Greetings and Salutations

[regis101]

First post to introduce ourselves. My wife Chris and I bought a 98 328i last week. We did some research. Checked out a few. She liked the Smoke Graphite, four door, 328i that we found on the internet. Took it for an hour long test drive. Freeway, side roads. The smoothies, the bumpies, and the twisties. All is well. I actually tried to get her to look at some others before we finalized our buy, but she fell in love with it and I got some love out of it. ( if ya get my drift ). We have two small kids. On the way home , the 2.5 yr old, Ray, started giggling like we never heard him do before. Had to look back to see who he was laughing with. Must've been the BMW gods, we guessed. Amy was sleeping. Took that as an omen that we made the right buy. We plan on keeping this machine for a while. Plans are some springs and rims. This is a driver. The next one will be a coupe and I already got the " high five " from the wife on that one. And no, you can't have her. Happy Trails, Regis

[blkongry]

Hey Regis,

Sounds like you made a nice choice on your ride. If you find a 3-series that has been well cared for (and it sounds like you did), you'll probably end up keeping it for years to come. The styling and quality of these cars just don't fade. I have a black 325 cabrio, and each day I drive it I am reminded of why I bought it... and I just don't want any other car. Yeah, even the little ones know they are cool cars. My nephew (who is six) says, "Unca Lee, can we go for a ride in your jet car"... I don't know if it is because it is black, or because of the way I drive, but he likes cruising around in it with the top down.

I saw you found one in the gun metal paint... and that you may be looking at wheels. It just reminded me of the set up my friend Lance has... he found some wheels that really compliment his color. I thought I would throw a pic on here for reference.

Welcome to the board my friend.

[supertack]

See how much nicer that car would look with the front bumper filler. front bumper license plate, what a debacle!

[blkongry]

So, if you drop the plate frame, where do you mount your plate? I know where I used to live, New Mexico, you are only required to run one, rear-mounted license plate. I think there are three or four other states in the union that are set up that way, but here in Oregon you need a front and rear plate. Does one relocate the plate? Or are you just running a rear plate? The pic in the other post shows no plate at all.

[n.10.z]

I know here in the southeast most of the states only require the rear plate, so the front plate frame is pointless.

Welcome and Congrats on the new car, Regis... I'm new to the board myself and the people here have been great!

[supertack]

BLKONGRY, lemme ask you this. How many Covette's have you seen on the road with a front license plate, regardless of what frickin state you live in? How many 911 Turbo's have you seen with a front plate? Have you ever seen a Ferrari with a front license plate? I would guess most folks have not, mostly because it's frickin ugly, but I don't think it's something that is enforced even where it may be law. Now if your driving a '76 Ford LTD squire wagon that pours smoke from the exhaust, has enough debris piled in the back to impede you rear view, & is being driven by a dude that looks like he was in jail as early as that morning, then you might get pulled over without a front plate, otherwise, I doubt it.

[blkongry]

How many Vettes have I seen with front plates on them up here? How many Porsches? All of them. Just like this dude's $50K cabrio. Yeah, they'll pull you over quick without a front plate... regardless... period.... ugly or not... it's the law. I got pulled over one time several years ago because I washed my plate too hard and some of the coloring on the numbers flaked off. I mean, WTF... why would you get pulled over for that? But, yeah... you'll get tagged up here.

[stupenal]

Same here in California. especially since we now have the photo enforcing red light cameras. It is even worse at LAX. I've been lucky, pulled over several times but never got a ticket for the front plate. Unfortunately, my last trip to LAX landed me the ticket. Its only a $10 processing fee and I can easily swap my old plate back on, but it is DEFINITELY a hassle. Is it worth it? I dont know, on the stock e36 non m3 bumper it does look tons better. But on an m3 with the square front design, it doesnt look as bad. I'll figure it out once my m3 bumper arrives.

So just a word of advice - it IS illegal in most states to not have your front plate. And if you live in the land of red light photo enforcing cops, you better seriously watch out. Los Angeles is definitely not a good place to run without a front plate.

[regis101]

blkongry, Those are indeed nice wheels. Do you know the spec's on them? Is that the stock ride height or slightly lowered? It's cool if ya dunno. Just trying to add to my data

[supertack]

Alright, If you guys say so. I'm not pretending to know whats up on the west coast, but it's just as illegal in Illinois, & nobody gets a ticket for that. It's almost a joke, ...friends see that you've got no front plate, & they go "you know you can get a ticket for that" & laugh. I swear, I've only seen (1) C5+ Vette since they've come out with a front plate. A friend recently bought a new Nissan, & the dealer suggested that he shouldn't have them put on the license plate frame, cause it took away from the look of the car.

I would think on an E36 M3 front end, the plate would make it look even uglier. I mean, that whole area directly under the bumper is open, the plate will just hang there.

[Ad Hoc]

Illegal in NY as well. My brother in law and nephew (Audi drivers) and myself have all removed our front plates. We've all been pulled over for it (not NYPD - Long Island: Suffolk PD). Fortunately, none of us have received a ticket. Is it worth it? So far, no regrets. However, if I got slapped with a nasty fine, I might be singing a different tune.

[blkongry]

You know, after this discussion yesterday I started looking around while taking the dogs out for a run. I saw three cars out of probably a hundred with no front plate... one was an old 4-runner, another was a beat up Accord, and the last one was a black E36 sedan. I saw a Z06 Vette go by, and with a front plate on. I don't know... it may be like driving without your seat belt on: 'Yeah, people do it, but it's illegal' ...I guess it all does come down to if you're tagged for it or not. Personally, yeah, I'd drop that front plate off it I could. My black Legend coupe looked sweet with the nasty old gronky front plate frame removed, but that was legal back in NM. One thing I've learned from years of goofin' off, racing, and modifying cars. If you piss a cop off on a stop, they'll look pretty damn hard to find something to give you a ticket for... I just don't want to serve it up to them on a platter.

Regis, here is what Lance had to say about the wheels: "The wheels on my 325i are 17" made by Motegi Racing. The model number is DP5 and the color I have is "gunmetal"

I bought them here in Portland from Bob Brown Tires at 120th & Sandy Blvd. 503-255-8710 (ask for Kelly)."

There is a close up of the wheel in this thread... Anyone seen these wheels...? ...the kicker is that he said these wheels were pretty cheap... something like $120/wheel.

You're doing the right thing when looking for mods/options... just get as much info as you can... the more you know, the better your choice will be.

[n.10.z]

I just went online wheel shopping to check out prices for these wheels. They look good and are pretty cheap. It looks like most of the Motegi line is under $200 / wheel. Sweet deal~

[blkongry]

Yeah, Lance is pretty pleased with them, and his car catches my eye everytime I pull into work. They really fit and compliment the car.

[regis101]

Thanks, blkongry.