Anybody know anything about engine swap legality in Germany?

Got a customer who's interested in having us build him a US-spec V8 Miata which he would then take home to Germany after driving around for a while. I have no idea where to even start with regulations.

Anyone have any ideas?

Some ideas, yes. Although they might be a bit out of date but I think I know a few people to ask if we're getting into details.

PM/email me.

Forgot to mention, engine swaps are legal in general, but if you have to also make alterations to the unibody it can get very complicated. And of course there is an emissions angle, too.

Lots of knowledgeable people over on Retro rides, yes its a UK site not Germany, but you won't have a language barrier to ask Q's. There are people from all over Europe on the site. I believe kit cars are really hard to do but there are lots of tuners there so something must be possible.

This guy might know something

V8 350Z in Germany

Then again, I can't remember if he's in the service or not, which may have an effect on the legality of the thing.

Different rules if he's in the service. I assume Keith's customer isn't in the service.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson:

Lots of things are possible in Germany when you're local and can discuss the modifications with your local TÜV engineer. The big issue for FM is going to be getting the mods signed off after the fact.

I plead ignorance to any and all foreign regulations. I just remembered reading about a cool V8 swapped car on here that happened to be in Germany.

Right, didn't want to type all of this up on my phone...

Basically, there are three parts to this so the car can be brought to and registered in Germany.

1. Like pretty much every car imported from the US, some conversion work will be necessary so it'll meet EU standards. Usually that means the lights will have to be changed, or at least those lights that aren't E marked. There might be some additional work that's necessary (like exhausts if it's deemed to loud) but what exactly needs to be done really depends on the car. This is also the time when any the modifications have to be written up and recorded for entry in the KFZ-Brief (the equivalent of the US title) and the KFZ-Schein (equivalent to the title). There are companies that specialise in this sort of prep work of vehicles imported from the US and they usually handle the whole process from conversion to getting it signed off by an appropriate engineer who usually works for the local TÜV (the people who amongst a lot of other things do do the bi-annual safety inspections for cars and also check and approve modifications) to getting the German paperwork for it. Basically anything apart from getting plates for the car.
2. Normally, if you do make massive modifications to a car in Germany like stuffing a Porsche flat six into the back of a VW Bug/Vanagon or, well, shoehorn a V8 into a Miata, you'd sit down with the above mentioned automotive engineer working for either TÜV or Dekra (Dekra being the one big competitor TÜV has) and talk them through your planned modifications. They'll provide you with a whole bunch of input on how they would like to see these changes made - fortunately most of these guys are automotive enthusiasts as well, but their job is to make sure that the modifications meet minimum safety requirements. They also tend to get rather pissy if you show up after the fact and then complain that they won't sign off on your work... Anyway, the way it usually works is that you talk to them first, make the necessary design changes (if any), do the work and then come back and have it inspected, sometimes multiple times. For example, if you have to modify the transmission tunnel or firewall, they might insist that you show them the work before it gets painted. Same goes for any additional changes to the drive train that will require additional modifications. Not kidding, someone who looked awfully like a much younger version of yours truly had to drive a car there once with an unpainted rocker panel so the repair work could be inspected before it was painted. This is where it can get hairy if you show up with a car that's been modified previously outside Germany, because if they don't like what they see, you might not be able to get the car road registered. Like, at all.
3. Emissions testing. That tends to get easier for older cars, but you still have to make sure you stay within the emissions and noise limits for the age and type of car. Emissions also tend to affect how much annual vehicle tax you pay, plus it's by displacement. Unless you have documents that show exactly the same model Miata with the exact same model engine has been registered in Germany before with emissions class X, you might have to either pay for a complete emissions test cycle for the car ($$$$) or end up in a high taxation class. The latter is painful as as it's by displacement, so you end up with a fair amount of annual tax. Unfortunately there is no good solution for this other than one getting to decide what to spend a lot of money on.

My educated guess would be that 2) is going to be the biggest hurdle. You might be able to get away with it if it's a very well documented build. Sometimes you can get lucky and sway them with enough documentation, photos that show the quality of the work and all that, but if you get unlucky you can probably take half the car apart and strip off some paint in the hope that that doesn't result in mandatory fixes for cubic dollars.

It used to be the case that the easy button was to register your extremely modified car in the UK provided you had an address there as they were, and are a lot more lenient. These days that can open a whole unpleasant can of worms though right up to charges of tax evasion if you get pulled over by the fuzz in a car that's registered to you abroad, but your registered residence is in Germany.

Anyway, hope the above helps. If you have some more specific questions, hit me up and if I don't know the answer I'll try to pass it on to people who may know more about it.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson:

It's not impossible in Germany to register a kit car or even a home built car in Germany, but it's been getting increasingly difficult over the years. But if you play with instead of against the bureaucracy, you can probably get sign-off on your homebuilt spaceframe sports car.

Mind you, there's a reason that the low volume manufacturers and the kit car industry is concentrated in the UK - even with the recent additional crap like SVA, it's so much easier to register something odd there that it is in Germany.

Mind you, it could be worse - someone could try to register a V8 Miata in Belgium, the land of No Performance Modifications allowed.

I wonder if the best bet would not be to contact the TUV engineering inspector and let them know that the work is going to be done by a professional shop who specializes in this conversion and see where that goes? It reminds me a bit of the home-built aircraft industry where by law the plane is meant to be built by the owner, but it would appear that the inspectors are willing to play along if they see that a more qualified builder has a finger in the pot.

That's not a bad idea. I'd also look into working with the company that one plans to use to do the legalization after import - they have to have a certified master mechanic working for them (usually they're the company's owner) and they tend to have a relationship with their local TÜV engineers because you have to get the cars through a more extensive check when you import them anyway, so they tend to deal with the same engineers that have to sign off on modified cars anyway.

Thanks a whole bunch - I hadn't had a chance to contact you directly. Luckily, the changes to the unibody are minimal for the ND conversion, but we do have to mess with the steering. Documentation is not a problem.

I now have a rough path to follow. Let's see how serious the customer is.