Importing European E70 into the US?

[mwest29]

I am moving from Austria to California and am hoping to bring my 2007 E70 X5 with me. The price I would get from selling it here is criminal!

I understand the DOT procedure now for importing the vehicle, but i'm worried about sending it to one of the DOT Registered Importers. I'd prefer to send it to an approved BMW dealership to change the speedometer (KM to MPH) and make the other changes.

I guess my question is what exactly do they need to do to make it comply to DOT regulations? I guess it will be up to emission standards already.

Any tips or advice will be warmly received!

[AzNMpower32]

What motor/model is your X5? If it is a diesel, even a 3.0sd, it cannot be imported, because the US has stricter emissions standards, AND California is even more stringent.

Your lights will probably need to be reprogrammed. Otherwise, I can't think of much else, aside from a lot of paperwork.

[rh71]

you don't have the front [side] amber reflectors either do you? I'm not sure on the law... I think it's required to be there but the color can be varied.

[King]

Don't let the tid bits of info from other people scare you away! What you need is the facts straight from the right source!

Here is a link to the gov't website on importing a vehicle into the U.S.
Importing a Motor Vehicle - CBP.gov

They talk about an Auto Imports facts manual in the above link which can be found here
The Automotive Imports Facts Manual - Table of Contents | Importing Vehicles and Engines | US EPA

Basically you make sure your vehicle qualifies (which it does) and then take care of all the import regulations etc. You should not have to pay any import duty or taxes since you have owned it for over a year and are moving to the U.S.

Once it is in the country, you can take it to a U.S. dealer who will know exactly what to do to make it compliant. This is where they do little things like the speedometer, lights, etc. before you can actually register it. In Canada we have 45 days to do all this before registering the vehicle.

There are brokers that will do all this for you. I know someone who imported into Canada, not the U.S. and had everything done through a reliable vehicle importer and he paid only $300 for their services!

Good Luck, you shouldn't have any problems!

[HUK]

If you want to communicate with a dealer here, I know a great guy who's head of Internet sales at Santa Monica BMW. His name is Hans Dakhlia and can be reached at [email protected]. He is German and may be more sympathetic than the average dealer to your situation.

[JCL]

Agree with King that you should go with facts. He put a couple of good links there.

Anything like the speedometer, side marker lights, etc, is easy for the dealer to do. It will cost some money, but these are essentially cosmetic modifications.

The bumper standards should be the same, but that isn't guaranteed. Note that the OEM Euro hitch doesn't reinforce the bumper the same as the OEM US hitch does, so they are working to different standards there.

I would be very surprised if your vehicle meets US emissions regulations. Each market has different rules, and the sticker under the hood will say what standards yours meets. If it meets US standards, great. If it doesn't, it may not be economically feasible to change it over. The ECM coding may not be compatible with the coding for a North American vehicle.

Good luck, but find out before you bring it in what the total cost is going to be. I once took a Ford Expedition to another country (from Canada) after getting assurances of what needed to be done to make it legal. After 6 months of so, we shipped it back to Canada to sell it because we couldn't make it compliant. The importer took some responsibility, so it only cost be return shipping, but it was a difficult process. I wouldn't try again, unless I was dealing with a 25 year old vehicle that is grandfathered as a special interest vehicle.

[Markost12]

Did the reverse thing.

You'll need to change all back lights to red color instead of white,yellow and red, speedometer and side markers.
Thats it. Gas emissions are OK.

But if I was you, I would sell it in Austria and buy a new X5 in the States for the same money.

They're almost half the price over there.

[Fastbuck]

Originally Posted by Markost12

Did the reverse thing.

You'll need to change all back lights to red color instead of white,yellow and red, speedometer and side markers.
Thats it. Gas emissions are OK.

But if I was you, I would sell it in Austria and buy a new X5 in the States for the same money.

They're almost half the price over there.

That's probably pretty sound advice!

[JCL]

Originally Posted by Markost12

Did the reverse thing.

You'll need to change all back lights to red color instead of white,yellow and red, speedometer and side markers.
Thats it. Gas emissions are OK.

Exhaust emissions were OK for you moving out of the US because of lower standards overseas, but you seen to be suggesting that non-US vehicles also meet US emissions standards. Doesn't sound right.

[AzNMpower32]

Originally Posted by Markost12

Did the reverse thing.

You'll need to change all back lights to red color instead of white,yellow and red, speedometer and side markers.
Thats it. Gas emissions are OK.

Actually, there is no need to change the taillights. Amber indicators are a perfectly legal thing in the US (duh) and obviously in my eyes, safer.

You would need to add the reflectors onto the bumper. US Emissions, as others mentioned, are more stringent for petrol models.