With my MINI delivery less than a month away, I already told my dealer about not drilling for the front plate (which he said they don't do as a rule anyway). I was curious to see what the laws by state were on displaying front plates so thought I'd share the info for those interested:

http://www.pcisys.net/~bpc/auto_law/misclaw.html


Phooey, I'm in Wisconsin....

NUMMYTIME

 

Hey, if your state requires a front plate, that's another incentive to order vanity plates. I love seeing "HARMINI" on both ends of my MC.

 

Well, I'm in Texas...but I have a MC so front plates are no problem. My dealer took care of that. I think this is most tramatic for the S drivers. Do y'all have any MINI-provided license place mounting device yet...or is it still a matter of just drilling holes in that gorgeous, pristine bumper? Another question, any idea why states wouldn't consider a differently formatted, "european"-size plate?....with all the state graphics, of course. British car owners would pay a premium for something like that.

 

I'm in Wisconsin too, but I've never put a front plate on a car, and i've never gotten in trouble for either. Even after I rear ended a kid in my old mustang, and it was kind of obvious that I didn't have a front plate, the cop never said a word.... guess if you tick an officer off, then he'll probably write you up for it, but if you're cool with him he probably won't even notice...

what would be nice is if someone were to manufacture something that attached to the grille that wouldn't do damage to the car, and you wouldn't have to drill holes in the bumper...

 

Illinois requires front plates. And I will tell you that they are sticklers for it. I got pulled over one day, he asked me where my front plate was, I told him it was in my back seat... "It just fell off". He let me go. But I ran home and put it on! It's a $25 ticket and I know better ways to spend $25.
When I get my 'S', I probably wouldn't put it on until I get pulled over once.

 

so the options are $25 or drilling holes into your front bumper... i really doubt that i'll mind parting with the money if it ever comes up...

 

I was pulled over on a recent SCMM Big Bear trip ... I know the pork saw the front of the MINI (I have a large Eudora plate on the front of my S) and he didn't say a single word. I myself would rather just pay the $25 fee then look at a boring CA plate.

 

I'm running with a euro plate here in Ohio. It says the exact same thing that the back plate says. I have never seen so many cops since I put it on either. Maybe I'm just paranoid. No issues yet. Here it's a $50+ fine.

Hopefully, House Bill 31 will pass making it OK not to have them!

Cheers,
Bill

 

I might end up moving down to Texas. Does anyone know what the fine is there? And does anybody know if there is something about repeat offenders?

 

>>Illinois requires front plates. And I will tell you that they are sticklers for it. I got pulled over one day, he asked me where my front plate was, I told him it was in my back seat... "It just fell off". He let me go. But I ran home and put it on! It's a $25 ticket and I know better ways to spend $25.
>>When I get my 'S', I probably wouldn't put it on until I get pulled over once.
>>
>> :evil: