Short report on buying M3 in USA

[fearjac]

Just wondering on the 'plates from the dealer' thingy. I am looking into bringing up a sedan to Vancouver this year. There is one item I am unclear about: 1) If I decide to drive it back and cross the border (with all paper in-check of course)....the plates that will be on the car will be from the state I purchased it from - correct? Are these temporary plates like we have up here - the paper ones on the rear window? What if I get it trucked to me (insured for shipping) on the USA side and then drive it over? 2) If they are not - I assume I chuck them once I reinsure it in BC and get new plates?

Sorry for my question as it is a newbie Q. I just joined today. Great information here. Hope to meet some of you soon in Vancouver.

J

[sawzall]

Originally Posted by fearjac

Just wondering on the 'plates from the dealer' thingy. I am looking into bringing up a sedan to Vancouver this year. There is one item I am unclear about: 1) If I decide to drive it back and cross the border (with all paper in-check of course)....the plates that will be on the car will be from the state I purchased it from - correct? Are these temporary plates like we have up here - the paper ones on the rear window? What if I get it trucked to me (insured for shipping) on the USA side and then drive it over? 2) If they are not - I assume I chuck them once I reinsure it in BC and get new plates?

Sorry for my question as it is a newbie Q. I just joined today. Great information here. Hope to meet some of you soon in Vancouver.

J

According to ICBC, "If you're driving a U.S. vehicle to B.C., you will need an in-transit permit from the originating state. (Check with each state you enter to ensure the permit is valid in that state.)"

So if you pickup the car on the US side, and intend to drive it in BC, you will need temporary US plates (and in most cases, those are the paper plates you put in the windows). If you have the car transported all the way to Canada, there is no need for US plates, but you will need a temporary BC plate to drive the car till you've got your RIV sticker.

[m3h]

I'm also looking at importing an e90 M3 like fearjac and have been doing my due diligence on here. There just aren't as many choices north of the border. This thread has some good info but I've got a couple of questions.

What's the green levy excise tax for an e90/e92? Is it $2000 for vehicles that use over 14L/100km but less than 15L/100km? RIV uses a weighted average to calculate fuel consumption. According to natural resouces canada a 2009 e90 uses 15.4L/100km hwy and 9.9L/100km city.

Do you still have to pay the local state sales tax even if you are importing the vehicle to Canada? Does that vary by state?

[m3h]

Just a follow up to my own post. Guess I should have done a search first. Apparently the weight fuel consumption for the M3 is 12.8L/100km which just squeaks under the 13L/100km rate that the green levy fee kicks in.