Armen, thank you for the insight... My situation is slightly different - for my registration I MUST have all of the above, as I will not and can not bribe and the cops will not be taking bribes from me on the road anyway... they might try though... Under bilateral agreement between RF and the US, I MUST produce upon first demand ALL of the required safety items, I am prohibited under the US law to bribe ANY official in ANY country, and I am not subject to breathilzer test among other things... Not that I'll be drinking and driving, even though your statement about vodka being out of fashion is breaking my heart. Do Russians now drink Coca-Cola? Oh my God, what the world has come to be... :(

For a $100 registration bribe I can get an $85 extinguisher and comply with my office's regulations...

On the other hand, how much money you (regular Moscovite) need to have on you daily when you drive in the city - there are for sure at least 2 or 3 cops between your house and whatever place you go, and if everyone of them will stop you for real or imaginary infractions, pretty soon you'll have to sell the car to pay the bribes...

And yes, in the US the bribes are counted in hundreds of thousands of dollars - there is no more small bribery in the country, you would go to jail in a heartbeat for tipping your friendly US cop a $20... But if you need to build factory and need to redo the commercial zoning into industrial, then you sure can bribe a mayor or a senator about $100 -500K...

You know, if you are going to steal, might as well steal a million, right?...

:D Here you can purchase any beverage you desire - coca cola is already out of fashion too :D Talking about daily spendings i advise you to relax - Moscow is suffering from the heavy traffic even on the weekends and it is very difficult to violate traffic rules - anyway if you've got a diplomatic ID you should be ok - cause compared to your police our police can tolerate moderate violations especially if they see that you are a foreigner - I mean that our police are friendly. It is possible to get a speeding fine only if you drive at night on a highway and if it happens so that you are pulled over by an angry cop (it is a rare find though). And don't believe those legends that our cops will use any ways to force you to pay - such tricks do not come cheap for them cause the internal security service is eager to catch every cop stuck in dirty bribery. But nevertheless corruption here exists - but no one forces you to pay. You can give a cop a small bribe and forget about the incident in 5 minutes or as well spend 20 minutes and get a ticket/ But as far as I am concerned such tickets will be sent to the embassy and will not be given to you directly because you're not an RF citizen. Feel free to ask any questions - and don't fear coming to Russia. Vodka, Severe winters and white bears do not exist here ;) Only stunning girls, expensive cars and it's a pity a lot of jealous people (unfortunately this is a fact).

I am not scared of vodka... i don't like cold weather... and the polar bears... well, i know enough to know they don't climb that far south...
Girls... well, i am married, you can see her on my avatar... How does that saying go - don't bring your samovar to Tula, right?... Well, i have my samovar already... :)

Tell me Armen, how are ethnic minorities treated? You are probably an Armenian living in Moscow. Do you get any issues with your dark complexion? Your wife/girlfriend/significant other, if she is Armenian too, how is she treated? Is it safe for a woman driving an X5? My wife was held at a gun point one time here in San Jose, right in the heavy traffic, while in her car. The dude made her roll the passenger window down, grabbed a cell phone and a purse off the floor of the car and took off...

If you don't like walking alone deep at night in the far suburbs then you'll be treated ok. Yep, I'm Armenian but I was born here in Moscow and I still do not expirience any problems. I'm surprised that you know that saying about the samovar :D;) To my mind it is much more safer here than in the US or in the Latin America cause we almost don't have such cases like someone in the traffic in the daytime points a gun at you trying to hijack the car. Such cases are very rare and if they happen - the whole city knows about it. So you can easily let your wife drive a car. It is a common thing here if you see a woman driving Bentley Continental and Porsche Cayenne, Bmw X5 X6 and other SAVs are typical cars for a wife with a 'proper husband'. Here if the thieves want to steal your car the will do it stealthily without hijacking and using firearms - such thing won't be tolerated here especially nowc cause a week ago a police chief of Moscow has been dismissed by the president and all officers are scared of being caught for incompetence. And also a citizen can not carry a firearm here - our law strictly prohibits that. The only thing that is allowed is to buy non-lethal weapon with rubber bullets - but even to own this you have to collect a lot of documents and spend a lot of time and money to get a license.

ahhh... it so nice to feel yourself being a "proper husband"!!!

You've made my day!!!

:)

So, now I just need to get those winter things settled, as the car probably will make it to Moscow no sooner than December... Battery probably will be dead, even the solar panels ain't gonna help inside a shipping container... well, the joy of travelling with the whole "tabor"...

My boy, not even 6 yet, digging in my pockets.. "Hey boy, what you are looking for?" "Dad, I need money and the keys!!" "What??!!" Holy-shmoly, he needed the money to buy candy, and the keys to get to the store to buy it... I am dreaded of thinking, what will happen in a few years, when he will want to buy candy for a girl and to take her for a spin!!! mamma mia!!! I just hope that I can maintain being a "proper father"... here boy, you want a taste of my belt... ha-ha-ha...

:)

Hi,

I´m new to the forums and just bought myself an x5.
However I have more experience on fuel parking heaters (since I live in Finland), such as:

webasto

http://www.webasto.com/products/en/3115_3422.html

or Eberspächer

Eberspächer UK - Water Heaters



Also, you can go for the cheaper (approx. 700USD) choice and install a plug heater (for the engine) with indoor heater (for the cabin), such as:
Calix
Calix AB

or

Defa
DEFA Warmup=#

Advantages with the fuel heater is the remote, you do not need to plug your car to electric outlet post, and sheer warming power (up to 10kw!)

I constructed a cellphone remote for my heater (which doubles as spare key), so I dial a number, and the car literally melts the snow off itself in half an hour.