importing

[conrod 1]

Or if you plan on keeping it, just buy an E30 in the same colour as your Japanese M3 import , and transfer the plates etc. Extra dodgy. But I would do it.

[Neal 544]

I looked at doing something similar and started a thread on this subject about October or November. I've been living in the UK for the past year.

Here's my observations.

I looked to import two different types of cars

1, TVR Chimera

2, BMW E30 M3 2.3

Both are far cheaper in the UK than NZ with a larger choice of cars ranging from total restoration required , to Concourse Garage queen , to seriously perharped track or Race car.

With NZ Laws the TVR was never going to be road registerable , so it was out. (2016 for 20 years)

The M3's on the otherhand are generally lhd here with a one or two "Birds" RHD conversions coming up in the last year

Prices have been as follows

M3 E30 , requiring a tidy up and some rust work 3,500 -5,500 pounds asking price (not many)

M3 E30 1990's , in good condition 5,500 - 6,500 pounds (Lots)

M3 E30 Lower miles (80,000) and immculate 6,500 - 11,000 pounds (Not Many)

M3 E30 Converitables 8,000 -11,000 (few)

M3 E30 Sports EvoII ? 2.5 (only seen two for sale) 16,000 and 24,000 pounds.

M3 E30 Race cars 15,000 - 30,000

I started looking too late for M3's to qualify for 3 months lhd ship back rule but to be honset I never really worked out if the car could be road registered. I was after one that I could drive to track days and use in car club events.

Shipping a vechile back to NZ wasn't going to be a problem as we get a container to transport our gear back in.

But after seeing Martyns photos of the hassles he had with shipping his car I decided that a container isn't the way to go regardless. (Martyn, spoke to a person in the container trade who reckons defective container seals and lack of moister removal stuff , like damp aid)

I think I'd rather have a car brought over on a car transport ship as a result.

A mates 930 turbo was also badly damaged when they dragged it out of the container in NZ (Someone didn't release the handbrake)

M3's will start coming up as 20 y/o later this year , (I think October was the launch for some reason ). Hopefully this will open an easier way for them to be imported.

I'd still like to own one for the odd bit of Motorsport , but on the other hand NZ has the new 318/320 series about to kick off.

Let us all know if you manage to import and road register one , we'd all be interested.

A few places to look

http://www.autotrader.co.uk ( Use 10 year plus search as many older M3's not listed as E30)

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk

http://www.imc-online.co.uk/ (BMW M3 and Aplina S/H car sales)

http://www.fastroadandtrack.co.uk

Cheers

Neal

Edited February 28, 2006 by Neal

[rxsumo 33]

Or if you plan on keeping it, just buy an E30 in the same colour as your Japanese M3 import , and transfer the plates etc. Extra dodgy. But I would do it.

yeah...and count on needing a dodgy WOF issuer for the rest of the cars life.

Why dont all the VIN tags match?......strange this car is registered as a 320/6 yet it has a twin cam 4?

Perhaps it needs to be LVVC certed for the changes?

This was the whole reason that the VIN'ing stuff came in, sure you can beat it, but only while you can find somebody that prepared to ignore the rules.

I would suggest that most mechanics wouldnt want a bar of it, unless the person concerned was a "trusted" associate, because the consequences are pretty harsh if they get caught.

[Jazzbass 1]

Agreed. Keeping within the law is the best way to avoid complications.

[Juzzie Wuzzie 0]

I know of a great NZ registered M3 for sale ....

[Neal 544]

If it's UK prices I could be interested.

[Juzzie Wuzzie 0]

NZD57,500 or GBP23,000

Both NZ and UK prices

[conrod 1]

yeah...and count on needing a dodgy WOF issuer for the rest of the cars life.

Why dont all the VIN tags match?......strange this car is registered as a 320/6 yet it has a twin cam 4?

Perhaps it needs to be LVVC certed for the changes?

This was the whole reason that the VIN'ing stuff came in, sure you can beat it, but only while you can find somebody that prepared to ignore the rules.

I would suggest that most mechanics wouldnt want a bar of it, unless the person concerned was a "trusted" associate, because the consequences are pretty harsh if they get caught.

You would need to do a bit more than just transfer the number plates, but I am not going to go into details, you would need to use some imagination on this one. And I wasn't talking about getting dodgy warrants either, but I am not going to say any more on this or tell you how, obviously if you want to try something like this, it is your choice and risk. Only reason I mentioned it, as I was thinking about this for my project car, M3's can be had cheap out of Japan, and as mine will need to be road registered(even though it will be mostly used for circuit racing, tarmac rallies require a car to be road legal) that is what sparked this line of thought. On a slight tangent, about 3 years ago I had a 1990 Sierra wagon that I had fitted all Cosworth running gear into. Got testing staion warrants for years (without certification) before someone finally tweaked that the car wasn't standard, then it was just off to a garage who didn't know better for the remainder of the time I had the car!........