Euro M3

[scsi]

How hard is it to import a Euro M3? How much does it cost, and how would I go about it? BTW this would be for an m3/4 between 97-98.

Thanks in advance,

Steve

[Bugatti]

Goto Bmwusa.com.
Look up European Delivery. For new cars.

The cheapest place in Europe to buy a car is Belgium.

I guess fly to Begium and find one.

[michaelab]

I don't think that's what he means. European Delivery from BMW USA just means that you pick up your US Spec BMW in Europe.

If you want to import a Euro spec E36 M3 to the US then it's basically impossible. The car was never type approved for the US so you'll never get it done - you might even have to import two and crash test one of them!

It would be cheaper and you'd have less paperwork if you just Euroize a US M3 like Alan Taur has done (Euro 3.2L motor, 6spd and all the other Euro bits).

Michael.

[stefang]

It's not that easy. Check out this site for us gov regs.

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import

Stefan

[michaelab]

Originally posted by badbadm

With all due respect, that's one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

Importing a car to the US which has never been type approved in the US is, for all practical purposes, impossible. I was not joking about the crash test. It's true in some cases.

Bill Gates thought he could do it: he bought a Porsche 959 in the 80s but it's still sitting in a customs warehouse in New York. If Bill Gates, with all his cash and influence can't do it then I'd like to see anyone else try and do it.

The crash test is probably not a requirement for the Euro M3 since the same basic car was type approved in the US and people have imported some of the rare Canadian 'Euro' M3s into the US without too much problem but I'll stand by my original statement:

It would be cheaper and quicker to 'Euroize' a US M3 than trying to import an original from Europe.

Michael.

[Seth Thomas]

Originally posted by michaelab


Importing a car to the US which has never been type approved in the US is, for all practical purposes, impossible. I was not joking about the crash test. It's true in some cases.

Bill Gates thought he could do it: he bought a Porsche 959 in the 80s but it's still sitting in a customs warehouse in New York. If Bill Gates, with all his cash and influence can't do it then I'd like to see anyone else try and do it.

The crash test is probably not a requirement for the Euro M3 since the same basic car was type approved in the US and people have imported some of the rare Canadian 'Euro' M3s into the US without too much problem but I'll stand by my original statement:

It would be cheaper and quicker to 'Euroize' a US M3 than trying to import an original from Europe.

Michael.

Gates has his car. There is an exclusion in the law that allows you to bring in a car made in limited numbers. But it limits you to driving it to around 1000 miles a year I think.

[Kos-motate139]

You might want to search these boards -- there was a thread on this subject just a few weeks ago by someone who's done it. Consider about 10 to 12 thousand in cash to the feds for an OBD1 car that already meets appropriate requirements (airbags, etc). Much more if not.

Considering the price e36 M3's are going for in Europe ($25K?), this still wouldn't be a bad deal. But there is a lot of waiting and tons of paperwork that needs to be in as well.

Oh, and I think the 'rare or historic' exemption is 5K per year, still not much. And I don't think the e36 M3 qualifies for that exemption anyway.

[fourfa]

there is a loophole for military personnel bringing back cars bought overseas, AFAIK. otherwise importing a car to use a daily driver is next to impossible without crash tests, as stated. if it's a museum car or whatever, there are ways.

[michaelab]

As I said, in cases where the basic car is already type approved in the US (M3, M5) then there's no need for a crash test. Also, once a model has been done once then it doesn't need to be done for each import obviously. If someone else has already gone through type approval with NHTSA then that helps a lot.

If you're the first person ever to try to import a particular model of foregin car and it's not the same basic model as something that already exists in the US then you will have to crash test it.

Michael.

[Bugatti]

I did a little research. Apprently most people hire a company to do all the work for them.

Here's all the details you'll need.

http://www.bmwworld.com/bmw/importing.htm

:boink

[gerry_miranda]

Ben Liaw of Rogue Engineering has done exactly this. You might want to give him a call...

[fourfa]

<i>Also there are a great number of Skyline GTRs in the country, and there is not a crash test required every time a single one of those is imported. </i>

the company that imports them and federalizes them (www.skylinegtr.com) did have to crash a few. same with the McLaren F1 (carbon fiber monocoque survived all crash tests unscathed), Sun Motorsports Lotus Elise, etc.

[michaelab]

Originally posted by badbadm

I will respectfully comment that you just made one helluva back-pedal to your original statement on this threadI respectfully accept that I might have exaggerated a little in my original post but the spirit of what I was saying is the same.

Michael.

[BS05ZHP]

They will make you crash test one if the car had not been imported before. Since others have imported Euro M3's, it would not be necessary.

Oh yeah, Bill Gates got his car out of customs last year.