Dollar Value of 4 Year Maintenance Program

[M3 vert]

Originally Posted by tyrewt

MaxL is right, there no longer is a "conversion cost". That was just a tactic to keep value in the Canadian market when the CDN dollar was on par last year. US cars have both metric and imperial speedometer so no need for the instrument panel swap.

Obviously some of these guys commenting in this thread WORK for dealers selling cars in Canada and are going to try convincing you to buy in Canada. There are significant savings buying in the USA.

I dont work for one

Originally Posted by tyrewt

True Canadian dealers will not honor the maintenance, but they will the warranty. So what, so you miss out on 2 free oil changes? Bring the car down to the US for inspection II.

Firstly, no one has that much time to come down to the US just for a measly service everytime?
IMO its not cost-efficient and neither would I spend the time and effort in doing that. I could invest my time else where and get a better return on my investment.


Secondly, neither can they honor certified series warranty, which is more then just oil changes! also if you read my post above, you can get service-inclusive for 5yrs/96KM (NEW cars) or 6yrs/160KM if you purchase a cert series pre-owned car, which will cover everything except GAS and TIRES

Here is the link:

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showpos...20&postcount=6

Originally Posted by tyrewt

Anyone that suggests a US car will be worthless in Canada when selling is just blowing smoke up your rear-end.

Blowing what?

Maybe you should look into it if it applies to you?
how much your US BMW is worth at a dealer and will perhaps get the true picture here

We are just trying to help the OP with all our experiences and presenting unbiased opinions of what we have seen.

I am in no part of a dealer or endorse anyone, so I speak strictly from personal experience having owned and driven cars from various marques including exotics.

Originally Posted by tyrewt

ALL cars depreciate, it's not an investment!

+ 1

[Gearhead999s]

Originally Posted by tyrewt

MaxL is right, there no longer is a "conversion cost". That was just a tactic to keep value in the Canadian market when the CDN dollar was on par last year. US cars have both metric and imperial speedometer so no need for the instrument panel swap.

Obviously some of these guys commenting in this thread WORK for dealers selling cars in Canada and are going to try convincing you to buy in Canada. There are significant savings buying in the USA.

True Canadian dealers will not honor the maintenance, but they will the warranty. So what, so you miss out on 2 free oil changes? Bring the car down to the US for inspection II.

Anyone that suggests a US car will be worthless in Canada when selling is just blowing smoke up your rear-end. ALL cars depreciate, it's not an investment! No doubt somebody will buy it, just as you did. You'll also be able to offer it lower as to paid less.

Read this current thread from another importer. http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=360292

Yes I am a dealer who deals in a very eclectic variety of both cars & commercial vehicles.As my business is leasing I am just now having to start dealing with the disposal of the US leased vehicle that were imported 3-4 years ago.In the used market there is quite a signifigent difference between the cars sourced here & US imports.A lot of the higher end dealers will not accept a US sourced car as trade because it cannot be CPO'd or apply for any of the special financing that is available to used car buyers.As we have over 1700 vehicles in our fleet I think that we have much more 1st hand experiance with this than you would have.Yes the car can be sold but at a figure that is usually 10-20 %lower than if it was a Canadian sourced vehicle.

[Meff]

Originally Posted by MaxL

Regarding modifications - few years ago a new law was passed specifically to reduce the amount of modifications required - it accepts clusters showing both miles and km and US-standard bumpers (which are softer). The only thing that '10 M3 would not pass is DRL (you should not be able to disable it, which you can on US car). But as far as I know they do not check it during the inspection. So if you turn on DRLs in the computer before the inspection, you will very likely pass without any modifications (I did, and several other people on the forum did as well: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showpo...8&postcount=19). If you do not pass, there is no penalty AFAIK, and they will tell you exactly what needs to be changed, so you may end up making less changes than you planed (e.g. no change to cluster but only DRL reprogram). My point is try to pass the inspection before you modify anything.

Great link - thx

The plot thickens - looks like there is about a $25 dollar fee for failing, but that's certainly not excessive. This also contradicts what RIV told me, and in an email response I got from them today specifically on the '10 E92, there answer was ambiguous at best so I will need to follow up with them again.

Originally Posted by tyrewt

Obviously some of these guys commenting in this thread WORK for dealers selling cars in Canada and are going to try convincing you to buy in Canada. There are significant savings buying in the USA

I am aware that people on here have different dogs in this particular fight, so I'm taking it all in...

Read this current thread from another importer. http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=360292

Another great link - thx for the input again.

[Meff]

Originally Posted by M3 vert

Firstly, no one has that much time to come down to the US just for a measly service everytime?
IMO its not cost-efficient and neither would I spend the time and effort in doing that. I could invest my time else where and get a better return on my investment.

It may not be that much of an issue for me as I have family in WA state and am there often, but in general, this would be a pain for most yes.

Secondly, neither can they honor certified series warranty, which is more then just oil changes! also if you read my post above, you can get service-inclusive for 5yrs/96KM (NEW cars) or 6yrs/160KM if you purchase a cert series pre-owned car, which will cover everything except GAS and TIRES

If I could find and early lease return '09 with CPO and full BMW dealer history, I'd be all over it. They do not exist as far as I can find so CPO is not applicable and I am only considering a new '10 US car if I choose the import option.

We are just trying to help the OP with all our experiences and presenting unbiased opinions of what we have seen.

And I appreciate your insight and all others posters input as well - this is all good stuff


Thx

[Meff]

Originally Posted by Gearhead999s

Yes I am a dealer who deals in a very eclectic variety of both cars & commercial vehicles.As my business is leasing I am just now having to start dealing with the disposal of the US leased vehicle that were imported 3-4 years ago.In the used market there is quite a signifigent difference between the cars sourced here & US imports.A lot of the higher end dealers will not accept a US sourced car as trade because it cannot be CPO'd or apply for any of the special financing that is available to used car buyers.As we have over 1700 vehicles in our fleet I think that we have much more 1st hand experiance with this than you would have.Yes the car can be sold but at a figure that is usually 10-20 %lower than if it was a Canadian sourced vehicle.

Thx Gear - when starting this research, I was really only focused on the front end importation issues and potential pitfalls of purchase/importation - through yours and others' inputs I am now ensuring I consider all the potential downsides at the point of sale/trade in a few years which was not high on my list of things to check, but now is.

So thx again

[MMMCabrio]

There has been a ton of great information already posted. I'll try to help on the intangibles. I bought new from a Canadian dealer and haven't regretted it one bit.

The extended wear maintenance package is important IF you like to drive hard, jack rabbit start, brake hard and are selecting the 6M (clutch). Brakes and Clutch are the meat of the business case for it ... the wiper blades are a rounding error.

If the dealer guarantees a free loaner when you need service - that might be important to you. They tend to like their M series owners, especially when you bought from them (at least that has been my experience).

Options are expensive so make sure you compare apples to apples. Extended Leather alone is 3-4k (worth it IMHO).

Finally ... Ah, the mental aspect of a big purchase. Don't want to be second guessing it afterward, make sure that every aspect of "the purchase" feels good and you don't have doubts in your mind.

I double checked auto trader (trader.ca) and couldn't find much and what I did find was as you said - a bit steep in price.

Whatever you decide, you'll quickly find that you've purchased one of the best cars on the planet.

BTW: You may just forget where you bought, how much you saved and what color the car is ... once you shift from 2nd to 3rd at redline.

[Puckmaster]

Agreed! I bought mine in the US and I have had no problems in Canada what so ever. And I saved a ton of loot!