Tuxdude

Picked up my C63S from my dealer this week. The dealer said he is not installing the front license plate and I can come back later again to the service department if I decide to get the front plate installed by drilling holes in the front bumper. Being in California (NorCal), I would prefer a more permanent solution to avoid the FixIt tickets. At the same time I am not a big fan of drilling holes in the bumper. I was looking at options for installing the front plate without causing any permanent damage to the front bumper. From a little research I could figure out the following options:

1. Use a tow hook mounted front license plate. I found Platypus Mount which seems to be a good product which fits this option.

Pros:
- Easier to install and remove.
- Can be removed when not needed once I get the right position configured.
- The tow-hook based solution is a great way to address the issue after you get a FixIt Ticket without the plate, get the needed signatures, pay the small fine, and then remove it later. Although I wish I don't have to go through this multiple times.

Cons:
- Needs some additional work to position this correctly so that it does not trigger any of the parking sensors. The mount also needs to support mounting the bracket to one side since the tow hook area is right adjacent to one of the sensors.
- The plate will be on one side (because of the parking sensor restriction) which doesn't go well with the look of the car.
- Not a permanent solution. I am not entirely convinced that the plate will not damage the bumper if left permanently (eg. driving in high wind conditions).

2. Drill holes in the bottom of the bumper to mount two brackets and then mount the backing plate perpendicular to the brackets. I found Skene brackets which offers all the hardware for this setup.

Pros:
- No visible front facing holes even when the bracket is removed.
- Can act as a decent permanent solution without any long term damage.

Cons:
- The holes need to be still drilled in the bottom of the bumper.

3. Attach the OEM plastic molded front license bracket (that came with the car) using zip ties to the bottom of the front grille. There are few plastic (I think) vertical slats just below the bumper right in front of the lower radiator grille (see pic in the post). With some double sided tape over these slats to build padding (where the zip ties will be attached to the grille/bumper area), and similar additional padding behind the plastic molded front license bracket, this could work I feel.

Pros:
- Another good permanent solution.
- No holes drilled.

Cons:
- Could affect radiator airflow a little.
- The OEM molded bracket has lot of tabs on the back which I need to ensure doesn't come into contact with the bumper. Alternative it to purchase a different molded bracket online with fewer protrusions and then smooth them out manually before installation.
- Needs additional time and care to install to ensure it is safe and reliable. I don't mind spending additional time on this.

4. Just go to the dealer, drill the holes in the front bumper, install the OEM plastic molded front license bracket and stop thinking about the holes drilled in the bumper altogether

Pros:
- Safest and Permanent solution.

Cons:
- Exactly what I'm trying to avoid.

I'm leaning towards Option 3, although want to give Option 1 a try first if possible since it can be easily undone. Any thoughts or previous experiences in this aspect that could help? Thanks.

Here is the pic (due to bad lighting needed to use the flash which overexposed the photo that needed) of the front lower bumper/grille area showing the vertical slats for Option 3.

Radon

On my previous car I requested that no holes be drilled when I bought the car. I had the car over 10 years and only had one fix-it ticket for no plate during that time. On the day I went to get the ticket signed off I attached the front plate with velcro tape. The cop glanced at the plate, signed off the ticket and I went home and removed the plate and the velcro tape.

jj18

I did not want holes in front bumper so Dealership used heavy duty zip ties. I was also concerned about air flow where my front plate is situated so called Service Manager who stated no problem but I am going to double check.
Thanks for all the other options you listed.

GuardianVA

I got the CravenSpeed Platypus mount. It does take some very careful adjusting to get it where it won't randomly trip the parking sensor. Usually only get the random alerts when it rains, as the water drops hanging coming off the holder tend to dangle right in front of the sensor. I personally don't think it looks all that bad being off to the side, but I'm use to seeing it that way, and had a tow hook mount on my BMW.

With the options 2 and 3 you have, the airflow restriction is not going to be an issue for street driving. On a track, it would be a different story, but in such a situation, you could remove it.

LessIsMore

Another option, found this:

Sly Brackets BOZmount
https://www.slybrackets.com/store/

Says its confirmed fit on W205 C63

ahesq

I did option no. 3 on my 2018 C63S Coupe.

You have to cut off the tabs at the back of the factory bracket, but other than that, it works and looks like a permanent drill in job (attaching exactly where it should go).

Check my thread and photos on this.

Tuxdude

https://www.slybrackets.com/store/fittedsofar/ only lists pre-facelift C63 though. Since the grille is different between the two, it is not confirmed whether this will work(unless somebody can confirm).

Spectre-13

Option #5. Move to Florida or to other no front plate license state.

Pros - It's Florida
Cons - It's Florida.

LessIsMore

After seeing the face lift and how the mount works, I would think it should be able to work but one could email sly brackets and find out. Not surprised that since the '19s just came out that there's not someone who has confirmed fitment yet, but that to me is not necessarily a negative.