# My Personalized California ED License Plates - Thanks SD 335is (Photos)



## Beach759 (Jun 7, 2014)

frank325 said:


> Nice. I wish more states would realize plain and less color is better when it comes to license plates.
> 
> Edit: For a visual aid, this used to be the standard KY license plate. Not kidding.


That plate looks like it's the "My First License Plate" from Fisher Price


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## frank325 (Dec 29, 2005)

Beach759 said:


> That plate looks like it's the "My First License Plate" from Fisher Price


I know, seriously! Thank god I moved to KY right after they changed to a more generic license plate. The current one isn't half bad.


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## Beach759 (Jun 7, 2014)

The Sage said:


> Our ED 228i won't arrive until the end of June. Would it be a good idea to order the plates now?


I don't know whether you can if a car has not yet been registered in the state. And your car will not be registered until the dealer files for it upon redelivery. But check the California DMV site to see if you can order it without associating the plate with a particular vehicle. If you can, then definitely go ahead and order it because of the long lead times. According to my CA, the dealer cannot order a personalized plate when it registers the car with DMV upon redelivery.

Here is the California process:
1) Order personalized plate online.
2) 8 to 12 week wait for your plate to be made and sent to the DMV location of your choice.
3) Go to DMV to pick up your plate and turn in your existing plate.

TIP #1 - To match a Zoll plate, as mentioned in an earlier post, you want to specify M[space]####[half-space]Z . There is a symbol to input for the half-space (a slash?).

TIP #2 - At some point during the wait to receive the mailed notice that your plate has arrived at the local DMV, make an appointment online. The lead time ran over 6 weeks when I made my appointment in mid-April -- the first available was June 2.


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## The Sage (Nov 27, 2014)

Beach759 said:


> I don't know whether you can if a car has not yet been registered in the state. And your car will not be registered until the dealer files for it upon redelivery. But check the California DMV site to see if you can order it without associating the plate with a particular vehicle. If you can, then definitely go ahead and order it because of the long lead times. According to my CA, the dealer cannot order a personalized plate when it registers the car with DMV upon redelivery.
> 
> Here is the California process:
> 1) Order personalized plate online.
> ...


I can actually order the plates online without any registration information for the plates it will replace. They do this part of it when you exchange the plates at the DMV. With an 8-12 week lead time (and appointment wait), I'll have the car with the plates I want to replace will before that.

Thanks for the tip on the spaces. I just ordered the Zoll stickers.


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## Hound Passer (Feb 2, 2007)

frank325 said:


> Edit: For a visual aid, this used to be the standard KY license plate. Not kidding.


Oh good lord! I can see why it "used to be" KY's plate. That one had to be a bit controversial. It's almost a parody of how elaborate some states have become w/ plates.


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## Norm37 (Jun 28, 2008)

SD Z4MR said:


> I covered everything below the license plate number with black electrical tape.


You might want to consider cutting the black electrical taper area off of your license plate?

The advantage to modifying the license. It doesn't restrict any air flow to radiator or the intercooler.

Washington state denied my request for a front license plate exemption because BMW makes a front license plate holder.:dunno:










I used floor linoleum as a backing to protect the bumper and two stainless screws to mount the plate.


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## SD ///M4 (Jan 24, 2011)

Norm37 said:


> You might want to consider cutting the black electrical taper area off of your license plate?
> 
> The advantage to modifying the license. It does restrict any air flow to radiator or the intercooler.


CA does not allow any modifications to a license plate. Technically, the sticker and the tape are not allowed. I certainly wouldn't want to cut off the bottom of the license plate.


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## The Sage (Nov 27, 2014)

SD Z4MR said:


> CA does not allow any modifications to a license plate. Technically, the sticker and the tape are not allowed. I certainly wouldn't want to cut off the bottom of the license plate.


You could use a plain black license frame. I do observe a lot of CA plates that folks have added stickers to, I don't think law is enforced.


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## Norm37 (Jun 28, 2008)

SD Z4MR said:


> CA does not allow any modifications to a license plate. Technically, the sticker and the tape are not allowed. I certainly wouldn't want to cut off the bottom of the license plate.


