Hunt for Information!

[Tclemens2]

hey all,

I got a crazy thing happening and I need some info. Basically, I have a 1985 BMW 318i that was imported from Germany in the 80's when the original owner bought it. The original owner was a close family friend of ours and she had passed in the 90's, I believe 96'. I recently remembered she had the car 6 months ago and started getting it road worthy. This is where the issue comes into play. I need to get it registered in California but do not know how to get the paperwork needed to do so. It has original California plates and registration that dates back to 95' but other than that 0 paperwork for the car. the DMV is basically saying because the car has been out of the system so long they have no info on it and we said well here is the plate and past registration but they are saying we could have taken it off a neighbors car. The other really important need is that they need proof it passed emissions when entering the U.S. because it was a import. The Icing on the cake is that we took it too a ref and they passed it but that's still not enough for those lovely folks at the DMV and they need paperwork showing that the car had passed U.S. emissions at one time. So to get to the point, how would I get access to some of those old files to try and register the car. Also the car is not in BMW of north America's database for some odd reason so how can I sort that out? Any help would be appreciated. Even for some of the older guys, if you know the process of imports back in the 80's and may be able to help point me too a company or anything!

The biggest thing I need right now is proof it passed U.S. emissions.

If you need anymore info or even a better explanation let me know I am glad to help!

Cheers,
Travis Clemens

[superj]

I called the big bmw dealer in Atlanta when I got an imported e30 and they were able to find the paperwork for me. Its either that, or try bmw of north America in south Carolina