I got a quick one.

I'm gonna be in Aus by year's end and I was wondering whether its advisable or even possible to bring my BMW (or a BMW) with me. Keep in mind that its LHD. I love BMWs and when I looked at the prices over there to get it replaced it made me think about this. Even if I sell my current ones, I'm still going to buy another one, so I was thinking whether to buy and ship or not.

Any help is appreciated.

did you facotr in things like exchange rate?
it would cost thousands to import & make road-legal... & some aussie states are real hardass on things like LHD

what state are you going to?

did you facotr in things like exchange rate?
it would cost thousands to import & make road-legal... & some aussie states are real hardass on things like LHD

what state are you going to?

Agreed.

Which state are you going to? NSW and QLD are pretty hard on modifications and DOT approval. VIC is usually OK though. Not sure on the other states. Australian safety standards are higher than the US and so there will be some modifications to be made on top of the RHD conversion (if you go that way).

318's are the best bet over here, as nice as the more powerful cars are. They are cheaper to register, cheaper to insure and used less petrol (obviously) and so more people bought them when they came out so they are the easiest to find. Look to spend $12-$18K and you'll get a nice one (for a 318). I know it's a lot more expensive than the US for a run of the mill BMW but the cost of import and conversion will be a hell of a lot more.

Thanks

Yea, I'll be in NSW.

When I looked at price comparisons for the models I'm interested in, it was double, thats with the exchange rate filtered in, dang.

So the car would have to be converted to RHD, complianced and registered, plus cost of shipping, taxes etc.

How much is that approx. Currently the cars I'm looking at are either 05-06 330Ci/325Ci coupes, or 04-06 M3 coupes.

Thanks again

Not really sure on taxes and shipping charges but compliancing and conversion, depending on what needs to be done, anywhere between $2,500 - $10,000 although it could be more depending on who is doing it and what parts they use. Maybe an automotive engineer could respond to this with more accuracy?

This site might help you out with some more answers:http://www.dotars.gov.au/roads/safety/bulletin/importing.aspx

Thanks.

Converting an E30 M3 to RHD properly seems to cost at least $10,000, I would imagine a modern car would be even more expensive due to being far more complicated.

I was looking at importing a car from Japan and it was going to cost too much... the car and shipping combined were only going to cost me $3.5k (AU), but getting it compliance plated and the import duties were just overkill (the majority of the people I called for info said they would be $8k).

I'll say it right now: Forget it. It's too lengthy, complicated and expensive.

Thats what it seems like, its just the prices over there that are annoying me.

I did some research and I read that cars made before 1989 (LHD), are exempt from all sorts of stuff, primarily conversion. Are there any registration restrictions, or anything else to watch out for etc? How much do these older cars cost to comply and register approx? Cause if the costs are reasonable I'd happily get an E30 M3 with me.

Thanks