[Rasengan]

took all but 30 minutes total to wire up...i have it programmed so i can use the HomeLink buttons on the rearview from the interior or the remote from external

[F30MSport]

Very nice!

[Presario]

Very nice!! Did you have to remove the grille to install?

[Rasengan]

Originally Posted by Presario

Very nice!! Did you have to remove the grille to install?

nope, there is enough slack that when you snake the cable through on the left side of one of the kidney grills, it just hangs on the left out of sight...but when i do get the m performance black kidney grills, i will have a chance to twist tie or tape the cable to something so it's not just dangling

you do have to cut some of the black plastic of the mesh "grill" to make the plate mechanism fit...i don't think this would have worked placing it on the bottom of the car, the 4 is so low that i'm sure it wouldn't take long before it got damaged or ripped off on a speed bump

[Bowser330]

Any chance you should share with us.....

(1) Link to where you bought the system?

(2) Tips for installing it?

(3) DIY?

[Rasengan]

Originally Posted by Bowser330

Any chance you should share with us.....

(1) Link to where you bought the system?

(2) Tips for installing it?

(3) DIY?

of course:

(1) Link to where you bought the system?
I bought it from the guys at OneEighty. They are a sponsor here and great guys to deal with. oneightynyc.com

(2) Tips for installing it?
There really wasn't much to it. There are only 2 wires you need to connect, 1 positive and one ground. The positive can go to several places in the engine compartment. I used a tap on the lower left hand side (I'm not at home to take pics) of the engine compartment and right next to it is a screw for ground all within a few inches from each other. Snake the wires into the hole that leads behind the kidney grills and down to where you're going to install the plate holder.

Cut enough plastic grill out to fit the plate and reach in and grab the wire. Sure you can do what other people have done and mount it at the bottom of the car, that's up to you. I think it looks tacky there and like I said, I don't want to have to worry about hitting a speedbump and ripping the damn thing off.

The plate holder I just used 20lb. 3M outdoor mounting tape I got from Target. Yes, it's very secure, it will not budge. The plate + plate holder probably weigh a pound total. I was about to screw them in but I felt it was secure enough and unnecessary. The control unit is tucked away under the body and held in place with the same tape.

Optional step is to program each button - the open and close to your HomeLink. Just simultaneously press and hold both the button on the remote and the button on the HomeLink for around 10 seconds. The flashing light on the rearview will change and it will be programmed. Do the same for the other button and you're done. Unfortunately I do not think there is a way to program it to just one button as to open and close the unit requires 2 buttons. I would also love it if there was a way to have it open and close when the side mirrors fold and unfold but I doubt there's a way to do that too. Let me know if there is.

Last step is to have a beer and enjoy the fact that you can drive around without an ugly front plate, do not have holes on your bumper, and you won't get any tickets because of it!

I guess my only advice is to clean the surfaces well before using the tape. If you don't, the tape will just adhere to dirt and oil.

(3) DIY?
Yes it definitely is a DIY that took me 30 minutes leisurely. My experience with DIYs? I wouldn't say I'm a newb but more of an amateur. I've done intakes, bulbs, fog lights, and other really simple stuff but never electrical. So what I did first was simply connect the positive and ground to see if it would work and it did. The rest was just common sense hiding the wires in crevices and finding the right place to mount the control unit.

[TDK]

By the way, why it is interesting to be done? To hide the licence plate when drive so fast or ...
As I know in some states front licence plate is not a law.

[trinidon]

Possible to take pics or give an idea of how much of plastic grille you had to cut out? If you have dimensions of area that had to be removed would be great.

What did you use to remove/cut the plastic grille?

[Rasengan]

Originally Posted by TDK

By the way, why it is interesting to be done? To hide the licence plate when drive so fast or ...
As I know in some states front licence plate is not a law.

where i live it's illegal not to have front plates...for the past 5+ cars i've owned i've asked the dealer not to drill holes for the plates because i really think it ruins the aesthetics of the car...and, of course, when you ignore the law you pay the penalty...i must have racked up thousands of dollars over the years for driving without front plates...i wish i had this thing a long time ago - it's extremely easy to install and i would have saved enough money to buy a new PS4 AND an XBox One plus some games...

if you guys don't want to mess with wires, there is a manual one you pull out on your own

http://www.pfyc.com/GN1046.html

[Rasengan]

Originally Posted by trinidon

Possible to take pics or give an idea of how much of plastic grille you had to cut out? If you have dimensions of area that had to be removed would be great.

What did you use to remove/cut the plastic grille?

i can when i get home but i cut out just enough to fit the the plate width and the mount height...the mount's height is barely 2 inches and i'm sure you know how wide a license plate is

the plastic can be cut by just about anything but my father-in-law, whose house i was at, had a pair of plastic cutting shears so i used those...it's not hard plastic at all, it's not abs or anything...you can easily bend it with your fingers so i'm sure you can even use regular scissors

[hansolo1019]

Clean.

Actually, there are few other brands that offers exact same feature for $30-40 less than oneighty is charging.

[Rasengan]

Originally Posted by hansolo1019

Clean.

Actually, there are few other brands that offers exact same feature for $30-40 less than oneighty is charging.

yup i know, there are cheaper ones on Amazon and other places but i've worked with the guys at one eighty before...they blacked out my headlights on my 370Z Roadster and were great people to work with...i don't mind spending extra money to support small businesses

Originally Posted by trinidon

Possible to take pics or give an idea of how much of plastic grille you had to cut out? If you have dimensions of area that had to be removed would be great.

sorry it's pretty dark out already but you can vaguely see i left about a one-1/2 inch clearing to the right of the plate...you can definitely cut less off and get much closer to the plate but honestly, you can't see this part of the car...you have to physically bend way over to see this area

i also put a foam pad on top of the nubs to soften the hit on the bumper

[hansolo1019]

I actually thought about doing this until I realized that I had to cut lower grill, so I backed out.

