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      05-05-2020, 01:27 PM   #1
SunDevil_M3
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1M, AW 10k Miles Cost??

Hello all,

I come from the E90 world and might be venturing to a 1M. Info on the car below. I am thinking based on recent BAT auctions and current market that the car is truthfully worth $58k as is... on the high side. Opinions? Buyer is asking $62k.

Alpine White 1M with 10,300 miles with 2 owners, privately owned. Originally a Canadian car but converted by BMW to US Spec when brought to Scottsdale,AZ.

Mods are as followed:
KW V3
Performance trunk spoiler
GT Haus mid and rear section
Mode carbon front lip
Dinnman side skirts

Thank you for you input and help!
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      05-05-2020, 06:44 PM   #2
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10 k is pretty low. See the car if possible and decide. I think the car is around where it should be for price. Your spread is 4k so now it gets down the nitty gritty. The mods seem fine.
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      05-05-2020, 08:10 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by Mr. Wilson View Post
10 k is pretty low. See the car if possible and decide. I think the car is around where it should be for price. Your spread is 4k so now it gets down the nitty gritty. The mods seem fine.
Canadian part is where it will lose its value. Have spoken with a lot of 1M guys and they all concur it affects it roughly 10%. Offered $56k.
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      05-05-2020, 08:17 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SunDevil_M3 View Post
Hello all,

I come from the E90 world and might be venturing to a 1M. Info on the car below. I am thinking based on recent BAT auctions and current market that the car is truthfully worth $58k as is... on the high side. Opinions? Buyer is asking $62k.

Alpine White 1M with 10,300 miles with 2 owners, privately owned. Originally a Canadian car but converted by BMW to US Spec when brought to Scottsdale,AZ.

Mods are as followed:
KW V3
Performance trunk spoiler
GT Haus mid and rear section
Mode carbon front lip
Dinnman side skirts

Thank you for you input and help!
The only thing to convert to US car is maybe the instrument cluster and adding TPMS sensors. Everything else is identical to US spec otherwise. If it has US cluster that is about $1300 change alone at dealer. Just make sure they have a dealer invoice for cluster change it can only be done by BMW dealer. 10k is pretty low. I bought mine in Canada and imported in 2015. Only had 9k miles because many 1M are only driven in summer. I think 58k is more than fair myself. Just check out the condition. That's my 2 cents . If they changed the cluster it's ok but the European KM only cluster is cool. I kept mine and changed the digital display to miles and Fahrenheit.
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      05-05-2020, 08:19 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by nachob View Post
The only thing to convert to US car is maybe the instrument cluster and adding TPMS sensors. Everything else is identical to US spec otherwise. If it has US cluster that is about $1300 change alone at dealer. Just make sure they have a dealer invoice for cluster change it can only be done by BMW dealer. 10k is pretty low. I bought mine in Canada and imported in 2015. Only had 9k miles because many 1M are only driven in summer. I think 58k is more than fair myself. Just check out the condition. That's my 2 cents . If they changed the cluster it's ok but the European KM only cluster is cool. I kept mine and changed the digital display to miles and Fahrenheit.
It's a local car. VERY clean.
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      05-05-2020, 08:57 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SunDevil_M3 View Post
Hello all,

I come from the E90 world and might be venturing to a 1M. Info on the car below. I am thinking based on recent BAT auctions and current market that the car is truthfully worth $58k as is... on the high side. Opinions? Buyer is asking $62k.

Alpine White 1M with 10,300 miles with 2 owners, privately owned. Originally a Canadian car but converted by BMW to US Spec when brought to Scottsdale,AZ.

Mods are as followed:
KW V3
Performance trunk spoiler
GT Haus mid and rear section
Mode carbon front lip
Dinnman side skirts

Thank you for you input and help!
Whether right or wrong....those Canadian 1M's do sell for slightly less than there USA counterparts.

