Moving to Germany - TÜV?

[TechE]

I just landed my dream position in Germany and will be moving there next year. I'm bringing my M3 and doing all the fun stuff. My excitement cannot be contained.

That said, my upcoming battle will be car inspections and TÜV certifications. I'm told they're strict, and I have a few mods. I know my Bilstein coilovers are good with included paperwork, and my Eisenmann exhaust is certified per the manufacturer. However, my catless x-pipe (obviously), Dinan intake elbow, AP racing brakes, and BC Forged wheels, to my knowledge, are not.

To pass inspection I'm assuming I'll have to revert those parts to OEM? And for certified parts I simply provide TÜV documents, correct? Let's theorize I decide to put uncertified parts back on after inspection. How big of a problem might that be?

Anything I'm missing or assuming incorrectly? Would love to see any tips/tricks, exemptions, etc. Thanks.

[drrust]

I suspect the AP brakes are fine as Team Schirmer uses the on their builds. Their cars seem to be dual use as the owners drive them to and from the track.

[ChiTownM]

Unless you have mods that are pre-approved by TUV for Germany you will have a hell of a time. Do not put your mods back on after you got your license plates with the sticker, as it will not only void any insurance that you have but you will get pulled over by Police and they will impound the car and its registration will be frozen until you revert everything back to stock per the vehicle's papers. Of course it comes with a fine. You may be better off to sell your mods and get the car modded there, sell the car here and buy one over there. Also be ready to pay much higher annual taxes on a 4L V8 and if you think gas is expensive here, it'll be twice as much over there.

In Germany every modification will need to be added to the vehicle papers after they have been approved and they will find anything you modified which wasn't approved. It could be a spoiler, suspension, exhaust…..it is very strict. You can drive very fast on the Autobahn and the last thing you want are half-ass mods that will pose a threat to everybody around you, by flying off the car or even worse…..

I would do extensive research on which mods will be approved before shipping the car and the underlying cost to operate the vehicle.

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by ChiTownM

Unless you have mods that are pre-approved by TUV for Germany you will have a hell of a time. Do not put your mods back on after you got your license plates with the sticker, as it will not only void any insurance that you have but you will get pulled over by Police and they will impound the car and its registration will be frozen until you revert everything back to stock per the vehicle's papers. Of course it comes with a fine. You may be better off to sell your mods and get the car modded there, sell the car here and buy one over there. Also be ready to pay much higher annual taxes on a 4L V8 and if you think gas is expensive here, it'll be twice as much over there.

In Germany every modification will need to be added to the vehicle papers after they have been approved and they will find anything you modified which wasn't approved. It could be a spoiler, suspension, exhaust…..it is very strict. You can drive very fast on the Autobahn and the last thing you want are half-ass mods that will pose a threat to everybody around you, by flying off the car or even worse…..

I would do extensive research on which mods will be approved before shipping the car and the underlying cost to operate the vehicle.

was waiting for someone with (apparent) direct knowledge to weigh in -- my expectation was somewhat along these lines given the air of deference and slight fear that I see in M539's TUV prep..

[Davisca455]

...but the good news is, according to their website, GP-Infinitas (formerly G-Power) has an e9x M3 blower kit that is TUV certified...

https://shop.gp-infinitas.com/en/BMW...20PS)%20BENZIN

[alfalfa]

Originally Posted by TechE

I just landed my dream position in Germany and will be moving there next year. I'm bringing my M3 and doing all the fun stuff. My excitement cannot be contained.

That said, my upcoming battle will be car inspections and TÜV certifications. I'm told they're strict, and I have a few mods. I know my Bilstein coilovers are good with included paperwork, and my Eisenmann exhaust is certified per the manufacturer. However, my catless x-pipe (obviously), Dinan intake elbow, AP racing brakes, and BC Forged wheels, to my knowledge, are not.

To pass inspection I'm assuming I'll have to revert those parts to OEM? And for certified parts I simply provide TÜV documents, correct? Let's theorize I decide to put uncertified parts back on after inspection. How big of a problem might that be?

Anything I'm missing or assuming incorrectly? Would love to see any tips/tricks, exemptions, etc. Thanks.

