North American vs. European X5 differences. Any Dutch members here?
 

Trying to figure out if there are any serious differences between X5 sold in North America and in Europe, specifically the Netherlands.

Any Dutch members here? The RDW is not exactly clear on what they want to see on my X5...

Not sure of your question.

There are lots of differences due to the way in which each BMW marketing organization configures cars for their market (ie their country). These differences are in which options are offered, and in some cases, in which engines offered. Vehicle emissions standards vary by country, for example, so not all engines are certified for all countries.

Then you come down to safety regulations, marker lights, daytime running lights, etc.

Then there are imperial vs metric measurements for fuel, mileage, distance.

Are you planning to import a vehicle?

I care only about the safety and possibly emission control differences.

I'm looking to take my Canadian X5 there. The Dutch DOT says I can bring it in, however I'm not sure about rear fog lights (there are none that I ever heard of in North America), so I wanted to see if I can compile a list of differences.

The rear foglights can be retrofitted by yourself without much difficulty. The DIY is on this forum actually, do a search. Basically, you need a European-spec headlight switch, plus a trigger wire to run from that switch to the FRM (Fußraummodul or Footroom module) which is sorta in front of the dead pedal.

You will need to buy a new set of outer rear taillights, as the indicator light is amber for the rest of the world and required under the ECE standards.

You will also need someone to code the lights so that the parking lights do not include the front turn signals.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps3bb1e030.jpg

There may be limitations on the sat nav and Telecommunications-related items like BMW Assist and BMW Online due to frequency differences. Not an actual safety requirement issue, just know there can be issues. Similarly, the airbag system works slightly differently on North American BMWs (weight sensor in the passenger seat, different programming/wiring). It won't break any laws there, but getting it serviced in the future may be problematic. Same with the emissions control systems; the programming and diagnostics are slightly different.

Thanks for the rear fogs pointer - found the DYI instructions - extremely comprehensive, so will deal with that soon.

My parking lights don't include the front turns already - had the car coded in the past, since I hated that.

I don't use any of the telecom stuff, however from what I know, the module inside is triband, so it should work. As for service - I want to drive it for a year and then sell it off, with a profit decent enough for me to go through with the hassle of shipping and etc, as I get to bring it in tax free, as long as I don't sell it for a year.

I don't know if you have a US style tow bar but those are not legal in Europe. The radio unit is likely an issue as NA units tune FM with .2MHz increments and dutch stations use .1 increments.

Unfortunately the RDW is not nearly as well organized as the German TUV and it will be a bit of hit and miss. The above comments are valid though.

I am dutch but live in the US, can't help much as my only experience is bringing 2 US vehicles into Germany when lived there for a while.

Well, since I don't have a trailer hitch installed, I don't believe the tow bar should be an issue.

Yes, I thought about the radio - this really causes me to miss out on some radio stations, but I guess I'll survive :)

The RDW is a flaming mess - it took a lot to get all the information I currently have, including a special office of the belastingdienst dealing with aliens importing stuff (go figure). Basically everything is doable, but nobody wants you to know about it :) Need to beat the system, as usual :)

Radio reprogramming instructions in this thread. E70 instructions are in the last post

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...reequency.html