Front Licence Plate mount options

Personally, I don't really mind sporting a front plate on my cars, but on my 2011 30i, I don't much care for 2 things. 1) the way it slightly obscures the bottom of the kidney grills, and 2) the way the plate is angled slightly downward. Does anyone know of any alternate plate mount that can be centrally mounted (I don't want a tow hook mounted side plate) that will be located slightly lower than the grill and be angled slightly upward more?

Never let the dealer mount your frt plate bracket. I mounted mine myself so it does not cover the lower portion of the grills after I had the frt & rear painted to match. The black plastic is so tacky.

Originally Posted by HerrK

Never let the dealer mount your frt plate bracket. I mounted mine myself so it does not cover the lower portion of the grills after I had the frt & rear painted to match. The black plastic is so tacky.

Looks much better than mine. Just had my front bumper replaced when repairs were done but didn't catch them soon enough to avoid the bumper being drilled, Grrrrr.

Originally Posted by HerrK

Never let the dealer mount your frt plate bracket. I mounted mine myself so it does not cover the lower portion of the grills after I had the frt & rear painted to match. The black plastic is so tacky.

Nice, HerrK! I like that Care to share approx cost of painting the brackets?, I understand the plastic might be tricky to paint because of it's flexible nature.

[QUOTE=TeeZee;5958433]

Originally Posted by HerrK

Never let the dealer mount your frt plate bracket. I mounted mine myself so it does not cover the lower portion of the grills after I had the frt & rear painted to match. The black plastic is so tacky.

Nice, HerrK! I like that Care to share approx cost of painting the brackets?, I understand the plastic might be tricky to paint because of it's flexible nature.

Cost me $120 for F&R. A little steep IMO, but he did a nice job sanding and smoothing out the plastic orange peel finish. My SA recommended a shop they use. Looks as smooth as the bumpers, so far nearing 10K and no paint problems. Not much difference between painting plastic or bumpers - proper prep and add flex agent. Much easier to clean and they blend in nicely. The E46's used to come stock with painted frames. Now like so many other things we have to pay extra.

Nice job mounting the front plate HerrK. Looks great! Much much better than the black plastic.

Any other ideas? Yup, it looks great, but there must be at least one other forum member that has another idea?

Heres an thought. Go to your dealer, ask him to give you a set of F&R plate mtg frames (or buy them if he's too tight). Get them painted to match. Take off the ugly high mounted front bracket and drill two more small holes (no larger in dia than 1/16") and locate them lower so your plate will mount below the kidneys. You already have 4 holes courtesy of the dealer. Two more small holes where the sun will never shine will not hurt anything. Remount your frame using two of the existing screws. Your plate bracket will cover the existing dealer installed holes. Two srews will hold sufficiently. Aerodynamic loading is only 7-8 lbs total on the plate @ 140 mph. I've road tested mine to 120 mph. Remove & replace the rear braket and now you have no more worries.