You will have a lot to do if you want to get your car legal in Germany.
Euro rear lights (no red turning light) is just one example. There are special companies who know what to do for this. But here we just talk about stock cars from US to Germany.
For everything you have modded you need german TÜV/Dekra part approval documents. With these documents you have to go to a TÜV/Dekra station and they check if all the work was properly done and if the correct parts are installed. Then you get the car approval paperwork and you have to go to authorities to get this approval documents copied into your car documents.
The AP brakes will not be approved here. The argument, that Schirmer cars have them installed is not valid. Cause Schirmer as an official car manufacturer can get these brakes legal for their customers and have to prove if every adapter material is the correct one or the brake bell is proper calculated and from the correct material. But as you are not a customer of Schirmer you will not get these documents.
For example an Essex AP kit is not possible to get legal because of missing documents of the caliper adapter and brake bell.
Having documents of the Eisenmann exhaust will not help you cause I guess its the loud "export" version. No possibilities to get this legal here. Guess about stuff like a decatted x-pipe.
US rims without any german documents is not possible. You might know APEX rims. .Almost everybody knows them but you cant get them legal in Germany. In Switzerland is a company with approval documents for them.But these are not valid in Germany. Do you get german approval documents for your suspension from Bilstein? I hope so cause in case not.....
So just that you get an idea how things work.

So going to ship a heavy modded car to Germany and get it back to stock is in most cases more expensive. For example the price for an original x-pipe is actual around 1500 dollar. Used of course.

[TechE]

Few good responses here, much appreciated. Just so it's known I kept the original parts. I've suffered a lack of garage space, but seems it paid off, lol. What sucks is the time and money I've put into it, to now be in this situation. I wanted to prep for the Nurburgring and the BBK was a final touch. Also, I was already looking at the Infinitas kit 😅

I'm still slightly confused by modded cars on the Nurburgring. I'm guessing they're worked on by approved shops or are brought by trailer?

I'm very interested in the G87 M2, and depending on how this goes, I may be slightly closer to putting a deposit on one.

[Davisca455]

Originally Posted by TechE

Few good responses here, much appreciated. Just so it's known I kept the original parts. I've suffered a lack of garage space, but seems it paid off, lol. What sucks is the time and money I've put into it, to now be in this situation. I wanted to prep for the Nurburgring and the BBK was a final touch. Also, I was already looking at the Infinitas kit 😅

I'm still slightly confused by modded cars on the Nurburgring. I'm guessing they're worked on by approved shops or are brought by trailer?

I'm very interested in the G87 M2, and depending on how this goes, I may be slightly closer to putting a deposit on one.

It's a good kit.
Doesn't suffer from heat soak.
Makes PLENTY of power.
Pretty easy to work on, once it's in.
Mine has close to 70,000 trouble free miles do far.
Only things I've replaced are the air filters, belt and belt rollers.

[tbuck]

Sell or store the car, get one there. Far less headaches and hours of work by you and still no guarantee it will work out in the end. I am sure you can get another E9x over there and do some of the modding on site. With the current market here for good condition used E9x being what it is I would save the trouble and sell. Get that loaded M2 you want. Easy day.

[nycplumber]

I don't know anything about TUV but congrats on getting your dream job in Germany

[ChiTownM]

I am also in agreement to sell your car as is here and start fresh over there.

BTW, there are some really cool sports cars available in Europe that we cannot get here that may be more enticing. You already had an M3, how about an Alpina for example, or a M2 CS which would be an amazing car for the smaller roads over there. And many other brands that you cannot buy here, e.g. Alpine.

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by ChiTownM

I am also in agreement to sell your car as is here and start fresh over there.

BTW, there are some really cool sports cars available in Europe that we cannot get here that may be more enticing. You already had an M3, how about an Alpina for example, or a M2 CS which would be an amazing car for the smaller roads over there. And many other brands that you cannot buy here, e.g. Alpine.

or an m3 touring?!?

[TechE]

I would LOVE and Alpina or M3 touring model, but my selection is limited to US spec.

[GeorgeA]

German cars usually have rust and corrosion - E9x's being a bit older now would make it hard to find a clean example. Might as well take the car you own, the car that you know the maintenance history of.

The M2CS idea is nice but that is WAY more expensive.

I'd love to take my car to Europe and enjoy it there for a few years.

[meyergru]

Maybe you are facing even a bigger problem: Your car has probably never been registered in Germany.