I would think $58-60k USD is just about right for a low mile mostly stock 1M.
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      05-05-2020, 09:09 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SunDevil_M3 View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by nachob View Post
The only thing to convert to US car is maybe the instrument cluster and adding TPMS sensors. Everything else is identical to US spec otherwise. If it has US cluster that is about $1300 change alone at dealer. Just make sure they have a dealer invoice for cluster change it can only be done by BMW dealer. 10k is pretty low. I bought mine in Canada and imported in 2015. Only had 9k miles because many 1M are only driven in summer. I think 58k is more than fair myself. Just check out the condition. That's my 2 cents . If they changed the cluster it's ok but the European KM only cluster is cool. I kept mine and changed the digital display to miles and Fahrenheit.
It's a local car. VERY clean.
Does the current owner also have a blue X4M?
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      05-07-2020, 07:30 PM   #8
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Ok missed the memo - why aren't Canadian 1M's worth as much?
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      05-07-2020, 09:12 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by benches1er View Post
Ok missed the memo - why aren't Canadian 1M's worth as much?
I don't think there's any rational reason why, in my opinion. But I believe it's true the price is somewhat lower in the U.S. market for whatever reason. I think you might be able to find support for this by looking at Bring a Trailer completed listings and doing an analysis.

If I were buying to keep, I'd tell myself the "objective value" of an already-imported Canada 1M is the same as a theoretically-identical U.S. 1M. That would be my walkaway price. Then I'd try to negotiate the price down based on the "market value" for Canada vs U.S. 1Ms, especially if I could find support from Bring a Trailer auction results. For someone buying to keep, I think the difference between the "objective value" and the "market value" presents a sort of mini arbitrage opportunity (effectively the same asset -- made on the same line, same specs, etc. -- for a slightly different price).

If I were buying and thought I might sell at some point in the next few years, I'd use the Canada 1M "market value" as my walkaway price since the fact that the car is from Canada could potentially have some small impact on the selling price in the future (though over time this difference could go away).

Now -- one could easily argue that, by virtue of being Canada 1Ms, these cars are not only rarer than U.S. 1Ms, but also less likely to murder you, thus making them more valuable than their U.S. counterparts. Especially if the speedo is original and uses the metric system. Based on novelty alone, I'd take a "metric speedo" over my "freedom units speedo" any day. It's just cool.

It's a good thing the Canada 1Ms didn't get the euro rear fog light switch or our U.S. 1Ms wouldn't be worth anything!
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      05-07-2020, 09:58 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by benches1er View Post
Ok missed the memo - why aren't Canadian 1M's worth as much?
I'll take a stab at this one. I feel uniquely qualified because I have purchased and owned both a US and Canadian model.

First, there two class of 1Ms to discuss. First is a Canadian 1M in Canada that needs importing. Second is one that has already been imported and registered in the US.

Cars that need to be imported, generally sell for less because there is some work and cost to import and it can be a little confusing because there are two ways to import a car from Canada and this causes a little confusion. There are also requirements and duties and fees that add to the price. I don't want to throw figures or percentages around because it varies so much but for it to make sense a Canadian 1M would have to sell for about $5K less than an equivalent US car for it to make sense. So a $49K US should be about $44K or less. You have to pay 2.5% duties, a few hundred in exchange rate "juice" and wire fees.

This creates a situation where people are seeing Canadian 1Ms selling for 10% less and that sticks in their mind. What you are not seeing as much is data on already imported, completely registered 1Ms being sold!

This leads me to the 2nd class of 1Ms that are already imported and registered. These have a lower drop depending on their history like what state they are registered, documentation etc. They do go for a little less but not as big a drop as the yet-to-be-imported ones. However, as I mentioned there is less data on this but even these already imported ones are affected slightly by fear.

I recall a semi famous blogger wanting a 1M for a couple of years and finally was offered a perfect deal for a Canadian transplant and he, himself said he just couldn't pull the trigger due to fear. He was worried that maybe he might have issues registering it. He wasn't sure if it was imported correctly and worried that he could have some problems in the future so he pulled out of the deal and settled for something else.

There is a lot of misinformation out there and this can affect the price a bit whereas buying a US car is a known quantity. I wrote a piece called don't fear the Canadians addressing some of this fear. With what I know now, I would buy a legally imported 1M because I know what is needed to register them and comply with the laws. But truth be told, if I were presented two identical 1Ms. One registered in California and one in another state I might lean a bit toward a California registered car because I have seen all the stuff California makes you go through. I'm sure many other states do this, but California requires a physical inspection on all cars that come out of state or country to verify vins, mileage etc. They requires a smog test to ensure that things are within parameters. They actually check that you have the DOT and customs forms. Then after all that, they hand you a pink 90 day temporary permit instead of license plates while they send the documents to review. This review took about 75 days for my Canadian 1M and it includes contacting the Canadian DMV for a lien/stolen check. This was a big hassle and stressor for me and many don't realize the things that the you go through but as a buyer, it would bring me a little more comfort knowing first-hand what you have to do to get your car registered here.

