Mounting front license plate

[bbig119]

I just moved to NY and now have to mount a license plate on the front bumper. My car has the m-technic kit, and I was surprised to find that the holes in the bumper did not allow for mounting the license plate directly.

I ordered a mounting bracket/trim through the stealer, but they are for the standard OEM bumper and will not fit my car. They are #9 and #12 on the realOEM linked page http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=HE63&mospid=47410&btnr=51_0610&hg=51&fg=15

When I returned the parts I spent a good 20-30 mins with the parts specialist at the stealer and we couldn't find an obvious part that is for the m-technic bumper to allow mounting of a US license plate.

Anyone know what I need to do here?

[M20Turbo]

Anyone know what I need to do here?

What I did when I lived back east, I just registered my car back in my home state (NM), where we just have back plates. Having a plate on the front bumper reins the look. Local law enforcement might give you a hard time, I was in the military at the time. I always had fun with troopers back east, when ever I was pulled over for no front plate and the officer would take a look at my back plate (New Mexico USA) they would ask if I speak English? Si..... then I would show the officer my NM drivers license always with my military ID. Most officers back then (70's & 80's) did not know that New Mexico was part of the United States, hence our NM plates have USA on them for those not in the know......

[bubba966]

You need #12 here http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=HE63&mospid=47410&btnr=51_0611&hg=51&fg=15

It is for the M-Tech bumper. You have to drill holes in the center trim strip (part # 51112232451) for that bracket to mount to the bumper carrier. And you'll need parts 18, 19, & 21 to mount the bracket to the bumper. I can't seem to find the part # for part 21 though. It's the plastic insert you install in the bumper underneath the center trim piece that the screw is screwed into.

Take your center trim piece off & look at the back of it. You'll see two indented circles that are a little over an inch in diameter. That's the area that you drill out in the trim strip so you can mount that steel bracket (part 12 in the diagram) on top of the trim piece.

I went through all of this with my M-Sport when I bought it. It too has the M-Tech bumper and I bought it from NC where they have no front plates. Where in WA we do have front plates. Was really annoyed to have to drill that trim strip, but that's the only way to do it.

[bbig119]

Thanks so much for that reply. I've been in contact with the dealer and right now they are telling me that I can just mount the plate #12 in the RealOEM diagram on the bumper. My problem right now is that I don't have much for center trim on the front bumper in the center. I have a molding piece that is narrow to allow mounting of a euro plate spacer:#3
(http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=HE63&mospid=47410&btnr=51_0639&hg=51&fg=15)

Should I have something bigger? Otherwise I'll have to drill directly into the bumper or no?

[bubba966]

You don't do any drilling in the bumper. There's already holes in the aluminum where those plastic inserts to hold the screws go. You only drill through the center trim strip.

You need a different trim center trim strip part #51112232451. Then get the bracket, screws, washers, & inserts (parts 12, 18, 19, & 21 in diagram). I'll try looking through my paperwork to see if I still have the receipt for the bracket & stuff so I can get a part # for the inserts for you.

[bbig119]

Ok thanks. I can't find a picture of the trim piece for the part number you reference although it does come up at RealOEM as what its supposed to be. I'm also unable to find anyone selling it via a google search. Tell me, is it the width of the rest of the trim or is it wider to accommodate the dimensions of the license plate better? I'm assuming that it will greatly enhance the look by having it as opposed to not.

Just need to see if I can find a place that can sell it to me. I just emailed the dealer with the information you posted. They seem as curious about this as I am. If they can't get it for a reasonable price, I'll call BMA and see if they can help me out.

Bryan

[bubba966]

You have a pic of this center trim piece you've currently got on? Wonder if it'd work just fine using the trim piece you've got on there currently. The center trim piece I referenced was stock on my car. And it's listed as the correct US piece for states not requiring a front plate.

I've not tried the piece you've got as I just went with what I had. It does look quite nice though.

I had fun ordering up a new one from the dealer when I got Euro trim. The # in the back of the trim wouldn't come up, and none of the pics in their parts diagrams looks remotely like the trim piece does. But my parts guy finally found that part # and ordered it. And when it showed up it was correct. Still have the new one sitting in the bag which is why I can give you the part # for it.

Oh, and you can order it from Tischer BMW (www.getbmwparts.com). Probably the best place to get factory parts. Though your dealer should have absolutely no problems ordering one either.

