I bought a euro plate at a kiosk in the mall the other day. My 06 MCS has no front plate now (not required in GA). The frame didn't come with any bolts or screws or whatever. I'm wondering if there are holes behind the bumper for screws or do I need to buy something with a nut of some sort to secure it. Also what do I use to drill the holes, just a regular makita type thing?
My other thought is to just attach it with heavy duty velcro of some sort, but don't know about that.
Thanks all and Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanza.......
Annette

 

Just my opinion...

Before you drill any holes in that perfect and unblemished front bumper, consider how nice your MINI looks without anything on your bumper and how the vast majority of MINI owners dream of being able to drive around without having a front plate obscuring the MINI good looks. We are so fortunate to live in states where we do not have to display front plates.

If you want to try it out, get some double sided foam tape or velcro before you do something so permanent as drilling holes!

It might be a great garage decoration too!

 

why not zip tie the plate to the lower front? There are lot of places there to hack your way though some holes for the zip ties . no cutting no hole drilling required

 

NO NO NO NO NO drilling

You would not tattoo one of your beautiful children??? Does El Kabong not bleed when drilled?

Just kidding, but I really like the look of a clean front end! Others may disagree........

 

We have front plate in Ontario, so I use the existing holes. I have the euro-plate centred with the holes and have two holes drilled on the plate. Before screwing the plate, I put double-sized tape along the top of the plate. It's been there without any problem for year an a half with all the rain & snow we've got in Canada.
By the way, I have a euro-plate holder for sale but have to dig it up from the storage. Please PM me if you would like to see the picture.
Cheers
Stephen

 

Home Depot sells heavy duty velcro strips, or you could use your basic 3M double sided foam tape. Either of these will work well and you can see how you like the plate before you drill.

 

Well, thanks all for the replies, I'm guessing El Kabong might appreciate not being drilled so I'm going to try some of the other options y'all have come up with first.
If I do the zip tie thing on the front lower grill, does this present any problems to airflow or anything? I think I'll try that first to see how it goes, it may end up too low to see it, but who knows.
I bought some 3M heavy duty double sided tape the other day, so that will be my second option. I like that I can put the plate where it should go, but worry that it will not stay on at highway speeds. The plate was only about $25.00 with the frame so not the end of the world if it gets lost I guess.
Annette

 

I have my european plate on with some automotive double sided tape . Believe me, it doesn't fly off at high speeds . I love the way it looks with the long european plate but I'm going to remove the euro plate and put on a Chilean plate (my nationality)... We'll see how it looks... Well here is a pic of my car with the europlate a la double-sided tape...

 

Cool, so is automotive double sided any different then 3M Heavy Duty double sided?
If so, I'm guessing I can find it at an Auto Zone type place?
Thanks,
Annette

 

The 3M double sided stuff will do just fine.

 

I use 3M, it sticks really good. And it's not that messy when you want to take it off, I just use a string of fishing line to kind of slice the plate off. Not much residue leaves on the bumper as well.
Cheers

 

Same stuff with a different name ... In fact, I'll be using the 3M Heavy Duty double sided tape on my new front plate... Please post pics of your car when you put the europlate on!

 

Ok here it is. The euro frame wouldn't stick with the tape, so I just took it out of the frame and stuck it to the bumper.
I'll probably drill it and put it on. I have had pristine bumpers on my last 5 cars and it's just not that big a deal to me anymore.

Annette

 

No one mentioned this option - tow-hook mount. I know it isnt a euro plate, but here's mine:

 

So how did you do that?
Annette

 

3m tape

 

If you are talking to me you can find more description and pics half way down this thread: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=57869

 

Beware the double-sided tape. While Motoring on a GA straight the other day, I had to cross the yellows to give a guy on the shoulder some room. Big mistake, the yellow lines were scored pavement (to discourage said activity).

Later, when I realized my Euro plate was gone, I understood that that was the noise/sensation of rupture I'd experienced earlier. I thought it came off ok, all the excess tape did; but in the sunlight today I could see my bumper is all nicked and scarred by the "NASA foam" effect.

don't cross the yellows, and don't use tape. Drill holes would've left less of a mark. (grrrrrr)

 

Annette, why not purchase the European plate holder? You will have to drill holes though.

European front plate holder (10/2005 build, R53 RoW spec)
REGISTRATION PLATE SCHWARZ 1 #51711491079
Possibly available from UK MINI dealers?

 

I'd check the dates, I think her plate has been on some time now.

I think the MINI just simply looks better (in the since that it was desgined to be there) witha euro plate on it. I originally had pearl with regular IL plates, then was out of state for an extended period of time so went to a GB plate which I had to reluctantly remove yesterday in order to be legal again and replaced it with my IL plate. I just always felt there was something in missing when I saw Pearl without anything on the front.

For my Euro plate install I already had the hole the dealer put in. They used self tapping screws, instead of predrilling a hole. Then my plate came with a universal hoder, but the plate always sat too low for my liking so I put some more holes in the holder and got it exactly where I wanted it.

All of the installs look very nice , sorry to hear about the tape incident .

 

you have an MCS right? too bad, the MC already is euro plate readyl. as far as for you, you should buy the euro plate frame, any web site that sells plates should sell frames, then you can just screw it right on to where your factory holes are. personally, i would just keep it off and enjoy not having to have front plate.

 

I have a US Spec car here in Germany and have the Euro plates. They sell holders that are mountable to US and other spec cars. The plate pops in and the back has numerous holes for mounting to different cars. I'm sure that there is a WEB site out there that should have those.

 

I bought my Euro plate off of eBay. Check this URL. http://cgi.ebay.com/CREATE-YOUR-OWN-...QQcmdZViewItem

Costs about 30 bux for vanity euro plate and holder (includes shipping).

I was very pleased. See my gallery.

hogtrader