Another small factor is that Canada is seen by most as rust belt and that can also add a little bit to the fear factor. So this again depends on the car. Mine was stored for the winters as are many. Those that were driven year round would probably sell for a little less just like any winter driven 1M from Ohio would be. Most people equate all of Canada with snow so I think that is a an extra factor.

So those are two key things that I think take a little off the price of Canadian 1Ms but again the difference is larger between to-be-imported cars that everyone sees on BAT vs already, matriculated and registered ones.

Here are some facts as they relate to me in southern California.

1. Once I registered my Canadian 1M, I was able to walk down to my credit union, give them my CA registration and took out a regular car loan on it with the same KBB values as a US car.

2. My insurance value based on KBB is the same as a US car.

3. Canadian 1Ms are built to the same North American specs as US 1Ms and all of them have a black conforms to US EPA and Calfornia LEV standards. The only differences are the instrument cluster is KM/C instead of MPH/F. However the digital part can be switched to either on demand. The only other difference is Canadian 1Ms did not get TPMS sensors in the wheels. They use the previous tire circumference system because it was not mandatory in Canada. All Canadian 1Ms get heated seats standard...guess why?

4.Since Canadian and US 1Ms are North American cars, they VIN works exactly the same in the US and you can order parts at dealer, etc. *Almost see comment later about registering for recall notices)

5. The United States has two sets of car import rules. One for the entire world minus Canada and car import rules just for Canada. This is part of the confusion. If you import a car from any other country in the world, they basically have the same rules, except Canada. We have a special agreement with them. This agreement allows you to import a "Conforming Car" for personal use into the US with a 2.5% duty on the price of the car. As I have beaten this dead horse, the 2011 1M is a fully conforming car to US EPA and DOT standards except for "minor marking" which are the KM/C on the analog part of the cluster. In order to prove conforming you need a letter from BMW that says this to present to customs and they look for the aforementioned US Federal decal under the hood.

Now a Canadian or US dealers buys a car in Canada and ships it south, that is not for Personal Use. It considered a business import and therefore has to comply with all the laws including minor markings. So legally, they would have to change the instrument cluster to sell. This can also apply if you buy a 1M in Canada and hire a shipping company to import it and truck it across. It is no longer considered an informal personal import so the trucking company has to hire a customs broker and they can be called out on the cluster. So the informal method, where you personally drive it to a crossing, declare that you are importing it for you personally and present the right papers is the best way.

6. When my 1M was under the 4yr/50K mile warranty, you register your imported Canadian 1M with BMW and they converted the warranty to US warranty. I had my wheel liners, front brakes and seat frame all replaced by BMW warranty in the US. Furthermore both airbags where replaced under recall in the US.

7. People in SoCal love the Euro KM cluster. I had considered changing it at the dealer to a US MPH cluster but wanted it done in the US not Canada because of the fear thing. If it was changed by a US dealer, I thought people would be more comfortable later than if I had a Canadian dealership receipt. The cluster HAS to be changed by BMW (Dealer) to be meet the federal rule and you need proof. Otherwise, some hardass DMV person might brand your title as unverifiable mileage. Anyway, I went to cars and coffee and right away some 16 year old looks inside and says, man this thing has a 300 MPH speedo!. After some giggles I told it was KM, then he said, man Euro style...Rad! I personally always liked it because it is the same cluster German 1Ms get, but after having it here 5 years, everyone has been super positive about it and there is also something extra reassuring about having the same cluster and odometer that came with the car. So I am keeping it and I recommend that anyone that imports one keep it too. If you ever sell it, the new buyer can take it to the dealer if they want.


Now for the sake of transparency I will let everyone know three minor "negatives" with Canadian 1Ms that I have discovered.

-1. The title had KM in it and the Californa DMV has a checkbox for KM or MILES. Carfax is smart enough to look at that box. I found out the EXPERIAN does not. So they show my car going from 14000 miles to 8900 a day apart because they are using 14000 KM on the title as miles, then the next entry is a smog test showing 8900 miles because I had switched the cluster to miles by then. I sent them documentation but they don't care and probably still on there but i have the documents that show all of that and Carfax is more comon anyway. So you could possibly end up with something stupid like this on some report.

