Why not just leave only the 5...

Photoshopped......

 

Living in Germany in the mid-80s, I actually thought people de-badged just to say "You all know I could buy and sell you! You are so beneath contempt that I'm not even going to give you the pleasure of knowing exactly what just passed you!" So it was a kind of snob appeal, not hiding the cheap version of a model, but intead spreading a thin layer of mostly insincere modesty on a hot car.

Plus I had one German explain that it had nothing to do with aesthetics or broadcasting a snobby secrecy, but was simply done to prevent rust from propagating from the inevitable punctures in the metal from mounting the badges. It sounds like the badges are glued on today, so that excuse no longer works. We are left pretty much with snobby secrecy.

I never thought much about the vandalism thing. The Germans do like their Schadenfreude....

 

When somebody knows the model designation of BMW's he will know what just passed him, because he will understand my license plate...

 

What's your plate? E60 545? Whatever it is, very good planning on your part!

 

Once I pass you, you'll know it...

OK, here it is:

 

Once I pass you, you'll know it...

OK, here it is: [/quote]
Iceman..i think it's not your car that makes "them" wanna vandalize it.. it may be your plate..hahahaha

 

I'm not sure i understand all this debadging stuff, but i figure those who know, know, and those who don't couldn't care less. I could stick "911" on the back of my 545 and my wife would think we bought a Porsche. From what I can tell badging debates occur frequently in BMW and Mercedes circles, where trim differentiation exists on top of similar platforms. Where each trim differentiation was created to appeal to a particular price point, implied functional need, or demographic, badge conciousness plays right into the marketer's hand when we begin to assign value or worth to the existence (and thus removal) of such badges. The ultimate "poser" in this sense, is the buyer who purchases a 545 on his or her 530 budget- the purchaser who's been manipulated into spending more than he or she intended. It is actually re-badging (a higher model number purchase) which is desired by the manufacturer.

Because of the similar E60 platform, I think many 545 owners look upon 525/530 buyers as not being able to afford a 545. On the contrary, I'd guess most made a concious decision to purchase their vehicle given their personal value proposition. It should be looked at the same way as my ability to have purchased a 911- i could have but chose not to. Didn't fit the budget/timing/size reqt's/whatever right now.

Serious question for you guys outside the US - do folks debadge DB7s, 355s, or 911s where you are for the clean lines? The few guys I know with CL/S 55s wouldn't dream of removing that AMG badge, no matter how easy it came off.

 

Thing of beauty. The Frankfurt plate put to the best use I've ever seen. You must know somebody in the Nummerschildzuweisungsamt.

 

No, you can chose yourself. It just needs to be available, and it was...
They even offer this service on the internet. You put the license plate in you want and if it's available you can reserve it for 30 days!
Then your dealer just shows up there with the print out and you'll get it...

 

If you guys are able to generate your own custom plates at the dealerships, then what the heck do all your prisoners do to kill time?