My Cure for Badge Anxiety

[PHK]

I've been told that the "500E" badge (pre-facelift) is NLA. That means that anyone with a little dental floss can claim one as a souvenir. And, in a sense, the badge is harder to replace than the car.

This is my cure. A llittle SpaceTape on the back of the badge secures if from sliding around. I like (i) the security it provides and (ii) the 'clean tail' anonymity that results.

 

[TimL]

@PHK is your car pearl gray?

 

[PHK]

@PHK is your car pearl gray?

Yes, it is.

 

[TimL]

Yes, it is.

Beautiful! Love that color on the 036!

 

[PHK]

Interesting, I hope, anecdote about the color: when I bought mine, all cars on the showroom floor were this same colour, whether a C-, E-, or S-Class model. Furthermore, other 500Es in London dealers all seemed to be the same. And car magazines at the time were reviewing the same M-B press car which was in Pearl Grey which led me to think that would be the signature colour for 500Es. I see now that, in fact, it is a minority colour especially in North America. It may have been a new colour for M-B at the time; I would have to defer to more expert M-B historians. And, at the time, there were only 14 colour options for the 500E compared to the 39 of the Forum data base.

The reason seems to be ‘marketing’ as a result of UK licensing rules at the time. Then, all car 'license plates’, or 'registration numbers' as they are called in the UK, began with an alphabet letter for each car-selling year. For example, my car was what was called a 'J-Reg' car, meaning that it was first licensed for the road between August 1, 1991, and July 31, 1992. Thus, a car licensed on July 31 was slightly less valuable than a car licensed on August 1 on the used-car market. Therefore, few new cars were sold in June and July until August 1 when sales boomed. Totally artificial. Possibly, M-B was trying to make a statement on the new selling season.

Consequentially, I first saw the car in the showroom some time in the middle of July but no serious negotiations took place until after August 1.

 

[Surf Blau]

Here’s another solution

 

[PHK]

Here’s another solution

View attachment 238198

And where is the true badge?

 

[Surf Blau]

And where is the true badge?

In a box on a shelf in my workshop. The 200D-badge is magnetic, which I plan to do with the 500E-badge as well, for use in safe places.

 

[TimL]

Interesting, I hope, anecdote about the color: when I bought mine, all cars on the showroom floor were this same colour, whether a C-, E-, or S-Class model. Furthermore, other 500Es in London dealers all seemed to be the same. And car magazines at the time were reviewing the same M-B press car which was in Pearl Grey which led me to think that would be the signature colour for 500Es. I see now that, in fact, it is a minority colour especially in North America. It may have been a new colour for M-B at the time; I would have to defer to more expert M-B historians. And, at the time, there were only 14 colour options for the 500E compared to the 39 of the Forum data base.

The reason seems to be ‘marketing’ as a result of UK licensing rules at the time. Then, all car 'license plates’, or 'registration numbers' as they are called in the UK, began with an alphabet letter for each car-selling year. For example, my car was what was called a 'J-Reg' car, meaning that it was first licensed for the road between August 1, 1991, and July 31, 1992. Thus, a car licensed on July 31 was slightly less valuable than a car licensed on August 1 on the used-car market. Therefore, few new cars were sold in June and July until August 1 when sales boomed. Totally artificial. Possibly, M-B was trying to make a statement on the new selling season.

Consequentially, I first saw the car in the showroom some time in the middle of July but no serious negotiations took place until after August 1.

Wow, so you purchased the car new? Very cool to see such a long time ownership!

Would be great to see you start an owners thread with some more photos of your car.

 

[Lowman]

I've been told that the "500E" badge (pre-facelift) is NLA. That means that anyone with a little dental floss can claim one as a souvenir. And, in a sense, the badge is harder to replace than the car.

This is my cure. A llittle SpaceTape on the back of the badge secures if from sliding around. I like (i) the security it provides and (ii) the 'clean tail' anonymity that results.

View attachment 238081

The genuine badge is NLA yes,but there have been a resurgence in aftermarket refabrication ones, which are in preeeeetttyyy accurate quality,fit and fit.
Obviously a genuine will always be genuine,but it really is not a huge concern these days.
Lovely color on your 500e
Greetings from Norway BTW:Here are my two silverstars 91 500e ,and 97 e50 Amg.You are welcome to check out my thread in the owners section

 

[PHK]

Wow, so you purchased the car new? Very cool to see such a long time ownership!

Would be great to see you start an owners thread with some more photos of your car.

Thanks for your interest and enthusiasm, TimL.

At the time, I had a 300E which was just great for getting around the UK but not so great for driving in Europe, where high-speed driving was much more possible than it is today. The 300E struggled to get into the 140s on the French autoroutes and German autobahns. Not good. And, besides, my wife wanted the 300E for her exclusive use so I had to get another car. I originally thought I might keep it for just a year or so until something better for my use came along. It never did. The 500E is truly in its element over 100 MPH; after all, it doesn't even do a full-throttle shift into fourth until 104 MPH. That's what I wanted. There's nothing quite like setting the cruise control for 120...

I bought the car for its functionality rather than as an object of beauty although its looks have stood up pretty well, IMHO. And there were plenty of excellent pictures around of some of the other 10K 500Es made so I never took many photos of it. A few years ago, a journo wanted to write a magazine article about the car but the publishers nixed it because I couldn't provide the photos they wanted. In these days when everyone carries a camera, Odd Bods take pictures of the car on the street that sometimes find their way onto the internet but I have no control over that. Anyway, I did take a few below over the years more because of the setting than the car: one from the 1990s in the Swiss Alps, one from the 2000s in London when a neighbour's E500 (I think) and mine were coincidentally parked in the same parking bay, and one from the 2010s in Dessau, Germany.

 

[PHK]

The genuine badge is NLA yes,but there have been a resurgence in aftermarket refabrication ones, which are in preeeeetttyyy accurate quality,fit and fit.
Obviously a genuine will always be genuine,but it really is not a huge concern these days.
Lovely color on your 500e
Greetings from Norway BTW:Here are my two silverstars 91 500e ,and 97 e50 Amg.You are welcome to check out my thread in the owners section

Thanks, Lowman. Your cars seem to be Brilliant Silver which was not yet available when I bought my car. Anyway, my car was already painted. However, I subsequently had 3 S-Classes that were all specced in Brilliant Silver.

When I 'debadged', I could not find any aftermarket duplicates. I'm happy the way it is now.

 

[TerryA]

@PHK,
Don’t “Need no Stinking Badges”! I’ve owned my 93 500E since October 2004. It was already de-badged. I like it that way but I do have one of the reproduction badges that were made and sold here on the forum.