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Thread: Importing Z3 from Japan to Canada

  1. #1
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    Importing Z3 from Japan to Canada

    Hi everyone, new member living in AB, Canada. I decided to import a Z3 from Japan to Canada and finally found a suitable one a few days ago that I won at auction. There didn't seem to be much choice within Canada and the car I got has 73,000km and is a one owner car. It was originally built in Germany then officially imported to Japan and is a 2.0 litre LHD car. It received a very good auction grade of 4.5 so hoping it will be as good as it sounds when it arrives at my house in a few months. I've used a highly recommended broker in Japan (Mark Bremner at Brave Auto International) and am using a guy local to me in AB to handle the logistics of the deal from this side.

    I only have the generic auction photos at the moment but should get a full album soon of the car once it is tested to ensure it is as described prior to export. I've attached a few photos below and hopefully they upload ok.

    Tim

    Pic1.jpg

    Pic4.jpg

  2. #2
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    Do you mean to say that you came up with the idea of importing a Z3 from Japan to Canada and then went looking for a good candidate and bought this one at auction sight unseen just so you could import it? And it's left hand drive? And it's a Z3 made in Germany? (What are the first 3 digits of the VIN btw?). Ok, I have to ask why?

  3. #3
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    Yes it is LHD, yes it was made in Germany which I've confirmed with the VIN (first three WBA).

    Why I did it was that there are very few available in Canada and the good ones are priced super high, the US ones at my price point had what I considered high mileage and would also incur significant import and delivery charges partly due to the weak CAD $. The auctions are very well regulated in Japan and as long as you do your due diligence and use reputable people it's as low risk as buying sight unseen can be. Obviously I understand there is an element of risk but at the price I paid I'm cool with that.

    Tim

  4. #4
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    It’s interesting that the pics show M gills and front bumper cover but non -M rear bumper cover

  5. #5
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    How interesting--it is cheaper and easier to buy a 20 year old car car thousands of miles away and ship it across an ocean than to simply drive it across a border. I only vaguely follow the exchange rate between US and Canadian currency, and the last time I paid any attention to it they were at about parity--maybe it's time to visit Toronto again--they have great French restaurants there (or at least they did the last time I was aware the U.S. dollar was up against the Canadian dollar--back before the Great Recession).

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tim010 View Post
    Yes it is LHD, yes it was made in Germany which I've confirmed with the VIN (first three WBA).

    Why I did it was that there are very few available in Canada and the good ones are priced super high, the US ones at my price point had what I considered high mileage and would also incur significant import and delivery charges partly due to the weak CAD $. The auctions are very well regulated in Japan and as long as you do your due diligence and use reputable people it's as low risk as buying sight unseen can be. Obviously I understand there is an element of risk but at the price I paid I'm cool with that.

    Tim
    The car appears to have a BMW M lower bumper which tends to make me question why the change. If I am missing something please advise. Are you aware of the difference between a non-M BMW Z3 and a M Z3??. Any engine photos ? However it looks like car that has been well cared for.

    Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

  7. #7
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    You are right about the auctions here, this is mine I bought a few years ago with 35000km. It was grade 4 and I found nothing wrong with it whatsoever, discounting minor wear for 13 years of usage naturally. LHD Z3 roadsters here are manual, RHD automatic and all coupe cars are LHD. Not sure why they did that.
    Grading is reliable, 4.5 will be very good.

    Ztomorrow.jpg Ztomorrow2.jpg

    Quote Originally Posted by Tim010 View Post
    Yes it is LHD, yes it was made in Germany which I've confirmed with the VIN (first three WBA).

    Why I did it was that there are very few available in Canada and the good ones are priced super high, the US ones at my price point had what I considered high mileage and would also incur significant import and delivery charges partly due to the weak CAD $. The auctions are very well regulated in Japan and as long as you do your due diligence and use reputable people it's as low risk as buying sight unseen can be. Obviously I understand there is an element of risk but at the price I paid I'm cool with that.

    Tim

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by MORRIE View Post
    The car appears to have a BMW M lower bumper which tends to make me question why the change. If I am missing something please advise. Are you aware of the difference between a non-M BMW Z3 and a M Z3??. Any engine photos ? However it looks like car that has been well cared for.

    Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
    The car was listed as a 2.0 litre car, not a M Z3. I looked on the spec sheet that I found on Bimmercat.com and it has a couple of options listed - S704 (M Sports suspension) and S710 (M Sports steering wheel) if that helps? I can't answer regarding the different bumpers but know it was officially imported to Japan as it is listed on the spec sheet "National Version Japan". There's no accident damage reported on the auction sheet either.

    Tim

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Jakechan View Post
    You are right about the auctions here, this is mine I bought a few years ago with 35000km. It was grade 4 and I found nothing wrong with it whatsoever, discounting minor wear for 13 years of usage naturally. LHD Z3 roadsters here are manual, RHD automatic and all coupe cars are LHD. Not sure why they did that.
    Grading is reliable, 4.5 will be very good.

