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I debadged my 128i and, contrary to the conventional wisdom of this thread, it wasn't so that I could "pretend it was something that it wasn't." Anyone who knows anything about 1ers will instantly recognize my car as a 128i. Anyone who doesn't wouldn't know the difference between a 128i and a 135i (or a 1M for that matter!), badges or not. So exactly who am I fooling by debadging? And you do realize that "model designation deletion" is a pretty common factory option in Europe, right?
It's simply an aesthetic decision. The rear of the car is much sleeker looking without the plastic faux-chrome badge. In the case of the 1er, I found placement of the badging to be too far inboard for my taste, it just looked weird to me.
In the case of the 1M, I probably wouldn't debadge because it's just a better-looking badge - smaller, nice colors, etc. It's a pleasant-looking logo in it's own way. (Although I do like the font BMW uses on its badging of Series cars as well).
Anyway, whatever - it's not the end of the world either way. Debadging is ultimately a very small thing, but much more common than those who don't "get it" realize, I think.
There is a certain amount of elitism on these boards sometimes by owners of higher-end models towards the lower-end models. Not all (or even most) owners by any means. But there are those 135i owners who look down on the 128i every chance they get, for example. I expect some 1M owners will be even worse.
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