[bubba966]

Ok, found my receipt from buying all of the hardware needed to mount your front plate on your bumper.

1x #51 18 1 908 062 plate bracket
2x #51 18 1 852 299 plastic insert
2x #51 18 1 835 719 bracket mounting screw
6x #07 11 9 936 412 washers
4x #07 14 3 448 498 plate mounting screw
4x #07 12 9 901 656 plate mounting screw "nut"

And you may or may not need that center trim piece # 51 11 2 232 451

The inserts are just hammered into the aluminum bumper support where the mounting holes for the bracket line up. Insert the "nuts" into the bracket where the mounting holes are for the license plate are. Use the 2 mounting screws with 2 of the washers to mount the bracket to the bumper into the plastic inserts. Use the last 4 washers with the 4 plate mounting screws to mount the plate to the bracket.

And you're done.

If you do decide to get the center trim piece you'll need to either drill out the 2 rather large "knockouts" in the trim piece, or locate the spot where the holes should be made in the trim piece and use a large enough drill bit so that when the trim piece is installed you've got the holes just exposing the plastic inserts for the bracket mounting screws.

[bbig119]

Thanks man this is exactly what I was hoping for and also what was seemingly impossible to find online. I sent this info to the dealership in an email and hopefully I'll hear back from them tomorrow about this.

[bubba966]

No problem. Recall having some fun trying to figure all of this out myself 3 years ago. And it should be pretty obvious when you've got all of the parts in hand in front of you if my description of things didn't make 100% sense.

[Sam-Son]

whatever you do please do not drill an M-Technic bumper...or any E34 bumper for that matter
I live in NY and deal with the same BS front plate laws...most of the time I just run a filler plate and could care less about the front plate(I despise front plates in all forms)

that said when I do slap the front plate on i go this route...
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1117097

[bbig119]

The parts to mount the plate 'properly' are in the mail and hopefully will do the trick. However, what you've done in that post looks like an excellent alternative should I continue to have problems mounting the plate.

[bubba966]

whatever you do please do not drill an M-Technic bumper...or any E34 bumper for that matter

You don't actually drill the bumper, you drill the center trim strip. You could easily have a second trim strip that had no holes in it should you want the front plate off for whatever reason and it'd be perfect.

[bubba966]

that said when I do slap the front plate on i go this route...
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1117097

See, you've already got the holes in the bumper for the plate mounting bracket. That style bumper has the center trim strip as a separate piece from the filler plate. M-Tech & M5 bumpers have the center trim strip & filler plate as a one piece item. So to have the center trim strip in and have a plate on the front you need to drill two pass-through holes in the filler plate area of the trim strip so the mounting screws for the bracket can get to the inserts you've installed in the aluminum part of the bumper.

[bubba966]

The parts to mount the plate 'properly' are in the mail and hopefully will do the trick.


So, did you order the trim strip, or are you going to try it with your current trim strip first?

[bbig119]

So, did you order the trim strip, or are you going to try it with your current trim strip first?

I ordered the new trim-- it will look better in the end. The current trim piece is for a euro plate so even if it would mount properly the US plate would look strange in that space. I should have dealt with this a while ago so having to mount the plate is just forcing my hand some and as it sounds like this is rather simple and straightforward I'd rather try to do it right instead of coming up with an acceptable solution(though the Velcro looks like a fine one at that)

[bbig119]

I installed the front plate today and it turned out to be a bit more of a pain in the ass than I thought.

I first tried to install without the new trim piece, but the screw holes for the license plate sat flush against the bumper and I didn't want to damage the bumper, but the mounting bracket did fit nicely.

I took the new trim piece and drilled out the holes to accommodate the mounting plate. The trim has these holes scored on the back to begin with. Even with the extra clearance that the trim provided it appeared that the screws may end up pushing up against the bumper. At this point I tried to think of alternatives.

The bottom two screws aren't in the way so there was no problem using screws there. I ended up putting velcrow on the plate and mounting bracket and then using zip ties on the two top holes of the license plate. The zipties seem a bit ghetto but I don't think they look bad and they will do a fine job of holding the plate. Even if they break or come loose I have the plate screwed in from the bottom so it won't fall off and the velcrow for whatever that's worth.

Thanks for you help and hopefully this holds up.