    Ztomorrow.jpg Ztomorrow2.jpg
    Your car looks great and that's super low km's.

  9. #9
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    It is definitely not an M...

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  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by BimmerBreaker View Post
    It is definitely not an M...
    Yeah I totally agree. It was never listed as an M and is a 2.0. I can only assume the previous owner put the M front bumper and gills on it.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tim010 View Post
    Yeah I totally agree. It was never listed as an M and is a 2.0. I can only assume the previous owner put the M front bumper and gills on it.
    It is a good looking Z3. Enjoy it for what it is...a sporty BMW Roadster that will.pit a smile on your face each time you get behind the wheel. BTW this site is filled with forum members that are here help you enjoy your Z3 experience. Welcome aboard.

    Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

  12. #12
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    Good luck with your new Z and welcome. One thing I found interesting in the pics of BOTH Tim010 and Jacechan is it looks like the same garage/auction bay. Do they auction cars in only one place in Japan? Strange....

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by BostonZiggy View Post
    Good luck with your new Z and welcome. One thing I found interesting in the pics of BOTH Tim010 and Jacechan is it looks like the same garage/auction bay. Do they auction cars in only one place in Japan? Strange....
    I think most of the auction bays look similar. The biggest company is USS Auctions and they have quite a few different auction houses in the big cities. Mine came from USS Tokyo, which auction house was yours from Jacechan?

    Tim

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by BostonZiggy View Post
    Good luck with your new Z and welcome. One thing I found interesting in the pics of BOTH Tim010 and Jacechan is it looks like the same garage/auction bay. Do they auction cars in only one place in Japan? Strange....
    Nope, this is USS car auction group sites in Japan. Maybe the layout of each is the same or similar. And there are other companies.....

    USS auctions.jpg

  15. #15
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    Yeah, I kind of figured there would certainly be more than one auction house in the country. Funny, the pics are so similar (right down to the tape markings on the floor) I just had to ask!

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tim010 View Post
    I think most of the auction bays look similar. The biggest company is USS Auctions and they have quite a few different auction houses in the big cities. Mine came from USS Tokyo, which auction house was yours from Jacechan?

    Tim
    Well colour me shocked, mine came from USS Tokyo too, which is actually in Chiba. Roughly 60km from where I live.
    I saw the car on the USS web page on a Wednesday, told my agent I was interested. He said he would check it on Thursday morning and send pics. He informed me it was a good car, and asked for my bid. And what do you know, he called back later and said the car was mine. Then it got strange....
    We discussed shipping the car, of course there were costs, and my Japanese not being the best assumed he would put it on a truck. Couple of hours later he called and said "I'm outside your house"
    Then even freakier..... I'd paid a deposit for his service, so I asked when he wanted me to pay the balance for the car. "Oh, I'll let you know when I get back to the office".
    At that time of course I didn't have the paperwork, so couldn't do much...

    This pic was taken that day after he'd left, I had taken him to the train station.


    IMG_20150806_160405.jpg

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tim010 View Post
    ...It was originally built in Germany then officially imported to Japan
    Just FYI - all Z3s and M Roadsters (E36 versions) were built at the BMW plant in Spartanburg, SC USA for world wide distribution. It now builds BMW SUVs. The engines were built in Germany though and shipped to the Spartanburg plant.
    2002 M Roadster, Steel Gray Metailic, Gray Nappa Leather, Black Soft Top, Steel Gray Metailic Hard Top, TC Kline Double Adj Shocks with H&R Springs, Stromung Exhaust, SSR Type C Wheels. Looking for a new home.

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  18. #18
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    Mine is also WBA, assembled in Spartanburg USA

    Quote Originally Posted by Tim010 View Post
    Yes it is LHD, yes it was made in Germany which I've confirmed with the VIN (first three WBA).

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by khammack View Post
    Just FYI - all Z3s and M Roadsters (E36 versions) were built at the BMW plant in Spartanburg, SC USA for world wide distribution. It now builds BMW SUVs. The engines were built in Germany though and shipped to the Spartanburg plant.
    Good to know, mine got a German prefix on the VIN (WBA). A quick Google search confirmed BMW did this for a bit for trade "benefits".

    Tim

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jakechan View Post

    This pic was taken that day after he'd left, I had taken him to the train station.


    IMG_20150806_160405.jpg
    Nice car... I noticed it has aftermarket angel eye headlights. Do you know what kind? Just curious if there is some other option we might not be aware of over here...

  21. #21
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    Those are the sonar Z. Same as anywhere else. All made in China, sold worldwide

    I think in 2019 thanks to the ubiquity of the internet there are no longer any secrets. If there was another Z3 headlight option we would know about it

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  22. #22
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    Do you know what ship it’s on? That info. should be available.
    I used a guy from UShip to move a truck from Innisfail. Door to door was $950, a car carrier would have been 750 and then two towing charges.

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