-2. Whilst the Canadian 1M is a North American car, the VIN number is still a Canadian VIN **so if you have to go to the BMW Canada website to check for recalls. If you enter it in the US site, it just says no recalls but if you enter the number in the BMW Canada site, it will show your recall. If you try to register with the Canadian site for automatic notifications, you can't because you have to enter a Canadian province. So I just track recalls on US 1Ms and take it into my dealer and they call BMW and do the recall work.

-3. This one might not be minor depending on your luck but a couple of years ago after many injector issues, BMW sent a letter to US 1M owners extending the warranty on the injectors for 10 years. Since this is not a "safety" recall, they did not extend it on the Canadian VIN 1Ms. Only US VINs. So if my injectors were to go, I would most likely have to pay out of pocket, however, the SA said that since it is a known issue, they can probably do something for me should they fail. The car will be 10 years old in a year so this might not matter anyway. I stil have the original injectors and they are fine.

So I hope that helps explain things a bit.

Last edited by nachob; 05-07-2020 at 11:00 PM..
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      05-08-2020, 09:35 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nachob View Post
I'll take a stab at this one. I feel uniquely qualified because I have purchased and owned both a US and Canadian model.

First, there two class of 1Ms to discuss. First is a Canadian 1M in Canada that needs importing. Second is one that has already been imported and registered in the US.

Cars that need to be imported, generally sell for less because there is some work and cost to import and it can be a little confusing because there are two ways to import a car from Canada and this causes a little confusion. There are also requirements and duties and fees that add to the price. I don't want to throw figures or percentages around because it varies so much but for it to make sense a Canadian 1M would have to sell for about $5K less than an equivalent US car for it to make sense. So a $49K US should be about $44K or less. You have to pay 2.5% duties, a few hundred in exchange rate "juice" and wire fees.

This creates a situation where people are seeing Canadian 1Ms selling for 10% less and that sticks in their mind. What you are not seeing as much is data on already imported, completely registered 1Ms being sold!

This leads me to the 2nd class of 1Ms that are already imported and registered. These have a lower drop depending on their history like what state they are registered, documentation etc. They do go for a little less but not as big a drop as the yet-to-be-imported ones. However, as I mentioned there is less data on this but even these already imported ones are affected slightly by fear.

I recall a semi famous blogger wanting a 1M for a couple of years and finally was offered a perfect deal for a Canadian transplant and he, himself said he just couldn't pull the trigger due to fear. He was worried that maybe he might have issues registering it. He wasn't sure if it was imported correctly and worried that he could have some problems in the future so he pulled out of the deal and settled for something else.

There is a lot of misinformation out there and this can affect the price a bit whereas buying a US car is a known quantity. I wrote a piece called don't fear the Canadians addressing some of this fear. With what I know now, I would buy a legally imported 1M because I know what is needed to register them and comply with the laws. But truth be told, if I were presented two identical 1Ms. One registered in California and one in another state I might lean a bit toward a California registered car because I have seen all the stuff California makes you go through. I'm sure many other states do this, but California requires a physical inspection on all cars that come out of state or country to verify vins, mileage etc. They requires a smog test to ensure that things are within parameters. They actually check that you have the DOT and customs forms. Then after all that, they hand you a pink 90 day temporary permit instead of license plates while they send the documents to review. This review took about 75 days for my Canadian 1M and it includes contacting the Canadian DMV for a lien/stolen check. This was a big hassle and stressor for me and many don't realize the things that the you go through but as a buyer, it would bring me a little more comfort knowing first-hand what you have to do to get your car registered here.

Another small factor is that Canada is seen by most as rust belt and that can also add a little bit to the fear factor. So this again depends on the car. Mine was stored for the winters as are many. Those that were driven year round would probably sell for a little less just like any winter driven 1M from Ohio would be. Most people equate all of Canada with snow so I think that is a an extra factor.

So those are two key things that I think take a little off the price of Canadian 1Ms but again the difference is larger between to-be-imported cars that everyone sees on BAT vs already, matriculated and registered ones.

Here are some facts as they relate to me in southern California.

1. Once I registered my Canadian 1M, I was able to walk down to my credit union, give them my CA registration and took out a regular car loan on it with the same KBB values as a US car.

2. My insurance value based on KBB is the same as a US car.

3. Canadian 1Ms are built to the same North American specs as US 1Ms and all of them have a black conforms to US EPA and Calfornia LEV standards. The only differences are the instrument cluster is KM/C instead of MPH/F. However the digital part can be switched to either on demand. The only other difference is Canadian 1Ms did not get TPMS sensors in the wheels. They use the previous tire circumference system because it was not mandatory in Canada. All Canadian 1Ms get heated seats standard...guess why?

