[Editor's Note: This article is from 2015. Some information may be different. Like what? The first year of the E36 Touring now qualifies as they're older than 25 years old.]
Jason Cammisa is your average not-quite-middleaged-looking guy. He wears a collar to work. He lives in California. He hates traffic. He owns a BMW. Nine out of 10 people don’t even notice …
weren't E30 wagons sold in Canada too?
Not sure if 325 variety was sold there, but it would seem alot less costly to drive across the border than to ship from overseas.
Neat cars!
There's a REALLY nice one in town here on Ronal Turbos. A more perfect match of car & wheel has never been made. It looks just like this one, only a bit lower & shinier. It has a roof rack too.
Lacking availability of wagons I have never given these things much of a chance. This is pretty eye opening. Whats the ball park buy in prices?
I enjoyed the Motor Trend video he put up about it.
Can someone explain the process of importing a 25 year old European car that was built after 1975 into CA? So the Federal govt is OK with any 25 year old car? But how do you get it past CA smog? I could understand importing a 1974 BMW, but how do you import a 1990 and register it in CA like this guy?
BTW I would be more interested in importing an Opel Manta, Peugeot 205 gti or maybe a manual Mercedes SLC.
In reply to GTwannaB:
You make it pass CA emissions. Probably going to cost you cubic dollars, which is why most of those grey imports end up outside CA.
BoxheadTim wrote: In reply to GTwannaB: You make it pass CA emissions. Probably going to cost you cubic dollars, which is why most of those grey imports end up outside CA.
Or outside smog tested areas of California.
In reply to Stefan (Not Bruce):
IIRC you have to get a car smogged at least once when registering it in CA. You might not have to re-smog it if you live in a rural county, but you have to smog it at least once...
You know, the 1994 E36 Touring is now eligible for import...
xflowgolf said:weren't E30 wagons sold in Canada too?
Not sure if 325 variety was sold there, but it would seem alot less costly to drive across the border than to ship from overseas.
Shipping would be less, but all of the same import restrictions apply, so you're still looking for 25 or more years old. I have no idea if we (in Canada) got the E30 Touring when the U.S. did not, but it's unlikely... we get almost nothing that U.S. doesn't get, we generally have less choice than the U.S., and although I'm far from a BMW aficionado I don't recall seeing them.
I recommend shipping as well.
I think we got more wagons here in Canada that you guys down South.
A friend owns a rare one - a 2002 Touring. The back looks a bit Saab like. Not originally sold here AFAIK, so a later importation.
$10,000-15,000 puts you into one of these.
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