I have recently moved to Los Angeles and am fully aware that there is a law requiring you to have a front plate but have gone without one for years. Within the past week I have been ticketed TWICE for no plate....

So my question is, first can you be fined twice for the same thing and second if I have to get a front plate will the Euro plates work if it has the same numbers/letters as the rear CAL plate. Id rather not have to drill into the bumper and dont want a huge plate hanging on the front

Your help is appreciated.

 

Lots of companies make license plate holders that screw into the tow hook port on R53's. Someone else will post a link I'm sure... I haven't bothered with that idea...

 

There are some plate holders that attach to the tow hook point so you won't have to drill into the bumper.

Blair Butler from WestCoast Mini in San Diego made a very good one.

You should be able to contact him at blair_butler@yahoo.com.

Not sure you can get 2 fix-it tix before you have sufficient time to fix it so that may be an out for you.

Good Luck!

Jim

 

go mini go

 

yeah I'm going to have to get a front plate pretty soon.. I dont want to.. i'll have to remove two of my alta lights.. BOO!

 

Front plates aren't so bad. It's best to conform to local laws so as not to cause trouble or give them probable cause.

 

I still don't have my front plate on. That's the way my MINI was delivered, and I didn't even request it like that...I figure I might change it once I get a fix-it ticket.

 

There's no question that our cars look best without a front plate. I run a front plate mainly because I don't want to give the police a reason to pull me over. Here in Cali, Its become quite common to get pulled over for no front plate because of the photo enforcement cameras. It also gives the police an opportunity to look for other offenses. No fix a ticket here !

I use a front plate mount made by a fellow club member (Blair butler) that's made from aluminum and then added my own twist to it by lowering it about two inches from the stock mounting point ! There are several toe hook plate mounts on the market but this one IMOP is the best by far ! I've actually gotten to like the look and although from the picture it looks like it blocks the fog light, it doesn't !


Without !

 

Yah i was wondering if you could have a European plate that was the same characters as your rear. Does anyone know?

 

no you cannot. must be the plate you're provided with

 

Yeah i have been given two tickets from LA's parking enforcement and one from CHP, all for no plate. I figured LAPD had better things to do than that but, what ya gonna do. I've seen those plate holders but dont really want to spend $50 for one. I may just jimmy it to the front some how.

Thanks for the replys though

 

I made one with a plate holder some Home depot brackets and a few nuts and bolts to go over my tow hook

You could also zip tie it to the mesh if it'll fin in there, also could do the aero kit mounting where it attaches under not the front of the bumper.

It must be the state issued plate, anything else can range from a no plate violation, to displaying false plates which is a much more hefty offense

 

If you dont mind me asking what did you use exactly to make your mount. specifically Im looking for the size nut you used to attach the whole thing to the tow hook stud?

 

Can you put it in your front windsheild? I heard you could. I doubt it though

 

I run the BB license plate mount holder and I like it, except when I have to actually use the tow hook to flatbed my car...which was been way too often this past year. Removing the plate becomes a huge pain especially when you're on the side of the road trying to quickly get your car to safety. I've been wanting to devise a different mount so that the existing tow hook could still be utilized.

 

People do it, but from what I understand, it can't be within your reach. A friend of mine with euro plates attached his to the inside of the passenger visor so he could flip it down or up. Not sure if he does it this way or not.

Richard
[
quote=AggieMini11;2645503]Can you put it in your front windsheild? I heard you could. I doubt it though[/quote]

 

If I remember my Vehicle Codes for California.. nothing can be covering the surface of the license plate... which includes tinted covers, or of course, the windshield.

I'm not a lawyer, I just had a few friends who were police officers years ago.

 

I went to the hardware section and got to 4in long straight steel brackets and 2 L brackets, one straight bracket on the top and one on the bottom of the tow hook, then some screws that were about 1.5in or so long, I filled the 2 holes inside the tow hook loop and the two outside, so it was held tight and if it came loose it would be able to slide off. It held up ok until I took it off and didn't have the patience to put it back together. Also have vague memory of reenforicng the plastic plate holder to the bracket with glue before adding the screws to hold it as well. Was kind of a go to the autp parts and hardware stores and putz around for 15min building it in my head. FYI my tow hook was already install and locktited hotizontally.
I used to be able to do that in another state, until they passed a law banning the once permitted clear covers. It all depends on each state, I'm unfamilar with that part of the CA law.

 

Yah i was thinking in the lower passenger side windshield. But i get what your saying about things in front of it. That would apply i guess.

 

Here's the current California Vehicle Code, regarding displaying of license plates...

http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d03/vc5201.htm

Seems like any covering except a security cover (that does not obstruct the reading or recognition of the license plate) cannot be used.

Personally, I'm keeping my temporary registration info in the front windshield in lieu of a front plate, as I'd heard unofficially that this will keep from getting pulled over with no front plate...

 

+1 I like

 

You don't have to remove them, just mount it the same way that the europlate is mounted here:

 

This was my own attempt at making a front plate mount way back when ! It mounted from underneath the front bumper.

It was just a "tad" too low ! It scraped going into driveways all the time but, I loved the way it looked on the car, it looked like it was just floating in air !