euro-plate?

[bimmer848]

well, i have had a German transport plate(europlate) on every bimmer i have owned. on the e46 and e36 its clean and simple cause its a trim piece that is easy on and off and nothing permanent as most are aware. my e60 and X3 had american front plates already drilled since the were executive demos and they are all registered in Jersey which requires a front plate. so, the holes were already there i just put the plate screws directly in those holes and put the plate mount back on when i turned them in so no visible holes.

i really like the look. i feel it just completes the look i try to acheive with my cars. i dont see a lot of you guys running them. my question is not if you like them really, cause i do, but do you think i would be crazy to drill into my mtech front bumper to put one on since it does not have an easy on off trim piece? any ideas on how to do it in a less intrusive way? i though about tape/velcro but that seems a tad ghetto? the wife loves the look to and says "who cares, drill it!" shes full of wisdom this one:eyetwitch


couldnt find a pic of the front of the X3

opinions, flames etc welcome

[Marcus-SanDiego]

My friends do not drill into their front bumpers. However, there is a license plate bracket kit floating around that looks really good. You attach the plate to the tow hook. I think ECS Tuning might have a good one. Kind of expensive but it looked really clean. I think Dane posted a link to it.

Dane?

[bimmer848]

ive seen those. i think the euro plate wouldnt work. plus, without it centerd its just not the same. those are great if you HAVE to mount a front plate and would go that way. not for this though. maybe its just time to break tradition...

[Marcus-SanDiego]

I like the Euro plates. I just refuse to drill into my front bumper. I like the clean look.

[az3579]

Holes in the bumper FTL.
I think that "floating" design is your best best, screwing into the tow hook section.

I actually think one that's offset gives it a "badass" attitude.


I don't know if you'll find one for a euro plate though. I'm sure they have something in one of those countries that use long plates; try a foreign eBay site.

[pyreguy]

I have a europlate and the mount that snaps into the trim and requires no drilling, I just haven't installed it yet. I plan on getting it done sooner than later though.

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae342/pyreguy/ZHP/DSC00042.jpg
http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/ae342/pyreguy/ZHP/DSC00044.jpg

[danewilson77]

I bet I could figure out how to put a euro-plate into my holder....

[MrMaico]

After getting 2 warnings for no front plate I broke down and bought one of these...

http://skenedesign.com/FPBracket/index.shtml

Not sure how it would work for a euro plate though. Maybe you could do a little modifying of it and make it work?

http://mrmaico.smugmug.com/Cars/BMW-333Ci/IMG0696/1123701049_sYMxJ-X2.jpg

[bimmer848]

that may work!

[danewilson77]

After getting 2 warnings for no front plate I broke down and bought one of these...

http://skenedesign.com/FPBracket/index.shtml

Not sure how it would work for a euro plate though. Maybe you could do a little modifying of it and make it work?

http://mrmaico.smugmug.com/Cars/BMW-333Ci/IMG0696/1123701049_sYMxJ-X2.jpg

Umm....How does that attach to your front bumper?

[bimmer848]

from the link it seems to mount under the cross member of the bumper above the mesh and holes drilled out of sight under the front

[gr330zhp]

A wise man I know installed magnets on the back of his front bumper on his S4 to be able to mount any plate he wished when needed without damaging the bumper at all.

Best idea I have seen :)

[MrMaico]

from the link it seems to mount under the cross member of the bumper above the mesh and holes drilled out of sight under the front

Correct, 2 tiny screws and double faced tape hold it on from underneath. I was a little leery of it staying in place but so far so good.

I just noticed that he even makes one for the euro plates.

http://skenedesign.com/FPBracket/Euro.shtml

[jjcools]

I have the tow bolt plate and like it, you could get another back plate made up to hold a europlate if you wanted it that bad. They have them at ddmtuning. That other mount looks cool if it works as advertised.

The 1 problem with the tow plate is that they stick out pretty far. I had both ends of my bolt cut Dow about a quarter inch and it still sticks out more than I want it to bu t I can live with that.

