[Cup o' Joe]

Looking to take the rear badges off my F30: 328i on right side, xDrive from the left, and the dealership badge (1 piece glued on). They have been on for about a year.

Should I be concerned with the glue having cured, or damaging the paint below and leaving an etching. Will I need to polish the area (besides normal wash and wax)?

Anyone have experience debugging after having their car for a while?

[Dippydo]

I took mine off after about a year. There was a slight mark, but hit it with a fine polish then wax, it disappeared and cannot tell where they were. I used dental floss and a hair drier. If I was to do it all over again i would go buy some fishing line because the floss broke rather easily on the edges so had to keep getting a new piece.

[n55x3]

You should be fine debadging at this age. While I've debadged all our BMWs while they were brand new, I didn't debadge our Tahoe until about 6 years later. No paint fade, no stuck glue etc. Some elbow greese and you are good to go.

[TBLM235X]

I agree; I've done all my vehicles, a few were probably 6 months or more old, but I now do them as soon as I take delivery.

I now use a heat gun (on low setting) and fishing line (with gloves) and then 3M adhesive remover and follow-up with a quick machine polish to remove any ghosting. A hair dryer and floss will work too, just need to be careful and take your time.

It's best to go gently, with an up and down sawing motion being careful to not to pull away from the badge to avoid causing any damage (ask me how I know). After the badge comes off (or falls off), you'll be left with heavy glue residue build-up including some letter outlines. To remove, I alternate spraying the 3M adhesive remover onto a soft microfiber cloth and soak the glue residue and then heat the residue. With nitrile gloves on, I find it works best to gently rub and "roll" the glue residue with my finger and thumb once you get a corner going. This seems to be the safest way. Once all the residue is removed, clay the area with detail spray and then use a compound to remove the ghosting and follow-up with a polish and whatever protection you use (sealant, wax).

One last note, on my current 435, it's the only car I've done that I have some reservations about removing the 435 emblem. Mine is an xdrive and that badge definitely had to go and looks better without it but the trunk kind of looks almost too bare without the 435 emblem. I may end up trying to find a black 435 emblem and install it. All my other cars looked much better to me without any of the emblems, but not sure about this one yet.

[n55x3]

Originally Posted by TBLM435

It's best to go gently, with an up and down sawing motion being careful to not to pull away from the badge to avoid causing any damage (ask me how I know).

Sorry I had to laugh at this as I am in the 'know' too. Been there done that..

[M-terkait]

me three if you wanna ask :|

[Alpine435i]

Debadged my 435i the day I took it home...didn't use a single tool, piece of floss, rag or anything. I just gently pulled the letters off with my fingers. The adhesive came off perfectly clean all in one piece without a mark.

[F87_LCI]

Hair dryer...dental floss...and the most important tool...PATIENCE.

Xdrive 335i...all badges came off no problems...and most importantly...no damage.

[335i_4D]

Just did mine, no problem.

I did it by simply pulling on them, and removed excess tape.
Then used Turtle Wax Tar and Bug remover to remove the rest of the tape.

Wasn't too hard at all, and most important, no marks.

As soon as I have time to properly clean and wax it, I'll post pictures.

[Cup o' Joe]

Originally Posted by 335i_4D

Just did mine, no problem.

I did it by simply pulling on them, and removed excess tape.
Then used Turtle Wax Tar and Bug remover to remove the rest of the tape.

Wasn't too hard at all, and most important, no marks.

As soon as I have time to properly clean and wax it, I'll post pictures.

Did mine yesterday too. Hair dryer to heat it, and ran some dental floss under the badge till it fell off. Picked off the excess tape and hit it with some goo gone. Looks flawless.

[TBLM235X]

Good to hear and Congrats!

[3onDubs]

Originally Posted by Cup o' Joe

Did mine yesterday too. Hair dryer to heat it, and ran some dental floss under the badge till it fell off. Picked off the excess tape and hit it with some goo gone. Looks flawless.

Did the same over the weekend. Goo gone to the rescue.

[davey111483]

I did mine today. Looks cleaner without any of those badges except for the BMW logo.

[619beameup]

Hey everyone...new here and I just bought my first bmw 2 months ago. Even though its only a 2014 320i, I do enjoy a good looking car. :-) Out of curiosity, will debadging your car cause any bmw warranty issues?

Thx

[MUFCbmwbear]

Originally Posted by 619beameup

Hey everyone...new here and I just bought my first bmw 2 months ago. Even though its only a 2014 320i, I do enjoy a good looking car. :-) Out of curiosity, will debadging your car cause any bmw warranty issues?

Thx

No.
my dealer debadged mine per my request at delivery.
They said no problem upon return unbadged (lease)

[619beameup]

Excellent....thank you very much

[iMinLuv]

Originally Posted by LagunaSecaBlue

Hair dryer...dental floss...and the most important tool...PATIENCE.

Xdrive 335i...all badges came off no problems...and most importantly...no damage.

+1

Dental floss, your fingernail, some heat if it's really on there it's super easy. Especially the numbers