4.Since Canadian and US 1Ms are North American cars, they VIN works exactly the same in the US and you can order parts at dealer, etc. *Almost see comment later about registering for recall notices)

5. The United States has two sets of car import rules. One for the entire world minus Canada and car import rules just for Canada. This is part of the confusion. If you import a car from any other country in the world, they basically have the same rules, except Canada. We have a special agreement with them. This agreement allows you to import a "Conforming Car" for personal use into the US with a 2.5% duty on the price of the car. As I have beaten this dead horse, the 2011 1M is a fully conforming car to US EPA and DOT standards except for "minor marking" which are the KM/C on the analog part of the cluster. In order to prove conforming you need a letter from BMW that says this to present to customs and they look for the aforementioned US Federal decal under the hood.

Now a Canadian or US dealers buys a car in Canada and ships it south, that is not for Personal Use. It considered a business import and therefore has to comply with all the laws including minor markings. So legally, they would have to change the instrument cluster to sell. This can also apply if you buy a 1M in Canada and hire a shipping company to import it and truck it across. It is no longer considered an informal personal import so the trucking company has to hire a customs broker and they can be called out on the cluster. So the informal method, where you personally drive it to a crossing, declare that you are importing it for you personally and present the right papers is the best way.

6. When my 1M was under the 4yr/50K mile warranty, you register your imported Canadian 1M with BMW and they converted the warranty to US warranty. I had my wheel liners, front brakes and seat frame all replaced by BMW warranty in the US. Furthermore both airbags where replaced under recall in the US.

7. People in SoCal love the Euro KM cluster. I had considered changing it at the dealer to a US MPH cluster but wanted it done in the US not Canada because of the fear thing. If it was changed by a US dealer, I thought people would be more comfortable later than if I had a Canadian dealership receipt. The cluster HAS to be changed by BMW (Dealer) to be meet the federal rule and you need proof. Otherwise, some hardass DMV person might brand your title as unverifiable mileage. Anyway, I went to cars and coffee and right away some 16 year old looks inside and says, man this thing has a 300 MPH speedo!. After some giggles I told it was KM, then he said, man Euro style...Rad! I personally always liked it because it is the same cluster German 1Ms get, but after having it here 5 years, everyone has been super positive about it and there is also something extra reassuring about having the same cluster and odometer that came with the car. So I am keeping it and I recommend that anyone that imports one keep it too. If you ever sell it, the new buyer can take it to the dealer if they want.


Now for the sake of transparency I will let everyone know three minor "negatives" with Canadian 1Ms that I have discovered.

-1. The title had KM in it and the Californa DMV has a checkbox for KM or MILES. Carfax is smart enough to look at that box. I found out the EXPERIAN does not. So they show my car going from 14000 miles to 8900 a day apart because they are using 14000 KM on the title as miles, then the next entry is a smog test showing 8900 miles because I had switched the cluster to miles by then. I sent them documentation but they don't care and probably still on there but i have the documents that show all of that and Carfax is more comon anyway. So you could possibly end up with something stupid like this on some report.

-2. Whilst the Canadian 1M is a North American car, the VIN number is still a Canadian VIN **so if you have to go to the BMW Canada website to check for recalls. If you enter it in the US site, it just says no recalls but if you enter the number in the BMW Canada site, it will show your recall. If you try to register with the Canadian site for automatic notifications, you can't because you have to enter a Canadian province. So I just track recalls on US 1Ms and take it into my dealer and they call BMW and do the recall work.

-3. This one might not be minor depending on your luck but a couple of years ago after many injector issues, BMW sent a letter to US 1M owners extending the warranty on the injectors for 10 years. Since this is not a "safety" recall, they did not extend it on the Canadian VIN 1Ms. Only US VINs. So if my injectors were to go, I would most likely have to pay out of pocket, however, the SA said that since it is a known issue, they can probably do something for me should they fail. The car will be 10 years old in a year so this might not matter anyway. I stil have the original injectors and they are fine.

So I hope that helps explain things a bit.

