It doesn't really matter. If you are not recognizable, it's not valid. That is the whole point of a photo-ID the photo has to be a good likeness with you. Glad the GP met friendly people that let him get away with it but don't count on it working for ever :-)
The driver's license is not an ID, though. Besides, at least in Germany you get it and then it never changes. So the photo is pretty much always outdated.
My European driver's license expires in 2046, but the fine print says if my appearance substantially changes, or the police requires it, I must get a new one.
I was going to make a quip about how that's because, compared to Europe, almost nobody in the States has bothered to get a passport.. but apparently the percentage of Statesians who have passports has skyrocketed in the last 35 years from ~3% to 51%: https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Z9qF8/6/
Germany is doing away with the eternal drivers licenses in stages. Better look that up before you loose yours. Wifes license runs out in January next year, eep.
Genuinely asking, how does that qualify as "eep"? Is renewing onerous or expensive in Germany? I ask because in the US, renewing a license is usually cheap and done quickly online, except for about once a decade, they require a new photo (which itself doesn't take too long with an appointment).
Lots of options here.