Any BMW dealers willing to compete with US pricing?

[m3smgii2002]

Hey, I just started "Christmas" shopping and was hoping someone had experience with buying an M3 and if the dealer was offering competitive pricing (compared to the US used and new market). If not, has anyone imported an M3 from the US?. I am looking for a loaded (exceot NAV) PY/KW (or just PY/??) with SMG which is kinda rare BUT no way I'm paying the local dealers $83K + GST. In the US, I've seen slightly used loaded cars w/ SMG for around $50+ CDN plus import/tax costs of $5K ... we still come out $25K ahead of new from dealer.

Thanks,

-Malcolm

[benyl]

You also have to buy a new instrument cluster because BMW doesn't put both metric and imperial on their dash's.

The canadian dollar has gone down in the last week and a half, I would check your calculations again to see if it is still worth the hassle.

[t-im]

^ why would you need a new instrument cluster? If you don't care about your milleage in MILES vs KM then it's all good

I doubt dealers are willing to match the price of something you'd find in the usa..im sure they'd just be like "go ahead, go through all the hassle if you really want"

[2002civic]

they wont drop their price 25k when they have no trouble selling them here, good luck on that

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by benyl
You also have to buy a new instrument cluster because BMW doesn't put both metric and imperial on their dash's.

Originally posted by t-im
^ why would you need a new instrument cluster? If you don't care about your milleage in MILES vs KM then it's all good

US cars have MPH on the major scale and km/h on the minor scale. Canadian cars have only km/h.

[benyl]

I was told by a BMW guy, that in the US, they only have MPH with no minor scale. Guess my info was wrong.

But to answer t-im question: It is the law and you can't import a car without km/h. I believe that km/h on the minor scale as shown above is ok.

[t-im]

^ I know that, but I also knew that they came in both km/h and MPH

so just saying I woudln't go thru the hassle of changing it (unless you had to)

[rage2]

Originally posted by benyl
I was told by a BMW guy, that in the US, they only have MPH with no minor scale. Guess my info was wrong.

But to answer t-im question: It is the law and you can't import a car without km/h. I believe that km/h on the minor scale as shown above is ok.

Cars without MPH are not on the RIV list anyways, so it's not allowed in.

[Weapon_R]

So are you guys saying that I can find a newer BMW online, buy it and register it here if it has KM/h on the cluster? What happened to the 15 year rule?

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by t-im
so just saying I woudln't go thru the hassle of changing it (unless you had to)

Yep, not to mention the $900 for the conversion. That's what Calgary BMW quoted me in June.

Originally posted by Weapon_R
So are you guys saying that I can find a newer BMW online, buy it and register it here if it has KM/h on the cluster? What happened to the 15 year rule?

E36M3 bought an SL55 off eBay from Florida a few months ago. He'd be the guy with the answers.
http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.php?threadid=50990

[benyl]

Originally posted by rage2

Cars without MPH are not on the RIV list anyways, so it's not allowed in.

You mean KM/H right?

Originally posted by Weapon_R
So are you guys saying that I can find a newer BMW online, buy it and register it here if it has KM/h on the cluster? What happened to the 15 year rule?

Outside NA.

US is ok for "most" cars.

Anything outside the US is not ok before 15 years.


www.riv.ca

[m10-power]

Best to really check all the facts and to call RIV, also consider the value of a US imported vehicle when you want to sell it. What if you get a wrecked car that is repaired and don't know it...

Big risk, probably alot closer to the same cost of a used one here in town, most likely not worth the hassle.

[m3smgii2002]

Thanks all for the info ... esp, the RIV ... when I imported 2 cars to the US before it was definitely a hassle trying to re-sell them because of the perception of an imported vehicle BUT I have no intention of selling an M3 if I import it ... esp. since it'll be converted to my next track car as I phase out my Talon.

Unfortunately, the more people willing to fork out $10-20K more than market value, the less likely Canadian dealers will lower their price to compete with the US market.

-M

[omes]

I looked into this recently in quite some detail. I checked with customs, RIV and every link/ phone # I was provided with.

You are looking at 7% GST and 5.8% duty, cost of the USD exchange and about $400cdn in documentation fees. These %'s are all based on the purchase price, I spoke to a guy at a dealership that imports cars quite often and a "dummy" bill of sale is useful in the regard, ie. make 2 cheques to the seller and 2 bills of sale, use the lesser amount as documentation when bringing the car across. There is also a luxury tax but you just have to make sure you document the car at less than $30000usd i think was the benchmark.

When the car gets to Canada you have to take it for inspection (done at Cdn Tire) believe it or not and you will need airbag stickers, these are available on-line. In some extreme cases, (depending on the inspector) you may have to order new sunvisors from bmw with the stickers intact which are supposedly not removeable....guess they never heard of goof-off. Another thing is to make sure the DRL's are enabled as the cdn dealers don't have access to this encoding in the lighting control module.

BMW's are probably one of the friendliest vehicles to import. There are some other little rules like contacting the border 3 days prior to crossing with the car so they can run a title search in order to make sure the car wasn't stolen.

I would definitely look into buying my future car in the states and bringing it across as I have made many contacts from guys on the boards who would be willing to help scout prospective rides.

I found an '04 m3, smg with nav and 19's vert a couple of months ago with 2800 miles and could have had it shipped here all documents done for just under $67000cdn. Shipping was about $2000 cdn btw. Would have been a great deal but bailed on it as the economics of parting out and selling my car were not really in my favor. I figured this to be a $25000 savings vs buying from the dealership new here and a slightly kicking myself for not doing it, but have found a new love for my car since my tuning issues have been sorted out.

[max_boost]

I'm not sure if this applies to BMW or any other makes for that matter, but the S2000 guys were saying, if anyone bought a car (S2000/Honda) from the U.S and imported it to Canada, you lose the warranty. Only way to get warranty coverage is to have it service in the U.S. My buddy spyguy was saying, this is only really beneficial to those who live in the Vancouver area who can sneak across the border in a 45 minute drive to have their car serviced. Still a hassle IMO.

Call BMW North America and ask about this, this is very important.

[C4S]

How about domestic car ?

Say a C6 Corvette, $45K US, but $70K cad, and since it is a domestic car, and built in US, duty should not be apply, and it can switch to MPH or KM/H

$45K US is about $55K .. $15K saving ... even with some options, shipping .. GST .. is probaby add up to $65K .. still $10K less, and warranty is not an issue for domestic cars ..
(of course, no reason for Canadian GM dealership to take $10K off ! )

?

However, it apply to almost everything .. a $2000 camera lens probaby cost only $1000 US ....

May be time to move to US ?

[omes]

[i]

Call BMW North America and ask about this, this is very important. [/B]

Sam, you answered the question right there, IT is BMW North America, not Honda Canada or Honda USA, or GM Canada vs GM USA.

Warranty remains in tact.