[sandecker]

Just back from Parkview BMW in Toronto. As of now this is what you are looking at to bring your e90 or e92, among others, into Canada:

1.) Obtain letter of admissibility before crossing the border by providing the VIN, year and model of the car to Canadian dealer. You must present this letter to the Canadian Border agents. Pay by credit card at dealer onsite or over phone but must have access to fax to sign. Cost is $350 + tax = $399 in Ontario.

2.) Bring the car across with appropriate RIV and US customs documents etc. Take car to Canadian dealer for Recall inspection. $500 + tax. Wait 25-40++? days for receipt of letter before you can register.

3.) HERE's the Clincher: ALL E90 AND E92 IMPORTS AS OF TODAY ARE REQUIRED TO PURCHASE AND INSTALL THE CANADIAN SPEC INSTRUMENT CLUSTER AT A COST OF $1408.50 + TAXES TO COMPLY WITH CANADIAN STANDARDS!!!

There it is folks - we're now up to about $2500 CAD for BMW Canada compliance. I have inquired about installing a used cluster, according to the dealer (who in my opinion were not trying to BS me and seemed somewhat sympathetic) a used cluster installation will likely not successfully link up to the computer - of 4 such attempts by Parkview, one was successfull and 3 were not - so I guess you take your chances.

I have requested from the service manager a discount on the cluster in light of this obvious extortion by BMW canada and am awaiting a response.

I have not inquired about purchasing this part from US dealers directly so if anyone has a US dealer contact and is importing now perhaps you could check into and post back here - I will attempt to do the same.

Stay tuned.

[importcarcanada]

Are you f*cking kidding?

You know what.. I've been looking at a 335i for 2 months now.. screw it. Enough is enough.. BMW can take their cars and shove them. I'm going to hand back my Acura lease and buy a beater until this stuff settles down.

This is ridiculous.

PS. Why do we even need a different cluster? Is this BMW or TC's rules? It has both km's and miles.. WTF?

Originally Posted by sandecker

Just back from Parkview BMW in Toronto. As of now this is what you are looking at to bring your e90 or e92, among others, into Canada:

1.) Obtain letter of admissibility before crossing the border by providing the VIN, year and model of the car to Canadian dealer. You must present this letter to the Canadian Border agents. Pay by credit card at dealer onsite or over phone but must have access to fax to sign. Cost is $350 + tax = $399 in Ontario.

2.) Bring the car across with appropriate RIV and US customs documents etc. Take car to Canadian dealer for Recall inspection. $500 + tax. Wait 25-40++? days for receipt of letter before you can register.

3.) HERE's the Clincher: ALL E90 AND E92 IMPORTS AS OF TODAY ARE REQUIRED TO PURCHASE AND INSTALL THE CANADIAN SPEC INSTRUMENT CLUSTER AT A COST OF $1408.50 + TAXES TO COMPLY WITH CANADIAN STANDARDS!!!

There it is folks - we're now up to about $2500 CAD for BMW Canada compliance. I have inquired about installing a used cluster, according to the dealer (who in my opinion were not trying to BS me and seemed somewhat sympathetic) a used cluster installation will likely not successfully link up to the computer - of 4 such attempts by Parkview, one was successfull and 3 were not - so I guess you take your chances.

I have requested from the service manager a discount on the cluster in light of this obvious extortion by BMW canada and am awaiting a response.

I have not inquired about purchasing this part from US dealers directly so if anyone has a US dealer contact and is importing now perhaps you could check into and post back here - I will attempt to do the same.

Stay tuned.

[Gearhead999s]

Originally Posted by sandecker

Just back from Parkview BMW in Toronto. As of now this is what you are looking at to bring your e90 or e92, among others, into Canada:

1.) Obtain letter of admissibility before crossing the border by providing the VIN, year and model of the car to Canadian dealer. You must present this letter to the Canadian Border agents. Pay by credit card at dealer onsite or over phone but must have access to fax to sign. Cost is $350 + tax = $399 in Ontario.

2.) Bring the car across with appropriate RIV and US customs documents etc. Take car to Canadian dealer for Recall inspection. $500 + tax. Wait 25-40++? days for receipt of letter before you can register.

3.) HERE's the Clincher: ALL E90 AND E92 IMPORTS AS OF TODAY ARE REQUIRED TO PURCHASE AND INSTALL THE CANADIAN SPEC INSTRUMENT CLUSTER AT A COST OF $1408.50 + TAXES TO COMPLY WITH CANADIAN STANDARDS!!!