Then license plate frames are not allowed??? :dunno:










I meant to say doesn't restrict air flow to the radiator or intercooler. Why let the turbos run on hot air? :dunno:

So yes I cut off the bottom and top portion of the license plate and you can see the numbers just as well as the one on my pickup truck with the San Francisco Giants plate holder.

By the way a copy of that picture is in the glove box to show in case I get stopped.

I have not modified the content of the license plate just eliminated the border. Nothing that identifies the vehicle is obscured.










I would not mind at all going to traffic court over this. I think I would have a much better chance of winning than if I drove without a front license.

If I ever move to a State that does not require front license plates I will use bumper plugs.

http://www.modbargains.com/painted-bumper-plugs-bmw.htm


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## soheilk (Feb 23, 2015)

We also want to get a personalized license plate and by looking at California DMV's website, our ED license plate number is available. I was wondering when should I order them? Should I do it from DMV's website or do it through our CA? Before redelivery or after it? Our car just got to Port Hueneme today and I want to make sure not to screw this up


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## The Sage (Nov 27, 2014)

soheilk said:


> We also want to get a personalized license plate and by looking at California DMV's website, our ED license plate number is available. I was wondering when should I order them? Should I do it from DMV's website or do it through our CA? Before redelivery or after it? Our car just got to Port Hueneme today and I want to make sure not to screw this up


Do it now on the DMV website. I ordered mine when our car got to Port Hueneme at the end of June and I'm still waiting for them. You will be sent a set of plates after you take delivery, you will exchange these at the DMV when the personalized plates arrive.


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## soheilk (Feb 23, 2015)

The Sage said:


> Do it now on the DMV website. I ordered mine when our car got to Port Hueneme at the end of June and I'm still waiting for them. You will be sent a set of plates after you take delivery, you will exchange these at the DMV when the personalized plates arrive.


Don't want to sound cheap but if I order them myself, what happens to the fee that I assume we paid for the "normal plates" as part of the registration fees when signing the lease paperwork?


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## The Sage (Nov 27, 2014)

soheilk said:


> Don't want to sound cheap but if I order them myself, what happens to the fee that I assume we paid for the "normal plates" as part of the registration fees when signing the lease paperwork?


Personalized plates are always an additional fee on top of the regular plate fee. You will also pay extra for the personalized plate each year for registration.


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## Chuck W. (Apr 27, 2007)

soheilk said:


> We also want to get a personalized license plate and by looking at California DMV's website, our ED license plate number is available. I was wondering when should I order them? Should I do it from DMV's website or do it through our CA? Before redelivery or after it? Our car just got to Port Hueneme today and I want to make sure not to screw this up


I agree with The Sage.

California DMV changes their rules often. I "believe" you can order the plates without designating which car it is for. When they notify you that it is available for pick up then take the registration and plates in from your BMW and swap them out. They are slow enough that this should be just about right if you order them now. I would do it on line. Mailing it just slows it down as a DMV employee will need to load your info into the computer.

To double check my info I would call DMV at (800) 777-0133. Good luck. :thumbup:


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## soheilk (Feb 23, 2015)

Ok now. My initial thinking was that when our CA is filling out the DMV registration forms, there is an option for the specialized license plates. That's why I wanted to do it thorough him so as not pay the license plate fees twice. But now I see that there is a separate fee for the specialized plates. Will order it online today


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## Beach759 (Jun 7, 2014)

soheilk said:


> We also want to get a personalized license plate and by looking at California DMV's website, our ED license plate number is available. I was wondering when should I order them? Should I do it from DMV's website or do it through our CA? Before redelivery or after it? Our car just got to Port Hueneme today and I want to make sure not to screw this up


Not only should you go ahead and order the plates yourself on the California DMV website, I believe that you have to do so.

