registering a car in Canada?

[bmwstephen]

I might get relocated for a job position to our neighbor up north (Vancouver BC). I was debating whether to export my e46 and e30 over there. I can imagine that an e30 would be easier to legalize in terms of the emission requirements as it is an older car.

Vancouver folks, any input?

[nando]

it should be no problem, it's harder to get an E30 down here because they don't all meet DOT safety regulations, but any BMW sold in the states will meet canadian emissions too.

are you actually going to live there though? because things like insurance are really damn expensive. ICBC blows.

[bmwstephen]

hah try living in california where I have to pay $100 registration fees annually and smog my car every year. coupled with the high insurance in the bay area, I think Canada will be a cake walk. Yeah I'm trying to live there. I have family there and I figure taking an e30 up there will be better financially should I start a new life up there.

[nando]

ah yeah, I forgot you live in nazifornia. it may actually not be that bad for you.

[E30-M3]

Importing a e30 into canada will be a breeze esp since your from, Cali. We have ICBC up here which as Nando stated sucks. And also we have Aircare, which is a once a year $23 test. Where abouts are you looking at in Vancouver?

[maniacmatt]

E30 will be a snap. In Canada we have whats called the 15 year rule, as in if a car is over 15 years old you basically just bring it over, fill out the proper paperwork, have it inspected, registered, and insured. They are exempt from any other requirments.

E46 not so much. In addition to the inspection, registration, and insurance you will also need a letter from a BMW dealership in Canada saying that any recall services have been completed on the vehicle and it meets Canadian requirwments. Some dealers charge up to $200 for this letter. They also may require you change the speedometer over to kph and have daytime running lights activated before they give you the letter.

Not sure if all of that applies in BC but here in Alberta those are some of the hurdles when you import a newer US market car.

[nando]

they aren't going to charge $200 for the letter. you also don't call a dealer typically, you call a specific phone # just for getting those letters. Getting one from nissan took like 10 minutes. there's a list of them on the USCIS website somewhere.

[Emre]

If you're moving to Canada permanently, then you will need to have your cars registered, plated, and insured there (which also means you'll first need to switch to a local driver's license). Don't forget: before you can import your car into Canada, you'll need to export it from the USA. This is a step many people overlook as Customs Canada generally doesn't pay attention to it. But if you don't do it, you'll run into trouble down the road.

Importing the E30 is a snap due to the 15-year-old car exemption. You'll just get hit with some duties/taxes, but they're based on the car's blue book value, which is very low these days. The E46 is a bigger headache.

Having said that, if you are only going to be in Canada for a few years on a temporary work permit or something, then there's no need to go through all this. You can drive your car in Canada for up to 2 years. Beyond that, there's a way to get the car plated/registered/insured in Canada without formally importing it. You can get a temporary authorization tied to your temporary work permit.

I spent 5 years in Canada doing residency training and PhD at McGill University in Montreal. I brought my '91 318is and '90 325iX with me. The first two years, I kept them registered in NJ. Then I brought them in under the temporary exemption...so no import duties in Canada (and no export duties in the USA). When I was finished up, I brought both cars back with me to the USA and switched back to NJ registration.

If you plan to return to the USA with the cars, then you should do this. Otherwise, you'll have to pay export/import to bring them into Canada...then turn around and pay another round of export/import to take them back to the USA. Why should you pay two rounds of import duties on your own cars? Makes no sense.

[bmwstephen]

I plan on relocating permanently. I love british columbia resembles every bit of cali if not better without the hippies and they're not in financial termoil

[Emre]

I plan on relocating permanently.

In that case, you'll need to export your cars from the USA. They'll be held at the border for a few days. During that time, you'll need to go to the DMV to turn in your Cali license and get a BC license. Once you have that, you can pick up the cars and drive them over the border to Canada. If all of your paperwork is in order, you can usually get through Customs Canada the same day. You'll pay something like 10-15% of the blue book value as import duty.

Once that's done, you'll have 2 weeks to have the cars registered, plated, and insured. During that time, you'll also need to pass the provincial inspection. That might involve making certain changes to the bumpers, headlights, instrument cluster, and possibly child safety seat anchor points. Having the recall letter and full service history form your local BMW dealer in Cali will help. The E30 will be a breeze since it's >15 years old.

I love british columbia resembles every bit of cali if not better without the hippies

That last part makes me wonder if you've ever actually been there :p

[bmwstephen]

haha well at least your hippies have a brain.