What is wrong with my number plates?

[BorkFactor]

Morning all,

I am in the process of getting my beloved E46 back on the road, and it went in for its MOT yesterday. It failed on a couple of small things I had overlooked, which is fine, but one of the failure items was the front and rear number plates.

Now, this is NOT a private plate and is on the car exactly how it appears on the V5. I have put the car through an MOT before with these plates and had no issues, and I have never been pulled over for them.

I spoke to the tester and he was adamant that there should not be a space (between 0 and A) and that it should all be together. I find this very odd as I am sure this is the correct format, I have even owned another S reg car which had the same spacing.

Could someone here please shed some light on the situation, and possibly give me advice on what to do? Should I query it, or just get a set of new ones made up to his liking and keep the old ones in the boot just in case?

I am at a loss here, and I really don't want to fork out £30 or so on a new set of plates if I don't have to. The photos below show the car with the plates in question.

Cheers

[shambolic]

I think they need the British standard kite mark on them

[wildoliver]

The layout is correct. The font is correct. The only issue I can see is I don't see the legal info at the bottom, but that is rarely enforced as you can claim they were made before the cut off date, they look fine to me.

[N Dentressangle]

There's nothing wrong with your plates. Refer the tester to:

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_630.htm

[essayer]

Mine is a W reg with new style plates and have never had a problem with MOT. Very odd

[shambolic]

The material of UK number plates must either comply with British Standard BS AU 145d,[2] which states BSI number plates must be marked on the plate with the BSI logo and the name and postcode of the manufacturer and the supplier of the plates or
"(b) any other relevant standard or specification recognised for use in an EEA State and which, when in use, offers a performance equivalent to that offered by a plate complying with the British Standard specification, and which, in either case, is marked with the number (or such other information as is necessary to permit identification) of that standard or specification."
as specified in http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/561/schedu... The Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001 (Statutory Instrument 2001 Number 561), Schedule 2.

[BorkFactor]

Thanks guys, what exactly is the info at the bottom I need? My other car has the name of the garage it was purchased from, and that's it.

So the spacing is 100% fine? Ok, I will mention this when I book it in for the re test on Wednesday. Lets hope they don't kick up a fuss, I might just take it somewhere else if they do.

Thanks guys!

ETA - the car is 16 years old now. Is the material of the plates out of date? Do I have to get a new set then?

[Scuffers]

BorkFactor said:

ETA - the car is 16 years old now. Is the material of the plates out of date? Do I have to get a new set then?

that's the key point, your plates pre-date the changes in law that insist on the makers name etc stuff.

no requirement to change them as they are perfectly legal for when they were made and put on the car.

[FiF]

http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_...

The tester is talking bks.

For that type of plate there should be a 38 mm gap between groups of letters.

The gap between letters within a group is 13mm.

The exception is if new plates have been fitted after Sept 2001 when the relevant dimensions are 33 and 11mm.

[Jam Spavlin]

The mot tester is wrong if he insists go elsewhere like a council mot station.

[elanfan]

Seem to be missing the point here - the failure was nothing to with kite or any other marking but the spacing. The spacing is spot on - take it back and say that if they try to fail it on the spacing you will report them/complain to the ministry. Take some pics with you of old style spacing if you don't want the hassle.

[Cliftonite]

The MoT tester is wrong.

Change the plates and you will be £30 down, look a twit wherever you drive and run the risk of words with Plod and a suitable fine.

The good news is that your car would eventually feature on the the PH "Crappy Personalized Number Plates" thread!

[mcford]

They are fine for the MOT test, absolutely nothing wrong with them. Ask them if they'll refer to the testers manual and pass them how they are or put in an appeal:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-...

Failures like this give us testers who can be bothered to conduct a test properly a bad name.

[slippery]

Don't go back to that testing station. Find someone sensible.

[imagineifyeswill]

There is nothing wrong with your plates, do the other repairs and go for retest, if he still fails the plates ask for an appeal form and go to V.O.S.A.

[dingg]

slippery said:

Don't go back to that testing station. Find someone sensible.

100% - your tester is a clown

[Vipers]

Strange, your plate comes up on askmid as belonging to a Vauxhall Astra SRI 16v.

[Red Devil]

Vipers said:

Strange, your plate comes up on askmid as belonging to a Vauxhall Astra SRI 16v.

Whereas the DVLA record shows it as having a cylinder capacity of 2793cc, colour red, and SORNed.
I wonder if the Astra owner had declared to the insurer that it has a different engine installed.

[FiF]

So we can surmise that somewhere there is an Astra driving about that is likely to be pulled for no insurance as the computer says no.

[Cliftonite]

Vehicle

Registration
S200 AAN

Make
BMW

Model
328I

Description
SE

Fuel Type
Petrol

CO2 (g/km)*
216

VRT % Rate **
34