I can't say if my way is the best way, but it was rather easy. I purchased a universal frame that had many hole combinations, none of which lined up to the two holes in my Cooper bumper (after removing U.S. adapter/fill-in), but it was simple to drill two more small holes into the frame. The frame opens up to accept the Europlate, then snaps shut.

 

Does anybody know the best way to attach a front end European license plate to a Mini configured to US standards?

I know a US dealer can order a Euro plate holder for an 'S' so they should be able to order one for the Cooper. You'll need to remove the US part that covers the space where the Euro plate holder mounts.

 

I'm intrested in this as well. Does anyone have the part number for the front euro plate mount? This is for the Cooper,not the Cooper S. If someone here doesn't have it,I'll call a Mini dealership in the UK and get the part number. I'll then post it here.

 

Not sure there is a holder on our Coopers... Think they go straight onto the bumper, but I can't remember.
I work in the parts dept. of Damon Hill BMW/MINI in Warwick. I'll have a look for you tomorrow.

 

Thanks for checking. I've seen some people just mount the plate right in opening. It doesn't look right since the plate is too tall and it comes out over the bottom lip of the opening. I think some people are puttting the cover plate over the opening(I don't know the part number this piece either) and screwing in a plate surround directly to it. At least that's what it looks like in some of the european coopers that I've seen, in pictures anyway.

 

There doesn't appear to be a holder listed for European size number plates. They do go on without a holder in this country.

What would you have if you took your holder off the bumper? From the picture it looks as though it would be the same as our setup. The part number for your bumper would appear to be the same as ours, so if you took your US spec holder off...

 

Oh, yes the plate does overhang the bumper slightly. It's no biggie. Look at the pictures in my gallery, you can see how mine looks (camera icon bottom left of post).

 

I just removed the front mount (screwed directly into the bumper) and installed the European brackets my dealer gave me. Easy!