My son is currently working in Munich and tells me the price of used MBZs is about half what it is here.
Does anyone know whats involved in bringing one in , customs, federalisation etc,?
Thanks,
John

I am about to do the same, and your right the prices in Germany are greatly lower than over here. So far I know that shipping a car from Bremen to Newark N.J is about 850 dollars depending on the size of the car. My fathers friend is a dealer and he is getting us one of those super diesel e Class's. 210 hp and 340 ft pounds of torque. Also their is a 2.5 percent customs duty that must be paid of the bill of sale value. And finally there is a local tax, and registration services. Also shipping insurance of the value of the car is also suggested (don't be cheap and skimp on this!!) Paperwork will cost 125$ (shipping paper work , insurance etc.) I live on Long Island however will ahve to pick my new "super diesel" up in N.J at the newark ship yard. I will keep you up to date with my processas my fahter and I ahve already transfered funds over their. All we are waiting for is for the color and choice of options that we want. And as a sdie note that are many mercedes there that have the samller engiens. There are plenty e 220's and other such models that have smaller engines. Also many of those cars have mb tex of cloth and not leather. Also many of the cars don't have power seats, sunroofs, and other such "bells and whistels" that we over here in the u.s take for granted. Over in Germany most people are pratical and just use the cars for a way of getting from point A to B as eonomically as possible. My car that is coming is going to be the highest level car and elagance level that is possible, I mean fully loaded. My father just can back from Germany On such a business trip and educated me on all of this. I am sure that others on this forum have lots to say, so I guess I'll give them all a shot and shuit up already. Please E-mail me with any furhter questions, or just pose them on this thread.

Good Luck

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300E
Soon To be E55
27 foot Grady White Offshore Sportfish.

Thanks for the reply...I think most of the newer cars are already close to US specs but I think you have to get a dot and epa waiver with proof of this. Do you know anything about this? I also heard you have to ship to a company that will do the epa etc and certify it before you can register the car.
Will be interested in your progress.
The dollar is so strong it is probably cheaper to do this than to buy a used model here
Good Luck
John
92 500e
97 ford explorer w/exploding tires

Ya I also heard that the car has to be modified somewhat to be US Legal. Otherwise it ll be a pain to get the insurance... But I'm not sure about this. Good luck on ur new car !!


Happy motoring,

ET

This topic was discussed about four months ago - something like 55 posts - you might want to hit *search* and look for it. I think keywords like "grey market" ought to do it...

Thanks for the tip. I found the thread and got lots of info.Even with the cost of conversion,at todays exchange rates, it seems to be worth doing.

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John
92 500e

For a starter, try http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/gray0006.htm
You'll also need to get the EPA version of the story. This isn't a bad place to start, but in typical Federalese, it leaves more questions unanswered than answered.

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'93 500E
'88 Tyrrell/Cosworth DFZ 017
'95 Ducati 916
'00 Ducati MH900e

Don't do it!!! There is a reason MBZ's in Germany are less. They are half the car! They have less sound proofing, usually do not have half the options and most don't even have leather like a US model. They are also considerably lighter and are considered a "Gray" market car. NOT a hot item on resale. Expect the same resale as a salvage title. These German MBZ's are made and used for TAXI and industrial uses many of the time and therefore are not made for the ultra demanding US luxury consumer. Stay away from Gray market cars. I was in the industry for years.

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That said..by the time I am finished with my gray market car at say ooohhh around 300K give or take...I think salvage will be all that would be left and no one is getting their hands on it till then
Definately check the options before you bring it in, your not going to be able to re-sell it for anything, and yes Europeans do hate leather and that awful push button climate control.

Thanks for the advice, guys. We have modified our search and are looking for US spec cars only, these are occasionaly available.
I am also trackin down reports of places in Germany that do all the mods and who have RI contacts in the US
More later.......
John

John,

I'm not sure, but I think I may have been the one that initiated the 55 post thread.

I spent about six weeks in Europe, most of it in Germany this summer, and got very envious of all the manual transmission MB's that were everywhere. I was looking into bringing one back so that I could have an updated manual transmission Benz.

I found someone that would bring it back and get it certified for me. I don't know if his methods were legal, but he claimed he could do it. It never got to this because the C240 was announced with a manual transmission, so I bought one completely legal and on the up and up.

In the course of looking into this, I lost interest because of the fact that the cars are driven so hard and fast on the Autobahns that the engines are pretty ragged out in short order. Maybe this is one of the reasons that they last so long here where we have speed limits.

I just read an article in the latest Star magazine that I received this past week about engine rebuilding. They confirmed my suspicions about the ragged out engines from the Autobahn.

I drove several thousand kilometers on the Autobahn this summer and can assure you that if I lived there, I would be running out my engine just like the Germans do. Driving on the Autobahn is the most fun that I can have with my clothes on.

I think your search for a US car instead, is the right approach. Precisely what Benz are you looking for?

Good luck,

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Larry Bible
'01 C Class, Six Speed
'84 Euro 240D, manual, 533K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles

Larry, thanks for the post. I am interested in a 320/500sl. My son says there are people there who will do the conversion, but Im a little leery of this since I read the regs about RIs etc. If we find a car that is US spec welland good, if not , I can look here.
The reason the 8cyl cars are so reasonably priced is the cost of fuel. Many people buy them to find that the cost of Insurance and fuel are a bigger part of their budget than projected. Thus lots available.
Some are quite low mileage.
Bottom line is, however that the manufacturers have the import regs so tied up that it is hardly worth doing unless you have a friend in the business.
Best Wishes
John Kennedy

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John
92 500e