European Launch
 

Anybody out there in Europe expecting their E70 around the European Launch dates (i.e. the end of this month!)

I have a 3.0si on order being built in April so expecting June Delivery.

WHy not buy one in the US and ship it to Europe? A friend of mine from Russia wants to do that with a 4.8i. since in Russia they are asking close to $150k for it.

My car is on the boat and I'll get it on April 28th (UK launch date).

I'm getting ready to order a 4.8I and my salesman gave me a number of a guy who is buying FX's (my current car) by the boatload to send to Russia. What is going on over there that there's such demand for these cars?

Lots of reasons:

1. Arranging shipping
2. Import Duties + VAT
3. LHD versus RHD
4. Legal requirements for European cars are different to US cars
5. Insurance costs
6. Lower residuals
7. UK Specification is more flexible than in the US, you can pick and choose exactly what you want

I'm sure there are more on top of that. My 3.0si will cost me about $90k through a UK dealer, including all taxes.

I am not sure of FX but in case with 2007 X5 every one wants to be the first one on the block to have one. A small showroom in Perm, Russia was flooded with orders and deposits even without having a vehicle in the showroom. I know BMW North America does not like it but if you have $70k for a 4.8i another $35k for docs, customs and shipping and three weeks later you have your car in Russia, thus saving at least $25-30K.

Pardon my ignorance here..., but when we're talking about 90k, 150k, etc... are we talking euro's or USD, and are all cars overseas sold at such higher prices than in the US or just the new X5 because of high demand?

As much as I love BMW and the X5, for $150k, I want a Carrera or a barely-used Ferrari, not an X5......

On the car sites in Germany you already see quite a few new "US" X5s for sale. By the time you have them registered, duties paid etc, you will save some money (not as much as in Russia) but then considering the negatives as mentioned by StumpyPete, you re safer to wait. The dealers here say that they do not have the software to service US-spec vehicles, and they wont receive it untill the summer. Not sure if this is just a thing to prevent grey imports. Official release in Holland is March 24th

Another fact: a lot of cars stolen in US show up at these high price markets. My buddy was on vacation in Belize few years ago and he saw a BMW driving around with New York plates. I guess the buyer paid premium for NY plates. :rofl:

For Completeness I meant 90k USD (and that includes about 15k of options). We don't have Euros in the UK....we still use GBP.

As for high prices this is the norm for other countries. It's not just the X5. You guys have it lucky in the US, just about everything is cheaper there. I am paying about $7 (USD) for a Gallon of fuel (US gall not imperial).......but it is 100 RON. So a tankfull of fuel is 157 USD.

Exchange Rates play a big factor as well. If we use exchange rates from March 06, my car would only be 82k USD, so it's appears to be 10 percent more expensive due to the current weakness of the dollar.

Incidentally, I don't know if Taxes are relevant, my 90k USD includes 17.5% VAT, so that accounts for about 13.5k of the 90k USD. The prices also include Delivery, plates, registration fees and excise duty. This accounts for another 1.5k USD.

For reference in the uk list price for a Cayenne is 37,100 GBP (or 71,500 USD) without any options. The Audi Q7 SE 3.6 FSI Quattro (280 PS) is 40,700 GBP (or 78,500 USD). The base X5 3.0si price in the UK is 39,505 GBP (76,165), the 3.0sd is 40,120 GBP.

I've used the exchange rate from today's Financial Times (1.928)