Holes in Front Bumper? Question about License Plate Holder
 

Does Nissan's front license plate holder require drilling into the front bumper? Anyone know for sure, or anyone taken delivery without the front bumper holder installed?

YoungTurk

How else would it be held in without drilling holes? Tell the dealer not to do it and if they do you want a new car/bumper.

Some reading material (another thread on the topic):

http://www.the370z.com/nissan-370z-g...ont-plate.html

Sorry if my post wasn't clear. What I meant was, are any holes that may be required plainly visible, or are they hidden, or underneath?

YoungTurk

With the plate on or when you take the holder and plate off?

When you take the holder and plate off.

YoungTurk

If you have the holder installed and take it off, there will be holes in the bumper cover that are plainly visible. (I think that's what you're asking.)

cicrcles--drill those out and those are your holes.

Yeah there will be holes

Mine does not have holes on it.
I specifically asked my dealer not to install the license bracket.
It's the only way not to have holes on it.

^^ told em the same thing
i know its a bad call specially in socal..... :(

north bay nissan never has drilled holes in any of my z's and im way north cali.

Infact they would probably tell me to do it my self hehe.

Mine already had them on when I test drove the car since in VA it's required.

I wanted to place smoked covers over the front and back but not sure if it will be ok to take off the bracket and just put the plates with the smoked covers on it.

Anyone done this?

Turns out there are only 17 states that DON'T require the front plate...a fact I learned when I was disgusted with the idea of putting a front plate on my car. My Z had them drilled when I got it, but they are not very noticeable as the holes are in the grill plastic and not drilled into the painted bumper.

@Dad - Where did you get those plugs?

On my Nismo you can see 2 small roughly 1/8" indentions in the front of the bumper. My genious intuition tells me that is where the plate adapter goes, lol.

There has been some talk about people using the front tow hook adapter to hold a license plate instead of butchering your bumper.

I have done that, and removed it. It is not center like the 350z so it just looks...wrong.

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...z/IMG_0331.jpg

Eh, I have it on mine - you get used to it (and it's better than drilling the holes in the bumper). Here's a photo that shows the whole front of the car with the plate holder installed:

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...7-14-09012.jpg

Mine was not drilled from the dealer.Plate was in plastic in back storage area.So I never installed nor do I intend to.
Have not had a problem here in NJ so far even though it is required.
Guys in corvettes have been driving around for years without a front tag and it takes a real dickhead of a cop to pull you over.
Not that we don't have some dickheads but for the most part they are real cool when it comes to petty things like that.Worst case scenario is a warning and at that point let your conscence be your guide!

that plate in front of the radiator is a restriction... not to forget there is an air duct above there for your intake.

i'd keep it at the factory mount location and let it be.

where do I get the plugs to fill the wholes if I take the license plate bracket off?

bumper plugs dot com

is it legit? haha
seems like a lot for two little plugs.

I cant believe I said "wholes":ughdance:
I meant holes.

I dont want to repaint/fill the bumper since the clear bra on it is in good shape. I figure this is the next best thing. I just ordered them (2 pair for four awesome holes!) they came in three days. The paint match looks perfect. People seem to have nothing but good things to say about them. I'll post up some pick when I put them in correctly.

How do you have four holes? Doesnt the front license plate only use two?

The plate mounts to a bracket and the bracket mounts to the flat black portion of the grill. These grill holes can be filled with plugs and it will look ok. The problem is that the upper screws on the plate itself are long enough (in many cases) that they end up scraping the paint on the nose of the car-NOT GOOD. You need to communicate with them, in writing, that you will not accept delivery of the car if the bracket is or has been installed. Make it clear that no holes will be tolerated. If they insist that they must install a holder then inform them that you will bring a holder (Stillen or similar) you or they can install at the time of delivery.

Accept no compromise.

What other option do I have besides just putting a plug in it? And do they sell plugs at common stores? I tried autozone and they didn't have any.

Yes and Yes. Not through the painted part of the bumper, but the black-plastic trim. My dealer didn't install the front plate. Did it myself the next day. Yes, yes, it looks cleaner without, but in Illinois it's required and I'd rather not spend $120 each time a cop is having a bad day. For me, the plate's going on and never coming off, so I'll never remove the front bracket and therefore never see the holes. See no evil, right? :p

The mounting hardware & bracket should come with the car. Mine was in the trunk (with the front wheel spoilers...) The instructions for mounting it are in the owner's manual, towards the back. It's easy to do, but two caveats...

1. It uses these self-anchoring taps. It is very important to drill the right size holes. The manual, I think, recommends a 10mm bit. Double-check this. Two holes in bumper-->Anchors in holes-->screws through mounting bracket into anchors. Tinker with these anchors BEFORE you stick them in your bumper, as it's hard to impossible to remove then once you put them in. There's a trick to getting the anchor to swing out to lock into the back side of the bumper. One of mine worked as it should, the other one kind of didn't and took a few minutes of swearing at it to get it to lock properly.

2. As someone else mentioned - be VERY CAREFUL as to the length of the screws you use to secure your license plate to the bracket. These screws are *not* included in the mounting hardware, so be especially careful if you go out and buy new ones as I had to. The manual specifically mentions that they must not exceed a certain length. If they are longer than about a half-inch, they will go right into the painted bumper. I had to use a Dremel to cut-down the screws I bought, as they were too long.

Good luck.

I know this is old, but this is what the dealer did to my bumper. :mad: Nissan replaced my front bumper after months of discussions.

However that is what Nissan told the stealership in writing back in 09 when they prep the car for delivery in those states that requieres front license plate.

Wow, that is stupid.

That is beyond stupid, it should be a capital offense.

So what color do I get the bumper plugs in from that site since its on the grille and not the actual paint?

Bump. I need to know so I can order them.

This is how I dealt with it. Nothing a couple of cable ties with built in screw mounts can't fix. It looks OK for when I have to run the front plate. Generally, it's not a issue where I live. However, when traveling into the SF Bay Area I install the plate as a anti-ticket measure. :tup:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...Z/IMG_3335.jpg

Cost = $.37

Dont' drill. Get a Stillen Plate Holder. It threads into the tow bar mount.

I'm trying to find where to get/what to use for bumper plugs for the grille.