Very thorough explanation and reasoning!!! Very much appreciated and I think this will be very helpful for someone in the market for a Canadian 1M or an IMPORTED Canadian 1M. The car I decided to lean with, was in fact the person you mentioned who had the blue X5M. He has a few M cars in fact. Very well taken care of car.
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      05-08-2020, 03:47 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SunDevil_M3 View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by nachob View Post
I'll take a stab at this one. I feel uniquely qualified because I have purchased and owned both a US and Canadian model.

First, there two class of 1Ms to discuss. First is a Canadian 1M in Canada that needs importing. Second is one that has already been imported and registered in the US.

Cars that need to be imported, generally sell for less because there is some work and cost to import and it can be a little confusing because there are two ways to import a car from Canada and this causes a little confusion. There are also requirements and duties and fees that add to the price. I don't want to throw figures or percentages around because it varies so much but for it to make sense a Canadian 1M would have to sell for about $5K less than an equivalent US car for it to make sense. So a $49K US should be about $44K or less. You have to pay 2.5% duties, a few hundred in exchange rate "juice" and wire fees.

This creates a situation where people are seeing Canadian 1Ms selling for 10% less and that sticks in their mind. What you are not seeing as much is data on already imported, completely registered 1Ms being sold!

This leads me to the 2nd class of 1Ms that are already imported and registered. These have a lower drop depending on their history like what state they are registered, documentation etc. They do go for a little less but not as big a drop as the yet-to-be-imported ones. However, as I mentioned there is less data on this but even these already imported ones are affected slightly by fear.

I recall a semi famous blogger wanting a 1M for a couple of years and finally was offered a perfect deal for a Canadian transplant and he, himself said he just couldn't pull the trigger due to fear. He was worried that maybe he might have issues registering it. He wasn't sure if it was imported correctly and worried that he could have some problems in the future so he pulled out of the deal and settled for something else.

There is a lot of misinformation out there and this can affect the price a bit whereas buying a US car is a known quantity. I wrote a piece called don't fear the Canadians addressing some of this fear. With what I know now, I would buy a legally imported 1M because I know what is needed to register them and comply with the laws. But truth be told, if I were presented two identical 1Ms. One registered in California and one in another state I might lean a bit toward a California registered car because I have seen all the stuff California makes you go through. I'm sure many other states do this, but California requires a physical inspection on all cars that come out of state or country to verify vins, mileage etc. They requires a smog test to ensure that things are within parameters. They actually check that you have the DOT and customs forms. Then after all that, they hand you a pink 90 day temporary permit instead of license plates while they send the documents to review. This review took about 75 days for my Canadian 1M and it includes contacting the Canadian DMV for a lien/stolen check. This was a big hassle and stressor for me and many don't realize the things that the you go through but as a buyer, it would bring me a little more comfort knowing first-hand what you have to do to get your car registered here.

Another small factor is that Canada is seen by most as rust belt and that can also add a little bit to the fear factor. So this again depends on the car. Mine was stored for the winters as are many. Those that were driven year round would probably sell for a little less just like any winter driven 1M from Ohio would be. Most people equate all of Canada with snow so I think that is a an extra factor.

So those are two key things that I think take a little off the price of Canadian 1Ms but again the difference is larger between to-be-imported cars that everyone sees on BAT vs already, matriculated and registered ones.

Here are some facts as they relate to me in southern California.

1. Once I registered my Canadian 1M, I was able to walk down to my credit union, give them my CA registration and took out a regular car loan on it with the same KBB values as a US car.

2. My insurance value based on KBB is the same as a US car.

3. Canadian 1Ms are built to the same North American specs as US 1Ms and all of them have a black conforms to US EPA and Calfornia LEV standards. The only differences are the instrument cluster is KM/C instead of MPH/F. However the digital part can be switched to either on demand. The only other difference is Canadian 1Ms did not get TPMS sensors in the wheels. They use the previous tire circumference system because it was not mandatory in Canada. All Canadian 1Ms get heated seats standard...guess why?

4.Since Canadian and US 1Ms are North American cars, they VIN works exactly the same in the US and you can order parts at dealer, etc. *Almost see comment later about registering for recall notices)

5. The United States has two sets of car import rules. One for the entire world minus Canada and car import rules just for Canada. This is part of the confusion. If you import a car from any other country in the world, they basically have the same rules, except Canada. We have a special agreement with them. This agreement allows you to import a "Conforming Car" for personal use into the US with a 2.5% duty on the price of the car. As I have beaten this dead horse, the 2011 1M is a fully conforming car to US EPA and DOT standards except for "minor marking" which are the KM/C on the analog part of the cluster. In order to prove conforming you need a letter from BMW that says this to present to customs and they look for the aforementioned US Federal decal under the hood.

