[xjosephjacob]

I don't remember any of the cars that we had bought coming with a factory fitted mudflap, including the Maruti's and Hyundai's. Dealer gives it for free as a value ad or it comes as part of an accessory package purchased separately.

[itsbaman]

Well, this is so relatable. I don't even remember how many times I have installed new set of mudflaps on my Rapid in 7 years. They eventually break, sometimes even before reaching home from the market after installing them. Now I know I am not the only one who has this problem with mudflaps.

[Nitish.arnold]

Had in 1st gen polo, used to scrape
In Terrano, once they broke, never bothered fitting another pair.

Agreed on your pointer..haven't seen them on a modern german/luxury one.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by QuentinTino

Third, cost cutting...Fourth, more number of nuts and bolts which would eventually get lose and come out.

Sorry to say, but this is hilarious.

Cost cutting of 500 Rs on a luxury car really matters? Nuts and bolts coming out? Guess the engine bay has the most in that case. So do you also mean to say that the cars should not have the engines on them... ?

[prad]

Mudflaps prevent the slush and debris from spoiling the paint on the car - just take a look at the splashed water/mud near the tyres to observe the damage that the paint takes from the sandblasting - IMHO mudflaps are an important accessory for any car (if not already provided by the OEM). They are functional - not an aesthetic add-on. Hence many people do not realize the value of mudflaps.

The reduced spray on the road is the benefit others get from a mudflap, but I would be more worried about the protection that the mudflap offers to me as the owner of the car!

[Mortis]

Thanks BHPians for making this an interesting discussion. I guess it was a bit of a unique observation. In truth I would not have observed this at all if not for the fact that I was riding a bike in the rain (first time since I started using a 2 wheeler a few years ago) and not my car.

I would also like to state that the water spray wasn't that dramatic not was I covered in a spray of slush like in a comedy. There was a decent amount of fine droplets if I was within 10 feet or so but mainly it was the slightly muddy water on my helmet visor that got me thinking about it from a safety perspective.
I would say as a comparison bulk of the spray was at bumper height for a Ciaz while it was till the boot lid on a 3 series. Obviously there's no way to standardise my observations as vehicle speed, amount of water on the road, etc will vary and I have no control over it so it was just a general observation.
I also did not mean this as a post to disparage German luxury vehicles but I guess it's safe to say that the 3 brands make up 90% of the luxury vehicles on to road and in my set of data were found lacking.
The length of the trunk and wheelbase may also factor into the built in splash protection by design but I also note that some amount of splashing did occur from the outer edge of the wheel arch and tyre itself so there is room for improvement.

Would it not be possible to provide a small wheel arch extension or splash guard as observed in the rear of I think the Ecosport or Nexon ? What about a bit of squaring off or extension of the area where the rear bumper meets the wheel arch instead of tucking it inwards. There is definite room for improvement from I guess a courtesy and safety perspective.

Also this trend of "mud guards and mats" as an additional paid accessory is in my opinion a new trend since the last few years only atleast from my observations on TBHP. When we bought as Swift in 2009 and Beat in 2011 mud guards and mats weren't even discussed, the cars came with them.
Some years later on TBHP I did notice in the new car buying type threads when people discussed their dealer negotiations how "mats and flaps were thrown in for free" or "dealer insisted that mats and flaps are a compulsory paid accessory" in a similar vein as the usual insurance and handling charges.

I look forward to continuing the discussion.

[Atharva14]

Originally Posted by Nitish.arnold

Had in 1st gen polo, used to scrape
In Terrano, once they broke, never bothered fitting another pair.

Agreed on your pointer..haven't seen them on a modern german/luxury one.

Oh yes, same! Used to scrape a lot on major speed breakers in my polo too. But the quality was so nice, never broke in my 10 years of ownership!

[McLaren Rulez]

Not sure what kind of potholes you guys are going through to break mudflaps! Given how close to the wheel they are, you'd need a pothole or bump with a near vertical drop, don't you?

[manjubp]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

Not sure what kind of potholes you guys are going through to break mudflaps! Given how close to the wheel they are, you'd need a pothole or bump with a near vertical drop, don't you?

Agree, I have installed mudflops on Jetta, a low sedan as such. Multiple times it has scrapped in humps, but not a damage as such.

On the other hand here in Bangalore, there are path holes with vertical drops, which can damage the mudflops, even tyres, in those case, I drive very carefully, knowing it can cause damage

[Mortis]

Oh I also forgot to mention that even the Luxury SUVs don't have mudflaps even though they have sufficient clearance so I guess to some extent the low ground clearance and breakage is kind of negated. Aerodynamics of the SUVs would also be poor so I don't know how much difference to aero those tiny mud flaps would make overall compared to the losses due to the boxy design

[gaurav_diavolo]

My car parking is higher than the porch from where we walk in hence gives better view of underbody when parked. And my BMW 3 series (like any other German luxury car) looks sexy as hell from rear with the wide tyres specially. Also the rear bumper seems to be lower and ergonomically designed to stay aerodynamic as well as avoid splashing. Also if you see in this shot of my car, a no-flap design is an unobstructive design to the eye, more pleasing.

[agambhandari]

Reasons are very simple.

• The Mud flaps from the manufacturer are priced Ridiculously. Was quoted around Rs 15k including fitting for my X1
• The "Mud Flaps" actually hang quite low, the right accessory for India is actually "Snow Flaps" which are better since they dont hang as low as the other ones
• Since the Mud flaps touch speedbreakers, especially on sedans, dealers gets complaints and dont like to sell those

That said, they are very useful in Rains to protect your own car and also others that follow you. I ended up sourcing these for my X1 from Ebay UK and got them installed at a well known accessory shop in Ludhiana. Total cost ended up being around Rs 3k. And happy to report they work very well and have not touched anywhere yet(have drive over 1000 km since fitting them , which included driving in heavy rains, bad roads, hills, non existent roads). Highly recommended

[GeeTee TSI]

Originally Posted by Mortis

Would it not be possible to provide a small wheel arch extension or splash guard as observed in the rear of I think the Ecosport or Nexon ? What about a bit of squaring off or extension of the area where the rear bumper meets the wheel arch instead of tucking it inwards. There is definite room for improvement from I guess a courtesy and safety perspective.

Originally Posted by prad

Mudflaps prevent the slush and debris from spoiling the paint on the car - just take a look at the splashed water/mud near the tyres to observe the damage that the paint takes from the sandblasting -

From road spray pattern on an otherwise clean car, I really don't think the mudflaps (on the Octavia atleast) help in any way, and with the stock 205 tyres at that!



The plastic cladding on some cars although ungainly, might probably help the case better

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by GeeTee TSI

From road spray pattern on an otherwise clean car, I really don't think the mudflaps (on the Octavia atleast) help in any way, and with the stock 205 tyres at that!
Attachment 2373013
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The plastic cladding on some cars although ungainly, might probably help the case better

I mainly meant from the perspective of splashing water on the windscreen of the car following your own or even the full rider on the bike behind you.
As such it's not much of a concern if your own car is getting dirty or not but rather impairing the vision of your fellow drivers

[mystiikmonk]

Got my car delivered 2-3 weeks back and today took it out first time in rains . I saw splash of muddy water / mud across the door and infact whole side wall of the car from front and back tires ? Does BMW 3 series has mud flaps as accesories ? And is it even recommended putting one ?