$3200 for a BMW recall letter?!?!

[mr2mike]

So my dad picked up a BMW out of the states and the original owner gave him a recall clearance letter before he left town en route to Canada.

He's crossed the border just fine but now BMW wants $3200 for a recall clearance letter?

This is stupid and basically is almost eliminating the savings of going to the US.

They also won't approve the daytime running lights on the car because the driver can go in and easily modify to turn them off. Which is another load of crap because I can turn anyone's daytime running lights off with a pair of wire cutters.

Anyone else run across this with the RIV and BMW? Is there a way around it to avoid paying huge fees for the recall letter and the modifications that are not really needed?

[atgilchrist]

Who's not approving the DRL's?

[g-m]

Why would you pay BMW? The car is in canada, the letter is in your hand and BMW is out of luck. Start screening your calls.

[mr2mike]

From what I understand:

He's at the point where he paid the $200 for the RIV Federal Inspection. Sent them his recall clearance letter that the USA owner got in the mail and gave to him before he left Arizona.

RIV came back and said they don't approve the letter and want another one or something.

Not sure where the DRL's come in but I'm guessing BMW is trying to make him come in to get a "Canadian version" of the DRL ECU. Thus spending way too much money for nothing just so they'll let a recall clearance letter go out and be sent to the RIV.

I'll ask him more about the DRL issue later.

[scat19]

You need to get an OOP to get it in canada.

You can easily hook up your own DRL's to pass the canadian tire OOP.

Don't go to BMW for that.

Also, I know of someone who forged a Ducatti letter, and it worked.

Try it?

[C4S]

I never heard $3200 for recall letter .. I guess $3200 include all the work need to be done? ( to pass safety etc )

Still .. it is better to buy local .. ( Canadian cars, or US cars ALREADY in Canada )

With ~ 1.16 exchange rate now .. you are not going to save much .. plus much lower resale value for US import anyway.

[Team_Mclaren]

what kind of recall clearance letter did you get, there`s a printout by BMW USA database that RIV will accept, anything other then that they will want a BMW Canada recall letter. At least this was the case a year ago.

As for the OOP and federal inspection, dont go to BMW for that. And inspection station or Canada tire can perform the inspections. They cant disapprove your DRL as long as it cant be manually turned off inside the car.

Originally posted by scat19



Also, I know of someone who forged a Ducatti letter, and it worked.

Try it?

ya because forging shit is a great idea

[benyl]

Unless the car came with options that you can't get in Canada, there is no reason to go to the US for a BMW at this exchange rate.

The DRL issue is because US cars allow the driver to turn them on and off. In Canada, there is no such option. BMW claims that the cluster must be replaced in order to do this. I am convinced that a simple software flash is enough.

BMW does charge $500 for the recall letter. They also charge $500 for a inspection and activation of your warranty in Canada.

That basically makes the cluster $2,200.

The $3000+ cost of importing a BMW has been known for at least two years. A simple search a number of websites, including this one, would have told you that.

[Tik-Tok]

If he can't shut the DRL's off with a switch, and they come on automatically with the ignition, then he's legal there.

As for the recall letter, I've heard they charged exorbitant amounts for that (to try and curb the cross border shopping)

[benyl]

Here is a post with the exact number you quoted:

http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.p...98#post2346198

[SI_futbol]

dont be afraid to try another dealership, my dad went to red deer bmw and it was cheaper than here.

[you&me]

Originally posted by SI_futbol
dont be afraid to try another dealership, my dad went to red deer bmw and it was cheaper than here.

Red Deer BMW?


OP - The Federal Inspection / RIV inspection should not cost you a thing, certainly not $200. Did you mean the OOP (which even then, still shouldn't cost $200)?

[TurboD]

what sort of BMW did your dad buy?

[scat19]

Originally posted by Team_Mclaren
ya because forging shit is a great idea

I didn't do it, did I? It worked for some random guy on a forum, just sharing the info

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by scat19

Also, I know of someone who forged a Ducatti letter, and it worked.

Try it?

Actually you are encouraging it, if you want to get technical, and could even be considered an accessory to fraud.

[SI_futbol]

Originally posted by TurboD
what sort of BMW did your dad buy?

07 X5

[Graham_A_M]

Originally posted by scat19

Also, I know of someone who forged a Ducatti letter, and it worked.

Try it?

Let hope he at least spelled Ducati the right way on the letter.

[roopi]

Originally posted by SI_futbol
dont be afraid to try another dealership, my dad went to red deer bmw and it was cheaper than here.

There's a BMW dealership in Red Deer?

[soloracer]

For DRL's on my NSX I just bought a set of cheap fog lights at crappy tire, installed them to come on with the ignition and I was good to go. Cost about $100 all said and done. No reason your dad can't do the same - unless of course the RIV inspection can't be done at Crappy Tire or something. They magically fell off my car shortly after the inspection though.

As for the recall letter I have heard about this problem. It appears that the reason BMW drivers are douches is because the guys running their dealership network are even bigger douches.

[nd54]

Turning the DRL's on is easy, but the problem is that on US cars you can choose to turn them on or off on I-Drive or through the instrument cluster. In Canada we're not allowed to have the option, so you have to change quite a bit of hardware in order to comply with the law.