Colorado general chat...

[colorado_cabrio]

Case in point. Euro 135i cost €55,000 in 2009, us spec was $35,000. Prices are not comparable between markets.

US 135i starts at 40 (39.925 exactly), and a euro one is 40.350 euros...

[Bimmerman325i]

US 135i starts at 40 (39.925 exactly), and a euro one is 40.350 euros...

2009 euros/dollars, and optioned vs non optioned. That was also sticker price in munich with all taxes included. at the time, that €55k was $70k.

Prices arent comparable. My point is one euro overseas buys less value than one dollar does here, regardless of currency exchange rates.

That 40395 euro price tag is $57,000 here.

[colorado_cabrio]

hmmm

[Bimmerman325i]

Yup. Many European countries (germany, UK, I think Italy too) have 19% or more value added tax included in the price of the item. That's on top of the "we don't want you to drive" tax, the "boo, big engine" tax, the "wtf why no diesel" tax, etc etc etc

[colorado_cabrio]

With all the engineers in here I may be the only economist, and may have missed the point of the argument...(never trust an economist)

So in lay-terms (Only I need this) David's argument is that the euro is "weaker" than the dollar, where on a constant value basis (say BMW automobiles in this case) you get less value from a single Euro than a single dollar. Keep in mind this idea is more complex than a simple currency's exchange value basis.

Given the relative poor sate of the US economy (Jobs, Housing, reatils etc) I had expected the relative value of the $/Euro to be near the exchange rate...

Hmm..does this mean that there's money to be made re-importing US spec BMW's into Europe???

[Bimmerman325i]

With all the engineers in here I may be the only economist, and may have missed the point of the argument...(never trust an economist)

So in lay-terms (Only I need this) David's argument is that the euro is "weaker" than the dollar, where on a constant value basis (say BMW automobiles in this case) you get less value from a single Euro than a single dollar. Keep in mind this idea is more complex than a simple currency's exchange value basis.

Given the relative poor sate of the US economy (Jobs, Housing, reatils etc) I had expected the relative value of the $/Euro to be near the exchange rate...

Hmm..does this mean that there's money to be made re-importing US spec BMW's into Europe???

That's it in a nutshell.

When I lived in Munich, I quit converting the euro price into equiv dollar prices damn quick, because an 8 euro meal gave similar value to an $8 meal, but the 8 euro meal was "$12" if you followed the exchange rate. When it comes to cars and such, taxes become such an issue that it nearly doubles the price of the car vs the US one.

When I told my german friends how cheap the same exact US car was compared to the Euro car, they got very annoyed and wanted to buy US ones instead.

[colorado_cabrio]

Ok no more craigslist flips for us; Lets go big time and use the pilots among us to ship US cars back to germany!!!

[colorado_cabrio]

"A car imported to Germany from outside the EU is subject to a 10% import duty and a 15% import value added tax. However, if you are moving to Germany you can, if you meet certain requirements, bring in your car (and household goods) free of duty"

Even with that you get a cost basis of ~$50k on our 135i. Need the pilots to help keep transport costs low, they may need to make career changes to sea captains...

[iamsam]

My buddy bought an E46 M3 here in the US and shipped it to Finland when he moved there so that he could make approx $20k profit when he re-sold it.

[Bimmerman325i]

Yup, there's money to be had if you are patient and have quite a bit of capital.

OT: watch this (on mute)

[colorado_cabrio]

LOL, that was awesome!

[clarkkey594]

I want a 135.

[Bishop]

Spent all weekend driving an 08 535i. Must drive e30 into brick wall now.

[blefevre]

Spent all weekend driving an 08 535i. Must drive e30 into brick wall now.

Lol. E30's are fun......untill you drive a "new" car and cry at how much better they are.

[Eric]

Yup. Many European countries (germany, UK, I think Italy too) have 19% or more value added tax included in the price of the item. That's on top of the "we don't want you to drive" tax, the "boo, big engine" tax, the "wtf why no diesel" tax, etc etc etc