1) California DMV takes 8 to 12 weeks to produce and send out a personalized plate. I ordered mine earlier this year, and I received the notice that the plate was ready to be picked up at the DMV office 11+ weeks after my online order.
2) I believe that at this time (or at least as of several months ago), dealers cannot order a personalized plate for you. They have to file a registration for a normal plate. Part of the reason may be the long lead time for the personalized plate to be made.
3) You do not have to specify a car when ordering. So you can do so even before you have the car. 
4) You do have to specify which DMV office you want DMV to send the plate.
5) As early as the system allows you, make an appointment to pick up your plate at the DMV on a date that is 12 to 13 weeks after your order is placed. There can be long lead times for appointments. I waited to make an appointment until about the 9 or 10 week point, and the first available appointments were over six weeks out.
6) You can always show up at the DMV office without an appointment. Have fun with that. Bring snacks.
7) When you go to pick up your personalized plate, you have to bring in the existing plate and registration.
8) One other note to everyone about ordering in advance -- while you can order in advance, you do not want to order it too early. I think that you have to pick up the plate within a specific period of time after DMV tells you it's ready. Perhaps 30 days? And you can't pick it up unless you have an old plate to turn in. So just be sure to do the math, since your "normal" plate will arrive a few weeks after your dealer files the registration paperwork upon redelivery. OP, this shouldn't affect you, but others planning ED should keep this in mind.
9) Be sure to see the tips in earlier posts on ordering on California DMV website -- M[Space]1234[half-space]Z


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## SD ///M4 (Jan 24, 2011)

soheilk said:


> We also want to get a personalized license plate and by looking at California DMV's website, our ED license plate number is available. I was wondering when should I order them? Should I do it from DMV's website or do it through our CA? Before redelivery or after it? Our car just got to Port Hueneme today and I want to make sure not to screw this up


We ordered the plates for my wife's car after we returned home from our Euro Delivery trip. You don't have to associate a VIN to a plate when ordering, so you can order it anytime you want. In fact, you don't have to associate it to a vehicle at all, you just pay the same annual registration fee as a retention fee.


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## OnYourLeft (Jan 4, 2015)

If you get a custom plate in California and say 5 years from now you sell your car, does your custom plates go with the car to the next owner. If so, does the new owner have to now pay the annual custom plate fee?


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## Ninong (May 20, 2014)

OnYourLeft said:


> If you get a custom plate in California and say 5 years from now you sell your car, does your custom plates go with the car to the next owner. If so, does the new owner have to now pay the annual custom plate fee?


In California the personalized plates go with the owner, not the car. If you buy a new car, you can simply put your personalized plates on your new car. You have to turn in the plates that DMV sends you for the new car, as well as fill out a DMV form notifying DMV that you have now transferred your personalized plates from the old car to the new car. There are DMV forms for that. 

If you no longer want your personalized plates, you turn them in to DMV. They never stay with the car. If you trade in your car and leave your personalized plates on the car, the dealer has to turn them in to DMV. He cannot sell the car with someone else's personalized plates on it.

I assume you can even still get your personalized plates before you even buy a car. (At least that's the way it used to be when I lived there.) Then you simply fill out the DMV transfer form with the information of the car that you have put those plates on. Check with DMV to make sure that's still okay.


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## Beach759 (Jun 7, 2014)

Ninong said:


> In California .:. I assume you can even still get your personalized plates before you even buy a car. (At least that's the way it used to be when I lived there.) Then you simply fill out the DMV transfer form with the information of the car that you have put those plates on. Check with DMV to make sure that's still okay.


I believe that is true, with the caveat that after the plates have been delivered to the local DMV, you supposedly have a certain period within which you have to pick up the plate. And you can't pick it up without turning in the existing non-personalized plates. So if you order it too soon, it is possible you might not have received your non-personalized plates by the deadline to pick up your personalized plates. 
I say "supposedly" because that deadline was in something sent to me by DMV, but that also assumes that the local DMV office would be efficient in returning plates that haven't been picked up by the deadline.


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## Chuck W. (Apr 27, 2007)

Hey Tom .. thanks for posting. I continue to appreciate your original post with the ED plate idea. Now, having two ED personalized plates in the garage is very cool.

Love your Sakhir Orange M4. If the M2 had come in that color my wife would have gotten it. We looked at the M4 but the M2 fit my wife much better!


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## NasHokie (Jun 9, 2016)

Nice Idea, thanks. I just hope people don't think i'm a douche haha


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## 808dakine (Jul 21, 2016)

NasHokie said:


> Nice Idea, thanks. I just hope people don't think i'm a douche haha


It looks great. Most have no clue as to its significance. Only those that have enjoyed the adventure would relate. Besides, IMO, life is far to short to be concerned about what others are thinking. C'est la vie!


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## rich8566 (Dec 3, 2006)

I took a slightly different approach.

Sent from my iPhone using Bimmerfest mobile app


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