See if you can help me figure out this hunt for Info

[tjclemens2]

hey all,

I got a crazy thing happening and I need some info. Basically, I have a 1985 BMW 318i that was imported from Germany in the '80s when the original owner bought it. The original owner was a close family friend of ours and she had passed in the 90s, I believe 96'. I recently remembered she had the car 6 months ago and started getting it roadworthy. This is where the issue comes into play. I need to get it registered in California but do not know how to get the paperwork needed to do so. It has original California plates and registration that dates back to 95' but other than that 0 paperwork for the car. the DMV is basically saying because the car has been out of the system so long they have no info on it and we said well here is the plate and past registration but they are saying we could have taken it off a neighbor's car. The other really important need is that they need proof it passed emissions when entering the U.S. because it was an import. The Icing on the cake is that we took it to a ref and they passed it but that's still not enough for those lovely folks at the DMV and they need paperwork showing that the car had passed U.S. emissions at one time. So to get to the point, how would I get access to some of those old files to try and register the car. Also, the car is not in BMW of North America's database for some odd reason so how can I sort that out? Any help would be appreciated. Even for some of the older guys, if you know the process of imports back in the 80s and may be able to help point me to a company or anything!

The biggest thing I need right now is proof it passed U.S. emissions.

If you need any more info or even a better explanation let me know I am glad to help!

Cheers,
Travis Clemens

[roguetoaster]

Contact CBP, explain what CA needs, ask for help, there is an email address in the touring import thread in the touring section. Of course, the car could have been imported illegally and then you'd be out of luck.

Failing that, the classic answer is move out of CA.

[tjclemens2]

Contact CBP, explain what CA needs, ask for help, there is an email address in the touring import thread in the touring section. Of course, the car could have been imported illegally and then you'd be out of luck.

Failing that, the classic answer is move out of CA.

Thanks for this, I'll give this a go. I do believe it was imported legally through BMW. I believe they did this thing in the 80s where you could drive it around Germany to see if you like it then you can buy it. I'll look into it though!

[reelizmpro]

I remember a story about so called euro delivery E30's but here's the thing...why would BMW NA go through the trouble especially since E30's at the time had to be federalized? I don't think BMW NA imported any euro spec E30's for resale which is why grey market cars (like my euro 323i) existed at the time. The grey market cars were federalized by third party importers and were BAR certified before they could be registered so BMW NA would have no record of these cars. Does your car have a BAR sticker in the door jamb or engine bay? this should be all you need to get it smogged and registered.

[tjclemens2]

I remember a story about so called euro delivery E30's but here's the thing...why would BMW NA go through the trouble especially since E30's at the time had to be federalized? I don't think BMW NA imported any euro spec E30's for resale which is why grey market cars (like my euro 323i) existed at the time. The grey market cars were federalized by third party importers and were BAR certified before they could be registered so BMW NA would have no record of these cars. Does your car have a BAR sticker in the door jamb or engine bay? this should be all you need to get it smogged and registered.

Yes, so we took the car to the BAR and state ref and removed the old sticker after confirmation and added the new bar code that came into place in the mid 80’s

[reelizmpro]

You should be good to go right? Curious what else the DMV will make you do.

[tjclemens2]

You should be good to go right? Curious about what else the DMV will make you do.

Hey all, Did some digging and found a pink slip from 1992 and so I'm hoping this will work! I'm working with a DMV service and they are saying that the CA DMV is refusing a lot of people now just because they are too lazy to actually go through the motions of it.

[sharp-e30]

Any update on this?