[Mortis]

So today I was on my bike for an errand and the road was a bit wet. The car in front of me was throwing up a lot of water spray from the rear tyres. It was a BMW and I noticed that there weren't any mud flaps at the back. What really got me thinking was that there was another BMW a little further ahead and it too did not have mud flaps fitted and was also throwing up a nice rooster tail of water.
For the rest of an hour I kept an eye out and all the imported Germans - BMW, Merc and Audi - both sedan and SUV models did not have mud flaps at all. In fact even the VW TRoc and Tiguan were flapless however a Vento did have them. The cheapest "common" car that did not have flaps was a Nexon EV but this might be an anomaly as mud flaps do exist on the ICE models. All the other regular cars had mudflaps. The only non German luxury car I came across was an Evoque which DID have mudflaps.

Not the biggest sample size or longest time period I know but still it's good enough and consistent I guess.

I would like to know why these cars don't come fitted with them :

1) Is it a German thing ?
2) Is there no provision to fit them?
3) Do manufacturers avoid them to improve aerodynamics or something ?
4) Do the additional mud flaps on these imports cost some ridiculous price like a lakh each or something which is why customers avoid them ? Or maybe they are priced lower but still decent amount and customers are too cheap to pay 10k on a 50L car ? Somehow I doubt that.

I would also like to know if mudflaps are mandatory in India and if not why aren't they ?

Looking forward to an interesting discussion.

[shankar.balan]

Never thought of this ever. But it is true that my Mini Cooper doesn't have mudflaps and nor is there any provision to fit mudflaps.

Maybe as an entry level sports car which is more meant as a summer joyride car they never planned for mudflaps. In my case the mechanic advice is also to try and avoid driving that car in the heavy rains and basically dont drive through flooded roads etc in it. And in a way it makes sense. One cant enjoy that car much in heavy rain.

My Gypsy has rear mud flaps but there is no OEM provision for front mudflaps. One has to drill some holes into the wheel arch and mount the mudflaps.

My Thar has mudflaps but they are very small plastic ones.

[jkrishnakj]

When I took delivery of my A6, I actually asked them. I’m told that though it’s available as an accessory, it is not recommended because it’ll end up breaking very soon. With in a day of driving, I recognised that it’s indeed prone to damage over our lovely Bangalore roads.

[CEF_Beasts]

Having a BMW, while delivery I asked specifically for the mudflaps to be fitted on the car. The SA told me no one fits them and neither does he recommend them, even-though they are available as accessories!

I’m actually planning to get them fitted, because once the tyres had to go over some fresh concrete water and the plastic cladding was ruined, had to spend 2 days cleaning the cladding properly. The concrete colour (light-grey) just wouldn’t leave the cladding.

Would like to apologise as a fellow BMW owner for not having mudflaps and causing inconvenience. Will get them fitted as the earliest.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

When I took delivery of my A6, I actually asked them. I’m told that though it’s available as an accessory, it is not recommended because it’ll end up breaking very soon. With in a day of driving, I recognised that it’s indeed prone to damage over our lovely Bangalore roads.

The unscientific speed breakers will hit these mudflaps , and eventually the mudflaps will break the bumper clips loose , now you need to replace the bumper as well. This is why it is not recommended although without mudflap the sticky tires would throw rocks at the body panels and chip the paint. So there is that.

[sunikkat]

Octavia came with rear mud flaps (should be part of basic accessories) but front could be procured separately. Did not go for front mud flaps, as it will spoil the look.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

The unscientific speed breakers will hit these mudflaps , and eventually the mudflaps will break the bumper clips loose , now you need to replace the bumper as well. This is why it is not recommended although without mudflap the sticky tires would throw rocks at the body panels and chip the paint. So there is that.

Correct! I took off both my Polo & Octavia's mudflaps for this reason. In the 330i, the low rear bumper design itself minimises the spray generated.

I'm not worried about the stones being thrown against the rocker panels/sills either. Many cars nowadays have a rubberised coating on the bottom of the rocker panels / door sills for exactly this reason.

I'm more irritated by bikers removing the splash guards on their bikes. The rooster-tail spray raised by premium bikes is terrible for following vehicles twhether 2W or 4W. Happy to see KL is cracking down on this:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/english...-mvd-1.4873471

Do note that under Automotive Industry Standard (AIS), i.e. ARAI rules, vehicles will not be homologated unless they meet the baselines. This is especially true for HCVs & buses.

