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      12-03-2019, 12:33 PM   #1
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Front License Plate Frame Options

I am shipping my car from Chicago to Seoul South Korea and I never had a front license plate on my car. I know that the license plates in South Korea look like license plates from Europe and I am pretty sure I have to have the front license plate on at all times in South Korea for it to be road legal. (I know we need it here in Chicago too but the cops are not very strict with it and I don't know what the case is there).
So I'm looking to get some help on what front license plate brackets I can use whether that be front tow hook mounted or bottom grill mounted that will fit European/South Korean license plates.
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      12-03-2019, 02:28 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M2_PLS View Post
I am shipping my car from Chicago to Seoul South Korea and I never had a front license plate on my car. I know that the license plates in South Korea look like license plates from Europe and I am pretty sure I have to have the front license plate on at all times in South Korea for it to be road legal. (I know we need it here in Chicago too but the cops are not very strict with it and I don't know what the case is there).
So I'm looking to get some help on what front license plate brackets I can use whether that be front tow hook mounted or bottom grill mounted that will fit European/South Korean license plates.
I would use double sided tape like how BMW does on the European Delivery cars. Front plate is not going anywhere with a good strong double sided tape.
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      12-03-2019, 04:19 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by chmura View Post
I would use double sided tape like how BMW does on the European Delivery cars. Front plate is not going anywhere with a good strong double sided tape.
I was reading through some forum posts here and I'm okay with running it like that as long as it's still safe and secure at high speeds. I am still concerned whether if the Korean DMV will be okay with that.
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      12-03-2019, 04:23 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M2_PLS View Post
I was reading through some forum posts here and I'm okay with running it like that as long as it's still safe and secure at high speeds. I am still concerned whether if the Korean DMV will be okay with that.
Like I said you do not need to worry about it coming off. Lots of things are held on by tape. What do you think the rear oem lip spoiler is held on by? TAPE.

I was going 150 mph everyday on my ED and never had an issue. When I got my car back in the U.S. it was nearly impossible to take off (if someone doesnt know what they are doing).
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      12-03-2019, 04:28 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M2_PLS View Post
I was reading through some forum posts here and I'm okay with running it like that as long as it's still safe and secure at high speeds. I am still concerned whether if the Korean DMV will be okay with that.
use 3m VHB and clean the surface really well with alcohol before mounting. Then after it is mounted use green or blue painters tape to secure the plate on for 24-72 hrs before driving, as 3M VHB has a cure time of: 15 mins = 50% strength, 24hrs = 90% strength, and 72hrs = 100% strength. It is also extremely strong and can hold a few pounds per square inch.

And like the other poster said, the rear deck lid spoiler is also attached with this stuff, for me personally I have had my deck lid spoiler secured with 3M VHB for 3 years and have driven it upwards of 160km/h without any issue, even with wax which has made some of my decals fall off, it has zero affect on the spoiler's adhesion.
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      12-03-2019, 05:10 PM   #6
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Carbonio makes a plate holder for non-US plates. I have the US version and love it.
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      12-05-2019, 11:20 AM   #7
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Carbonio makes a plate holder for non-US plates. I have the US version and love it.
Same here. It comes on and off quickly and easily too. Also a lot of configurability. I only used the bottom 2 screws so there is no chance of a screw leaving a nick in my PPF.

https://carbonio.com/collections/lic...se-plate-mount
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      12-05-2019, 04:14 PM   #8
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Another vote here for the Carbonio - it's not cheap, but it sure beats drilling holes in the front bumper! I don't keep mine on very much, usually only if I'm going to an area that's known for ticketing for no front plate (i.e. parking in L.A., LAX, etc.) They'll just leave a ticket on your windshield in L.A. for the equipment violation if you're parked somewhere they target. It's just another money maker for the local cities...
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      12-05-2019, 05:18 PM   #9
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I used to live in South Korea, and I'm British and took my UK car over there with me when I went.

The Korean system is a bit different from the UK and US (where I now live), but similar to the UK, front license plates are required at all times, and similar to the UK, they're most often long and thin like European plates, but the US style more square plates are available as well... at least they were when I was there.

The big issue that you're going to have is that they have special security screws and caps that you need to use on one of the mounting screw for both the front and rear plates. These things are nothing more than a metal cup and cap, with a regular screw inside, but you'd damage the cap if you tried to remove it and in doing so it's therefore a tamper evident mounting and the police there do look for this.

I imported my UK Honda S2000 to Korea and many UK cars, the license plates had always been taped in place as has been said above. During the import process the fact that my car had no threaded screw for a license plate blew their minds... I ended up having to just swap out the metric machine screw for a self tapping screw and go into the plastic bumper.

Annoyingly for you, you'll need to do this on the front if you do not already have a front license plate frame with a threaded mounting hole that lines up with a Korean plate.

I don't know if the Korean immigration people would accept a mounting that is not tight to the body of the car and therefore not obviously attached with their tamper proof system.

What you could do is get the factory license plate frame and either tape it, or attach it with magnets to the front of your car. I've posted about the magnet approach on the M2 in the past, and will try and dig up the thread.
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      12-05-2019, 05:21 PM   #10
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It seems I was mistaken about the front plate screw... the tamper proof screw is only for the rear, but you do still need the front in place.

Here's a photo of a typical rear plate. You can see the tamper proof screw on the left, and a typical one on the right. Newer license plates are white, not green.

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      12-05-2019, 05:28 PM   #11
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Found the thread: https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...light=magnetic
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      12-05-2019, 09:58 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nezil View Post
I used to live in South Korea, and I'm British and took my UK car over there with me when I went.

The Korean system is a bit different from the UK and US (where I now live), but similar to the UK, front license plates are required at all times, and similar to the UK, they're most often long and thin like European plates, but the US style more square plates are available as well... at least they were when I was there.

The big issue that you're going to have is that they have special security screws and caps that you need to use on one of the mounting screw for both the front and rear plates. These things are nothing more than a metal cup and cap, with a regular screw inside, but you'd damage the cap if you tried to remove it and in doing so it's therefore a tamper evident mounting and the police there do look for this.

I imported my UK Honda S2000 to Korea and many UK cars, the license plates had always been taped in place as has been said above. During the import process the fact that my car had no threaded screw for a license plate blew their minds... I ended up having to just swap out the metric machine screw for a self tapping screw and go into the plastic bumper.

Annoyingly for you, you'll need to do this on the front if you do not already have a front license plate frame with a threaded mounting hole that lines up with a Korean plate.

I don't know if the Korean immigration people would accept a mounting that is not tight to the body of the car and therefore not obviously attached with their tamper proof system.

What you could do is get the factory license plate frame and either tape it, or attach it with magnets to the front of your car. I've posted about the magnet approach on the M2 in the past, and will try and dig up the thread.
I read through your post and I think the magnet might be the way to go. As far as I know, they no longer provide the old square design for newly registered cars. I am also not too sure how happy they will be if they find out that I tried to tamper with the front license plate and I don't have access to the Korean front license plate bracket as of now and I don't know where I can get them until I get there. Honestly, though, I am not hating the look of the white and black European style license plate and I already have plenty of rock chips and damages. I might just have them drill into my front bumper and when its time for me to replace the bumper to a new one, I might look into doing the magnet method.
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      12-09-2019, 08:46 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nezil View Post
It seems I was mistaken about the front plate screw... the tamper proof screw is only for the rear, but you do still need the front in place.

Here's a photo of a typical rear plate. You can see the tamper proof screw on the left, and a typical one on the right. Newer license plates are white, not green.

Those are the old style license plates.

New plates are european style.

520mm x 110mm
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