Re: Grey market vs. US models (archive)

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You spent $6k and you'll likely spend more that in terms of your time as well as attorney fees if you vigorously seek redress. I would focus on making it into what you want it to be. Either that or turn around and sell it immediately and recoup what you can.

Saying the car is "worthless" just because it doesn't have leather is a dramatic overstatement. There is a national market for Euros given that they tend to perform better due to lighter weight and higher HP. They also look a bit better (subjective opinion) due to some variations in trim from US models. And lastly, the German instrument labels in the cockpit are cool. :)

Regarding dealers not touching them, that is often true, but it is the result of them not wanting to mess with the EPA/DOT and potential ligigation that can result. In addition, getting insurance can often be a hassle (which is NOT to say that it is *that* hard or that you'll pay more) because the VIN doesn't show up in their databases.

On the odemeter front, if the car was imported mid-life, then there are several potential ways to determine it's mileage at the time. First, a CarFax report will often show the mileage in KH when the car was first titled in the US. Second, the EPA/DOT paperwork, if you hunt it down, will show it. Third, during the federalization process they may have put a label on the door jamb noting the KH when the conversion was done. Lastly, if they swapped out the odometer, they may have written the existing KH mileage on the top or back of the new unit.

If you keep the car one word of advice: don't drive it in the snow or on salty roads. The Euros don't have nearly the rust protection and undercoating as the US models, and can develop rust problems in advance of their cousins.

Someone Help! I bought a '86 BMW from a used dealer for $6000. It was suppose to be M6 according to the sticker on the window, but after taking it to a BMW dealer it turned out be a "grey market" 635CSI. The BMW dealer also pointed out the mileage may hay been rolled back. The mechanic said I haven't seen a BMW with all the suspension parts being worn out at 62K miles and the odometer not working. The car also failed in emission, the NOx was trippled to 3000. But for some odd reason the car has lot of pick-up and has compresion of 205 per cyclinder.
But I hate it! Its not what I paid for. I was told later that car is worth nothing, because it was grey market car without leather interior. I never realized that all the BMWs come with leather interior until for the first time I heard the term "Grey market".
I found out later about the dealer that I bought the car from has a very bad reputation and has many cases against them. When I went back to return the car they refused. So what I need to do is gather all the information I can for my lawyer. Does anybody else has all the problems at 62K miles.

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