Importing 1M?

[Duck360198]

Originally Posted by nachob

Yes the broker route can get expensive and the name on the letter shouldn't matter since it is to prove the car VIN is compliant. When I sold my first one in 2013 mine was the lowest priced 1M in the US with 14k Miles original owner California car. I had people call me and ask my why my price was so low? I just did KBB private seller hood condition and put that as my price. Then I had other idiots that would call me and tell me MSRP on the car was $47310. Never mind I paid more than the MSRP but also there was not a single 1M available in the known universe for MSRP that didn't have a salvage title. So just told them no problem just go buy one at MSRP. Finally had a really nice guy that came buy and I felt good about him. He brought his older brother and he looked ready to take it at 52k when his brother whispers something to him and he says sorry my brother doesn't think I should pay over MSRP. Ok . Next guy was buyer for dealer picked it up then later get nice email from guy and I send him link of the car at dealer with $60k asking price. He wrote me back.... argh. I'm an idiot! : )

I believe it sold for $58500 eventually. I was the idiot once too. I was in Knoxville and the dealer had two 1992 yellow miatas they couldn't sell. It was almost 1993 and I loved it the color and the dealer was selling it below cost to get rid of it. I made the mistake of bringing my now wife with me and she just said. I don't do yellow. Just not a good color!! What they wear ugly Tennessee Vol orange but yellow not good? I got mad and left. Later I went back to look for one and they told me Mazda discontinued yellow miatas and that was the color to have!

: )

We all live and learn. Best of luck and let us know how it goes.

One last question for you. What did you end up doing with your cluster? Did you keep the km one and code the digital mph? Did you leave as-is? Did you swap out the cluster? I have heard of a company in Canada that will take a US cluster and properly program it to have your mileage from your km cluster without any tamper dot issues. Personally, I feel like I'd rather just code the digital readout and be done with it. But in a car like an E46 M3 that doesn't have a digital readout, maybe last option with the Canada company makes more sense.

[nachob]

Originally Posted by Duck360198

One last question for you. What did you end up doing with your cluster? Did you keep the km one and code the digital mph? Did you leave as-is? Did you swap out the cluster? I have heard of a company in Canada that will take a US cluster and properly program it to have your mileage from your km cluster without any tamper dot issues. Personally, I feel like I'd rather just code the digital readout and be done with it. But in a car like an E46 M3 that doesn't have a digital readout, maybe last option with the Canada company makes more sense.

I kept the original cluster and love it. It's the same one that comes on European 1Ms. That is one advantage of the DIY import. The "minor markings" are forgiven on Canadian personal use imports. I switched the digital display to Miles and Farenheit which is important to prevent some shop from accidentally writing down KM for miles and ending up on CarFax.

According to the explicitly written law, "the manufacturer" can be the only one to change the cluster if you decide to change it. That means a BMW dealer. So I would not have it changed in Canada by a non dealer. My friend Champignon had the seller change the cluster for him and luckily they used a dealership in Canada. When he went to register in Idaho he told me they gave him grief and were considering tagging his title as "unverified mileage." He was able to get a receipt from the seller to prove it was done by a dealer. (I hope I am retelling this correctly, if not Champignon will chime in). Furthermore, if you want to change the cluster because you like MPH, and are doing personal DIY import, I recommend you do it in the US where the car will end up in case you want to sell it later. I feel in general, a buyer will feel better if the cluster was changed by a BMW dealer on this side of the border. If you import via customs broker, you will have to have it done in Canada but as I said, you run the risk of a DMV problem by not using the manufacturer/dealer as the law said.

I have seen decals that you can apply under the glass to the SPEEDO to show MPH on ebay from Poland but I'm unsure of the calibration.

I hope that answers your question.