Andy is correct, the government does have a vehicle testing program. TUV it was called when I lived there. And they are strict! You wanna get larger tires? Go get them permitted. You wanna put on an airdam? Go get it permitted You got a rust hole in a floorboard? You better try to hide it really well! I remember once during an inspection that they complained about the faded rear turnsignals, and made it look like they might not pass the car. Oh, yeah, they also check your emmissions.
It seems at first a bit much, but once you are driving (flying) down the autobahn, you start to think that maybe it is a good idea to have everything working properly at 150+mph. One more remark...traffic jams are a funny thing....you're tooling down the road and up ahead brakelights, moments latrer you stop; if nothing moves within a few minutes, half of the drivers get out of their cars and either look around, have a smoke or simply stretch their legs. Usually after 4-5 minutes everryone gets back in and life in the fast lane goes on.

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03/83 300D
07/73 280