Have you ever had your hood star ripped off? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

BJ300SDL · #1 11-25-2002, 05:45 PM

This happened to me a few years ago and I thought I would share it with you.

At the time we were driving an 84 300 sd. In the span of a year or so someone would steal our hood emblem about every 3-4 months. If you've ever had this happen you know how I felt at that moment some idiot breaks it off just to show off to his buddies. Six months had passed and we were out with some friends. We pulled into a gas station we all went in to get some ice and misc. stuff. I was the last one to come out and get in the car. There was a car that had pulled up next to us while we were inside. I was just about to close the door when I looked over.....There it was.....A shining hood star hanging from a gold chain on the rear view mirror, this jackass ripped off a fellow MB owner! That might even be mine!!

Rage came over my whole body

I looked at the car bumper stickers all over this POS Ford escort. Thoughts raced through mind of this idiot snapping this off my hood.

I could'nt take it any longer!!! I got out, opened the door on the escort, ripped the star off the mirror like I was starting my chain saw snapping the gold chain in half!!

Just as I turned around, there they were, the two punks that own the car. They were speechless and mouths open!! I smiled and waved with the star in my hand not a word was spoken.

That was such a good feeling!! For anyone who has had a hood emblem stolen I got some revenge that night.

P.S. I kept that star up untill 1 month ago when I mounted the star on a licence plate on our 300sdl......Back where it belongs on a Mercedes-Benz!!

speedy300Dturbo · #2 11-25-2002, 06:59 PM

They have those removable stars that you can pull out every time you leave the car, if you're that worried about getting it stolen!

BJ300SDL · #3 11-25-2002, 07:20 PM

We did get a removable star on the old 300 SD after the 4th one was gone.

I know, two wrongs don't make a right. I am usually pretty calm and reasonable 99% of the time.But at that point in time I was tired of being vandalized. It was kind of like.....checkmate.

Felt good to get one for the home team!!

190D22 · #4 11-25-2002, 10:01 PM

I guess my parking in the closest spot in my 190 makes some people mad, they make the thing crooked, but not pull it off (WHEW!). I've though many times how can I make it so they get a nice shock if they even brush up against it. But I guess this is illegal... boobie trap. But I would still like such a system. Maybe a circuit similar to that of a camera flash? Charge up a big capacitor with 20,000 volts and when u touch it BAM you get a nice pop. But it'd have to be quick enough recharge that they can't pull it off while it's recharging. Fun idea, eh?

I have an old stolen hood ornament as well. But I did not get revenge with it. Meeting my family at dinner they said they had stopped at my house (I rode with someone else so my car was home at the time) and found it laying in the driveway. I got that huge rush of adrenaline where it feels like your heart just jumped out of your chest. Then she said no her boy friend's room mate stole it years ago and she found it in their basement. It is now on my key chain!

#5 11-26-2002, 06:40 AM

This happened to me just a couple days ago. No one has stole my star all year until now. Came to school late and there were only a couple parking spots left, so I didn't think much about it so I just parked in the one by the side walk where all the kids walk pass. Worse mistake of my life. Talking to my friends about each others car and look up it was gone, the whole unit, not just the star broken off. I just can't put it in words how you feel...............just to me your car does not feel the same.

BobK · #6 11-26-2002, 06:54 AM

Well. I've had one removed, sorta. Plug in car at night, drape cord over hood so daughter will see it and unplug in morning before leaving for school. Yep, one sleepy morning she just jumped in car and started to pull away. Star and cord went flying after she got about 8-10 feet. She felt bad about it, but did not offer to replace it. Still, considering what her HS tuition is costing, this was a cheap lesson. Things are funny. She worries about somebody stealing her POS $150 CD player. I worry about some darn fool breaking expensive window and dash to steal said CD player.

#7 11-26-2002, 10:14 AM

All I can say is GOOD FOR YOU!!!! I know I would be EXTREMELY pissed off if somebody yanked the star off of the 59. It has the original large ornament - the one that is no longer available.

Speaking of that, does anybody know how to tighten them down? Mine moves around alot more than it should.

JPL · #8 11-26-2002, 11:14 AM

yep. that has happend to me as well.

And the volitility of the area in which I live leads me to believe that it could happen again. Can anyone provide more feedback about this removeable star? For me it sounds like a good plan.

