So, as many of you know, I bought my MCS (US Spec) in Germany and had it shipped over recently. After I paid $960 in tax yesterday to get it registered , I went out to replace my German plate with my new Florida one and when I took my European plate frame off, I was SHOCKED!

The mounts for license plates on the back of my MINI looked to be ONLY drilled for European frames!! They were NOWHERE near the correct placement for US plates!!! I was completely shocked (and a bit mad)!!

Is this the case on ALL MINIs? Are there plate frames for US plates that can fit the European screw placement? What I ended up doing was drilling new holes in my new license plate and mounted in that way (since the plate DOES cover the Euro screw positions).

Has this happened to anyone else? If so, can it be overcome?

 

Are you talking about the two holes on the sheet metal with the bar code plaque in between? If so, then you need a US spec plate carrier. The plate carrier has the correct holes to accept a US plate.

I usually take my plate and carrier off when I wash my car. All sorts of gunk gets accumulated between the hatch and the plate carrier.

Hope this helps: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...80&hg=41&fg=60

You might need part #20 on the diagram.

 

That's it -- I'm staying in Germany. Too complicated to move back to the US....

 

Dude, how long was it registered in Germany? I think 6 months is all you need to have USAREUR (Or USAFE, etc) plates on it for you to be exempt from the sales tax I know Alabama didn't charge me for mine and when I asked (I know, stupid call to bring it up) they said it was considered previously registered

Tax cr@p aside, as mentioned, the 2 holes should line right up with a US plate bracket Oh, and while you have that bracket off the hatch, hit it with some wax, the German plate brackets have a habit of rubbing the hatch along the ends

Hope that helps

 

This varies by state. When I brought my bimmer over from Germany to Alabama, I was like you, DB, and paid no tax. But my buddy brought his in through FL -- and when he found out that his wasn't excempt from tax, he drove it without tags to Alabama, where he also registered for free.

 

You just go aheadand stay, while some of us have to go back...... go ahead rub it in !!!

 

In VA the car has to be pre-registered for a year before you can get out of taxes. I brought mine from Bahrain and paid $600-some in "use" taxes or some nonsense since I only owned it for 5 months...but didn't have to pay personal property taxes since I am still a legal resident of Texas (keep it up Texans, don't let them start a personal property tax there!!)

 

I see FLA is still hitting you hard for the "personal property and impact tax" when you register a car. That also shocked me when I moved to Ft Laud in 94, sure there's no state income tax but they sure hit you up everywhere else!

 

I have heard that it can be a lot of fun to try some of those "Euro screw positions"!!

I crack myself up.

 

960$ in tax is nothing to get upset about, here in Norway the tax for importing a Mini Cooper S is over 20 000$

 

you know, i had heard about the.. own your car for 6 mos in germany and you wont have to pay the tax when you get here..
we lucked out living in south carolina.. they do have that handy dandy lil military exemption form, but our dealer in germany had to tell us about it. Many states do have it, but if you don't do the research they will charge you.
Also, if your Ets'ing.. that may not apply. Friends of ours who moved from Wiesbaden to Florida, had to pay on there VW. Because he ets'd. We didnt pay anything from Wiesbaden to SC, because my husband is still active duty.
And yes, we had issues as well putting the american plates on. We couldnt find screws small enough. So we ended up paying something close to 48.00 for the mini dealership to do it.

 

^ It may be right that ETSing affects it in some states, but as my buddy (in post #4 above) found out -- you pay going through FL even if you're still in active duty and just PCSing (at least that's how it was a few years back).

So, you're right, do your research 'cause everything differs by state. The worst thing you can do is get advice from someone in another state and think that's going to apply to you.

 

ETS-ing should not make a difference. It's the fact that you were overseas on a SOFA exemption that makes a difference. I ETS-ed in 2001 from Bad Kreuznach, worked there as a GS until PCS-ing to AL last year, and didn't have to pay the additional taxes.