Alternate Ways of Attaching a Custom European Plate and Frame
July 8th, 2010 By: Euro Plate BloggerWe’ve discovered recently that some people often are deterred from buying European Plates for their car because of the likelihood that they will have to drill holes into their bumper in order to attach it. Some customers that own European cars in the US already have a US license plate on their car, if this is the case the only thing needed to do to install a European Plate is to put the universal frame on the existing screws. However, some European car owners do not have holes in their bumper and do not want having a European plate make them change this detail. We have invested some time to look into alternate ways of attaching a Euro Plate that does not create holes in the front of your bumper. We’ve had a few suggestions from Euro plate owners and we’ve done our part to research the durability of some of these methods. What we have discovered though is that not every method works for every car in the same way. Some effectiveness of methods vary concerning your car’s construction…but here are some of the methods we looked into…
3M Dual Lock: This is a type of Velcro made by 3M. It is almost mechanical in locking power, it is waterproof, comes in colors: clear or black, and it is backed with 3M peel and stick adhesive.
- How this method would work is you would use two sets of this Velcro and put it on each corner and in the middle of the plate. A recommendation is to try and slightly bend the plate first so it can fit more uniformly to your bumper. The next step then would be to stick the plate frame with the plate on your bumper.
- Some customer feedback to this method has been given and some of its effectiveness seem to be dependent upon weather. One customer who lived in a hot and very dry environment said that the heat lessened the Velcro’s adhesiveness. This might be a factor to take into consideration. One very good attribute about this product is that many people have said that it does not peel off paint from your bumper and it relatively easy to remove if you wish to take the plate off your vehicle.
Scotch 3M Exterior Weather-Resistant Double-sided Foam Tape: This is a type of double-sided tape made by Scotch. This tape has a close cell foam middle which allows for excellent vibration protection and the tape consists of a strong 3M acrylic adhesive that creates a secure bond. Is able to hold up to 5 lbs. so it will be secure enough to hold a Euro plate and frame in place. In addition to this exterior type of double-sided tape, there is also a full line of 3M Automotive Acrylic Tape. The description of the product does not differ much at all from the initial type of tape listed it just has a name of being particularly for the automotive industry.
- This method works basically in the same was the 3M Dual Lock works, it is suggested as well that you try to form the plate a little more so it will fit to curve of your bumper without trying to fan out to straighten itself.
- Just as with the method, the advisement is the same with this product as well. This may not work for every plate/car due to the influence of climate. Some people really say that it works and they’ve had no issue with the plate falling off but others have said that the weather has led the tape to lose its adhesiveness. However, just as the 3M Dual Lock, most said they had no problem removing the tape from their bumper. One useful hint that was given to take the tape off even easier was to slide floss in between the tape and your bumper and wiggle it like a saw and it will just peel off and remove the tape even easier.
SmartBolt Mounting System: This method comes from bavauto.com. This requires the use of a mount that hooks up to the tow-hook receiver on the cars that have it, without drilling any holes into the bumper.
- This method requires you to buy the specific parts for installing it but this does not requires a use of a drill into your untouched bumper. The method and the parts that are required for the installation of this method are shown at http://www.images.gominigo.com/INSTRUCTIONS-GMG_NOHOLES_EURO.pdf. You can purchase the kit at bavauto.com as well, just search for “SmartBolt Mounting System”. This has been a highly referred method by customers if your car does have a tow hook. It hooks a bolt to your tow-hook and there are screws from the bolt that connect to your license plate frame which is a universal mount. This is the next best “secure” attachment apart from drilling into your actual bumper.
Zip-Ties: This methods requires just the use of normal/every-day zip-ties that end up hooking to holes in the plate frame and then tying to any spot you would like on your bumper that it will attach to.
- These are most always made of nylon so it is heat-resistant and doesn’t leave any residue or anything on your vehicle and only requires you to cut it off with scissors when you wish to take the plate off. One suggestion that was made by a customer was to use a longer zip-tie in the middle of the plate frame (about 18”) and then to use shorter zip-ties on the sides of the plate (about 14”). This method is not seen because they would be hooked to the part of the car that the license plate would cover so this fact has been an attraction to some people.
L-bracket attachment: This method does require some drilling, however, the drilling occurs on the bottom edge of the bumper instead of the front.
- This requires two L-shape brackets of your choice which could be found at any store that sells parts and to drill underneath the bumper to attach them and then the plate frame attaches to screws drilled into the opposite of the L-bracket that is not attached to the car. This was a choice for people who weren’t satisfied with some of the other methods they tried and although it involved drilling into their car, it did not require drilling into the front of it. The upside on this fact is that it is able to be removed and the holes left remaining would not be visible.
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