Advice on how to import a car from europe to the states?

[nine9six]

I have been looking at e36 Touring and I would like to import one from Europe to the states. From what I have read online said that it usually going to cost around $2,000 in transportation fees and other fees. I have been reading up on laws about how to get the car legally registered in California too. Does anyone have experience care to shed some light on this subject?

My hopes are to find a non rusted e36 touring early model for $2k and spend another $2-3k to get it to the USA. Doesn't matter if it is a 316 or 318 model to me. I already have an s52 motor here that I would be using for this project.

[r33p04s]

Just get a left hand drive one and register it in FL we don't inspect the cars before handing out plates...California good luck, talk to the skyline and jam guys that bring them over to Cali specifically

Fingerblasting my iPad

[nine9six]

I plan on getting a left hand drive car. I also plan to build it to street legal so it can pass smog in CA

[LSxDreamer]

I believe the main thing is they need to be 25 years old before legally allowed to import. Don't think E36s quite hit that milestone yet.

[BimmerBreaker]

It's not as easy as just getting it here and registering it. Even in States with no inspection, you can't transfer a foreign country's auto title without some paperwork being involved.

Frankly, these cars are not at the 25 year mark. You will have NO problem importing whatever car you desire, but to REGISTER IT, it needs to either have an identical version of it here so its known to pass DOT/EPA/safety standards (wagons obviously do not since they were never tested here) or wait 25 years.

In California your stricter laws will also make it more difficult to try to sneak the car through. I cant think of a legal way to do this right now tbh. Otherwise, I'd have an E36 touring of my own... good luck on your prices too as $5k to your door for a car like that seems wildly unrealistic to me. I've done a lot of research into importing cars. $2k may get it here but unless you are a lawyer you'll probably be paying someone another $1-2k just to do paperwork and then there are more fees depending on the State... plus paying to swap the parts over to US spec... figure closer to $8-10k delivered to a US port.

You can get the car here no problem and let it sit in your garage. To register and drive it on the street requires a lot more work. I've honestly realized its probably easiest to import a touring and cut the touring section and weld it onto a sedan - thats why I will be waiting the extra 5-6 years or so until they are eligible. Really not THAT far off and it becomes so much easier at that point and the cars will only get cheaper in that time.

[rotem]

bring one from canada

[beshannon]

Please read

http://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-impor.../importing-car

[pyite69]

I have been looking at e36 Touring and I would like to import one from Europe to the states.

I've been researching this quite a bit. The bottom line is: there is a good reason why people wait til cars are 25 years old before importing them. Leaving the state requirements aside, there are two Federal departments who need to approve the car:

1) If it is 20 years old or less, you will need to pay for an EPA test ($2500 IIRC). If your car fails, it is $2500 for another test. European emissions are different, so you would almost certainly need to replace some expensive parts. This is by far the most painful part of the process. If you want to import a diesel, forget it.

2) NHTSA tests are required for 25 years. This is much less painful - they care more about safety items such as DoT approved glass, bumpers, "items may be closer than they appear" warnings on the mirrors, MPH gauges, etc. Annoying but not a huge obstacle. If you want to go this route, look at the NHTSA site -- reports for all of the previously imported years and models are public domain data. It will save you a TON of time. You will be better off choosing a model and year that has already been done. The touring is likely to be a deal killer though since they will want crash testing results.

One thing that would help - does anyone have experience with different shipping companies and registered importers? I have had no luck getting any RI's or shipping companies to show any interest in even returning my calls. A sticky thread about this would be AWESOME. Maybe there are even blog posts from anyone who has done it...

At some point I plan to go through the whole process, probably with an E87 118i. Financing the crash testing will not be fun, however... probably requiring a Kickstarter project. If anyone else is interested in this, let me know.

I originally wanted to import the "world's greenest car" - a 2008 118d 5-door, but the EPA tests are impossible for diesel (just out of spite I want to import an 80's M535i with no catalytic converter.... it's insane that we can't import 50mpg cars. but I digress). If you have the option to live or work near the Mexico or Canada border, you may have more interesting options... I see Canadian cars all the time here in Utah but there may be limits as far as how much time a car can spend over here.

[BimmerBreaker]

On the second point above, you'll never get an E36 touring through US safety standards because we never tested a touring model here for safety (or at least, it never passed). You mentioned this but I wanted to bring that point to the top since that is really the killer there.

You can't import a car from Canada or Mexico unless it meets the same criteria as a car from Europe. You can get certain North America cars imported somewhat easily, but thats only because we have identical models already in the US (E36 M3 I'm lookin' at you) and that ease of import would also apply to those same cars from Europe

[SpeedsterBek]

If you really want E36 touring, you can buy the rear section from overseas and get it welded to a E36 sedan.

Otherwise, if you really want a bmw touring from mid 90s, E34 is an obvious choise. Get a 525it and drop your S52- that's probably most easiest and realistic option I'd choose.

[r33p04s]

Chop n weld? Buy a junked e36 sedan import e36 touring...you figure out the rest and it doesn't involve chopping and welding (well not the extent that has been mentioned)

[BimmerBreaker]

Chop n weld? Buy a junked e36 sedan import e36 touring...you figure out the rest and it doesn't involve chopping and welding (well not the extent that has been mentioned)

If your implying to VIN swap, that is so many levels of illegal its not even funny.

[Houseboater]

If your implying to VIN swap, that is so many levels of illegal its not even funny.

Only if you get caught right?

[BimmerBreaker]

Only if you get caught right?

Sage advice

[r33p04s]

:

Fingerblasting my iPad

[pyite69]

you'll never get an E36 touring through US safety standards

Someone needs to find a way to hire a lobbyist to streamline this process. There must be a way to allow reasonable exemptions -- by now there are plenty of insurance statistics to prove its safety.

Maybe a kickstarter project or something?

[BimmerBreaker]

Someone needs to find a way to hire a lobbyist to streamline this process. There must be a way to allow reasonable exemptions -- by now there are plenty of insurance statistics to prove its safety.

Maybe a kickstarter project or something?

Once a car is past 25 years old a lot of the requirements are waived. The tourings were first available in 1995 meaning they are now 20 years old.