To my knowledge, in such cases, the CURRENT regulations (e.g. EURO-6) apply, which cannot be met at all by a regular S65. I do not know if the year of first registration in a non-EU country is accepted.

There was an EU M3 GTS which was kept at mint condition with 0 kilometers on the clock and never registered. The price was way over sticker and the car has never sold for that. Once the seller missed the right point in time, the car could only be used for racing because it could not be made street-legal any more.

It was on german selling platforms for several years - but I lost sight of it.

[TechE]

Originally Posted by meyergru

Maybe you are facing even a bigger problem: Your car has probably never been registered in Germany.

To my knowledge, in such cases, the CURRENT regulations (e.g. EURO-6) apply, which cannot be met at all by a regular S65. I do not know if the year of first registration in a non-EU country is accepted.

There was an EU M3 GTS which was kept at mint condition with 0 kilometers on the clock and never registered. The price was way over sticker and the car has never sold for that. Once the seller missed the right point in time, the car could only be used for racing because it could not be made street-legal any more.

It was on german selling platforms for several years - but I lost sight of it.

So, I've been getting additional information about all this from a few sources. I should note that I'm in the military, so things aren't quite as transparent as standard procedure. I will say I've received some favorable feedback for my situation...

Side note; sucks for that GTS

[PortoM3]

Hey man. I was there for four years and I did take my car there with me and it had some mods and no issues with the TUV. If you don’t mind, pm your phone number and we can chat.

[PortoM3]

Photo

[LKN624]

As a civilian, I had brought my US-Spec M3 from Atlanta to Germany a couple years ago. My car is completely stock with no modifications. You only have to change 3 things if you are a civilian (Military do not have to do any sort of changes if you are stock). Anyways, you would need to change the rear tail lights so that it flashes Yellow instead of Red. You can find the EU Spec ones from many of the many online parts stores here. If you get the Magneti Marelli brand then you have essentially OE parts with the BMW logo sanded off. These can go for really cheap (I bought both of mine for around 80 Euros for both sides). The second thing you'll need to do is to turn off the front LED Orange Lights, which you will need to do via Software flash. The last thing you'll need to do is to add the fog light switch so that it turns on the rear fog lights (our cars are pre-wired for this)...so just modify the switch cluster in your car or buy one with the actual button and icon on it. Easy peasy.

Other than that, the M3 was legal for me to drive. I of course changed the measurement units to Metric, but that was a quick stroll through the iDrive.

And as others have mentioned...any previously modifications without any certificate is going to be next to impossible to get it approved here.
In terms of putting on your certificate-less aftermarket parts back ON after the Inspection...I wouldn't do that. Germany has been cracking down on that (especially with Military). If they pull you over and they see you have aftermarket parts that are NOT documented on your Vehicle Registration, most of the time they tow your car (usually to an inspection station or to an impound lot), get stuck with a fine and you get to take public transport home.

If anyone else has any questions regarding importing cars from the US to Germany...I am your man.

[rotomoto712]

Most of what LKN624 says is valid. However, I am in Germany now, and as long as you get your car inspected on base, you shouldn't have to change anything at all on your car if you are registering it through the USAREUR system.

Here are some key points:
Make sure your brakes are in top shape, and your parking brake works extremely well as they measure its ability to hold the car. You are going to need a front (Euro) license plate bracket or if you don't want drill holes in your bumper get the Euro version Sto-N-sho mounting kit (https://stonsho.com/) that only requires a single hole drilled underneath the center of the bumper and allows you to remove the front plate with a locking slide pin if you want to. I am running this on my car with no issues.

Make sure your Lights are aligned properly if you don't have the self-leveling ones. Ensure your exhaust isn't too loud and doesn't have any exhaust leaks. Personally, I would put the cats back on if you still have them just to avoid any issues. Make sure there are no fluid leaks under the car (oil, trans, diff, etc). Make sure there are no cracks or chips on your windshield, as they will fail you even if have a small chip in the glass. Make sure your wipers work (the newer the better). Lastly, if you anticipate arriving in winter, be sure to have either a set of winter wheels and tires or mount winter tires to your car beforehand. Be sure they have the Alpine (snowflake) emblem, as tires with just M+S don't meet the German requirements. I am getting ready to put my E93 through inspection again next month so if they change anything I'll let you know. Shoot me a PM if you need further details.

