I bought a license plate bracket at MOTD a few years ago and it held up great, but now it's beyond hope. I don't recall the brand, but it utilizes the front tow-hook mount. It is NOT the Platypus. Unlike the Platypus, the brand I have has one horizontal piece that extends the length of the license plate and then there is a vertical piece on each end which receives the top & bottom bolts for the license plate. It's not very strong at all. The frame itself is mangled. The BEST thing about my current bracket is that I can easily slip a boxed-end ratchet between the plate and the tow-hook mount and unscrew the bolt very quickly. I've looked at the Platypus version and while I like the idea that the backing plate is solid (and hopefully sturdier & less prone to bending), my concern is the length of the bolts and the thickness of the nuts. I don't want the nuts to even come close to the bumper. I suppose I could put rubber caps on the bolts, but that defeats the purpose of quick removal when necessary. The Platypus requires that the backing plate be mounted via the tow-hook mount and then the license plate attached to the backing plate. There appears to be 3/8"-1/2" gap between the backing plate and the actual license plate. Much too narrow to use a boxed-end ratchet and then I wonder if there would be "whistling" at high speeds. :biggrin5: Not to mention the possibility of muck & whatnot becoming stuck between the plate & the bracket. I'm open to recommendations and I would LOVE to hear from people who have plate brackets that use the front tow-hook mount.
There is this one..... NO HOLES FRONT LICENSE PLATE HOLDER - COOPER & S A - MINI Cooper and this one..... 'NO HOLES' LPB Kit - GoMiniGo-Home of Innovative Products for your car and this one...... Alta Performance - MINI Front License Plate Holder I have only seen the Alta one in person and it looked very nice and seemed to be very stout. Never used one as the police around here don't seem to care if I have a front plate or not.....!
The GoMiniGo kit looks to be an improved/upgraded version of what I currently have mounted on Schultze. My version doesn't have the solid back plate; the horizontal piece that attaches to the tow-hook mount is EXACTLY what I have now. That being said, the horizontal piece isn't very sturdy...unless they've improved that piece of the kit, too.
I have the GoMiniGo bracket that's been on Daphne for 4 years. No touching at all. I don't think it would be that hard to remove in an hurry. I have pictures somewhere... I'll keep looking.
There really shouldn't be any danger of the Platypus scratching your MINI. We do have a few ideas on how it could be avoided even further. One we just got in a run of a new piece that can be used to angle the plate. If you wanted a set with your Platypus you would only have to ask. Also, we could try not using nuts at all; MINI uses this kind of plastic press bolt all the time, seems like it could be an effective way to attach the plate to the Platypus.
I bought the GoMiniGo license plate holder. I live near them so I went there to pick it up and save on shipping. They installed it for me! Real nice people. Dave
I have the go mini go bracket and its fantastic. I've had it on for about 4 years and it never came anywhere near my bumper. Except when I kicked it real hard one day...