Now a Canadian or US dealers buys a car in Canada and ships it south, that is not for Personal Use. It considered a business import and therefore has to comply with all the laws including minor markings. So legally, they would have to change the instrument cluster to sell. This can also apply if you buy a 1M in Canada and hire a shipping company to import it and truck it across. It is no longer considered an informal personal import so the trucking company has to hire a customs broker and they can be called out on the cluster. So the informal method, where you personally drive it to a crossing, declare that you are importing it for you personally and present the right papers is the best way.

6. When my 1M was under the 4yr/50K mile warranty, you register your imported Canadian 1M with BMW and they converted the warranty to US warranty. I had my wheel liners, front brakes and seat frame all replaced by BMW warranty in the US. Furthermore both airbags where replaced under recall in the US.

7. People in SoCal love the Euro KM cluster. I had considered changing it at the dealer to a US MPH cluster but wanted it done in the US not Canada because of the fear thing. If it was changed by a US dealer, I thought people would be more comfortable later than if I had a Canadian dealership receipt. The cluster HAS to be changed by BMW (Dealer) to be meet the federal rule and you need proof. Otherwise, some hardass DMV person might brand your title as unverifiable mileage. Anyway, I went to cars and coffee and right away some 16 year old looks inside and says, man this thing has a 300 MPH speedo!. After some giggles I told it was KM, then he said, man Euro style...Rad! I personally always liked it because it is the same cluster German 1Ms get, but after having it here 5 years, everyone has been super positive about it and there is also something extra reassuring about having the same cluster and odometer that came with the car. So I am keeping it and I recommend that anyone that imports one keep it too. If you ever sell it, the new buyer can take it to the dealer if they want.


Now for the sake of transparency I will let everyone know three minor "negatives" with Canadian 1Ms that I have discovered.

-1. The title had KM in it and the Californa DMV has a checkbox for KM or MILES. Carfax is smart enough to look at that box. I found out the EXPERIAN does not. So they show my car going from 14000 miles to 8900 a day apart because they are using 14000 KM on the title as miles, then the next entry is a smog test showing 8900 miles because I had switched the cluster to miles by then. I sent them documentation but they don't care and probably still on there but i have the documents that show all of that and Carfax is more comon anyway. So you could possibly end up with something stupid like this on some report.

-2. Whilst the Canadian 1M is a North American car, the VIN number is still a Canadian VIN **so if you have to go to the BMW Canada website to check for recalls. If you enter it in the US site, it just says no recalls but if you enter the number in the BMW Canada site, it will show your recall. If you try to register with the Canadian site for automatic notifications, you can't because you have to enter a Canadian province. So I just track recalls on US 1Ms and take it into my dealer and they call BMW and do the recall work.

-3. This one might not be minor depending on your luck but a couple of years ago after many injector issues, BMW sent a letter to US 1M owners extending the warranty on the injectors for 10 years. Since this is not a "safety" recall, they did not extend it on the Canadian VIN 1Ms. Only US VINs. So if my injectors were to go, I would most likely have to pay out of pocket, however, the SA said that since it is a known issue, they can probably do something for me should they fail. The car will be 10 years old in a year so this might not matter anyway. I stil have the original injectors and they are fine.

So I hope that helps explain things a bit.

Very thorough explanation and reasoning!!! Very much appreciated and I think this will be very helpful for someone in the market for a Canadian 1M or an IMPORTED Canadian 1M. The car I decided to lean with, was in fact the person you mentioned who had the blue X5M. He has a few M cars in fact. Very well taken care of car.
Good luck and if you get it let me know I keep informal tabs on Canadian 1Ms in the US and you can join the Canadian 1M Refugee Club. There are a few 1Ms in Canada that are driven year round and run across pictures of them in the snow . It gives me great joy to remind my Canadian refugee how good it has it here in sunny San Diego. Recently I was driving it and a little mist came down and for a minute I couldn't remember how the wipers work in it. I hadn't turned them on in several years. Let us know how it goes!
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      05-11-2020, 01:15 PM   #13
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OP that seems like a fair price.

When I bought mine, sellers were reluctant, hard to get the color I wanted.

