Step 1 –
Commit yourself totally to spending a lot of time and money, make sure
you want this car.

The MINIMUM
amount of money required to import and federalize a European car is approximately
$10,000.  (There are exceptions for race cars and display cars, but
I’m assuming you want to drive this thing more than 2500 miles per year,
and that more than 500 of it were manufactured)  Shipping and duty
will eat up about $3K, and federalization will cover the other $7K even
if the car already has catalytic converters.  If you need an airbag
added for instance, it will cost you another $4K for parts alone! 
You must prepare yourself financially and mentally for the MONTHS ahead. 
No bank is going to loan you money to do this.  Check with an ICI/RI
to make sure the car you want is eligible for importation, and that they
are willing to import/federalize the car for you.  Do this before
you even start looking for a car to buy…  I did.  My personal
wholehearted recommendation for an ICI/RI is JK Technologies in Baltimore,
MD.  Very nice folks who do impeccable work.

NHTSA
import info page w/list of Registered Importers.

 

Step 2 –
Find a car, preferably one with low miles.  Year of manufacture is
CRITICAL.  Here’s why…

If the car
is older than 25 years, no federalization required (woohoo).

If the
car was built before Sept 1989 and has catalytic converters, no airbag
or passive restraint required (only $7K to federalize).

If the
car is older than 1996, no OBD2 retrofit required (a very expensive road…).

Unless
the car has less than 50K miles on it, get ready to buy new catalytic converters…

Mine was
an ’89 with 48K miles and catalytic converters already installed.

The
place I found my car. (Yes that’s my car in the showroom picture!!)

A
British used car seller with E30 M3 Sport EVOs and cabrios.

 

Step 3 –
See the car or have it inspected.

Just like
any other car purchase, but that much more important because of the $$$. 
Make sure you are not buying a lemon.  E30 M3s are expensive to maintain,
get a cherry example and save yourself worlds of grief.  Remember
though, a few thousand dollars of airfare and hotel can pay for just about
anything on an M3 except for the motor.  I had mine sent to a BMW
shop locally in Switzerland for mechanical inspection in lieu of travelling
over myself.  I am not an expert, and the trip would have cost $3K. 
Instead I paid them $1K to inspect the car from top to bottom, tune it
up and fix small items.  Right now the dollar buys a lot in Europe.

 

Step 4 –
Buy the car.

Most folks
will want wire transfers to their banks.  Your bank will not necessarily
give you a good rate, shop around.  If you watch the currency exchange
rates, you can save your self a few thousand dollars here too.  I
managed to hit a 4 month low swing of the Swiss Franc in my favor! 
Make sure that you get a bill of sale and a foreign title.  Without
these documents, you are not going to be able to import or register the
car.

Currency
exchange calculator.

 

Step 5 –
Arrange shipping.

Your ICI/RI
can recommend a good shipper.  My shipper handled all of the details,
even transporting the car from Zurich to Bremerhaven where it was loaded
on the boat.  They will have you fill out PILES of paperwork for customs
etc.  Import duty is 2.5% of purchase price.  Shipping to the
west coast will cost more than $3K.

 

Step 6 –
Clear customs/Start Federalization.

A good shipper
will have your car out of customs in a week or so.  Mine was out in
1 DAY!  You may have to close the loop between ICI/RI and your shipper
to ensure a smooth handoff.  BY LAW, you CANNOT transport the car
or perform any of the federalization work yourself.  The car does
not even legally belong to you (even though you paid for it) until DOT
and EPA release the posted bonds on the car.  Most ICI/RIs require
50% of the total fee up front before work starts.  If your car is
not able to be brought into compliance , you must export it or abandon
it to the government for destruction.  Pay your shipper now too.

 

Step 7 –
DOT federalization.

Your federalizer
will add/change the car as follows:

Install
US headlights/blinkers/marker lights/third brakelight

Install
US gauge cluster (ODO should read miles or DMV will lose their mind!)

Install
Door bars

Install
O2 sensor, catalytic converter, DME to use them – where applicable ($)

Install
airbag system – where applicable ($$)

Convert
car to OBD2 – (you’re dreaming $$$$$)

Depending
on the ICI/RI (be nice to them) they may let you supply used US spec parts
for some of the conversion.

 

Step 8 –
EPA emissions test.

Your ICI/RI
will have the car tested to ensure that it meets EPA emissions standards. 
Don’t think this is just another tailpipe test.  This is a FEDERAL
emissions test to STRICTER standards than any state test including CA. 
Each retest costs $1.5K, so be sure your car is tuned up and your cats
are in good shape, because they can charge you for the retests and the
parts/labor necessary to make your car pass.  They may even refuse
to import your car if it is a gross polluter that will cost too much to
bring into compliance (old ragged out Ferraris from Liberia etc..<grin>) 
Have your car tuned up before it leaves Europe.

 

Step 9 –
Wait

Your federalizer
will
have to submit a detailed report with pictures of all mods performed to
DOT.  Even after he has taken the time to generate and submit the
report, DOT will put a 30 day MANDATORY hold on your car.  Once your
car has passed the EPA emissions test, EPA puts a 15 day MANDATORY hold
on your car.

 

Step 10
– Register the car

Pay your
federalizer now.  Get temp tags so you can drive the car to get it
state inspected.  Be prepared for the blank stares from the folks
at DMV when you walk in and try and register/get title for an imported
car.  Have all of your paperwork in order, and ask to speak to the
supervisor.

CONGRATULATIONS,
IT HAS BEEN 6 MONTHS AND YOU FINALLY HAVE YOUR CAR….

Was it worth
it?  YES.  Would I do it again?  I honestly don’t know,
it was a ROYAL pain even though everything went smoothly.  The possibility
for nightmarish increases in cost/paperwork is there at every turn. 
I didn’t sleep a whole lot for that 6 months.

To really
give credit where credit is due, Jim Baxter of Victoria, B.C. found the
car originally.  He not only steered me to it, but had a friend of
his in Switzerland act on my behalf to help smooth the road.  He didn’t
buy mine, because he found one of his own with 2,500 original miles on
it!!  He is still working on importing his to Canada (tougher than
importing to the US!!)