M42club.com - Home of the BMW E30/E36 318i/iS
DISCUSSION => Exterior => Topic started by: DRTE30 on October 26, 2013, 03:57:32 AM
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Howdy boys and girls,
Tonight I decided to install a European OEM red/reflective taillight/license plate filler that I had laying around (I have a black OEM one and an early model red OEM also) and took photos of the process. Mind you, there are a few install threads kicking around the internet, but everyone uses double-sided sticky tape and to me, that just seems ghetto. Besides, the OEM filler gives you the exact places where one needs to tap the back end of the car to properly insert and install everything. This is the route that I decided to take, and was comfortable with a more permanent approach to this installation. Second, I chose the European license plate filler because 1) it looks awesome 2) the US version looks like ass.
Total time takes around 20 minutes, if you're cruising...
Tools and supplies needed:
*European OEM license plate filler
*European OEM plugs
*Stainless steel hardware (I live in Hawaii...)
*Needle nose pliers
*Philips screw driver
*Drill
*Various bits up to 6mm or a somewhat ball parked standard size.
*Duct tape
*Shop vac (optional)
*Uber small round file (optional)
*A chair (optional)
*A beer (optional) or three (depends how thirsty...)
***1/8" thick by 3/4" wide by as wide as your license plate- aluminum (this is to remount your US license plate by creating a simple aluminum bracket to screw into)
*Begin by removing your current license plate.
*You will expose four off-white raised plugs that your license plate was affixed to.
*Open your trunk lid.
*Remove the tail-light bulb covers and set them aside.
*Remove the felt/plastic trunk liner to expose the four white plugs.
*Use needle nose to squeeze and push out the white plugs.
*Be careful, they are 22+ years old and may be brittle if you decide to reuse them.
*Once you have removed the plugs, clean off the paint of all that old dirt and dust.
*Take your filler and hold it between your tail lights.
*The goal here is to center the gap of the filler on each side to each inner edge of your tail lights AND to insure that the height is correct.
*Once you have eyeballed it while you're holding it, eyeball it again, and give all of your gaps another glance over.
*Once you're done with that, do it again. What I am emphasizing is; measure three times, drill once.
*While you are holding pressure onto the plate filler piece, carefully mark the four holes you will drill. Make sure your marks are centered in each hole!
*Take some duct tape or some tape that is sticky and wide. Rip off a few pieces. Make sort of a cup out of it and place it behind and below the approximate are that you will be drilling through. This will catch any metal flakes that get loose. Often times, metal flakes can be the catalyst for rust formation, so get them all caught on the tape.
*Drill a small pilot hole (x4), using a bit size you are comfortable with.
*Increase your drill bit size to 6mm and drill the two respective lower holes.
*Increase your drill bit size to 3mm and drill the two upper respective holes.
*File out the holes if you choose to do so. I personally had really sharp bits, but this metal is thin and kind of flexible, so it still left some burring that needed to be removed.
*Install the plate filler using OEM hardware. http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=AF91&mospid=47256&btnr=51_0834&hg=51&fg=15
*Use a waterproof rubbery epoxy or silicon around the hardware you installed to insure that no water gets in. But wait...you just removed your four US based OEM plugs leaving four holes!!! I know you have hardware laying around, so improvise and plug them from the back using the same epoxy or silicon.
*Stand back and look how cool it is when you're done.
*Reinstall everything in reverse order within the trunk.
**Install a European license plate frame if you have one. They are riddled with holes, so finding a match to your OEM plugs that you just installed are very easy.
**Pop in your European license plate into the frame, and go drive around your town and get weird looks from everyone! So cool!
***If you do not have a European license plate frame and license plate, you can just as easily craft yourself a simple bracket that can screw into the Euro OEM plugs, that you can then thread two shallow screws into. I suggest 1/8" thick aluminum from the hardware store. They sell it by the foot and often have scrap for free that will work just as well.
(http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad48/brandons_focus/photo5_zps27b90aa6.jpg) (http://s920.photobucket.com/user/brandons_focus/media/photo5_zps27b90aa6.jpg.html)
(http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad48/brandons_focus/photo7_zpse6b5d37c.jpg) (http://s920.photobucket.com/user/brandons_focus/media/photo7_zpse6b5d37c.jpg.html)
(http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad48/brandons_focus/photo8_zpsd566fbe1.jpg) (http://s920.photobucket.com/user/brandons_focus/media/photo8_zpsd566fbe1.jpg.html)
(http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad48/brandons_focus/photo6_zpsd5e16006.jpg) (http://s920.photobucket.com/user/brandons_focus/media/photo6_zpsd5e16006.jpg.html)
(http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad48/brandons_focus/photo9_zps1c6fb128.jpg) (http://s920.photobucket.com/user/brandons_focus/media/photo9_zps1c6fb128.jpg.html)
(http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad48/brandons_focus/photo11_zps6d5330bb.jpg) (http://s920.photobucket.com/user/brandons_focus/media/photo11_zps6d5330bb.jpg.html)
(http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad48/brandons_focus/photo10_zpse110d842.jpg) (http://s920.photobucket.com/user/brandons_focus/media/photo10_zpse110d842.jpg.html)