Bought an old BMW M3, filled with regret...

mrk said:
I have wondered that too, is bikes don't need front plates then cars should not either.
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Public safety. They used to be mounted inline on the front mudguard and were mostly made of pressed metal. They were nicknamed "pedestrian cutters/slicers" (like pizza cutter/slicers). In the 70s they were declared "no longer required".

MtIMydI.jpg

It would be possible to mount front plates on bikes across the forks. But then you'd have the mounting bracket and all it's associated protrusions now sticking out of the front of the bike as well, which would be no different to the pedestrian cutter only now it's a stabber.
 
I will save that battle for another day haha!

OhEsEcks said:
Public safety. They used to be mounted inline on the front mudguard and were mostly made of pressed metal. They were nicknamed "pedestrian cutters/slicers" (like pizza cutter/slicers). In the 70s they were declared "no longer required".

MtIMydI.jpg

It would be possible to mount front plates on bikes across the forks. But then you'd have the mounting bracket and all it's associated protrusions now sticking out of the front of the bike as well, which would be no different to the pedestrian cutter only now it's a stabber.
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That's gonad height! Can you imagine a biker with that crashing into you and slicing your bits in two? :eek:
 
mrk said:
That's gonad height! Can you imagine a biker with that crashing into you and slicing your bits in two? :eek:
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They'd slice anything they hit in two. At least with a car, even with the old pressed metal plates, it's only around shin height and doesn't act like a bladed edge. You're more at risk from hood ornaments acting like a bayonet on old cars (which is why modern ones fold away).
 
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Hood ornament pedestrian injuries are far from common though right? I mean, only a Rolls has one off the top of my head and how many of those crash into people per year :p

M3 wise though I'm all done and dusted with everything now. Apart from enabling M-Track mode soon I have nothing else I really want to do. Oh and Furniture Clinic's services to buff out the minor seat bolster wear previously mentioned.

Perhaps in years to come I will have a full respray done (should be cheaper since no roof to spray!), just so the paint on all panels are like new and devoid of small stone chips that currently are on the front bumper and front facing areas of the driver's wing. I'll let more accumulate :p
 
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mrk said:
Hood ornament pedestrian injuries are far from common though right? I mean, only a Rolls has one off the top of my head and how many of those crash into people per year :p
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They'd have always been more common just because of the ratio of cars to bikes on the road, even when the pedestrian cutters where still mandatory.

Many British (actually most automobile) marques had protruding hood ornaments. Off the top of my head for the UK alone there was; Rolls, Jag, Bentley, Austin, Rover, Humber, MG, Vauxhall and Hillman. I'm not sure if it was simply a case of hood ornaments going out of style that saw them drop off around the 60s / 70s (same time as pedestrian cutter plates), but the only ones still using them into the 90s was prestige marques. Then along came improved pedestrian protection standards and they were done (unless you could engineer it to fold away as Rolls do).
 
mrk said:
Hood ornament pedestrian injuries are far from common though right? I mean, only a Rolls has one off the top of my head and how many of those crash into people per year :p

M3 wise though I'm all done and dusted with everything now. Apart from enabling M-Track mode soon I have nothing else I really want to do. Oh and Furniture Clinic's services to buff out the minor seat bolster wear previously mentioned.

Perhaps in years to come I will have a full respray done (should be cheaper since no roof to spray!), just so the paint on all panels are like new and devoid of small stone chips that currently are on the front bumper and front facing areas of the driver's wing. I'll let more accumulate :p
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But...what about that dodgy wonky rear numberplate... :/
 
I will sort that when I'm next in The Range and pick up another roll of sticky pad :p

Until then I'm quite confident nobody else will be able to tell!

OhEsEcks said:
They'd have always been more common just because of the ratio of cars to bikes on the road, even when the pedestrian cutters where still mandatory.

Many British (actually most automobile) marques had protruding hood ornaments. Off the top of my head for the UK alone there was; Rolls, Jag, Bentley, Austin, Rover, Humber, MG, Vauxhall and Hillman. I'm not sure if it was simply a case of hood ornaments going out of style that saw them drop off around the 60s / 70s (same time as pedestrian cutter plates), but the only ones still using them into the 90s was prestige marques. Then along came improved pedestrian protection standards and they were done (unless you could engineer it to fold away as Rolls do).
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Oh that's quite a few then that used to have them.I'm glad Merc ditched them tbh, the bonnet badge looks much nicer and in-line with modern times.
 
[TW]Fox;27654521 said:
Merc didn't ditch them :confused:
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Oh flicking through the entire model range on Merc's website it seems only the S class Saloon has one. The S Coupe does not and neither does any other model.
 
Saw a facelift E Class saloon with one on today. Have to say though the ornament looks a bit silly on the facelift as you get two of the stars right on top of each other, looked fantastic on the pre-facelift though.
 
mrk said:
Oh flicking through the entire model range on Merc's website it seems only the S class Saloon has one. The S Coupe does not and neither does any other model.
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The Sport models and Sport trim level's don't - they get the big centre grille badge instead, but the luxury ones have the star, including C Class and E Class. It might just be that as everyone in the UK C Class market is obsessed with white sport models with AMG badges everywhere they've not chosen to bring the proper luxury model to the UK, but it exists elsewhere and has the proper three pointed star.
 
Gaygle said:
Yup, but you still have to throw yourself at the merci of BMWs warranty process.

"Sorry sir, I noticed your service was 5miles overdue in 2006, and we believe this may have contributed to the rust. Also, the places in which there are rust are not classed as bodywork, they are "body panels" and it is for this reason we cannot help you" :p

Ill eat my words if they come through for me, but something tells me there will be some reason as to why they can't help me.
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So i got a response from BMW regarding the rust they previously weren't going to cover.

Previously they had agreed to do the entire driver side of the car and that's it, rejecting the rear passenger wheel arch (due to previous paint), front passenger wheel arch and the sill where it meets the front wheel arch liner.

They've now changed their mind about the passenger front wing, but still are adamant they will not cover the 1cm of rust where the sill meets the wheel arch liner, insisting it must have been done by a stone chip. :rolleyes:

Now, I know exactly why they're rejecting the sill - because they'd have to paint the entire panel including the part that had previously been painted on the rear wheel arch.

However, the dealer can take care of the rear wheel arch, sill and wing mirror mount for a mere £800. I told them no thanks to that, but am a bit annoyed that all of the vertical panels on the car will be sprayed apart from one, but £800 is just far too much.
 
Yeh I'm hoping. That was the also the heavily discounted rate because the car was already going to be stripped down :o

Think BMW are paying over £3000 for the work, which I bet is painful for them on an 11 year old car!
 
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