If you like the car go for it. The size and hydraulic steering make the car. Good luck, it is a great driver's car.
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      05-13-2020, 12:27 AM   #14
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There aren't very many of these things out there, so much noise

Fool that I am, I have bought 7 used/vintage small cars, 4 of which I retain and have owned for years. Two of those 7 that I parted company with later, were good cars, but I needed to deal with redundancies in the collection or otherwise needed to "cull" the herd. One was a fucking disaster. By that count I'd say I've been really really lucky. One of the keepers is my 1M, originally Canadian, if that matters.

Of all the things that I would think about in buying a vintage, 9 year old, 1 Series M car, perhaps the lowest on the list would be, "was this originally a US or a Canadian vehicle?" I mean, honestly, are you serious? We are talking major league bullshit here.

If you buy the wrong used car, especially a 9 year old used performance vehicle, it is going to give you heartburn like you have never experienced. It's like the gift that keeps on giving, except of course it's not a gift. Just ask me about the rusted out Z3 Coupe I had shipped across the country to me, that had been billed as pristine. In the end I lost almost $20K on that disaster, including legal fees. Not the experience I care to have repeated in an occasional nightmare.

Bottom line is that you need to buy your seller more than you need to buy your car. The condition of the car, how it was kept, how it was treated, was it abused, was needed work done on the car when it was needed, etc., is oh so important. Getting these things wrong are going to cost you way more than the cost of importing the vehicle from Canada to the USA. 5% one way or the other, on a purchase like a used 1M, is not even a rounding error. Not everything can be reduced to a trivial amount of money. And even if you do your homework, assume you are going to have to put $5K or so into the car once you receive it, be it for tires, brakes, or some other suprise(s). Used cars are seldom perfect.

Used/vintage performance cars can be a real joy to own. They can also be a major league pain in the ass, not to mention a repeated wallet biopsy.

There aren't many good condition 1M vehicles out there to begin with, especially 9 years on. Only a small number of those out there are for sale at any given time. This is the sort of vehicle that if you want it, you may have to wait to find one that is in the condition that you want it to be.

Whether the car originated for sale in Canada, or in the USA, is to me perhaps the least important question I would ask.

Small Addendum: Last week I had my 1M serviced and a mile or two away from the dealership as I drove home, this dude in a small car was gaping at my car at a stop light. I rolled down the window since he seemed like he had something he wanted to ask. He said, "is that a 1M?" I said, "yes, and I think it's the only one in the state now." He gave me a thumbs up. About once a year I have an experience like that with one of my cars, usually not the 1M.
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      05-14-2020, 05:57 PM   #15
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I appreciate all the information. I actually went through with the car and put a deposit down. Very excited.
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      05-14-2020, 06:12 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by ///BYU View Post
It's a good thing the Canada 1Ms didn't get the euro rear fog light switch or our U.S. 1Ms wouldn't be worth anything!
Technically, your US spec version has Euro fog and the switch is actually there. However, the plate over the button is locked in place and cannot be pressed in.

You have 2 options. You can buy the Euro switch and swap it out for instant Euro Fog.

The other option is to break the tabs on the plate, add a couple Legos (or use the pieces inside the unit (IIRC,) and you have Euro fog as well. The only difference is the button won't show what it does. I like to think of it as my hidden batman feature button.
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      05-15-2020, 12:37 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by SunDevil_M3 View Post
I appreciate all the information. I actually went through with the car and put a deposit down. Very excited.
Congrats.
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      05-18-2020, 11:59 AM   #18
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I appreciate all the information. I actually went through with the car and put a deposit down. Very excited.
Assuming all is well with the car, you won’t regret it. 👍🏽
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      05-18-2020, 01:44 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by iDontRemember View Post
Assuming all is well with the car, you won’t regret it. 👍🏽
No issues at all. No regrets. Car is great!
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      05-18-2020, 02:23 PM   #20
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Quote:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iDontRemember View Post
Assuming all is well with the car, you won’t regret it. 👍🏽
No issues at all. No regrets. Car is great!
Just make sure you have plenty of space if you completely disable traction control the first couple of times.
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      05-18-2020, 03:34 PM   #21
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Just make sure you have plenty of space if you completely disable traction control the first couple of times.
Haha. Oh I know, I came from an E90 M3 and I rarely did it in there. My E36 M3 has no traction control so thats been fun lol.
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      05-18-2020, 06:44 PM   #22
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No issues at all. No regrets. Car is great!
Congratulations! Post some pics!!
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