Headlights changed to sealed beam units
Front turnsignals changed to U.S. Spec units
Sidemarkers drilled into front fenders
Sidemarkers drilled into rear fenders
Bumper reinforcements added
Bumpers changed to U.S. Spec
Door reinforcements added
A/C added to non-factory A/C car
Speedometer changed from KPH to MPH
OBC/Check Panel/Dash panels changed from German to English units
Emissions equipment added (cat, charcoal canister, etc.)
Other (specify)
With all the recent discussion about varying levels of Federalization done to Euro models brought to the U.S. I thought it'd be a good idea for Euro owners to quantify the level of changes done to their cars. Poll time! These are the majority of changes I've seen on other Euros in the wild, but there may be more I'm not aware of, please list any more you come up with.
Last edited by Lapis 635 Euro; 08-22-2010 at 06:23 PM.
On some I guess the gas tank was replaced (18(70L) vs 16 gallon)
Sealed beam headlights
rear sidemarker lights
door impact braces
My car is L-jet injection so no cat was added because there is no motronic to connect to an 02 sensor
My car was hacked up pretty badly. Side markers front and rear, huge heavy bumper bars, door reinforcements that were very poorly done, some crazy wiring within the fusebox (I'm guessing for the AC) and a ridiculously bad AC install... Oh, and air injection! ALL of this has been reversed now...
'88 528e /// '88 M5 /// '89 951 /// '98 E430 /// '02 M5
To what extent have any of the fedded cars been turned back?? Mine has the rear quarter markers filled, euro turn signals installed no smog of any kind. Dash gauges back to metric and all of the hvac panel in German. I did leave the door and bumper reinforcements in as they were well done.
81 Euro undergoing total nut and bolt restoration
pictures at: flickr.com/photos/bertsphotos
Not sure of everything that was done to my gals. I'd like to restore them to their "grey market" status, but its always work in progress. I do have the original shipping papers for one.
The side markers are an eye sore and each of the odometers were changed from Kilometers to miles. I stripped the CATs from each of my Euros and went all euro exhaust systems. Everything else inside my 6ers are in German and I'm not sure how to tell if the bumpers or doors were reinforced. I'd like to think that they are close to Euro standard
"Simply looking at a Shark is the same as buying one " - R. Carter"I have to stop looking at Sharks" - RokuMado
In Desire Of: 1985 M635CSi (Alpine White) OR ALPINA Model
1985 Euro 635CSi CR 5-Spd (Schwartz/Buffalo Anthracite)
1985 Euro 635CSi CR 5-Spd (Polaris/Napa Schwartz)
1985 Euro 628CSi Auto(Zobelbraun/Buffalo Nutria)...Rehomed
2002 540iT Sport Auto (Schwartz/Napa Black)
2019 740i M Sport (Carbon Black/Napa Black)
(pics) Nori • Yume •Hime • Saiko
When many of the cars were converted, the owner was given the original parts back so they could be changed after the inspection. With this being the case, it is common to find the euro lighting in place but still operating as the US type lights as the wiring was changed to be compliant with the DOT regulations.
Some other things that were done:
disable the headlight aiming system
adding the unleaded fuel restrictor to the fuel fill
adding charcoal canister and fuel vapor return
Adding the "Johnson Box" or other device for o2 sensor operation
Some of the cars were able to keep the euro marker lights by adding the dual filament buld or extra socket to make it operational as parking light and signal light.
Also some of the early cars were required to add the seatbelt warning buzzer if it was not in place from the factory.
Depending on the year of importation; a 3rd brake light was added
Last edited by alpinacsi; 08-23-2010 at 09:13 AM.
My 79 , replaced fenders without side markers, filled rear marker holes, Euro headlights, removed bumper reinforcements, never had MPH /US cluster even after DOT work. Always had full euro exhaust as it was Smog exempt being over 5 years old at the time. Filler neck was never modded as well. Added a small bulb in the euro turn signal housing that was used as parking light but kept the euro lens. It was full euro after the mods I did in 89 except the door reinforcement bars
Last edited by 88m53453; 01-17-2014 at 09:50 PM.
