Mounting US plates on the back of Euro W126
 

Ok, so I just got the title transferred and some brand new plates when I realized something; the previous plate has been cut to fit into an aluminum housing. The MB parts guys have never seen one like it before, and it's a CNC machined solid piece of aluminum.

The new plate is about 1/2" taller and obviously not notched to accomodate my trunk button.

The problem is, messing with the plate is illegal, but mounting the plate any other way will look like *****. It seems my options are to cut it & take my chances (it was driven this way since '85), bolt it lower, which let it overhang and look like crap, or do some sort of old-style flip-out plate on a spring that hides the trunk button.

What do you ya'll think?

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/4856/plate.jpg

Interesting.....never have seen that either. I guess go with the flow or previous owner. If the law hassles you, ask him how they would have handled it.

I'd just cut it like the old one. Very unlikely anyone will care, the Plate number is still plainly visible and unaltered.

Although it technically isn't legal to "alter" the plate, there are dealer plate-frames that obscure more of the plate than that trim job.

I went ahead and took a 4-1/2" angle grinder/cutter to the plate and it came out looking great, especially with the beveled edge lexan cover over it to cover any cutting imperfections...

Hmm, that mounting looks really nice. A lot more then the overhang the US mounting has. Hmm....

-Jason

You could also find the rear tag holder from any US spec model and swap it to your car, the mounting holes in the body are the same on all the models, US and euro.

I don't think so. Those little holes you see behind the plate are only in the mount - the screws for the mount to the body panel are right about where the space shuttle is on all four corners. I went to MB to see what my options were, and was told their mount wouldn't work either, because their mount uses the same holes as are already in the US plate to mount to the body panel. My body panel has no such holes, just two dimples at the top which look like they would line up.

Plus, the plate would hang over that nice little bend in the panel by about an inch, which would look like crap, since it wouldn't be nice and even with the rear lights.

I drilled holes and bent it downward around the key lock housing. This is a shot with the original OK plate, but it now has a Texas plate on it with the same setup. Notice how it's lowered a bit; it's okay with me.

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...500SE/Ext4.jpg

no I'm saying get a tag bracket for a US spec car and put it on, the holes in the bracket for it to mount to the car are in the same spots as the ones drilled in the plate above.

I have 3 euro 126's all mine are like this.