Buying a car from eBay/United States

[89 redrocket]

BMW dealer told me that E90's would require cluster changed - I have no idea why. E46's are OK

[JPTN]

There are currently class action lawsuits against BMW & Mercedes regarding all these unnecessary fees.

Check them out:
- http://www.ucanimport.com/lawsuit.aspx
- http://autolawsuit.blogspot.com

[TNation]

Cluster changes are NO longer necessary when importing vehicles over the year of 2004 from the United States. Great news if you import BMW's from the US

[pdauphinee]

if the car is over 15 years old you do NOT have to deal with riv, the car still has to pass a safety and I am not sure if it is 15 or 20 years , then no emission either. Get your recall letter from the states before bringing the car to canada, riv is also accepting a vehicle history warranty report, I just imported my z3 and got the vehicle warranty report from the dealer I bought the car from for free, so there is a way to beat bmw canada.

[propr'one]

^^that is not true. I've already explained this many times, but you do still have to complete RIV form 1.

[lvan]

Originally Posted by propr'one

No. As soon as you leave the canada customs office, you can take your completed form 1 to the ministry of transport and get a title.

You do need safety + etest.

Do we still need this letter for newer cars at all? The hype is kinda town to be slow economy.

[pdauphinee]

Any vehicle which is less than 15 years old will need a recall letter or the warranty history report and you will have to pay the riv fee.

[nickdaytona]

Originally Posted by pdauphinee

if the car is over 15 years old you do NOT have to deal with riv, the car still has to pass a safety and I am not sure if it is 15 or 20 years , then no emission either. Get your recall letter from the states before bringing the car to canada, riv is also accepting a vehicle history warranty report, I just imported my z3 and got the vehicle warranty report from the dealer I bought the car from for free, so there is a way to beat bmw canada.

All used vehicles produced from 1988 onwards will require emmisions testing, the 20 years rule has long been scrapped.

[pdauphinee]

I stand corrected, I did not know the policy was changed in 2006 to include all vehicles from 1988 and newer. I picked up an 86e so that is why it did not come to my attention, thanks for the correction.

[Firewired]

So I went down and bought myself a BMW. Dealer over there printed me a letter stating that there is no open recall, but the RIV wont accept it.

Other dealers that I've called in the states can't help me. And my local dealer in Ottawa is asking me like 700$ to do it.

What can I do? Anybody with some leads ? PM's work you know !

[pdauphinee]

You can try and get the dealer in the US to obtain a re call letter from BMW US office, the letter has to be from BMW not on a dealer letter head. You can also ask the dealer for a warranty vehicle inquiry report . This is accepted by RIV I just did my z3 this way. You can also ask RIV for more time to register your vehicle. They gave me a 60 day extension. This will give you time to figure out a way, check out other bimmer sites, there is lots of advice re this problem, some are very creative.

[Kal]

Is the process the same for importing a BMW that is presently damaged even if it has a clean title? Or are there more taxes/fees for that?

[pdauphinee]

not sure about that, so long as it is brought up to canadian specks, call RIV directly and ask them to be sure, their number is, 1-888-848-8240 good luck

[Kal]

I called RIV and its perfectly fine to ship accident vehicles to Canada. However if they are branded irrepairable or junk there are certain restrictions (that, I did not get into.)

[pdauphinee]

great, if you need work done and you do no have a reliable inexpensive mechanic try charlie at bimmersport, 905-670-9200, he knows bimmers inside and out.