Re: bringing 7er to Canada

["Edward R. Walker" <erwalker@xxxxxxxx>]

>Hi,
>
>I'm a Canadian living in Germany and was
>considering bringing my 1990 730i back with
>me. I'd like to here from other Canadians 
>that have imported cars in to Canada with
>respect to contacts, shipping, hassles, 
>duties, etc. (I'll be returning to Ontario).
>
>Thanks,
>
>Dan Moloughney

Hi Dan,

the first question is whether or not your 730i is euro-spec?  If the answer
is yes, then you will not be able to import the car as Canadian regs require
it to be 15+ years old at the time of importation.  You can check out the
Transport Canada web site, part of the government's site, for more info.

I shipped two BMW's to Canada back in 1992 when I returned from an overseas
posting.  All my shipping arrangements were handled by the military except
for the cost of one the cars which was ~ $1200 to Halifax.

Remove anything of value that can be easily taken from your car.  That
includes stereo head unit, tools kits, etc.  Ship them with your furniture
and effects.

Be prepared for your car to have possibly suffered some damage.  My tii
suffered a cracked air dam and a damaged exhaust.  This was in part due to
the car being lowered and bottoming out when driven on board.  Check
your car closely.  Some idiot decided he wanted to see if anything was in
my 323i's spare tire well and didn't bother to unscrew the hold-down.  He 
pried up on the fibre-board and snapped it in two ( replacement $150).

Ed Walker

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