Seven Ways People Get Badge Overlays Wrong
Nobody sets out to get this wrong. They get it wrong at the measuring stage, in a car park, with a tape measure meant for skirting board, and then find out when the envelope arrives. Here are the seven that come up most, and the fix for each one, before anything gets peeled.
Compatible with BMW — Not Genuine BMW Parts.
1. Measuring the badge instead of the quadrant
This is the big one, and it is the reason most wrong orders happen. The overlay is not cut to the size of your roundel. It is cut to one quarter of it — measured from the badge centre outward to the edge of the coloured field, excluding the silver divider lines. It is a radius, not a diameter.
You will see 82mm and 74mm quoted around the internet. Those are outer roundel diameters. They are context, nothing more. Order against them and the pieces arrive far too big, which is a difficult thing to explain to anyone watching.
Put a rigid rule on one blue or white quarter. Centre to the edge of the colour. That number is the number.
| Where on the car | V1 quadrant | V2 quadrant |
|---|---|---|
| Bonnet | 23mm (size 2: 20mm) | 22.5mm |
| Boot | 23mm (size 2: 18mm) | 20.5mm |
| Wheel centres | 19mm | 16mm |
| Steering wheel | 11–12mm | 12mm |
Full working, with the chassis tables, on the Fitment Guide. If you would rather be walked through it, the Size Scout does the same job in fewer steps.
2. Letting the year on the V5C decide V1 or V2
Somewhere online, someone decided that 2017 is the dividing line. It is not. The chassis code decides, not the year. Seventeen V1 chassis are still being built well past 2017. An X2 F39 that rolled out in 2023 takes V1. A G30 launched in 2016 and a G11 launched in 2015 both take V2.
| Your chassis code | Version | The bit that catches people |
|---|---|---|
| E46, E90, E92 | V1 | Straightforward |
| F20, F30, F31, F10, F11 | V1 | Plenty were built after 2017 and are still V1 |
| F39 (X2) | V1 | A 2023 build year changes nothing |
| F40 (1 Series) | V2 | The one F-code that takes V2 |
| Any G-code | V2 | Including the 2015 and 2016 launches |
| Any U-code | V2 | Straightforward |
Your chassis code is on the V5C. Once you have it, the whole V1 range or the whole V2 range opens up and the guessing stops.
3. Assuming the badge on the car is the badge that left the factory
Second owner. Third owner. A front-end repair in 2019 nobody mentioned at the sale. A respray where the badge came off and something cheaper went back on. Any of those change your quadrant, and the standard sizes will not fit a badge that was never standard.
Measure your own car rather than trusting a chassis chart, and if you already know the badge has been off, add the Fitment Promise to the order. It is not insurance and it is not cover of any kind — it is a re-cut. Send a photo and your quadrant measurement, and a custom-sized set gets cut to your dimensions.
4. Buying one size for the whole car
The bonnet, the boot, the four wheel centres and the steering wheel are four different measurements. On V1 the boot can be 23mm or 18mm depending on which badge your car carries. People measure the bonnet, decide that is the answer, and then discover the steering wheel is roughly half that.
Measure each location separately. It is four numbers with a steel rule, and it saves an entire exchange. The kits are cut to order, so a non-standard set is a different cut file — but you have to tell us the numbers first.
5. Ordering a tint when you wanted an overlay
These are two different products and the difference is not cosmetic.
- Badge overlay — quadrant pieces. Four quarter-cuts per badge, covering the coloured quarters and leaving the silver divider lines showing.
- Badge tint — covers the full face of the roundel, divider lines and all, in one piece. Three finishes: Light Smoke, Dark Smoke and gloss black. Uniform, no quarters.
If the picture in your head still has visible silver lines, you want an overlay such as Black & Dark Grey Matte V1. If the picture is one flat darkened disc, you want Dark Smoke 9-Piece or the lighter Light Smoke 9-Piece. If you only want the bonnet and boot, the Black Gloss 2-Piece covers it. There is a longer comparison on overlay vs replacement vs gel.
6. Ordering Full when the look in your head was Half
Full means all four quadrants in one colour. Half means two quadrants changed and two left as they are. They photograph very differently, and the words on their own do not help anyone who has not seen both.
| What I want it to look like | What that is called | Start here |
|---|---|---|
| All four quarters, one colour, nothing left of the original | Full | Full Black Gloss V1 or Full Black Gloss V2 |
| Two quarters changed, two left alone | Half | Half Black Gloss V1 or Half Black Gloss V2 |
| Two colours, split across the quarters | Two-tone | Black & White Gloss V1 |
| Weave texture rather than a flat colour | Carbon | Full Black Carbon V1 or Full Black Carbon V2 |
| Something that reads from across a car park | Contrast | Black & Red Carbon V1 or Black & Red Carbon V2 |
| Mirror finish rather than paint finish | Chrome | Chrome Silver Mirror V1 |
| Badge and tint together, one delivery | Bundle | Identity Kit |
Sixty-plus colours and finishes across 107 published products, and the Colour Finder narrows it faster than scrolling will.
7. Opening the envelope and going straight at it
The printed instructions are in the envelope for a reason, and the video walkthrough is on the Installation page. Two things people skip:
- The badge is dirtier than it looks. A roundel that has spent years two feet above a wet motorway collects a film you cannot see until you wipe it. Clean it, dry it properly, then start.
- A drizzly driveway is not a workspace. Wheel centres come off the car and onto a kitchen table. The steering wheel piece is the smallest in the kit and does not forgive a rushed hand.
These are overlays. They sit on top of the badge rather than replacing it, and they are designed to be removed cleanly if you change your mind. Step-by-step notes live on Install Guides and Fitting Instructions.
Once the badges are done
Most people come back for the parts they did not think about first. Key Wrap in a colour matched to the badges. Red Reflective V-Brace Overlay for the engine bay. White Reflective Pin Stripes at 0.5cm for something that only shows under headlights. And for the bike, Black & Red Carbon for the S1000R and S1200R.
Before you order
- Kits are cut to order. Dispatch is 1–3 working days.
- UK Royal Mail 1st Class delivery is free, with no minimum spend. Full options on the Shipping page.
- Premium 3M cast vinyl. UK-made kits, precision-cut in Birmingham.
- 53,000+ sold, 10,565 eBay feedbacks, 4.3 stars across 568 Amazon ratings, trading since 17 May 2011.
- Discount code LAUNCH8 takes 8% off, for the first 280 orders.
Measure the quadrant. Check the chassis code. Then pick the finish — Full White Gloss V1 and Full Black Carbon V1 are the two opposite ends of it, and the rest of the range is in the BMW Badge collection.
Compatible with BMW — Not Genuine BMW Parts.