There's been some discussion around here in Texas about stricter enforcement for plate visibility and front plates. Seems the reasons put forward for this are pretty understandable from the local law enforcement perspective. I can see where they would lean on new car dealerships in this regard.

Yes, some state plates are uglier than others, but we don't whine about how the rear of our car is desecrated by an ugly license plate....seems a small stretch to accept a front.

I saw a red Mustang go by yesterday w/o a front plate, but yet their bumper had a recess right where the plate belonged!! Looked silly.

Let's all get tow hooks and be happy!!! It's not worth getting surly about.

 

From my perspective the little rectangle plates really ruin the line of the front of many cars and even just look like dumb mustaches glommed on - not an issue on the rear (although some manufacturers do pick an ugly place for it). So yeah, to me it is a big stretch to accept the front most times because it uglifies the car and ruins the bumper with drilled holes and I can usually find a better way

By the way, just back from Europe where the plates actually look good and are legible (including bike plates), why are ours so bad in comparison - you'd think with a good example already in existence we could have followed suit

 

i am confused about the insurance. i thought one could go buy a car on a whim and be covered by your insurance company. I have state farm and i think i remember my agent saying that i had 7 days to report the new car.

 

Yep - if you have an existing policy, it will automatically cover any cars you buy for a short period of time, to give you time to get together with your agent and give him the details about the new car.

 

When I picked up my car, my MA said they are not required by law to install the plate holder, even though we are in CA and front plate is the law. I said I was going to use a no holes mount but really he didn't care. It wasn't required to install it.

So unless they just changed this, your MA is full of it.

 

It is most likely a "dealer Policy" and not a "law" that the plate holder be installed.

What probably has happened is that a police officer has fined a driver for lack of plate and then the driver fought it claiming the dealer never installed it. This may happened more than once and then the law enforcement agency may have contacted said dealer and leaned on them.

My dealer tried to state the same thing but I was INSISTENT and stated I would be installing the tow hook plate holder, they left well enough alone after that.

The dealer is just trying to cover their ASSets.........

 

Tell them if they drill the holes and do not offer you a waiver to sign you will not give them a favorable CSI callback score, and if they do not call you for the survey you will contact Mini / BMW and request a call.

 

interesting... i told me MA about not drilling holes and he simply said he would take care of it. I guess this is a per dealership experience... not all of cali although its cali law for front plates...

 

It seems that enforcement varies with locations. Santa Monica is noted for strict enforcement -- supposedly it is a revenue generator. San Francisco is said to have started strict enforcement after installing traffic light cameras. They need the front license in the photo to nail you for running a red light.

Monterey County seems to be very lax about it. Lots of cars here don't have front plates.

 

I paid a visit to my dealer on Friday and I had mentioned this discussion and she said i just arrived after a major commotion with a customer who was upset that they drilled into his front bumper for front tags.

She said that she would not allow any drilling into the front bumper until I was notified. This is in the state of Virginia that requires front tags.

 

right when i moved to San Francisco some random citizen called the cops on me for not having a front plate. Me and my friends were skateboarding, and we thought the cops were coming to kick us out, but they just told us that someone called to rat me out. They didn't seem to really care, I just think they had to follow up because somebody called. They didn't give me a ticket or anything; hell, they didn't even kick us out for skating there.

I couldn't believe that someone had so much time on their hands to actually call the cops on me for that. Seems like a waste of police resources to me.

 

Well I picked up the car last night and sure enough they drilled in the front bumper and the plate was there. I am a little pissed because I was initially told about a week ago that this would not be a problem and they changed their opinion the day before. Kinda screwed up IMO. Nonetheless, the plate actually looks pretty good on the front.

 

I totally agree!! The most disturbing part is that they didn't follow (or acknowledge?) your instructions. I told my dealer in no uncertain terms to drill mine and install that plate....and they did!! At least now you won't have to worry about getting ratted out like poor diabolik!.

 

I talked to my MA here in Minnesota yesterday, where we DO have to have front plates, and asked them not to drill them when my car comes in this week.
They were gleeful about it, they told me they hate drilling holes in the MINI's and applauded my decision to use a bracket

 

I think the floating mounts off to the sode spoil the front end of the car's symmetry. I like the center mount. When I saw the dimples for where the plate is supposed to go on the bumper I knoew I had did not want to be looking at those.

Aesthetics aside, I could see those two pits looking like carp in a short period of time. No way for the polisher to reach in there.

So I decide the pits must go! Now I have a license plate hiding the pits and the state cannot touch me! WOOT!

 

I told my MA at Southbay that I don't want my front bumper drilled and she made sure that it was not drilled. That was a few months ago, so I am sure dealers in Southern CA don't have to drill front bumper.

After said that, it is really not that bad to have a front licence plate. Like others said, I didn't really know there are 2 dimples at the front bumper, they look strange and out of place without a plate. Also now everytime I see a police car passed by on the opposite lane, I have to keep watching my rear view mirror to see if he/she would make a U turn and come after me not having a front plate! Talk about nerve wacking. ;p

 

Yeah, too bad about those dimples on your bumpers - if there the aero kit/JCW option doesn't have it that is another thing in its favor

 

After having my MINI in Maryland for 3 years, I finally got a ticket for missing the front license ($60 fine). So now the question: Do I spend the $56 for the gominigo no-holes bracket now and avoid the next ticket, or bet on not getting pulled over for the same indiscretion for another 3 years? Needless to say, my better-half of 30 years reaffirmed her long-standing assertion that all men are idiots and I am their king.

 

I attached front plate on my MCS to a rubber/synthetic backing plate (originally a BMW rear plate mount). The backing plate is attached to the front grill by tie-wraps and is positioned just below the tow-hook location. The plate fits into the grill, just below the bumper. With this, I expect to avoid police citations and the psychological damage that would have been incurred by bumper-drilling.

 

I'd like to see a picture of that. Does it now cover some of the air flow into the intercooler? I'm currently driving without the front plate on the bumper, but I carry the tow-hook mount with the plate attached in the boot for times I want to have the front plate on.

 

I'll post picture in a day or two when get camera. To answer your question, it does reduce air flow since it reduces surface area of grill. I'm not convinced this is the best solution.

 

All's well that ends well.

 

lol i had my bumper repainted/refinished to remove the holes. I even have custom plates and I still think the plate on the front looks disgusting.

Sadly, the original holes were drilled at the VPC so there wasn't anything I could do to avoid them.

I have a tow hook plate mount that I keep around in the event I get a fix it ticket, or if I'll be parking in a Meter Maid **** area (Santa Monica, LA/Hollywood) where they're allowed to give you a parking ticket for no front plate. Takes about 20 seconds to put on and take off.

 

Whether or not you mount front plates is your decision as car owner, not theirs.

If that doesn't work, demand to see a copy of the statute they claim mandates they drill.

I would not take "no" for an answer. Good luck.

 

Does anyone have a picture of a Mini with a tow hook plate attached? I'm going back and forth and back and forth on to drill or not to drill and gotta decide shortly.