There it is folks - we're now up to about $2500 CAD for BMW Canada compliance. I have inquired about installing a used cluster, according to the dealer (who in my opinion were not trying to BS me and seemed somewhat sympathetic) a used cluster installation will likely not successfully link up to the computer - of 4 such attempts by Parkview, one was successfull and 3 were not - so I guess you take your chances.

I have requested from the service manager a discount on the cluster in light of this obvious extortion by BMW canada and am awaiting a response.

I have not inquired about purchasing this part from US dealers directly so if anyone has a US dealer contact and is importing now perhaps you could check into and post back here - I will attempt to do the same.

Stay tuned.

Just like Mercedes nowThe last CLK 500 cost us over $3200 for the recall letter!

[kenneth]

I know this is how it is now, that BMW Canada dictates what should be done to the car for it to be Canadian compliant. But it just does not make sense that they should be the ones calling the shots. What does the instrument cluster have to do with safety issues, for example?

It is time consumers take issues to the Government. Unfair trade practices!

[importcarcanada]

Originally Posted by kenneth

I know this is how it is now, that BMW Canada dictates what should be done to the car for it to be Canadian compliant. But it just does not make sense that they should be the ones calling the shots. What does the instrument cluster have to do with safety issues, for example?

It is time consumers take issues to the Government. Unfair trade practices!

Exactly.. makes no sense what-so-ever.

[picus]

This won't last long; too much consumer uproar about it. The MOT will step in eventually.

[Slke46]

This is abosolutly retarded... they had to find a way to prevent us from buying american cars so they put this rule in. I would really like to see what these Canadian compliances are... I really don't think there is that much detail as to how the instrument cluster displays out km/h or metric system... BS!!!

[inTgr8r]

The dealer is essentially making his profit for NOT selling you the car;
as he would have if he DID sell you the car.

Stealer protection plain & simple.

[islandbimmer]

This is BS , who runs this country, o wait it is obvious the car manufacturers . How can they implement a change to the rules they have lived with and have been comfortable with for 25 years now. They never had a problem prior, it is all about money nothing to do with any vehicle issue. This is a short sighted change it will impact the fair cross border movement of vehicles from now on. This is my last BMW , and yes I have bought many new ones from Canadian Dealers. I intend on writing BMW and the ferderal government, the cost and wait time for the recall letter is nothing short of extortion.

[Desi]

I am hoping that the RIV drops this damn recall letter business... this info is freely available to anyone online. Even if this extends the RIV process by a couple of days, it'll be worth it to completely cut the manufacturers out of the process!

[youyou]

Things have changed today.
Working on getting all the info...
On brand new Bmw's the savings now will probably be less then worth importing.
As for slightly used ones you'll still be saving alot of $$$ .
I'll post back once i have all the details.

[Maxtor]

First, I think some law firm has filed a class action against certain car companies for keeping the Canadian prices high and creating barriers to entry for US cars. Not sure if this would apply to BMWs.

Second, if anyone is significantly incensed about this (ie more then just bitching about it on these boards) then you should call the Competition Bureau and find out about the process of launching a complaint (ie you feel that BMW Canada is doing these things to lessen competition and create unreasonable barriers to competitors and damaging consumers).

The folks at the Competition Bureau will advise on what the process of complaint is and, if they find any merit, they will launch an investigation (which costs the complainant nothing) but may lead to an order against BMW to stop the anti-competitive practices and payment of penalties.

I don't practice law in this area but I understand that is the process.

Over to any seriously pissed off e90posters to take the next step.

[electricmba]

Outside of the Parkview BMW dealer telling one person this - is there confirmation of this instrument cluster requirement from ANY other source?

I'm smelling Bullshit on this - this sounds like a dealer that is desperate to dissuade an importer. I see nothing on the import regulations about replacing an instrument cluster, so long as hashes for KM's are on the existing one.

[Rossland]

I imported my car 1 month ago. It has km markings on the speedo. It is no less safe because there are miles marking too. Everyone should go to www.carswithoutborders.com/ and add your voice to the growing crescendo

[pdubbb1]

So out of curiousity, If I go to canada for a n extended period of time and my bmw needs service, will the bmw dealers in canada honor my waranty?

