Importing a car from UK to Canada

[46er]

Hey guys just have a quick question maybe someone on here has done this and can fill me in. I was looking at e36 m3's for sale in the UK and the prices seem really good. I mean 96 m3 evo for 7k cnd. Now importing that car to Canada is probably going to add another 2k i was wondering if anyone has imported a bmw or any vehicle from the UK to Canada and what it took to do so. Is there shipping companies that will take care of all the paper work or do you have to arrange that with the seller and get them to load the car etc. anyways this is just a thought becasue seems like there is no shortage of euro spec e36 m3's and the prices are very attractive. any and all feedback is greatly appreciated cheers and thanks

Art

[craz azn]

www.willz.ca

[vintagez]

www.riv.ca
you may be eligible for the 15 year exemption

[SFX Group]

has to be 15 years or old PERIOD, if its not you wont get it in. Even then your need to alter it to be able to drive it in Ontario.

$500 from BMW for the recall letter then money for DRL (as they can be programmed, about $70), i moved here from the UK (silver one below was in the UK)

[marek]

Originally Posted by SFX Group

has to be 15 years or old PERIOD, if its not you wont get it in. Even then your need to alter it to be able to drive it in Ontario.

$500 from BMW for the recall letter then money for DRL (as they can be programmed, about $70), i moved here from the UK (silver one below was in the UK)

If it is 15 years or older it doesn't need any alterations, recall letters or be registered with the RIV. I've imported several cars from Europe and am very familiar with this process.

All it will need is a safety and emission test.

[propr'one]

^^still needs to be RIV registered but its exempt from admissions criteria.

[SFX Group]

Its not RIV, its MTO, RIV does the stuff for anything under 15 years old, however you are correct same method, just no test for RIV as there not worried about it.

However you do still need recall letters, i did my 18 year old motorcycle and yes it still needed DRL lights which i did, Canadian Tire just check them to make sure they work.

[marek]

If you actually paid for the recall clearance letters then you just wasted money they are not necessary. I did my own paperwork and customs clearance on all the cars I brought in.

[SFX Group]

I did all my own paperwork and RIV where adamant they would only accept BMW Canada recall letters, (BMW have changed something in the past 5 months (according to my dealer, whos service manager has also imported BMW cars), i have just completed all the paperwork in the last 3 days.

Unfortunatly what ever happened in the past doesnt seem to worry RIV, they only accept what they want to now.

The idea of this thread isn’t to tell others what to do, only what I did to make sure I got a car in as quick as possible, I know I won’t be trying to get a USA recall letter, it’s pointless, RIV won’t accept it, just done this 3 days ago!

I also notice the letter from BMW states my car complies with certain legal safety requirements in Canada as well which put Canadian Tire in there place about certain things like Airbags, bumpers etc... So its not just a Recall letter, its a Certification compliance letter as well. Also BMW checked over the chassis and core computers to make sure none where stolen and the chassis was fully intact meaning i know i have a safe car as well.

This means weather anyone thinks its a "waste of money" to get a BMW recall letter, the fact remains on 1 August 2012 my car would not past compliance until i had one (which it now has and is now a Canadian car).

The above only applies to anything younger than 15 years old, also i am in ON. So that may change in other areas

[marek]

Yes younger than 15 years you need the recall clearance letter and to register it with RIV and do all the stuff with Canadian Tire. My experience is with vehicles older than 15yrs.

[SFX Group]

Originally Posted by marek

Yes younger than 15 years you need the recall clearance letter and to register it with RIV and do all the stuff with Canadian Tire. My experience is with vehicles older than 15yrs.

Ive done one older than 15 years (Motorbike) was easy, however i found getting the recall letter for that was alot harder, i didnt get charged a lookup fee, however was told by Honda (bikes) they dont always do it (maybe as they cant find them, depending on the country, this was from the UK).

Not involving RIV seemed abit easier as the list was alot lower to hit, i remember when i did it (2009) they where talking about raising it from 15 years to 20 or 25 years, not sure thats even possible to get a car 25 years old to comply (which maybe the reason they wanted to raise it).

[SFX Group]

Major spreadsheet update, well worth a look at the link, now you can compare a Canada car to a USA import car with real costings.

http://www.ashleygriffin.ca/temp/e38/import-costs.xls