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Front License Plate Holder on a Refreshed 2022 Model S

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I took delivery of my Refreshed Model S on Feb 18th at the Scottsdale, AZ delivery center. The car was in almost perfect condition with only a minor left front beltline trim misalignment which will be fixed by Mobile Service.

I am thinking about leaving the front license plate holder on due to its affect on the crash test results. The back of the holder has a compression zone which I assume helps with the crash results.

What are the communities opinions on this?

Thanks!
 
If you elect to remove it, take it to a body shop to have it removed. The double-sided adhesive is very strong and the screws to remove the "color-matched portion are uncommon. You don't want to damage the front facia. I don't think the mounting plastic honeycomb piece behind the color-matched plastic is structural.
 
I took delivery of my Refreshed Model S on Feb 18th at the Scottsdale, AZ delivery center. The car was in almost perfect condition with only a minor left front beltline trim misalignment which will be fixed by Mobile Service.

I am thinking about leaving the front license plate holder on due to its affect on the crash test results. The back of the holder has a compression zone which I assume helps with the crash results.

What are the communities opinions on this?

Thanks!
No need to take it to a body shop to remove the plate holder. First thing I did was to remove it once I took delivery. I told Tesla not to have one on mine but they told me they all came attached. The "special" bolts are not hard to remove. Use a sharp nose pliers to loosen. Once color code trim is off, get some heavy duty fish line (no dental floss will break) and slide through the glue tape. Pull the line towards you and slide up and down until you are close to the middle. Start on the opposite end and do the same. Wiggle the frame and when it starts to move, pull it off. Use your finger to roll off the remaining tape on the bumper. I had a clean removal.
 
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I made the decision to remove the front license plate holder. I used 20# fish line to cut through the 3M double sided tape, then used alcohol to soften the remaining tape to make it easier to roll off with my fingers. See photo. Looks so much better!
 

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I took delivery a couple days ago and I can't tell you how much dental floss and cotton string I broke before biting the bullet and doing it the right way with fishing line. It really helps to tie the ends of the string to something so it isn't digging into your fingers (I used some t-handle allen keys). Even with strong fishing line, I still broke a couple pieces. What was a HUGE help was my wife holding a hair blow dryer on high heat, which softened the adhesive.

After the plate holder was off, I just rolled up the adhesive with my fingers. I tried to clean it up with WD-40, but that just made more of a residue mess. Perhaps plain rubbing alcohol would have been better. Regardless, after washing the car all evidence of WD-40 residue is gone.
 
I took delivery a couple days ago and I can't tell you how much dental floss and cotton string I broke before biting the bullet and doing it the right way with fishing line. It really helps to tie the ends of the string to something so it isn't digging into your fingers (I used some t-handle allen keys). Even with strong fishing line, I still broke a couple pieces. What was a HUGE help was my wife holding a hair blow dryer on high heat, which softened the adhesive.

After the plate holder was off, I just rolled up the adhesive with my fingers. I tried to clean it up with WD-40, but that just made more of a residue mess. Perhaps plain rubbing alcohol would have been better. Regardless, after washing the car all evidence of WD-40 residue is gone.
Congrats. I watch several YouTube posting first before proceeding to "cut" the frame off. Everyone suggested using fishing line which I did. I did not even heat the tape because the heat tends to melt the glue making it more messy to clean up. Anyway, I used an adhesive remover to clean the residual glue and the finish looks great after.
 
The energy absorption capacity of the license plate mount is tiny, keeping it on to improve crashworthiness is not justifiable. On the other hand, if you pull in too far and bump into something, you'd scratch the license plate mount instead of the fascia. This might be valuable protection, depending on your ability to judge distance when pulling into tight spaces. FYI, I pulled mine off on day one.
 
The energy absorption capacity of the license plate mount is tiny, keeping it on to improve crashworthiness is not justifiable. On the other hand, if you pull in too far and bump into something, you'd scratch the license plate mount instead of the fascia. This might be valuable protection, depending on your ability to judge distance when pulling into tight spaces. FYI, I pulled mine off on day one.
I worry more about the bottom lip that get scratched when hitting the curb more. I never expect a license plate frame to provide any protection anyway. Yes, it will be a nuisance if someone backs into your front when parked. But that can happen to any part of the car body. That will be sheer bad luck.
 
I removed the front half/part using a pair of grip pliers, then used a heat gun against the face of the remaining piece on high for about 5-6 minutes from about 6 inches away, constantly moving back and forth/up down, etc. Was then able to start at the bottom and lift up and away from the bumper cover. Once it was about 1/4 of the way up/away, used my other hand to reach underneath and pull away the rest of the mount. This method left almost 100% of the 3m adhesive on the removed piece and not on the bumper cover.
 
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