Front plate

[h_bakken]

Redirect me if there is a thread on this-

Any removable front plate mounts that folks are using?

Texas has mandatory front plate (infrequently enforced obviously as many expensive cars are not wearing them) but I actually got pulled over in my GT350R by a statey on the Sisters Loop, got written warning. Funny because I had the plate on a Sto-n-Sho Mount in the trunk, I washed the car that AM and forgot to put the plate back on.

Not sure if they can fine or issue moving violation on this.

My GTS actually has the original plastic BMW front plate mount, (not mounted, was in the boot next to the manuals and suspension kit), I was actually eyeballing it and I don't think there is even a place to fit it on the car.

Thanks!

[Gomeler]

The OEM plate bracket gets screwed into the bumper cover. Highly recommend not doing that. There are a variety of plate mounts that screw into the front tow hook. I haven't bothered to install mine, bought it from US Mill Work.

[h_bakken]

Originally Posted by Gomeler

The OEM plate bracket gets screwed into the bumper cover. Highly recommend not doing that. There are a variety of plate mounts that screw into the front tow hook. I haven't bothered to install mine, bought it from US Mill Work.

Really for the OEM? Crazy.

I'll check the tow hook ones.

[X.X.I.V]

I have the Sto and Sho

https://stonsho.com/2015-2018-bmw-m4...r-mount-sns67/

[786]

That’s bad luck man, I’ve lived in Texas a long time and had lots of cars with no front plate ever. No issues. In EU they make front plate decals but that Sto thing looks good too.

[h_bakken]

Originally Posted by 786

That's bad luck man, I've lived in Texas a long time and had lots of cars with no front plate ever. No issues. In EU they make front plate decals but that Sto thing looks good too.

I know right!

This trooper was clearly looking for something to do. He was driving 40 miles an hour in a 75 mile an hour zone so of course I eased around When a passing zone came up, turns out he was just waiting for me to do that so he could make sure I was a Texas plate holder. If you have plates from a state that doesn't require front plate like a lot of military, you don't have to use the front plate in Texas.

Thanks for the above, I ordered one of each, I'll pick one and send the other one back.

Leaning toward the mill works tow hook mount, looks more hoonigan.

Even if po/stateys/constables can't give moving violation for this I absolutely hate getting pulled over. Ruins the day for me emotionally even if I wasn't doing anything bad.

[X.X.I.V]

Originally Posted by h_bakken

I know right!

This trooper was clearly looking for something to do. He was driving 40 miles an hour in a 75 mile an hour zone so of course I eased around When a passing zone came up, turns out he was just waiting for me to do that so he could make sure I was a Texas plate holder. If you have plates from a state that doesn't require front plate like a lot of military, you don't have to use the front plate in Texas.

Thanks for the above, I ordered one of each, I'll pick one and send the other one back.

Yeah I live in IL and had no front plate for a year and a half and never was stopped till last month.
Bought the stoNsho and had it mounted in about 20 min.
The PoPo are looking more revenue since there's less people on the road.

Here is the Post I followed
Sto N Sho - Removable Front License Plate https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1233892

[Gomeler]

Colorado requires a front plate, I've got 4 street cars with no front plates. Been pulled over once in my STI, and I suspect it was a matter of the car attracting attention via noise and the officer then finding a reason to pull it over.

[ClubsportJunkie]

I bought this and it's been great. It just latches onto your front grill with hooks and has two small rubber stops on top of the license plate that rest on the front bumper.

https://carbonio.com/collections/bmw...se-plate-mount

[GarlicBread]

I have US Mill works and it's perfect for the m4. Take a look

usmillworks.com

[h_bakken]

Originally Posted by GarlicBread

I have US Mill works and it's perfect for the m4. Take a look

usmillworks.com

Yes agree. I ordered the lightened one with quick detach option.

[h_bakken]

Bottom line up front, great kit, I recommend it highly as long as you want your plate in this position. If you wanna center mount plate then don't get this kit.

(sorry about the random capital letters, that's how my iPad does it when you edit a sentence).

I thought it was very strange how BMWs mount you're supposed to drill holes in the bumper of this beautiful car. What a joke. That BMW front plate mount was in the trunk with the shock tools and manuals when I bought the car and the guy who sold it to me just laughed he said yeah that thing is useless.