Would probably be cool to post pix of the various bits...
I'll try to do some of that if I can break away from the spawn this weekend...
Last edited by e24mpwr; 01-24-2014 at 03:10 PM.
Wow, interesting results for all the euro 6ers
"Simply looking at a Shark is the same as buying one " - R. Carter"I have to stop looking at Sharks" - RokuMado
In Desire Of: 1985 M635CSi (Alpine White) OR ALPINA Model
1985 Euro 635CSi CR 5-Spd (Schwartz/Buffalo Anthracite)
1985 Euro 635CSi CR 5-Spd (Polaris/Napa Schwartz)
1985 Euro 628CSi Auto(Zobelbraun/Buffalo Nutria)...Rehomed
2002 540iT Sport Auto (Schwartz/Napa Black)
2019 740i M Sport (Carbon Black/Napa Black)
(pics) Nori • Yume •Hime • Saiko
Mine had side markers in front added (later removed by a PO). The bundle of snakes header was removed and replaced with a runner to log manifold setup. I removed that and re-fitted a used OEM header. Speedo was changer to MPH unit.
Not sure if there were any other mods. Does not appear to have had the bumpers messed with.
Bumping an old thread for new Euro owners out of curiosity.
When you look at the poll results and realise that back then, the US did not enforce seat belt wearing you wonder why so many cars were butchered in the name of safety when the occupants were about to be tossed around like salad.
Funny how nations (any of them) really miss the elephant in the room sometimes.
1977 633 CSi RHD Euro. S38B38 3.9L M5 Transplant. 5 Speed Getrag Dogleg. 3.73 LSD. 417hp, 369lb/ft
1971 3.0CS E3 2dr Alpina Special Coupe Racer, 347hp, 295lb/ft
I'm just happy I have a German-delivered car in my possession that isn't hacked up.
My 9/80 was federalized in Calif in early '81:
-front and rear side markers
-charcoal fuel vapor canister
-speedo changed from Km to dual scale mph/km
-DOT sealed beam headlights
-cat converter/oxygen bung/johnson box (not connected) replacing Euro exhaust
-rear fog light disconnected
-not sure about bumper and door reinforcements
-all dash controls read in German
Note: car spent first 30 years registered in Cali. CarFax shows it was a frequent "gross polluter" but somehow previous owners always got it to pass smog.
Best response:: How federalized was your car???? Was being the key word!! Now back to full Euro spec except for hidden bumper and door reinforcements.
81 Euro undergoing total nut and bolt restoration
pictures at: flickr.com/photos/bertsphotos
My '84 was fairly unmolested except the speedo in mph, the missing headlight wipers, and the rear side markers. The wipers are back where they belong, attached to the headlight housings and full euro exhaust. Does anyone else have a map light on a gooseneck that's attached to the passenger side headliner/roof? Not sure if this was euro specific. I guess a trip to Realoem is in order.
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I wrote this about 5 years ago that may help explain some of what went into federalization back in the day. There were variations based on personal use or resale, Dot mods were required for all cars, 25 year old cars were exempt from everything, you could get epa exemptions for 5 year old cars for personal use, and the list goes on. The post and the discussions afterwards may clear up some things for you and show why cars were federalize differently and how some of the mods were basically cheating or illegal.
https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...08-A-look-back
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I purchased my '85 M new on a trip to Germany and had it shipped to the port in Houston, so I was able to supervise all the necessary mods myself. Didn't realize how lucky I was to live in Dallas until much later. The testing lab outside of Fort Worth was very liberal, so the only mods were door beams and naturally, the cat. I changed the speedo to MPH, but it wasn't required. No ugly side markers, and the factory bumpers were retained, so the exterior appearance was unchanged. With only 34k miles, I imagine I'll be keeping it quite a while longer. Still a baby!
1985 M635csi purchased new.
"Voters will always choose the beautiful lie over the uncomfortable truth."
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