The market is flooded with replica accessories bearing the M-Tec logo. Sometimes it is difficult to tell which are originals and which are copies. This is especially true for M-Tec boot and grille badges.
Here at Nigel Marston Motorsport, we have a very strict policy of not selling any product which includes a BMW owned trademark that is not original. This extends to all products bearing the BMW or M-Tec logo. To sell a product with such trademarks without the permission of BMW is a criminal offence.
Probably the products most copied are M-Tec boot and grille badges. This has led to the circulation of numerous misconceptions about what is and is not original BMW. Following are a few facts ….
* The letter M on original M-Tec boot and grille badges is always chromed plastic. BMW never made this part of the badge out of metal like many people seem to think
* The M stripes are always a sticker. BMW never painted these on or made them from enamel
* BMW never made an M-Tec grille badge out of the new style curved M-Tec badge. Those 'new style' grille badges on the market are not original, although its not to say that the badge itself isn't original
As you will have noticed by now, BMW changed the style of the M-Tec logo when the E39 M5 appeared. It now has a curved surface as opposed to the flat surface of the older style badge. It then appeared on the E46 M3 and on all other M Power models since then. The old style badge faded out with the E30, E34 and Z3.
The perception seems to be that the new style badge is better quality than the older flat style and therefore some believe that because of this, the older style badge is a copy. Obviously, this isn't true.
The new style curved M-Tec badge has a few little known facts surrounding it.…..
* A BMW supplied new style M-Tec boot badge may includes a red stripe which is a darker red than normal; in fact it is almost burgundy in colour.
* The new style E46 M3 badge includes a burgundy red stripe. However, the badge is smaller than that of all the other new style M, M5 or M6 badges by about 5mm or 6mm. The M5 and M6 badges have a lighter red stripe As yet, we've not been able to examine the new E90 M3 badge so we don't know how that compares
There are some very good replicas out there. I was sent a sample of a new style M-Tec boot badge about 2 years ago. I was told it was original.
I was offered them for less than £5 each. Whilst I couldn't tell it from an original, the very low price told me that it was probably a fake. Even when bought in bulk from BMW as we do, the original badges are not cheap to buy, hence the higher selling price.
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