[GTO]

The last luxury car I saw with mudflaps was the W124 Mercedes, lots of them with mudflaps. But that is indeed a good observation. I don't believe I've seen any modern Audi / BMW / Mercedes with mudflaps. And they won't look good on these cars either. Imagine the 530d with its 275 mm rear tyres - how thick will your mudflaps be!

[voldemort]

At the time we bought our E-class the salesperson listed out the available accessories for us to choose.

One of the accessory was the mud flaps, and I remember being surprised that they aren't standard; it was one of those things I took for granted.

We didn't buy the mud flaps.

[PaddleShifter]

As far as I know, driving a car without mudflaps is an offence. But no one bothers and even two wheelers often removed mudflaps from motorcycles such as CBZ, Karizma etc.

I have never owned a vehicle without mudflaps with an exception of Punto during 2010-2012 as the company used to install truck type long, rubber mudflaps till that time. Once plastic mudflaps were available in 2012, I got them installed.

Just today while coming back from my home town I saw a car (Wagon-R IIRC) with micro mud flaps. They were just 2cm or so in length. Maybe those can be tried in the German sedans while SUVs/Crossovers shall have no issues of breakage etc over speed breakers due to higher GC.

Something is better than nothing.

[QuentinTino]

I believe there are no mudflaps in German luxury cars due to the following reasons:

First, the weather in Europe/Germany is not at all like our monsoon weather.
Second, the mudflaps hamper the aerodynamics of the car.
Third, cost cutting.
Fourth, reduced structural coherence/ more number of nuts and bolts which would eventually get lose and come out.

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by Mortis

I would like to know why these cars don't come fitted with them :

1) Is it a German thing ?
2) Is there no provision to fit them?
3) Do manufacturers avoid them to improve aerodynamics or something ?
4) Do the additional mud flaps on these imports cost some ridiculous price like a lakh each or something which is why customers avoid them ? Or maybe they are priced lower but still decent amount and customers are too cheap to pay 10k on a 50L car ? Somehow I doubt that.

Passenger cars are intended to drive on paved roads and they don't technically need to have auxiliary equipment like mud flaps or splash guards to provide protection to other road users from flying mud, stone, ice or water. Their inherent tyre and bumper designs should be enough to meet the regulations around the above. I haven't seen them in passenger cars abroad.

IMHO those mudflaps are an eyesore. I have had them removed from my cars in India.

Here's a discussion about the poorly designed mud flaps in the Ford Figo.

Originally Posted by Tgo

Methodology: In a span of 15 minutes. Drive by a market place close to my home. Spot Ford Figos and check if the Vehicle has 4 hale and hearty mud flaps on it. Click pictures for evidence.

Result: Out of 9 samples 7 were found to have damaged mud-flaps. There is a serious design issue which needs to be addressed. Is anyone at ford listening?

The first day itself, the flaps scraped onto those measly Black and Yellow Bolt-Down plastic speed bumps you find in parking lots in malls.

However, things change if people upsize the tires and the tire width extends beyond what the body work was designed to protect other road users from. Likewise for SUVs or trucks.

Also, some roads (even within the city) in India can be classified under the dirt rally category so there is an use case for it.

Originally Posted by PaddleShifter

As far as I know, driving a car without mudflaps is an offence.

Are you sure? Could you please share the relevant rule?

Originally Posted by QuentinTino

I believe there are no mudflaps in German luxury cars due to the following reasons-
First, the weather in Europe/Germany is not at all like our monsoon weather
Second, the mudflaps hamper the aerodynamics of the car
Third, cost cutting
Fourth, reduced structural coherence/ more number of nuts and bolts which would eventually get lose and come out

Sorry to say that your belief is not even remotely close to true.

[ajayc123]

Just curious, are the german cars designed to prevent splashes to reach the vehicles driving behind them? If yes, then we should not be too concerned.

I remember that in my past cars, before installing the mudguards, there used to be mud grime on the painted part of the car body near the wheel well, I wonder, if it happens in these cars. If yes, I guess rusting risk and cleaning efforts may increase a bit.

[EV NXT]

Even the Rolls Royce doesn’t come with mud flaps.



Whether it’s good or bad has always been an area of debate. Reduced aero drag / sportier look VS mud/ stones / road salts sprayed on the underside or on other cars / rust / paint chipping etc.

[rishil.ghurki]

My dad bought a Mercedes Benz GLA 220d a few weeks ago and no, there aren't any mudflaps. Interesting to note however, is the extra layer of covering inside of the wheel arches, which contains all the dirt and mud splash and can be cleaned easily. I'm not sure if other manufacturers offer this as well.

Also, perhaps the tyre cross section would be too wide to fit a aesthetically-pleasing mudflap.