I have had 2 tickets in CA for no front plate, lesson learned. But I still have to retint my front windows every year due to fix it tickets...

[az3579]

I have had 2 tickets in CA for no front plate, lesson learned. But I still have to retint my front windows every year due to fix it tickets...

Isn't it cheaper to just leave the tint off? lol
It's not like a ZHP looks bad without tint...

[jjcools]

Cheaper but I like the tint. It saves my eyes at night and I hate the sun beating on me during the day.
:)
Plus the sun faded my rear deck, so, need tint!!

[az3579]

You could always go to the legal limit...............

[jjcools]

You could always go to the legal limit...............

No legal limit for drivers window in CA!!! My tint is not dark on my cars but it is a nono here.

In vegas I had not problem with my windshield done!

[az3579]

Sucks to be you then. :p

[Marcus-SanDiego]

From the California Highway Patrol:

Tinted Windows – After market tint may only be affixed to windows behind the drivers seat (front seat). No tint, regardless of how light, can be placed on the front side windows, wind wings or windshield.

Any tinting, regardless of how light, is illegal on front side windows, wind wings, and windshield. If the back window is tinted, the vehicle must be equipped with outside mirrors on the left and right.

[az3579]

What's the date on that, Marcus?
I just found this on a website that seems to have all the tint laws for the various states, and it disagrees. It says front windows may have tints that allow at least 70% tint through.
http://www.tintlaws.com/laws/CA/

It's conflicted information, though I'm inclined to believe the CHP text instead. It does raise some doubt though.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

I'm getting my information directly from the CHP's Web site:

http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/answers.html

[bimmer848]

i just got nailed for this as well. had to pull fronts off the e36. fine is $109, or ten days to scrape and show. i'll get the fronts re done for $50, so worth it to scrape. law here is supposed to be 70% fronts/wings but the po po will tell you nothing is legal. backs are whatever you want. you will almost always get reduced or thrown out if you bother to go to court. i run 30% all the way around on all my cars. dark enough but you can still see in in the daylight, which is technically legal but...

[billschusteriv]

Here's the manufacturers link for the 'No Holes' LPB Kit:

http://www.gominigo.com/NHLPB-BMW.html

BMW install instructions:

http://www.images.gominigo.com/INSTRUCTIONS-GMG_NOHOLES_BMW3.pdf

Euro plate install instructions for Mini:

http://www.images.gominigo.com/INSTRUCTIONS-GMG_NOHOLES_EURO.pdf

If you look at the euro plate install instructions, it shows use of a slightly longer bracket and use of a Euro plate frame on page 2, steps 5 and 6.

I think this is the ticket.

This is how I would like to install my Euro plate - once I delete the front plate trim on the touring.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

I ended up going with 3M double-sided tape, Darren. See signature.

[Pooters]

Marcus, where did you get your euro plate from? I think I'm going to get one with my nick name on it "Crook". I took off the front license plate bracket off my car and I have these ugly holes in my front bumper. I need something cool to cover them up.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Ben, here is my write up: http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?1443-BMW-ZHP-330-Present-On-Its-Way&p=28919#post28919

But I am buying another one and going through these guys (a lot cheaper): http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?1443-Custom-European-License-Plate-for-the-BMW-ZHP-330&p=30368#post30368

Looks like the same stuff.

[Pooters]

^Oh ok cool. That was the same place I was looking at. They harp on the fact that they are the real thing so I'm just gonna go with them. $50 for plate, bracket and stickers.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

^Oh ok cool. That was the same place I was looking at. They harp on the fact that they are the real thing so I'm just gonna go with them. $50 for plate, bracket and stickers.

And service was excellent.

[pyreguy]

Random post to show off mine :biggrin

[jpawela]

I love my euro plate. Was brought back from Berlin. I got the bracket from Bavarian autosport.
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q149/jpawela/e46%20Build/150997_474425447021_766562021_5535661_1509110_n.jp g

[Marcus-SanDiego]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/marcussandiego/2011-03-04_17-32-17_248.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/marcussandiego/2011-03-04_17-20-40_550.jpg