I've had my hood ornament stolen twice in the past three months. Does anyone have any ideas as to a deterrent? I've seen the ones that you can remove and take with you, but as forgetful as I seem to be I would just misplace or lose this right away. It's been suggested to me that I should just buy the badge that replaces the star altogether, but driving without that crosshair to look down just doesn’t feel right!

hone the three pointed star to a razor sharp finish....

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2002 G500 74K
1998 E300 200K and rising
1995 S600 73k


"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering
if they've made a difference. The Marines don't
have that problem."-Ronald Reagan

"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them
what to do and they will surprise you with their
ingenuity."-General George S. Patton

Mount a fake camera with a little blinking light just inside the windshield.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

I had one stolen once and the theives left blood down the front of car. The star broke in his hand.

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2009 CLS550 55,000
2004 ML350 144,000
2004 X5 95,000
2002 X5 165,000
1996 320S 155,000 (sold)
1991 190E 192,000 (sold)
1989 300SE 160,00 (sold)
1984 300D 210,000 owned since 85, (sold)
1984 300SD 160,000 (sold)

Just buy a new one and move on, they are only like $28.

If it really bothers you Adsitco sells magnetic ones that you can remove when you leave the car in a bad area.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

This is what you need.

Trunk Monkey 4
Theft retrieval system.

http://www.trunkmonkeyad.com/

http://www.trunkmonkeyad.com/4wmv.htm

Get a garage? Get a shotgun? Get a mean dog?

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

Way back in the old days, you could buy a spring mount for your Cadillac that was wired into the horn circuit. Grab the hood ornament and the horns would sound.

Since I'm a cheap bastid, I took a microswitch and wired mine into the alarm on my old Caddy. I've not looked into mounting options on the Benz, but I'm sure I could figure something similar out.

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1989 300 SEL that mostly works, but needs TLC

Somewhere in the dark recesses of what's left of my memory...
An article or story [urbanic legend?] of wiring the star to a "Step-Up" hooked to
the battery ,with a grounding strap under the chassis.

3000 volts @ 1/20th Amp . Scary shock value only.

Booby trapping a hood ornament . . . that's about as funny as the look that's going to be on your face when the plaintiff's attorney, representing the injured person who is suing for damages, is telling the jurors that you're the owner a Mercedes-Benz and wanted to protect your car's $30 hood ornament . . .

I am not an electronics guy...but there a couple of fun ways to wire up safely.

1.) touch circuit...when anyone touches the star...your horn goes off. Problem is if they use a cloth or gloves...no human touch...no horn.

2.) magnetic switch...like door and window alarm switches...one on the bottom of the star..and one static mounted on the outer star frame attachment. This means that if your star is moved at all...by a car cover, car wash..whatever...it will sound off.

3.) break away wire...attached anywhere on the bottom of the star...and serves as a switching ground..when the star is pulled...the wire comes unplugged...horn goes off...of course this means the star is in their hands...but you get horn action before they are gone.

If this was happening to me...the first time...yeah..just replace it...the second time...now I think it may happen again. I like choice number 2...an alarm circuit should scare the baddies away. Between money, and your time..it will cost about 3 stars

just thought of something else...you can attach a cable to the star (the spring maybe) rather cheaply, and loop it somewhere under the star to the hood. They might be able to get it part way up...but that would be it. They would have to ruin the star to get it off.

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1990 300TE....all comments are about this car...in case I forget in the actual post

Boy I could see that! Then he uses the star attached to a wire to engrave obscenities in your hood!

Hold back the sharpened idea. One guy did that and found a brick throgh his window. However, the horn concept seems pretty simple.

Hey Verdell...the idea was that the star would not come off at all...not that the culprit now has a star on some long leash...you gave me a nice visual though.

It is interesting...I was thinking about this subject (returning criminals)...and I am not sure if maybe you should just do nothing anti theft wise. If someone is ballzy enough to take the time to steal your star...if you piss them off in the process, they may come back and do some real damage...either then or later. The Star is about the cheapest item anywhere on the outside of the car...a pissed off star stealer may give your hood a solid thump for his trouble...gouge it...break a window...please, a long list of things.

You should park somewhere else

or that removable type sounds promising. I think you will remember to take it with you. We all love our star.

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1990 300TE....all comments are about this car...in case I forget in the actual post

how about this fix??
remove the star altogether!! then it can't be stolen if you sell it or something, problem solved, get rid of the star, no one can steal it!! brilliant!! (just kidding, mine was stolen before it was mine )

i really like the horn and micro switch idea, I've got tons of old switches from computers so maybe I'll rig it up when i get a star (gotta buy one soon, know where they're cheap??)

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1982 300D (w123, "Grey Car")
1982 300D (w123, "Blue Car")
2001 Ford F150 "Clifford" (The Big Red Truck)
1997 Dodge Ram 2500 12V Cummins
1996 Dodge Ram 2500 12V Cummins
Previous Vehicles:
1995 E300D, 1980 300SD, 1992 Buick Century, 2005 Saturn Ion