Ordered this last week. I had Sto-n-Sho on my other car.

Got here in less than a week. Let me just say I am very impressed with this kit. You can tell by the video on the website that the guy who designed it is very fastidious. He's a Porsche guy...

Anyhow, it came very efficiently packaged to start. I didn't take a picture before I opened it but let's just say they really pay attention to detail.

Everything about the kit is extremely high-quality, every piece of hardware is either anodized aluminum or stainless steel.

I got the one with the quick detach mount because I wanted to be able to pull the plate off and throw it in the truck when I wasn't using it or For a wash.

Installation was very easy probably you could do it in 10 minutes but I spent an hour of course because that's me. The four series front bumper with parking sensors requires the plate to be mounted with the mount point at the left edge. I was initially nervous about this, wondering if the plate would flex a lot but The aluminum plate that you actually not the license plate on is very rigid and so is the rest of them out. It's infinitely adjustable in terms of angle because it's a ball and socket type joint you lock in place when you get it the way you want it.

The only things I did differently from the instruction video were to use a small amount of molybdenum based assembly lube on the rod that goes into the tow hook socket, and I use blue Loctite 243 on the flat head screws after I had everything the way I wanted it.

So nothing about this kit is cheap, I mean that in a good way.

I've got pictures of the kit after I opened it, as well as the final mounting position. I put a small plastic drawer bumper on the part of the plate that would touch the bumper if somehow something leaned into it or I guess if I was going really really fast.

This kid is much much higher quality and better engineered (in my opinion) than the Sto-n-Sho that I had on my GT350R, I mean that worked fine and it was a good location but it was a little bit Bendy and wiggly, and sometimes the release mechanism would get jammed up. Also I had to grease it once in a while otherwise you couldn't easily get the plate on and off.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about this kit, or if you don't think the plate is on straight. 😆

Messed around with the orientation for a while. I think you could get the right side of the plate slightly closer to the bumper but I like it this way I think it's less likely to touch the bumper.

If you're going to drive around a bunch without the plate in place, you might find that you don't like the way the mount looks when the plate is not on it. Agree it's more noticeable than some of the other ones, but I really don't plan on driving around without the plate unless I'm at the track.

I actually prefer this position to a center mount over the bumper, it looks just a enough hoonigan not being overkill. Of course that's personal opinion.

You can see the little furniture pad that I put on, and I did test it by pushing the plate until it touched the bumper to make sure that's where it was going to hit. I'm also going to put a bit of chalk on the pad and drive it around this weekend fast just to make sure it's not tapping the bumper regularly. If it does I will just angle it a bit more.

Oh and one other cool thing, all you need to install the plate is the Allen wrench that comes in the kit. I just keep that in a little Ziploc bag in my glove box with the two extra pins they give you in case you lose them.

[786]

looks really good and awesome you didn't have to drill the bumper. im gonna run no front plate as long as i can.

[h_bakken]

Originally Posted by 786

looks really good and awesome you didn't have to drill the bumper. im gonna run no front plate as long as i can.

Yeah definitely looks better without a plate. I just hate getting pulled over, it ruins my whole day even if I don't get in actual trouble. And actually can spin the whole thing off in just a few seconds. Put the plug back in and preasto- back to stock.

[786]

Originally Posted by h_bakken

Yeah definitely looks better without a plate. I just hate getting pulled over, it ruins my whole day even if I don't get in actual trouble. And actually can spin the whole thing off in just a few seconds. Put the plug back in and preasto- back to stock.

Nice, that is convenient. I have had really good luck lately with cops, been pulled over a bunch but never got a ticket. My last time I was speeding 25 over in someone else's car, forgot my license, no insurance paperwork in the car etc. and the guy let me off with a warning. My wife looked over and said "did you grow some boobs?"

[ClubsportJunkie]

Just as a heads up you might want to consider putting some anti-seize and always having an allen wrench for that USMillworks mount. I missed that last post otherwise I would have warned you about my experience. I used that for roughly 2 years on my prior BMW and only took it off a handful of times, but each of those times it was a pita. The final time was when I sold the car, and I didn't bother fighting with it...Who knows if the prior owner was able to get it off. Also I found it incredibly annoying for the PDC you had to get it just right so it wouldn't get in the way, and over time the swivel joint would sag.

