It's a 330ci, not an X5. Depreciation is faster in Europe than Oz, making it worthwhile for a car that's 1+ years old (apart from the above aggrevation, that is).

Import duty into Australia on 4wds like the X3 and X5 is only 5% while other vehicles are 10%. So an X3 for example, is cheaper in Australia than a 3 series wagon/estate, while the converse is true in most other parts of the world.

There are other duties and costs too though, including GST (10%), luxury car tax (if the vehicle exceeds the threashold), Blue Slip (roadworthy certificate), stamp duty, road tax, customs and quarantine inspection, shipping & handling, etc. Many shippers have a spreadsheet you can put your numbers into to see if you will come out on top. You can pay someone to do all this, but then your numbers don't look as good afterwards.

One the scams that appears to be running at the moment is to charge a fee for steam cleaning, ostensibly to meet quaratine regulations. Problem is, in my case 1) the vehicle was already prestinely clean and 2) they didn't do anything to the car despite the $200 bill!