2001? I've seen alot of prefl cars registered as late as 2004, and fl as early as 2002. Remember havin the import vehicles doesn't help, sometimes Japan etc get models earlier than we do - for example they could get a fl vehicle in 2005, and nz may not get the fl till 2007 - however if that 2005 jap vehicle gets imported into nz say in 2009, it is still a 2005 model - whereas the equivilent nz new vehicle would be 2007 or newer. Yes i am with them.

It pays to ask questions

Thanks for the information. I thought it was 2001 model not 2003 as it is NZ new. But hey shows you how little I know, perhaps I should stick to Holdens.

Cheers John

[bmpower 3]

In NZ that car is still considered to be a 2003 model, regardless of when it was built or whether it is prefl or fl. Also you sometimes get special edition cars sometimes which also throws a spanner in the works! However look at the models like you would with Holdens, with their model designations: VXI, VXII, VY, VYII, VZ, VE etc. BMW as E36Prefl, E36Fl, E46 Prefl, E46FL, E90 etc. If you wanted to know when the vehicle was built get the last 7 digits of the chassis number and put it into www.realoem.com and it will give you the month and year of build.