Thanks,

Jim Anderson · #9 11-26-2002, 11:23 AM

Cought a four year old doing pull-ups on mine

rickg · #10 11-26-2002, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by JPL
yep. that has happend to me as well.

And the volitility of the area in which I live leads me to believe that it could happen again. Can anyone provide more feedback about this removeable star? For me it sounds like a good plan.

Thanks,

Try this:
http://germanstar.net/accindex.htm

and here:
http://www.adsitco.com/access.html
click on "Gold hood stars" or "removable hood stars"

Inter911 · #11 11-26-2002, 05:09 PM

Yep, happened to me many times but the worst was when some idiot stole the star from the trunk. Pried it off with a screwdriver. Scratched the trunk and by the looks of it the star came off in pieces anyway.

There's just no rhyme nor reason when it comes to vandalism. I've thought of taking apart one of those 100,000 volt stun guns and trying to rig that up....

#12 11-26-2002, 05:33 PM

Luckily, mine hasn't been stolen yet in the one month that I've owned the CD. My dad and my two brothers also have benzes and have been so fortunate to not have had their *stars* stolen. I don't think that happens much around where I live. But if it were to happen to me and I find out who did it, they will have another thing comin'

-Jamie

#13 11-26-2002, 06:24 PM

A few weeks ago I was having a drink with a friend in a local pub.

I looked out the window and saw 3 12-14 Y/O boys around the rear of car.

I ran out towards them and they took off and I saw they had prised off the rear STAR and broken it leaving part still on the car.

Looking at the front the STAR was twisted round but not broken off.

I got in the car and chased tham for about a mile until the went through a lane between houses.

Little S**t's.

Mind you, it would have been me in court if I had caught them and laid a finger on them.

Total cost about 9 Pounds and a dose of high blood presure.

Mike

BJ300SDL · #14 11-26-2002, 06:39 PM

I still get a warm felling inside when I think back to ripping that star off that punks mirror!

Gil · #15 11-26-2002, 07:58 PM

I've been giving this one some thought for a while, though I've never had this happen to me.

It wouldn't be too hard to construct a lethal, exploding star out of the right amount of RDX or Tetryl (or similar explosive) and a pull-activated firing device and a detonator. Paint it over or chrome the outside and nobody would know the difference. Such a combination in even this small amount would be enough to remove the hand of the perpetrator, perhaps even the entire arm.

Satisfying as this might be for some, however, I really don't want to go to jail over some twerp and a thirty dollar hood star, and I strongly don't reccomend this approach. Besides, experimenting with explosives is nothing you want to fool with at all.

There are other possibilities for revenge. If I lived in an area where I'd had my hood ornament recently stolen, a 24 hour video camera mounted in a concealed location might help catch the next jackass who wants your ornament. From there, take the tape to the Police or perhaps the perpetrators parents. Cameras are cheap these days, making this approach more possible than before.

For a more active approach, I'm wondering how difficult it would be to construct a faux-ornament out of an original one. What I'd like to see is a hood ornament that has REALLY sharp prongs at each of the tree star tips. A collapsable outer ring would be fitted in place of the original that would "give" when tugged on by a theif. Instead of ripping off the star, he'd get an instant stigmata (hole, like Jesus had) on his hand.

Apply some crushed pepper, vaseline and maybe some salt to the star points, and even a small cut would sting him to kingdom come. The truly diabolical could mix in some dog poop to insure a nice infection.

He'd probably never even realize he was set up, instead blaming himself for being so stupid to get hurt. More importantly, there'd be enough built in deniability that you'd probably never get blamed. "How was I to know it was a defective hood star? I bought it used at a flea market! I'm so terribly sorry."

Another creative but obvious and undeniably planned way to stop a theif in his tracks would be to reverse mount the windshield washers so the jets spray forward, approximately at head level of someone standing in front of the hood ornament. When the hood ornament is tugged or pulled off, the washer jets could fire anything from water, paint, bleach, ammonia or even a cloud of pepper gas. What fun!

Again, it's your call as to what a thirty dollar hood star is really worth. I'd opt for the spy camera option and frag him legally.

Gil

PS: I really am serious about the exploding star nonsense. Keep it in the realm of fiction, please.