I'm thinking about getting the no holes bracket for my mini, but I'm not really an install-it-yourself type person. Especially when it comes to cars. They make me very nervous. Is this something that's easy for a clueless person to install? Or should I just forget it and have my dealer drill holes?

 

ROBIN!! Don't drill. If you can pop popcorn, you can install this bracket. I'm not kidding. You pop the plastic cap off the tow hook site with a screwdriver. It comes right off. Screw in the mounting bolt. It tightens easily with a crescent wrench.

Attach the cross piece with one large bolt. Tighten it.

Attach two thin vertical strips of metal with one bolt and nut each.

Attch the license plate with the last four bolts and nuts like you would on an American car.

Trust yourself. You can do this.

R

 

I felt the same way for 3 years here in Marland until Smokey got me. Now I'm using the Gominigo set-up.

 

Live a little! Learn to color outside the lines.

 

Well, my license plates came yesterday, so I figured I'd better make a decision. So... I bought the bracket from gominigo. It sounds like I can probably install it myself. And if I fail miserably, I'll just call in a favor from a guy I work with.

 

Can be done, but often yields unsatisfactory results.

 

Robin, I was in your same position...didn't want them to drill and wasn't sure about the no holes bracket from gominigo. I ended up just not putting on anything. I've been meaning to buy the gominigo one and see what it was like. Let us know once you install it and take some pics please.

 

I opted for drilling the bumper mainly bcause I'm using the plate and the holder as a barrier for one of 'em parking lot bumps. All the cars I have owned had the front bumper bumped by another car, one of them cracked the holder, another one put an egg size dent in the plate. There were many other occassions where I had to bend the plate back to it's original shape. I also have a 1/8" thick rubber sheet between the holder and the bumper, to cushion the blow. And to think I was playing safe by not pulling all the way into the parking spot, but in reality most drivers don't use the lines on the ground as a guide, they use the car in the space across from them as a guide, and they always miss.

About the dimples where you're supposed to drill the holes, on mine it is off-centered by about 3 mm. I realized that after I had drill the holes already.

 

Here's my plate. I like it. Robin, I hope you like your results.

 

Looks good! Mine's on its way, so I should have a report soon...

 

I can't remember why I needed to buy a 19mm combination wrench over ten years ago... Glad I still had it.

 

Finally an option for a centered front plate.

http://www.skenedesign.com/FPBracket/index.htm

 

An elegant solution!! It's nice to have options.

 

I don't see anything on there about it fitting a MINI.

I have the GoMiniGo bracket. It is all stainless steel and works well. Here are some photos:

The port with cover:

 

Sure it is. It's the short model. Look under Mini. And it's centered.

 

Not sure if it has been updated since you looked at it, but currently under car/bracket model it shows:

MINI Looks interesting. I'd like to see more pics!

 

That's a great alternative. I thought about making something similar myself but was too lazy to do so.

 

Ok, so I tried installing the gominigo bracket over the weekend, and was relatively successful. It's on the car... mostly right. I have pictures, but they're still on the camera.

I have 2 questions before I go and try to fix it:
1) What is a lock washer and how do I use it?
2) How do you get a socket wrench to work the other way? Mine would only loosen the bolt, which did me no good at all.

It wasn't quite as easy as popping popcorn, but I got it done. Mostly.

 

A lock washer is a round piece of metal with a hole in the center. There are different varieties some look like a star and others are a circle with a cut in them. I think the gominigo bracket has the one with the cut, also known as a spit washer. You put the washer on the bolt before you tighten the nut. It is to keep the nut from loosening.

Socket wrenches can work to tighten or loosen. You either flip a lever on the head of the ratchet or you twist the ****. Both are on the opposite side of where you attach the socket. For the twist variety I think you have to hold the socket so it doesn't spin when you change the direction.

I hope that can help. The gominigo instructions should list the order you install parts, so the washer should be listed.

Greg

 

Ok, the lock washer is the one in the middle. What are the other two? Do I use them anywhere? Are they part of the lock washer?



And thanks to help here, I got the socket wrench working. Woo!

 

The Flat Washers; two out side ones are provided to allow you move the bracket out. They go on the bolt after the bracket is installed if you need to move the backet further away from the car.

The Lock Washer; middle one. Goes on the bolt before it goes into the bracket and when it is tightened down it will flatten out and prevent the bolt from backing out.

As far the rachet goes there should be a tab or gear on the back of the head that rotates to allow the rachet to tighten in the other direction.

 

Hey Robin81, I just got my gominigo license plate bracket. What tools did you use to install it?

 

I had a flat screwdriver to take off the little piece on the bumper. I had a 19 mm socket wrench to tighten the big bolt. I had a small wrench (I'm not sure what size) and a little screwdriver-like-thing that was shaped like an L to do the screws and nuts that actually hold the license plate in place. Pretty much, I just used the tools listed on the instruction sheet. Luckily, my roommate got a 160 piece toolkit awhile back, so I just tested things til they worked.

 

. . .is there any difference between the GoMiniGo no-hole license plate bracket and the one available from MOSS Mini?
(I have a 10% off promo from MOSS Mini)

I have a Clubman coming soon, should be finished with production tomorrow.

 

If I'm not mistaken, the GoMiniGo bracket uses stainless steel whereas the Moss bracket does not. I've seen pics of Moss brackets where there's some rust going on. Other than that... well, the GoMiniGo bracket has five height positions while the Moss bracket only has three.