[h_bakken]

Originally Posted by Sh4d0w

Just as a heads up you might want to consider putting some anti-seize and always having an allen wrench for that USMillworks mount. I missed that last post otherwise I would have warned you about my experience. I used that for roughly 2 years on my prior BMW and only took it off a handful of times, but each of those times it was a pita. The final time was when I sold the car, and I didn't bother fighting with it...Who knows if the prior owner was able to get it off. Also I found it incredibly annoying for the PDC you had to get it just right so it wouldn't get in the way, and over time the swivel joint would sag.

Yes!

I installed the post with molybdenum based assembly lube, and used Loctite 243 (the update to 242, thicker) on all 8 of the flat head screws (4 in the pivot and 4 in the QD plate), Loctite also acts as anti seize.

I will watch out for the pivot drooping.

And I already put the Allen wrench and the 2 spare retention clips in the glove box in a little zip lock bag.

[1stm235i]

Originally Posted by h_bakken

Bottom line up front, great kit, I recommend it highly as long as you want your plate in this position. If you wanna center mount plate then don't get this kit.

(sorry about the random capital letters, that's how my iPad does it when you edit a sentence).

I thought it was very strange how BMWs mount you're supposed to drill holes in the bumper of this beautiful car. What a joke. That BMW front plate mount was in the trunk with the shock tools and manuals when I bought the car and the guy who sold it to me just laughed he said yeah that thing is useless.

Ordered this last week. I had Sto-n-Sho on my other car.

Got here in less than a week. Let me just say I am very impressed with this kit. You can tell by the video on the website that the guy who designed it is very fastidious. He's a Porsche guy...

Anyhow, it came very efficiently packaged to start. I didn't take a picture before I opened it but let's just say they really pay attention to detail.

Everything about the kit is extremely high-quality, every piece of hardware is either anodized aluminum or stainless steel.

I got the one with the quick detach mount because I wanted to be able to pull the plate off and throw it in the truck when I wasn't using it or For a wash.

Installation was very easy probably you could do it in 10 minutes but I spent an hour of course because that's me. The four series front bumper with parking sensors requires the plate to be mounted with the mount point at the left edge. I was initially nervous about this, wondering if the plate would flex a lot but The aluminum plate that you actually not the license plate on is very rigid and so is the rest of them out. It's infinitely adjustable in terms of angle because it's a ball and socket type joint you lock in place when you get it the way you want it.

The only things I did differently from the instruction video were to use a small amount of molybdenum based assembly lube on the rod that goes into the tow hook socket, and I use blue Loctite 243 on the flat head screws after I had everything the way I wanted it.

So nothing about this kit is cheap, I mean that in a good way.

I've got pictures of the kit after I opened it, as well as the final mounting position. I put a small plastic drawer bumper on the part of the plate that would touch the bumper if somehow something leaned into it or I guess if I was going really really fast.

This kid is much much higher quality and better engineered (in my opinion) than the Sto-n-Sho that I had on my GT350R, I mean that worked fine and it was a good location but it was a little bit Bendy and wiggly, and sometimes the release mechanism would get jammed up. Also I had to grease it once in a while otherwise you couldn't easily get the plate on and off.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about this kit, or if you don't think the plate is on straight. 😆

Messed around with the orientation for a while. I think you could get the right side of the plate slightly closer to the bumper but I like it this way I think it's less likely to touch the bumper.

If you're going to drive around a bunch without the plate in place, you might find that you don't like the way the mount looks when the plate is not on it. Agree it's more noticeable than some of the other ones, but I really don't plan on driving around without the plate unless I'm at the track.

I actually prefer this position to a center mount over the bumper, it looks just a enough hoonigan not being overkill. Of course that's personal opinion.

You can see the little furniture pad that I put on, and I did test it by pushing the plate until it touched the bumper to make sure that's where it was going to hit. I'm also going to put a bit of chalk on the pad and drive it around this weekend fast just to make sure it's not tapping the bumper regularly. If it does I will just angle it a bit more.

Oh and one other cool thing, all you need to install the plate is the Allen wrench that comes in the kit. I just keep that in a little Ziploc bag in my glove box with the two extra pins they give you in case you lose them.

Originally Posted by h_bakken

Bottom line up front, great kit, I recommend it highly as long as you want your plate in this position. If you wanna center mount plate then don't get this kit.

