Rebadging cars... Is it just me?
Discussion
So on my walk to campus today (only 10 minutes or so) I saw a good few BMW 116d/i etc. that had been plastered with M badges, including a 520d that had been rebadged as an M5, despite the base spec wheels and a complete lack of tailpipes... Is it just me that gets really wound up about all this? I mean if you want an M car, buy one... I'd be embarrassed to drive a rebadged base spec!
Rant over, but is it just me who this really annoys??
Rant over, but is it just me who this really annoys??
It doesn't annoy me but it does raise concerns to me about the previous owner if I'm looking to buy a particular car that has been rebadged. A 330ci has been badged as an M3 seems to be very common and suggests the previous owner actually wanted an M3 and may have hammered the car he had to live up to the badge.
Most of the time it just makes me laugh. Replicas have always been around since the dawn of the GTI/Cosworth and they've always looked rubbish. Although a bloke once told me my 172 was a "Good sport rep bruv" and I was actually quite flattered
Most of the time it just makes me laugh. Replicas have always been around since the dawn of the GTI/Cosworth and they've always looked rubbish. Although a bloke once told me my 172 was a "Good sport rep bruv" and I was actually quite flattered
area and didn't want it molested or stolen.
seopher said:
The childish part of me thinks it'd be quite funny to mis-badge things across marques.
A C63 AMG with an M5 badge, for instance.
That can be done legitimately sometimes. Back in the 90s, I saw a MK1 Golf at a show which had a Vauxhall red top engine in it, and the badge on the boot read - Vauxwagen. Nice touch I thought!A C63 AMG with an M5 badge, for instance.
As for up badging, the manufacturers have been doing it themselves for years. M sport, S Line, R line etc etc.
SuperchargedVR6 said:
That can be done legitimately sometimes. Back in the 90s, I saw a MK1 Golf at a show which had a Vauxhall red top engine in it, and the badge on the boot read - Vauxwagen. Nice touch I thought!
As for up badging, the manufacturers have been doing it themselves for years. M sport, S Line, R line etc etc.
Agree, BMW have brought this on themselves by making M-sport a trim rather than being reserved for the M-cars.As for up badging, the manufacturers have been doing it themselves for years. M sport, S Line, R line etc etc.
Mercedes, too, with AMG being plastered on diesel C-classes purely because it has a styling pack.
I seem to remember reading in a mag at the time, that in the early 2000's there was a German chap with a Brabus modified e class which was painted in Berlin taxi beige and was badged as a diesel. He liked to hoon up the autobahn at about 190mph in it.
Apparently, Germans generally debadge the high spec cars - 330i's whereas the brits debadge 316's. Just showing my age now.
Apparently, Germans generally debadge the high spec cars - 330i's whereas the brits debadge 316's. Just showing my age now.
It annoys me too... particularly since the people these people are trying to impress (people who know about cars) are immediately going to be able to see the car is not what it is being made out to be.... So just from a pure logic point of view, it makes no sense at all...
Down-badging, I do understand, however if I was in that position, I think I'd just go for no badge at all.
I guess this is where having a dull car is a slight advantage!!!! (Mine is an A3 TDie)
Down-badging, I do understand, however if I was in that position, I think I'd just go for no badge at all.
I guess this is where having a dull car is a slight advantage!!!! (Mine is an A3 TDie)
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