I bought a 2002 mini about 2 weeks ago. It had an empty American style tag holder in the front. Today, I was off work, and had nothing better to do than unscrew the tag and see what was under there.

To my surprise, a piece of the front came off and it looks like I could put a european style tag on it, it has a recessed area under there that was covered by the chunk of plastic with the american tag "adaptor" on it. When it was screwed on it made the bumper look like it was all one piece.

So, I decided to put the adaptor back on because I had to go somewhere. Well, the tag fell off in the road- and I found it 2 hours later after looking!-It had been run over multiple times, and now I have a rather large recessed area that is the shape of the european style tags with 2 screw holes at the bottom. It is below the chrome grill.

Can I get a replacement for the american style tag adaptor thingee that fell off and was run over?

What is this part called?

Is it expensive? Where could I get one

Does my car look weird driving around with out that piece of plastic?

Thanks

 

do you have to have a front plate? if not get a euro tag and be British!

 

Assuming you have a Cooper and not an S, check the following parts diagram for the part descripton / number and then order it from Classic Auto Campus who gives a 20% discount to NAM members:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...45&hg=51&fg=15

 

I have a cooper and not an s.

I do not have to have a license on the front- my state only requires the rear tag

 

the thing that fell off looks like diagram 13 and 12. what is that? My car is chili red- would I get it painted at the place I order it from? how does that work? How do I know how much it is?

 

Have no idea what it would cost to have the cover painted ... you can ask the guys at Classic or get a quote from a body shop.

The Euro cover (#14 - 51110698520) also lists for $58.25 if you want to go with a European style plate.

 

A euro plate to fill that spot is not that much
germanplates.com

 

I'd go with a European style front plate. mattman-enterprises.com is a great source with good prices.

 

thankyou so much for all the suggestions. I think I may get a euro plate

 

When I first got my MINI I did a search on how to remove the front plate adapter, and recall it being universally referred to as the "ugly hunk of plastic" although I'm sure your MINI service advisor has a more official name for it!

Having the "ugly hunk of plastic" fall off was obviously a sign...go with the Euro plate!

 

I was wondering about this too, mine has a chip broken out of it.