Has anybody here ever imported a car? - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Jim B. · #16 09-02-2007, 01:52 PM

The two biggest places to look for W123 car in Germany probably are

www.mobile.de

and www.autoscout24.de

For really cheap maybe you could pick up a TuV test failure car for a couple of hundred euros....

That is the source of a lot of them that wind up in East Europe, the middle east and west africa

Old Mercedes W123 never die...

The really nice ones around, in Germany, seem to be generating some interest there.

You really need to watch out for rust, though, especially in the northern parts of Germany

eagle-co94 · #17 09-02-2007, 02:11 PM

I've lived in Frankfurt and Augsburg and from what I've seen, rust is an issue no matter where you live. Thanks for the tips though. I'll check those links out. I have an "in" because I have family in Belgium and while my mother-in-law was visiting it sounded to her like there was no problem with helping me pick up a car.

If it passes her test, it'll be a near perfect car.

TheDon · #18 09-02-2007, 03:06 PM

so... you wana smuggle over some W123 die casts and the W123 book

DZL_Damon · #19 09-02-2007, 03:18 PM

I'd be bringin a diesel G back!

eagle-co94 · #20 09-02-2007, 04:36 PM

Hmm, give me a location on those die-casts and book and I'll see what I can get.

Jeremy5848 · #21 09-02-2007, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rg2098

If a vehicle is under 25 years old, it simply needs to meet US regulations for the year it was built. A friend of mine brought over a 87 200E over in 90. He had to convert the speedo, lights, add a reinforcement bar in the doors, and one other minor thing.

On a new car like a CDI, the process to federalize becomes much more expensive then an early 90s vehicle.

A friend in San Jose imported a new Deux Chevaux in the later 1980s and brought it up to US specs. The part that took a little work, as I recall, was the door stiffening braces. He didn't use titanium but it was expensive nonetheless. The smog stuff was relatively easy, as I recall.

The best advice in this thread would seem to be "check with DMV first."

#22 09-02-2007, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eagle-co94

That sounds hilarious honestly. Never heard of such a thing. Having gone to Germany twice with the family, the American military pays for 1 car per family to ship it over...that's it. They don't specify which car though, so lots of soldiers ship over a cheap car (but clean enough to clear customs) and come back with beemers & benzes like they were going out of style.

I'm kind of partial to the Citroen XM:

but they're too new and weren't tested to come here as far as I know.

and my wife's first car was a goat:

but their prices on ebay are a bit out of whack too.

awesome cars! the XM is a real pita to work on though

Fuzzball · #23 09-02-2007, 09:31 PM

It was 1984, I had my 72 280SE 3.5 rolled onto the boat non-running. Cost of shipping was $1200 and cost of conversion to US Spec safety (basically side lights and a few other minor changes) for about another $1200 and I was US Spec legal.

YMMV....

eagle-co94 · #24 09-02-2007, 10:43 PM

My guess is that I'd only have to worry about headlights (NO problem

) and a US Spec guage cluster(...again, NO problem). I do wonder though, when did they start using unleaded gas in Europe? I remember that when my family took our '79 GMC van over in '89 we had our catalytic converter cut off and straight pipe welded in just in case as it was still available and we didn't want to get stuck because we couldn't buy the gas available where we were.

TheDon · #25 09-02-2007, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eagle-co94

Hmm, give me a location on those die-casts and book and I'll see what I can get.

The Mercedes Benz Museum in Germany.... I'd just like the W123 book .. all in german but has sooo much info about the W123 that has never been seen..

did you know they made a hydrogen powered W123 and an electric W123 wagon... and other cool stuff

a w123 die cast would be pimp

eagle-co94 · #26 09-02-2007, 11:18 PM

I'll have to look into that. As for the model I'm guessing anything from 1:24 to 1:18 is preferable? The Busch models are just too small for me. This is the first thing I found that looked decent, but they only ship to Germany and I don't have a wagon:

http://cgi.ebay.de/Mercedes-Benz-W-123-T-Modell-Modellauto-in-blau-NEU_W0QQitemZ320152917794QQihZ011QQcategoryZ223QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

jshadows · #27 09-03-2007, 01:07 PM

aside from the anecdotes here, has anyone imported a car recently? The impression I got from the importer 3 years ago was that things have become A LOT stricter.

in other news, what seats does this guy have in this (importable) 300GD?

http://cgi.ebay.fr/MERCEDES-300-GD-CABRIOLET-4X4_W0QQitemZ130147716976QQihZ003QQcategoryZ73582QQcmdZViewItem

looks like more recent model 126 seats. also says wheels are stock original. All I've seen of this vintage are cloth seats, basic wheels.

eagle-co94 · #28 09-03-2007, 01:17 PM

The fact that he's got a matching set of 5 says something (not a whole lot, but some). Those wheels look similar to what I've seen before (while living in Europe that is).

TheDon · #29 09-03-2007, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eagle-co94

I'll have to look into that. As for the model I'm guessing anything from 1:24 to 1:18 is preferable? The Busch models are just too small for me. This is the first thing I found that looked decent, but they only ship to Germany and I don't have a wagon:

http://cgi.ebay.de/Mercedes-Benz-W-123-T-Modell-Modellauto-in-blau-NEU_W0QQitemZ320152917794QQihZ011QQcategoryZ223QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

dont worry about the model.. I Can get them off ebay.de ... I can also order the book.. It's probably cheaper at the musuem... but no worries...

nice model.. whats weird about that model is that I had the same exact one but in a light tan when I was 7... I just found a picture of me carrying it around with me everywhere I went... guess I was destine for a W123.. but.. I need a wagon!