BMW roundels: a cautionary tale

rubinho · Post by **rubinho** » Mon Jul 24, 2017 10:40 am

Since I bought my B5 the bonnet roundel has been flaking to the point where there was almost no white paint on it. It was also terribly chipped and water damaged:

I bought a new one from Amazon which at first glance at the product page looked genuine but on arrival it was clear it was not. Made of cheap plastic in an even cheaper plastic bag but it looked reasonable so I thought I'd try it anyway. Off comes the old one and then I realise the pins are too narrow to hold tight in the rubber grommets. Not wanting to have a car without a badge I got my hot melt glue gun out and put a large dollop on the back of the roundel and fitted it:

Friday rolls around and I have to go to Cambridge for the weekend so off I drive. I drive past this lovely B10 on the M25. So far so good until I get a bit of free air on the A505. Halfway to Royston I see a silver flash as something flies up from the bonnet. "I knew that s**t badge was never going to stay put!" I thought to myself. Lo-and-behold when I got to Cambridge there was an empty space and a big dollop of dry hot melt glue on the bonnet.

In the end I pop up to Baron's BMW in Cambourne and drop Â£40 on a genuine BMW part which fits perfectly:

Much better! Moral of this story: only fit genuine BMW or Alpina parts to your treasured car!

Norrie · Post by **Norrie** » Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:43 pm

Got genuine ones from Vines for 25 pounds with bmwccgb membership card

flyboyben · Post by **flyboyben** » Mon Jul 24, 2017 1:25 pm

"if you buy cheap, you buy twice!"

Ashok · Post by **Ashok** » Mon Jul 24, 2017 4:35 pm

if you pay peanuts you get monkeys

Avtar · Post by **Avtar** » Fri Aug 11, 2017 4:13 pm

Based on this discussion wen t straight to BMW for the replacement one on my 330

ali · Post by **ali** » Thu Aug 17, 2017 10:58 pm

I got a genuine one from the local scrappy in mint condition for Â£3.50
It can pay to shop around but there is dealer convenience

rubinho · Post by **rubinho** » Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:35 am

I agree ali. I hate paying full price and I do like to shop around. In this circumstance I was meeting my cousins and uncle who are all extremely particular about their cars. It would never do to turn up with a damaged or a missing badge so I did need one in a hurry!

Chas · Post by **Chas** » Mon Sep 04, 2017 8:05 pm

My genuine BMW roundel flew off at 175mph on the autobahn whilst heading to Buchloe. I guess they are only rated to 155mph

Burnham · Post by **Burnham** » Mon Sep 04, 2017 10:19 pm

Chas wrote:My genuine BMW roundel flew off at 175mph on the autobahn whilst heading to Buchloe. I guess they are only rated to 155mph

That probably counts as a win.