This post is also a How-To Guide to Replacing BMW E46 roundels / badges.
Again, I jumped on eBay and ordered a full set of roundels;
- 82mm for the front
- 73mm for the rear
- 68mm x 4 for the wheels
The front and rear roundels were sold as genuine BMW ones, but the wheel centres were some pattern copies. They all arrived ok and are all very good quality, I was cautious not to purchase some stick on cheap badges that would look worse than my current ones after 5 minutes.
Anyway, onto fitting them. The wheel centres were easy to fit, just popped the old ones out and pushed the new ones in.
Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of the before and after whilst fitted to a wheel, but I do have one of them separate next to each other. A big improvement you must agree.
Now onto the front and rear. These were slightly more difficult to replace, due to their fitting.
Starting with the front, wedging a screw driver under there and levering would just have scratched the paintwork to crap. The gap was so tight that I decided to use a bit of thin plastic and gradually slip it behind the badge. This would give a safe surface to lever on top of, it also allowed me to pull the badge up slightly to increase the gap so a tool could be inserted under it.
I had previously bought a full set of trim pulling tools in anticipation of replacing the speakers, but they actually turned out to be really good for removing the badges. I got the largest of the tools and slid it under the badge and levered up. It was tough but eventually it popped off to reveal an unsurprisingly gunky surface.
I cleaned up the area and added a layer of wax then fitted the new badges. Pretty simple to fit as they simply pushed in, I added a blob of silicone sealant behind them so it wouldn't drop off too.
Before and After
Comparison
I used the same method with the rear too, the badge wasn't as bad as the front, but why not have a fresh one?
Comparison
