The screws securing my rear license plate have become stuck in place and I am sadly unable to remove them. There's no good way to get a blast of WD-40 where it needs to go and the metal is too soft to be able to deliver any useful torque from a screwdriver.

Is it possible to get at the license plate bracket attachment from the inside (that is, by removing the interior cover from the liftgate)? If I have to resort to destructive means to be able to change my plate, I'd like to at least be far away from my car when I do so. Or if anyone has any other suggestions or advice, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

My 2010 JCW has short fine thread phillips screws that secure the license frame/plate to the rubber bracket. There are 2 coarse thread phillips screws that secure the rubber frame to the boot. I would assume that it has been this way for all R56's.

Options:

1) Get a dremel and slot the screw head so that you can fit a large flat blade screwdriver in it.

2) Maybe a pair of vice grips to lock around the perimeter of the screw would give you some leverage

3) Cut a hole in your license plate to access the two rubber frame screws.

 

It is an R53 so........

Does the screw just spin or is it frozen in place?

 

Cut the heads off with a dremel cutoff wheel. Take your time to not heat things up too much. Get a new license plate holder and use never-sieze on the new screws.

 

yep - and buy stainless nuts and bolts to put it back on

ACE hardware usually has big racks where you can buy 'em one at a time rather than in pre-packaged bundles at the 'home improvement' stores

 

My 05 had the same problem. the rear plate was on for five winters with plenty of salt spray. Likewise, I had easily deformed the pan head just by turning the screw driver.

I had to use a screw extractor (a drill bit and extractor in one). worked like a charm.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. Things have been hectic on my end so I haven't been able to check back in until now. One of the screws is spinning in place and the other three aren't budging. I will give the screw extractor strategy a try first.

 

When I had this happen to me (stuck screws, not spinning), I just too a big drill bit and drilled the heads off the screws. This frees up the plate, and usually removing the tension on the screw allows you to back out the remaining threaded part with pliers or vise grips.

 

This happened to me last night. The top two screws were fine but one of the bottom screws was spinning in place and the other one stripped where the screwdriver grabs it.

It will help to understand what you what you are working with. As stated above the rubber/plastic license plate holder is attached to the hatch with two fasteners that you cannot access because of your plate. To randomly drill through your plate to find them would not be efficient plus you have a greater chance to accidentally drill into you hatch. I will attach a picture to help you find them if you choose to drill access holes through your plate.

Next your plate is secured to the rubber/plastic holder with four screws in the corners of the plate, obviously...you can see them. What you can’t see is how they are secured to the runner/plastic holder. They have square metal blind nuts that are pressed into the holder. If your screw becomes rusted into the blind nut you have a great chance of putting too much force on to the blind nut and it will deform the rubber/plastic and spin. The rubber/plastic holder sits out away from the hatch slightly and if your screws are stuck you will most likely have to apply great force inward toward the hatch while at the same time turning the screwdriver. I advise you to not do this because you are forcing the back of the metal blind nut into the paint or stripping on your hatch. I did this on one of my screws and it did in fact scratch the finish on my hatch. Additionally I do not recommend using an Easy Out or a stuck screw removal tool. You have the same possibility of scratching the finish if the blind nut turns. Instead drill the heads off of the stuck screws then remove the rubber/plastic holder from the car and either replace it or work on the stuck screws when it is removed to keep your Mini in pristine condition.

Picture coming later today.

 

Here are a couple of pictures. The first is the overall assembly with the hardware laid out next to where it mounts.

The second is a close up of the bottom screws and blind nuts that froze up on me.


Overall

Close up