BMW Importers are seeing Red with the policies implemented in late 2007
Comments welcome
Well, I must say reading the article in the Vancouver Sun this morning totally MADE MY DAY!!!! I have downloaded all the necessary forms from Dinning Hunter Lambert & Jackson, and will be more than happy to join you in pursing a Class Action lawsuit!!!
On March 11th,2008 I purchased a 2007 BMW 328xi from Bellevue BMW . I had originally ordered a car from Brian Jessel, but couldn't believe the price difference in the US, so decided to go that route. I went online to the RIV website to see what was involved. The car I got would have been $76,000 Cdn .I paid $40,045 !!!for a 2007 with 12,000 kms...so it was totally worth it.
I didn't have any trouble getting the car across the border..I regretfully paid for an Admissibility Letter for $392 that RIV told me I had to have in order to get the car into Canada, but when I mentioned it to Customs, they said I didn't need it!!! sooooo, it has been quite a nightmare, all thanks to BMW Canada!
My car is equipped with the IDrive feature, so the US Dealer was happy to switch it over to KMS, Daytime Running Lights, (which all worked perfectly) The instrument cluster was in both Kms and Miles so I thought that was fine..as well as I had a Immobilizer installed, (which I wanted anyways) .They assured me the bumpers were good tether straps in place etc etc..French Labels?? I went to the Inspection place to ask about that, and they just laughed, and said not to worry about it....so I thought I was good to go! Apparently not! The US Dealer also supplied me with a Recall Letter, which was rejected by RIV.
I have just spent the last 2 days.drivng back and forth to Auto West BMW to have my instrument cluster changed, and the daytime running lights switched (which all worked fine to begin with) and now I am left with a $2,400 bill!!
BMW advised me that it nows takes 10-15 days (NOT 5 days which I was orginally told by RIV) for the documents to be cleared, so I can finally insure the car in Canada!!!
Anything I can do to help you in any way, please feel free to contact me. I will be submitting my paperwork as soon as possible.
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UCanImport has heard that BMW Canada has informed their dealerships that these policies are aimed at slowing down imports from the US. If you've had direct experience with a dealership who has told you that this is a BMW strategy they are working with, write to us.
Or if you are from a BMW dealership and can justify these expenses and frustrations, please share.
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3 comments:
I'm in the same boat as you regarding the extra charges from BMW Canada, and sympathize. We can only hope the class action suit is successful. A question tho, you mentioned that you almost bought an '07 328xi in Vancouver for $76K. Surely this is a typo, since this car is listed at about $47K at a couple of dealers. Can you clarify?
Through a friend of a friend at a Canadian BMW dealer I obtained a 12 page vehicle history report printout on my imported vehicle. This contains all information on this vehicle directly from BMW Canada's computer system. RIV just rejected it indicating that they need to see this information on BMW Canada's $500 letterhead.
Once my car is on the road, I'll be joining the class action. I have also expressed my disgust to my MP as well as Mr. Cannon of Transport Canada.
Considering that prior to Nov/07 there was no issue with importation and given that most Speedometers have mph and kph markings and that displays can be set to read out in SI and lastly that DRL's can and have been easily activated in non-changable-by-owner way at the dealer, I have yet to see an adequate detailed explanation why all these expensive mods are required post Nov/07. I've read the explanation by BMW posted here but we all know that is baffle-them-with-BS explanation and again doesn't address why in the 3 years prior to Nov/07 compliance was a simple matter of a few settings.
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