(sorry about the random capital letters, that's how my iPad does it when you edit a sentence).

I thought it was very strange how BMWs mount you're supposed to drill holes in the bumper of this beautiful car. What a joke. That BMW front plate mount was in the trunk with the shock tools and manuals when I bought the car and the guy who sold it to me just laughed he said yeah that thing is useless.

Ordered this last week. I had Sto-n-Sho on my other car.

Got here in less than a week. Let me just say I am very impressed with this kit. You can tell by the video on the website that the guy who designed it is very fastidious. He's a Porsche guy...

Anyhow, it came very efficiently packaged to start. I didn't take a picture before I opened it but let's just say they really pay attention to detail.

Everything about the kit is extremely high-quality, every piece of hardware is either anodized aluminum or stainless steel.

I got the one with the quick detach mount because I wanted to be able to pull the plate off and throw it in the truck when I wasn't using it or For a wash.

Installation was very easy probably you could do it in 10 minutes but I spent an hour of course because that's me. The four series front bumper with parking sensors requires the plate to be mounted with the mount point at the left edge. I was initially nervous about this, wondering if the plate would flex a lot but The aluminum plate that you actually not the license plate on is very rigid and so is the rest of them out. It's infinitely adjustable in terms of angle because it's a ball and socket type joint you lock in place when you get it the way you want it.

The only things I did differently from the instruction video were to use a small amount of molybdenum based assembly lube on the rod that goes into the tow hook socket, and I use blue Loctite 243 on the flat head screws after I had everything the way I wanted it.

So nothing about this kit is cheap, I mean that in a good way.

I've got pictures of the kit after I opened it, as well as the final mounting position. I put a small plastic drawer bumper on the part of the plate that would touch the bumper if somehow something leaned into it or I guess if I was going really really fast.

This kid is much much higher quality and better engineered (in my opinion) than the Sto-n-Sho that I had on my GT350R, I mean that worked fine and it was a good location but it was a little bit Bendy and wiggly, and sometimes the release mechanism would get jammed up. Also I had to grease it once in a while otherwise you couldn't easily get the plate on and off.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about this kit, or if you don't think the plate is on straight. 😆

Messed around with the orientation for a while. I think you could get the right side of the plate slightly closer to the bumper but I like it this way I think it's less likely to touch the bumper.

If you're going to drive around a bunch without the plate in place, you might find that you don't like the way the mount looks when the plate is not on it. Agree it's more noticeable than some of the other ones, but I really don't plan on driving around without the plate unless I'm at the track.

I actually prefer this position to a center mount over the bumper, it looks just a enough hoonigan not being overkill. Of course that's personal opinion.

You can see the little furniture pad that I put on, and I did test it by pushing the plate until it touched the bumper to make sure that's where it was going to hit. I'm also going to put a bit of chalk on the pad and drive it around this weekend fast just to make sure it's not tapping the bumper regularly. If it does I will just angle it a bit more.

Oh and one other cool thing, all you need to install the plate is the Allen wrench that comes in the kit. I just keep that in a little Ziploc bag in my glove box with the two extra pins they give you in case you lose them.

Doesn't interfere with headlight pattern? Thanks

[4play]

Plate looks great, but I'm increasingly jealous of you Frozen Grey guys...

Anyone want to swap?

[ohohoh123456]

i have multiple occasion which i behaved nicely when got pulled over on speeding or other stuff and officer only gave me a ticket for missing front license plate.

[h_bakken]

Originally Posted by 1stm235i

Doesn't interfere with headlight pattern? Thanks

No there is no shadow from the plate that I can see.

I've got it very close to the bumper and adjusted it so it matches the bumper profile very closely. The aluminum backing plate is so stiff I don't really have any concerns.

Did a couple of high-speed runs just to make sure that it wasn't going to tap the bumper repetitively on that little furniture pad I added and can't see any evidence that this is happening. I am very impressed with the kit.

Also no interference with the parking sensors. The instructions are good.

There is a BMW specific instruction sheet that comes with the kit that details proper mounting for M cars And other BMW model specific advice for 2, 3, 4 series non-M cars.

[h_bakken]

Originally Posted by 4play

Plate looks great, but I'm increasingly jealous of you Frozen Grey guys...

Anyone want to swap?

I'll let you know if I get bored of the Frozen