E30 Zone

Hi people,
Saw the thread on here about german number plates the other day and thought they looked good, was going to order some when on the old mans mercedes 190 forum some MOT tester is saying there illegal, plus some other fella on there had his taken off him by the old bill? is this true as i dont want to order some then get them taken off me!??

cheers

ps. hope this is posted in right section... apologies if not

True and true! If that's your car in the avatar, it's even illegal to replace the original plates with identical ones.

Brianmoooore wrote: it's even illegal to replace the original plates with identical ones.

Why?

Because the required size and font changed a few years ago.

Brianmoooore wrote:Because the required size and font changed a few years ago.

sorry not got that totally? the plates on my car in the avatar now are illegal because the font and size have now been changed??

So what do you do if they get broken? And out of interest what modifications, if any, can you make to your plates? (Such as the black ones with silver text?)

toffe30 wrote:

Brianmoooore wrote:Because the required size and font changed a few years ago.

sorry not got that totally? the plates on my car in the avatar now are illegal because the font and size have now been changed??

If you have the original type, they are quite legal, as long as they are undamaged. If one has to be replaced, the only type you can (legally) fit, is one made with the new font, and a few other details.

Bunders wrote:So what do you do if they get broken? And out of interest what modifications, if any, can you make to your plates? (Such as the black ones with silver text?)

You can make no modifications. Font, type size, spacing, etc., are all closely regulated.
Even my plates which have the correct spacing, font, size, etc., are illegal because they have e30zone.net on them instead of the suppliers name.

right ok......... seems a lot of hassle for a number plate, but i guess the police have there reasons which is fair enough, thanks for the advice though saved me some pennies, appreciate it

All to make sure those nasty little cameras can read them.

Brianmoooore wrote:All to make sure those nasty little cameras can read them.

anything to get a few extra quid out of us!!B******DS!

http://www.dubmeister.co.uk/ do fully road legal pressed plates thinking of getting a set in the next few days

silly that you cant have German plates on a german car & im sure their still more than visible.. my other half (AF5387) has a german import therefore has german plates for it.. is that legal as it is as german as they come?? :S

if it's been registered in the uk it has to have numberplates that meet the uk specifications.

think about it, just because a car comes from another counrty it'd be daft to let them kep the same stlye of plate they would origionally have had. there would be no end of japanese imports running around on totally ureadable plates

you can get pressed plates which meet the uk standards for reflectiveness and colour, and use the correct uk font and spacing, and as far as i know are legal.

the pressed plates which use the german font are not legal to use on the road on a uk registered vehicle.

UK LEGAL steel pressedplates here:
http://www.dubmeister.co.uk/

I had something similar on my E46 a few months ago. I had a (pressed steel) German plates on with the 'D' symbol on the left hand side, slightly thinner letters and the two stickers (one was a Munich decal and the other the German tax decal?) between the groups of letters.
Looked the part on the car, and although I knew it wasnt strictly legal, it passed an MOT and it far more legal than moving letters about, doctoring numbers and bloody italics!

Anyway. I got stopped within 200M of my parents house (with my two children in the car) by an unmarked Vectra. Mr Plod got out and told me that I had been driving 'far too fast' in a 30 mph area but he could'nt get a speed on me so could'nt verify it.
Facts:
1. I never speed with the kids in the car. Ever. Drives my wife mad.
2. I have a competition licence and 2 karts so I dont feel the need to overdrive on the road.
3. Its an underpowered 1.8i

So he starts to look around the car (at every bloody detail) and my daughter asks him if 'Daddy will be going to jail with the naughty goblins' (long story, but she is into Noddy at the moment!). Kids start crying and then he asks me to leave the kids and 'get into his car'.

I'm not happy about this and tell him I will have to keep going back to check on the kids, which he tells me will be 'upto him when I check them'! Tw@t.

Usual checks.
PNC.
Tax.
Insurance.
All come back ok.

Quote:
'...well, if I can do you for anything else, I'll do you for those illegal plates then....'

Double tw@t!

So I remain calm and claim 'they were on the court when I bought them, its just passed an MOT, etc, etc'
But. I get a form to get them rectified within 7 days and fixed £30 fine. He then takes pics on his mobile and MMS's them to the DVLA!

Triple tw@t!

Long story short(ish).

Changed the plates for the MOT tester to sign off to (and then changed them back before I went to) the Police Station to pay the fine.
Two weeks later I get a summons for non-payment!

Argh!
Anyway. It was thrown out before it got to Court and my car has passed another MOT with the plates on since....


Hope this helps.
(Even if it doesnt, getting it off my chest has made me feel loads better!)

Black Plates with silver letters are only legal on PRE 71' registered cars. and even then they have a load of regulations just like the standard ones!

Thing is, if you run blatantly illegal plates you're just asking for trouble really aren't you? No excuse for the cops to be ar$es, but you've got to expect it...

harry_p wrote:if it's been registered in the uk it has to have numberplates that meet the uk specifications.

think about it, just because a car comes from another counrty it'd be daft to let them kep the same stlye of plate they would origionally have had. there would be no end of japanese imports running around on totally ureadable plates

you can get pressed plates which meet the uk standards for reflectiveness and colour, and use the correct uk font and spacing, and as far as i know are legal.

the pressed plates which use the german font are not legal to use on the road on a uk registered vehicle.

Your right!! yes i understand the fact of that if jap cars kept there plates that would be totally illegal obviously & he does have UK plates on there as it stands but has also got the german plates.. i do believe they are still readable to speed cameras etc but i think were just asking for trouble if we change them.. it all depends different police in different areas have different clamp downs on the law.. like any human you'll get the good ones n the bad ones. i say best to stay legal

The slight twist on the font doesn't fool a regular GATSO camera, but even the slim German-style font is enough to fool an ANPR camera (the ones that can read simultaneously six lanes of traffic flowing at 80mph, if you can actually find anywhere like that in the UK.) So because of that the plate has to have a font with millimetre-perfect letters on, and no extra stuff like decals which can mess up the reading.

Other than what the registration regs say, all other plates are illegal. They may pass the MOT again now as the stricter rules were relaxed over a technical problem introducing them. However the aim is to bring the full rules back again at some point into the MOT

In the meantime it IS still illegal to use german style plates etc.

I quite agree with the other zoner - why do you want German style plates on a German car, Jap ones on a Jap car - we are in GB and must have GB plates on them. If you want German plates on your car - move to Germany and get it registered there and then see what rules are like eg TUV regs. Can't fit unapproved parts over there. Even chroming of parts means it has to be checked and recorded on the log book.

I have to say that putting illegal plates on my car I did deserve my £30 fine, etc, etc. And half expected it.

And the reason for the 'plates was exactly the same reason others modify their cars.
Why would anyone want to be a motorist in Germany? Its even more expensive than over here.

My problem is the self-righteous attitude of the Police who prosecuted me because they 'could'nt get me on anything else'....
And the discrepancy between what should have happened at MOT time and what did (although on this occasion it was in MY favour)

link to relivant dvla form

http://www.dvla.gov.uk/search.aspx?keywords=v796