Importing M3 from Europe ?

[M3Tony]

How easy is it to bring back a car from Germany/wherever, and register/run it in UK ?? I did it once with a 18 month old Volvo S80 2.9SE - and bloody nightmare, with new lights, clocks...etc. How does the KMH v MPH clocks issue work-out ?

[maxfield]

KMH times 3 divided by 5 equals MPH

[M3Tony]

Yes thanks ! What I mean is - are we allowed to run the KMH clocks, etc or do we need to go thru expensive & tricky conversion, etc. DVLA refused to allow KMH only clocks, insisting that proper UK regulated lights and clocks were installed.

[Simon]

I'm assuming this is an E30 M3? Headlights (as long as they are the smiley type) don't need to be changed, as there are 3 screws on the back of the unit that convert them, takes about 2 mins to do.
I know most cars that have come from Germany still have the clocks in KMH, mine does, no problems there.
You may find it difficult getting an MOT on a car with no side repeaters,as cars made after a certain date need to have them fitted. Mine doesn't have any, but I'm quite friendly with my MOT tester.
To be honest, I think the only things you have to worry about is the registration hassle.

[Rich_W]

Honestly, theres no real point. Apparently all the decent M3s are over here now. In fact Germans look here for cars. When Rags sold his car that went to Spain (or Portugal) and hes not alone in that. look at mobile.de and you'll see very high mileage jobs or cars that are horribly modified. Normally with a 3.5 from a 5 series shoved in.

KMh is 5/8 of a mile

But I can tell you off the top of my head that 16,32,48,64,80,96,110 is 10-70mph. (and an indicated 220 is 140 ish ) I had a small conversion chart in the car, for 6 months but I took it out once I knew it.

As Simon says ( ) the hardest thing will be repeaters. Anything post 86 has to have them, so you can either fit them in the mirrors or fit genuine BMW items. Though you'll have to fit them in the right place iun csae you ever have to change a wing, or it will be uneven side to side.

[c76jon]

as has already been said.i did a lot of e30 m3s from germany and austria

i had to pay for an export plate in germany(red)and some insurance to cover me there and here until i could get it registered here.
all in all that lot cost about 100 quid

then you get papers (export) from Rathaus (town hall) which is dead easy

then drove it here.
mot.(friendly one)

took that and export papers to dvla office
at the time cost me 25 quid to get a logbook

john

[evostormm]

DVLA are now charging a Ԛ£38 registration fee for imports.

[evostormm]

Process is pretty straightforward. Don't forget to budget for flights/ferry/tunnel crossing. The main problem now is that you could find yourself in the middle of Germany (or wherever) looking at a car that does not meet expectations so possibly you'd have had a wasted journey and incurred alot of expense. That said, in my experience at least, the Germans are good to deal with and and I've had no major problems. Others may have had different experiences.

Generally I can't see it being cost effective now, unless you want to consider the trip a holiday at the same time (BTW your other half will not consider it a holiday). That said somtimes if the car is something special (nice low mileage/limited edition) it could still be worth the trip. Also, you'll probably find more cars available here and they'll be spread within a smaller area. Good luck.

[c76jon]

but to be fair its not always about the price

if you happen to find a car that is a real gem cost may not be the main factor

i bought all of mine around Munich,Ingolstadt area

coals to newcastle and all that.there are still a lot of e30 m3s around there .

john