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- Verified Buyer
This license plate frame is very sharp on back edges, thus the three stars on value for money. I do believe that most polished stainless steel frames for half this price would be just as durable. Made in USA is very important to me though. I would buy again.This is the best carbonfiber license plate frame around. Nothing else compares. Most other brands are poorly made junk in comparison to this. High quality laid pre-preg carbonfiber made in an autoclave by professional racing company in the United States. Not Chinese made with wet layup and uneven epoxy resen.The resen epoxy is even through out this carbonfiber composite frame. It's very lightweight, even more light then the crappy China made frames. The weave is perfect and is re in forced with additional layer around the corners on the underside.This is immaculate for the costs. There are oem audi, Subaru, BMW and mini carbonfiber plate frames that cost the same and they pale in comparison to the weathertech carbonfiber frames.Huge props for the one and only true carbonfiber license plate frame on the market with amazing quality and value for that high quality.It's not 16 gauge stainless steel T-304. It is a thinner 18 gauge SS T-304. It measured 0.048" - 0.050" thick with a Mitutoyo Digimatic caliper. Before buying, I was told by Ryan S., a WeatherTech email assistant, that it was 16 gauge SS T-304. Nope. 16 Gauge SS is 0.0625" thick. 18 Gauge SS is 0.050".Additionally, my frame has sharp edges. Handle with care!This is well made of heavy materials, and machined to eliminate the rough edges. The chrome screw covers were a bit difficult to snap shut, but once they were on there, they were ON THERE. No worries about them coming off, as I've had with other license plate frames on other vehicles. This is a fairly expensive item for what it is, but I'm pleased with it.I installed it on a BMW 535d and did a little research in advance as to what screws it needed. I stopped by my local big-box hardware store and picked up a set of 4 metric M5x0.8 x 16 mm stainless machine screws, as it appears most BMWs use the same M5x0.8 diameter. (Your experience may vary on your particular vehicle.) With the BMW mounting plate attached to the car, the plastic spacer (included with the frame), the tag and the frame itself, the 16 mm were just the ticket. The ones that come standard on the car are not long enough, which will probably be the case on most cars, so plan accordingly.I try to buy American made products whenever I have a choice. The thickness, fit and polish of this stainless steel plate bracket are first rate. The plastic spacer that is included does keep everything away from the body of the car. I have two complaints, the edges were not deburred, and I ended up spending 15 minutes taking that sharp edge off with a stone. The other thing was the chrome plastic screw cover caps are too shallow, and they don't push completely on. Time will tell if they stay on. Would I buy it again? I'm not sure, it seems a little bit of an unfinished product, or perhaps I was just unlucky, and got a lemon?While the quality is certainly adequate, the price is greatly inflated.First, hardware (screws) are not included. The buyer is told to utilize what is currently in use. Second, other products at less than 1/2 the price provide equal quality and are a far more complete kit. For example: the Christensen & Nielsen Trading Co. unit , which I purchased after mounting the Weather Tech item, is not only $15.99, but includes about 4 dozen screws, nicely packaged in sets of four (4).The Weather Tech is mounted on the rear, the C&N on the front. The only difference is about $20.00.The color in the pictures of the item make the satin black look more like its an anodized aluminum or more like a space gray iPhone which is what I wanted. But its instead just black paint, the quality is excellent other wise just bummed about the color going to send it back.Overall, the license plate frame has a nice appearance; however, after closer examination I found imperfections in the back edge of the frame and it was very sharp. It appeared to me that it missed a process to clean up and smooth the edges of the frame. I would be happy with this product if it cost $15, not $35. I have purchased several WeatherTech products and this is the only time I have been disappointed.Pros:Comes nicely packaged.Finishing on the frame is very nice. Nice mirror polish and the edges are clean.Plastic back bracket works well keeping the frame away from the body of the car.Looks really nice on the car.Cons:The chrome caps are plastic - their finish isn't flawless - showing some seams and small nubs where they were removed from the plastic frame they were created in. Not sure how durable they will be over time.There aren't any screw included which is a bit silly considering how much this costs. I had to drive to my autoparts store to get specific screws to fit in the chrome cap fasteners as heads on the ones I already had didn't fit inside them.What needs to be made abundantly clear is that there is only ONE frame included, not two.In BC, Canada, we need TWO frames.
