kigerka

If you are not required by the state to have a front plate then the Euro plate is fine.
When I return to the states I will have my Euro plates on my car for at least 45 days both front and back. It is good to be military! Plus I will register my car in a state not requiring front plates to keep my Euro plate installed.
Who cares what cops think as long as you are correct by law.

cwoarmy

I agree with Kris but we're both military. When I see a car with a Euro plate I know they have been stationed overseas. I'd like to see more. It lets others know where you have been stationed. I wish I would have had the long version of the Euro plate instead of the US small square.

kigerka

Thanks Chief. I think it would be nice to be standardized across the world. It would be less of a headache for the few of us that travel abroad. At least most of the auto companies outside the US are building the car one way to accept both plates.

subterFUSE

RodyBMW.....


Is it possible to have a Euro plate for your car that is legally registered with the state?

Now that I have the Euro plate trunklid finisher from the M5... I wish I had a Euro plate to fill it with. Obviously I HATE front plates, and lucky for me I live in Florida where the state doesn't even offer a front plate.

But I'd like to have a Euro plate for my official, rear plate.

Is that something I can have registered with the DMV so that I'm legal?

What do you do about it?

rodybmw

No....You can't legally have any plates other than the ones issued by the state DMV's, and ALL the US state DMV's issue the standard US size plates. What I have done starting with my 1984 323i is to leave the German plate on the front and in the rear mount the US plate on top of the German plate. Since the California plate is almost the same color as the German plate (dark letters on white background), from a distance it gives the impression of having a wide Euro sized plate on the back. It is not perfect, but it's the next best thing to having a euro plate and still being legal. I'll try to post some pics this weekend.

Busta

1.) Leave it no front plate

subterFUSE

Yes... no front plate is the best look, for sure.

I just wish my rear plate was German.

rodneyremington

I don't get the appeal of European plates. We talk about how licence plates in general are an ugly add-on the the vehicle exterior, but European plates are twice as big and twice as ugly as any US plate. At least our California plates look somewhat cool and aren't two feet long.

EBMCS03

I thnk its because the Euro Plates "fit" the car... it doesnt extend and hang down over the mouth of the car (air dam of the bumper) I'll post a pic later with it on the car.

rodybmw

It's great that you like the look of the US plate, but I would have to disagree about the European plates being ugly. I think the Euro plates just look like they belong on a BMW. It's not the size of the plate that is an issue. If it were true that smaller plates look better, then the tiny plates that some European countries use for front plates (eg. Italy, Switzerland) would have looked good, but IMO they don't. What I like about the German (most Euro) plates is that they are much wider and not as tall as the US plates. I don't like tall plates. I don't even like the tall German plates that are used on cars in Germany that don't have the wide space needed for the standard (wide) German plates. My Euro Delivery US model E39 had the tall German plate in the back because the sapce on the trunklid was designed for the US plate (thank God they did not do that for the US E60, although they will for the US E60 M5). Another thing I like are the bigger fonts of the letters/numbers of the Euro plates. They look better than the US fonts. To me the German plate seems like it is part of the car. It makes it look "more" German or "more" BMW. It does not take anyting away from the "look", but rather adds to it. Again, that's just my opinion.......my first preference is to have the German plate on the front of the car, the next best thing would be no plate at all, but I just hate the look of the US plate, especially on the front of the E60 with the US plate holder.