Page 1 of 1
Black badges
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2021 6:26 pm
by Ic3dg666m
Ive got a 2019 polo GTI+ and have searched everywhere for either black replacement badges for the front and rear of my car
Or for a plastic overlay to fit on top of the existing silver badges
Ideally I don’t want to paint my original ones as when I come to sell the car they may not be to everyone’s tastes
Please can you all let me know what you did to get black badges on your AW polos
Re: Black badges
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2021 7:06 pm
by Stuart_Rendall
Ic3dg666m wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 6:26 pm
Ive got a 2019 polo GTI+ and have searched everywhere for either black replacement badges for the front and rear of my car
Or for a plastic overlay to fit on top of the existing silver badges
Ideally I don’t want to paint my original ones as when I come to sell the car they may not be to everyone’s tastes
Please can you all let me know what you did to get black badges on your AW polos
For the front badge I got a black overlay for the front badge from badgeskins
https://www.badgeskins.com/store/p261/V ... eskin.html and I hear a MK7 rear badge fits the polo too.
Re: Black badges
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 3:08 am
by Teee
I wrapped my badges myself, with the front badge I did the same as Stuart and ordered it from badgskins in Canada, I had to wait about 3-4 weeks for it to arrive. I messed up my first attempt as the badge comes in 3 parts, I did the first 2 steps with no issues, the final step is where it went a bit wrong, as the sticker wouldn’t come of the transfer. I decided to apply heat with a hairdryer and it wrinkled up lol so I had to remove it and wait for another vw Silhouette sticker. The good thing is you can change the silhouettes to the new style badge or another colour once you lay down the base sticker. They sell the silhouettes separately in different colours I’ve added a couple examples below. if you’d like a different colour outer ring like the ones below you’d have to specify when placing your order.

- Red Silhouette Old style vw badge
- 97E5A41D-1865-4E66-BEBA-CEAF7450A2C3.png (3.64 MiB) Viewed 5666 times

- White Silhouette New style vw badge
- 2EAF0300-77CC-460B-93F3-04F71E2C5ACA.png (3.88 MiB) Viewed 5666 times
Here’s a link to the badgeskin overlay installation video to give you an idea of what I’m talking about.
https://youtu.be/g3na8o0-srM
With my rear badge I got some gloss black vinyl wrap & a red inlay from eBay along with a scalpel after watching this video on YouTube.
https://youtu.be/Ry8XdI5ccw4
key tip if you decide to wrap it yourself take your time and do it on a warmish day (16°C+) or in a garage, if you rush you’ll be able to tell it’s a wrap & it just won’t look good especially if the chrome shows.

- 452ED41D-6C7F-45A7-9842-C02F24951D13.jpeg (1.68 MiB) Viewed 5675 times

- Currently have a white inlay
- 26381870-9A14-4714-A562-A562DC946460.jpeg (391.2 KiB) Viewed 5675 times
Here is a link to the black vinyl wrap, a scalpel & a badge inlay if you decide to change the colour of the inlay to.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3M-Scotchpri ... 890.l49292
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Excel-K18-Li ... 890.l49292
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-GOLF-MK7- ... 890.l49292
There are other methods of doing the rear badge like using plasti dip (removable coating) or badgeskins also do an overlay sticker like the one below.
Re: Black badges
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 1:52 pm
by Andy Beats
The auto braking radar is behind the badge, isn't it?
And even a light covering of snow can give warnings about the radar being obscured.
So how does covering it with a wrap affect it and are you compromising your insurance by obscuring it?
Re: Black badges
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 2:46 pm
by SRGTD
Yes, the radar is behind the VW emblem on the grille.
I’m assuming a covering of snow over the emblem triggers a warning message on the instrumentation display to the effect that the radar is disabled. If applying a vinyl wrap to the emblem doesn’t trigger a warning, then presumably, the radar can ‘see’ through vinyl, or the vinyl is thin enough (and thinner than a light covering of snow) not to hinder the radar’s functionality, otherwise the warning message would be shown on the instrumentation display.
Some owners over on VWROC.com have applied stickers or tinted vinyl to the front grille emblems on their Golf R’s and haven’t experienced any issues.
Re: Black badges
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 3:01 pm
by Teee
I’ve not had any issues with the radar & it is a good idea to tell your insurance about any modifications made to the car after it has left the factory.
Re: Black badges
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 3:50 pm
by Stuart_Rendall
I have the black front badge from badgeskins and I have no issues with the radar and I told my insurer and they were not bothered, they said it is an irrelevant modification in terms of insurance.
Re: Black badges
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 4:44 pm
by Andy Beats
Stuart_Rendall wrote: Wed Feb 03, 2021 3:50 pm
I have the black front badge from badgeskins and I have no issues with the radar and I told my insurer and they were not bothered, they said it is an irrelevant modification in terms of insurance.
Blimey, I'd have thought a non-standard badge over the anti-collision system was a surefire problem.
Insurance companies eh?

Re: Black badges
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 6:46 pm
by Stuart_Rendall
Andy Beats wrote: Wed Feb 03, 2021 4:44 pm
Blimey, I'd have thought a non-standard badge over the anti-collision system was a surefire problem.
Insurance companies eh?
Never had an issue yet. When it snows or when going through a ford the collision system throws errors but other then that it is fine. And when calling my insurer last to declare some modifications they weren't interested in badges or stickers on the car unless it covered a large percentage of the body surface area.
Re: Black badges
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 11:24 am
by Andy Beats
Stuart_Rendall wrote: Wed Feb 03, 2021 6:46 pm
And when calling my insurer last to declare some modifications they weren't interested in badges or stickers on the car unless it covered a large percentage of the body surface area.
But did you
specifically mention you were applying a sticker over a safety sensor?
I'm not being funny, but if you were to have an accident this is exactly the sort of thing an over zealous assessor would jump on and your payout is screwed.
If you specifically mentioned it and they've given you a written OK though, no worries.
Re: Black badges
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 2:03 pm
by Stuart_Rendall
Andy Beats wrote: Thu Feb 04, 2021 11:24 am
But did you
specifically mention you were applying a sticker over a safety sensor?
I'm not being funny, but if you were to have an accident this is exactly the sort of thing an over zealous assessor would jump on and your payout is screwed.
If you specifically mentioned it and they've given you a written OK though, no worries.
I told them there was a sticker over the front badge and a replacement rear badge. They said that's okay, and it doesn't cause any issues at all with the sensor. It's already a tried and tested product as its been used on the 7.5Golfs for a while now so there won't be any issues. Besides the sensor inside works through the plastic of the badge anyway so an extremely thin vinyl won't cause an issue. We've made sensors at work for various applications and they have a spec for how much material and the type of material a sensor can operate through so the insurance company would have no argument regardless. If it was a sensor that needed light then there would be issues but the badge does not.
Re: Black badges
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 6:15 pm
by vc-10
I'd imagine that the vinyl is translucent to the radar, whilst ice isn't. The radar doesn't like heavy rainstorms either.