BTW for vehicle shipping if you are going through the govt., make sure there aren't any open recalls on your car. If you are paying for it yourself AVOID Schuhmacher Cargo Logistics!

[LKN624]

Yeah forgot to add the most important part…make sure your car doesn't have any massive leaks…they will fail you for that. Also right about the windshield, make sure it's chip and crack free. They will also check the exhaust noise level…which they did on my car even though it was stock.

I know this doesn't pertain to you but, if you are a civilian then you need to go through the heavy "Vollgutachten Gemäß 21 STVZO", which will cost about 300-400€. They will really comb through your car on this one. This is usually done on cars that come from outside the EU.

And to add onto the shipping company part…I would go with CFRinkens. I found them to be the best. Also take out your floor mats and anything that is "loose" inside the car. It's guaranteed they will get stolen during transit. This doesn't matter which company you go with…

[georgebmwM3]

Originally Posted by LKN624

As a civilian, I had brought my US-Spec M3 from Atlanta to Germany a couple years ago. My car is completely stock with no modifications. You only have to change 3 things if you are a civilian (Military do not have to do any sort of changes if you are stock). Anyways, you would need to change the rear tail lights so that it flashes Yellow instead of Red. You can find the EU Spec ones from many of the many online parts stores here. If you get the Magneti Marelli brand then you have essentially OE parts with the BMW logo sanded off. These can go for really cheap (I bought both of mine for around 80 Euros for both sides). The second thing you'll need to do is to turn off the front LED Orange Lights, which you will need to do via Software flash. The last thing you'll need to do is to add the fog light switch so that it turns on the rear fog lights (our cars are pre-wired for this)...so just modify the switch cluster in your car or buy one with the actual button and icon on it. Easy peasy.

Other than that, the M3 was legal for me to drive. I of course changed the measurement units to Metric, but that was a quick stroll through the iDrive.

And as others have mentioned...any previously modifications without any certificate is going to be next to impossible to get it approved here.
In terms of putting on your certificate-less aftermarket parts back ON after the Inspection...I wouldn't do that. Germany has been cracking down on that (especially with Military). If they pull you over and they see you have aftermarket parts that are NOT documented on your Vehicle Registration, most of the time they tow your car (usually to an inspection station or to an impound lot), get stuck with a fine and you get to take public transport home.

If anyone else has any questions regarding importing cars from the US to Germany...I am your man.

Originally Posted by LKN624

As a civilian, I had brought my US-Spec M3 from Atlanta to Germany a couple years ago. My car is completely stock with no modifications. You only have to change 3 things if you are a civilian (Military do not have to do any sort of changes if you are stock). Anyways, you would need to change the rear tail lights so that it flashes Yellow instead of Red. You can find the EU Spec ones from many of the many online parts stores here. If you get the Magneti Marelli brand then you have essentially OE parts with the BMW logo sanded off. These can go for really cheap (I bought both of mine for around 80 Euros for both sides). The second thing you'll need to do is to turn off the front LED Orange Lights, which you will need to do via Software flash. The last thing you'll need to do is to add the fog light switch so that it turns on the rear fog lights (our cars are pre-wired for this)...so just modify the switch cluster in your car or buy one with the actual button and icon on it. Easy peasy.

Other than that, the M3 was legal for me to drive. I of course changed the measurement units to Metric, but that was a quick stroll through the iDrive.

And as others have mentioned...any previously modifications without any certificate is going to be next to impossible to get it approved here.
In terms of putting on your certificate-less aftermarket parts back ON after the Inspection...I wouldn't do that. Germany has been cracking down on that (especially with Military). If they pull you over and they see you have aftermarket parts that are NOT documented on your Vehicle Registration, most of the time they tow your car (usually to an inspection station or to an impound lot), get stuck with a fine and you get to take public transport home.

If anyone else has any questions regarding importing cars from the US to Germany...I am your man.

I have an '08 E92 M3 and did the LCI light upgrade. Picked up my car in Germany and shipped to the US as a U.S. Spec. While I was there I had a German Fahrzeugbrief. I was stationed at Ramstein. I'm getting ready to retire and move over there for part of the year. I already have the fog lights done with the rear switch. What other changes will be needed if I go there as a civilian? My car is completely stock with 3106, yes only 3106 miles.