[frenchfries]

Originally Posted by TDK

By the way, why it is interesting to be done? To hide the licence plate when drive so fast or ...
As I know in some states front licence plate is not a law.

In the US, most states requires front licnese plate.
Also if you get pulled over for having no plates and you have this retractable plate. It's good to see a confused officer when they walk up to your car.

[Rasengan]

Originally Posted by frenchfries

In the US, most states requires front licnese plate.
Also if you get pulled over for having no plates and you have this retractable plate. It's good to see a confused officer when they walk up to your car.

Hehe, this is true although I've never gotten pulled over for front plates. I've gotten pulled over for speeding and the officer decided to be a dickhead and ticket me for the front plates after the fact.

All my other front plate tickets have come from meter maids and each time was $75. So this thing will pay for itself in about 2 months, lol.

[Bowser330]

Originally Posted by Rasengan

of course:

(1) Link to where you bought the system?
I bought it from the guys at OneEighty. They are a sponsor here and great guys to deal with. oneightynyc.com

(2) Tips for installing it?
There really wasn't much to it. There are only 2 wires you need to connect, 1 positive and one ground. The positive can go to several places in the engine compartment. I used a tap on the lower left hand side (I'm not at home to take pics) of the engine compartment and right next to it is a screw for ground all within a few inches from each other. Snake the wires into the hole that leads behind the kidney grills and down to where you're going to install the plate holder.

Cut enough plastic grill out to fit the plate and reach in and grab the wire. Sure you can do what other people have done and mount it at the bottom of the car, that's up to you. I think it looks tacky there and like I said, I don't want to have to worry about hitting a speedbump and ripping the damn thing off.

The plate holder I just used 20lb. 3M outdoor mounting tape I got from Target. Yes, it's very secure, it will not budge. The plate + plate holder probably weigh a pound total. I was about to screw them in but I felt it was secure enough and unnecessary. The control unit is tucked away under the body and held in place with the same tape.

Optional step is to program each button - the open and close to your HomeLink. Just simultaneously press and hold both the button on the remote and the button on the HomeLink for around 10 seconds. The flashing light on the rearview will change and it will be programmed. Do the same for the other button and you're done. Unfortunately I do not think there is a way to program it to just one button as to open and close the unit requires 2 buttons. I would also love it if there was a way to have it open and close when the side mirrors fold and unfold but I doubt there's a way to do that too. Let me know if there is.

Last step is to have a beer and enjoy the fact that you can drive around without an ugly front plate, do not have holes on your bumper, and you won't get any tickets because of it!

I guess my only advice is to clean the surfaces well before using the tape. If you don't, the tape will just adhere to dirt and oil.

(3) DIY?
Yes it definitely is a DIY that took me 30 minutes leisurely. My experience with DIYs? I wouldn't say I'm a newb but more of an amateur. I've done intakes, bulbs, fog lights, and other really simple stuff but never electrical. So what I did first was simply connect the positive and ground to see if it would work and it did. The rest was just common sense hiding the wires in crevices and finding the right place to mount the control unit.

You sir are a gentleman and a scholar, thank you.

[Rasengan]

Originally Posted by hansolo1019

I actually thought about doing this until I realized that I had to cut lower grill, so I backed out.

yes, you do need to cut your grill and if you do decide to take the plate out for any reason, you will have to either super glue the part that you cut out or replace the entire grill...but i'm assuming that flimsy plastic part would be very cheap to replace, much cheaper than, say, filling in the holes the dealer drills if you decide to go for the clean look...i'm sure if you're inventive enough you can even make your own grill that would like far better than what's there right now

and like i mentioned, you can put this thing under the car as well and not have to worry about cutting or drilling anything, just make sure you have enough clearance for it or risk getting it ripped off if you bottom out

[hansolo1019]

Good point.

How long you had this retractable plate for?
The reason I am asking you because you said you didn't drill the plate....using double sided tape would be enough to hold the plate up?

[Rasengan]

Originally Posted by hansolo1019

Good point.

How long you had this retractable plate for?
The reason I am asking you because you said you didn't drill the plate....using double sided tape would be enough to hold the plate up?

i used 3M Extreme mounting tape rated at 20lbs, designed to hold up metal mailboxes (with mail) outdoors...the plate and mount together are barely over a pound...my initial intent was to screw the plates in but after setting them in with the tape and trying to wiggle the plate i saw that there's no way these are coming off without a fight (i used a lot of tape through the entire length of the mount arm)...so far i've driven expressway back and forth and through the city over potholes and speedbumps and the plate won't budge...but it is easy to screw them in too, the mount comes with all the hardware you need

[hansolo1019]

I found the piece, and price isn't too bad either.
realoem is selling that piece for $43.01. (lol. whats that penny for??)

[Rasengan]

Originally Posted by hansolo1019

I found the piece, and price isn't too bad either.
realoem is selling that piece for $43.01. (lol. whats that penny for??)

ha! sounds like he's that guy from the Price is Right:

RealOEM: Bob, what did BMWParts.com bid on the plastic mesh?
Bob Barker: He bid $43, what is your closest bid without going over?
RealOEM: I bid $43.01, Bob.
BMWParts.com: (...asshole...)

[hansolo1019]

Originally Posted by Rasengan

ha! sounds like he's that guy from the Price is Right:

RealOEM: Bob, what did BMWParts.com bid on the plastic mesh?
Bob Barker: He bid $43, what is your closest bid without going over?
RealOEM: I bid $43.01, Bob.
BMWParts.com: (...asshole...)

I know right??