[Desi]

Originally Posted by pdubbb1

So out of curiousity, If I go to canada for a n extended period of time and my bmw needs service, will the bmw dealers in canada honor my waranty?

Yes, they will. Your car will still have NY Plates on it so they will honour it. The only point at which warranty service becomes questionable is when a car has been permanently exported.

[Lotus99]

Originally Posted by youyou

As for slightly used ones you'll still be saving alot of $$$ . I'll post back once i have all the details.

Does that include cars that have only a few hundred miles on them? Some dealers I heard would sell these so called "demos" as used. Would that help?

PS Any word on whether immobilizers are an issue with the 08's admissibility?

[benyl]

Doesn't MB do this already?

[sandecker]

Originally Posted by electricmba

Outside of the Parkview BMW dealer telling one person this - is there confirmation of this instrument cluster requirement from ANY other source?

I'm smelling Bullshit on this - this sounds like a dealer that is desperate to dissuade an importer. I see nothing on the import regulations about replacing an instrument cluster, so long as hashes for KM's are on the existing one.

Check thread from importcarcanada - this looks like a sure thing. It's not specifically on the RIV notes but does indicate 'expensive modifications may be required.' This just came down from BMW Canada and the SA didn't even know about it when I went to get the letter of admissibility - they were in my corner on this and attempted also to get the recall letter process started today but were told by corporate no can do until the car is inspected.

[aspiring335]

Originally Posted by Maxtor

First, I think some law firm has filed a class action against certain car companies for keeping the Canadian prices high and creating barriers to entry for US cars. Not sure if this would apply to BMWs.

Second, if anyone is significantly incensed about this (ie more then just bitching about it on these boards) then you should call the Competition Bureau and find out about the process of launching a complaint (ie you feel that BMW Canada is doing these things to lessen competition and create unreasonable barriers to competitors and damaging consumers).

The folks at the Competition Bureau will advise on what the process of complaint is and, if they find any merit, they will launch an investigation (which costs the complainant nothing) but may lead to an order against BMW to stop the anti-competitive practices and payment of penalties.

I don't practice law in this area but I understand that is the process.

Over to any seriously pissed off e90posters to take the next step.

How can anyone sue because prices are 'high'? I can understand a lawsuit around anti-competitive trade practices (and this instrument cluster debacle would fit right in there...), but anyone is free to charge whatever they want for any product, just as consumers are free not to buy it.

Keep in mind, too, that prices aren't high in Canada or low in the US. They're the same as they always have been for buyers in each country. BMW Canada is being particularly stupid here because their sales are still strong -- through these kinds of idiotic actions they're just drawing attention to the savings to be had when people import from the US. Ultimately I think prices will have to increase in the US, at least for cars made in Japan and Europe, but manufacturers are obviously scared to put up prices.

[ElCapitan]

Originally Posted by aspiring335

How can anyone sue because prices are 'high'? I can understand a lawsuit around anti-competitive trade practices (and this instrument cluster debacle would fit right in there...), but anyone is free to charge whatever they want for any product, just as consumers are free not to buy it.

Keep in mind, too, that prices aren't high in Canada or low in the US. They're the same as they always have been for buyers in each country. BMW Canada is being particularly stupid here because their sales are still strong -- through these kinds of idiotic actions they're just drawing attention to the savings to be had when people import from the US. Ultimately I think prices will have to increase in the US, at least for cars made in Japan and Europe, but manufacturers are obviously scared to put up prices.

Exactly! The US market is the single biggest market in the world for BMW. I think BMW (can't say about the others suspects) is swallowing the current loss of profit in the US in the hope to retain high vlume in sales and that the current USD value drop is only a temporary situation.

[sparkyg]

The price for cars will be based on what the market will bear. Not sure if it is illegal to sell product at grossly high prices. It maybe stupid, but it is not against the law.

This type of thing will continue, Subaru and fighting back BMW is making changes.

GL. with anyone stuck with a car, I hope it works out for you. You still saved some $$, just not as much as before.

Blame BMWCA, send them an e-mail. Prob. fall on deaf ears though.

I work in a business where cloners sell product that is a duplicate of ours since our patent is out, nothing we can do. You just need to adapt to the market place.

On a separate note, business at local Alberta dealers is booming with the low lease rates and 2% financing so BMWCA isn't going to be too sympathetic.