Eksport from USA to Europe

[Hansi]

Fr. num: WB10439A54ZF50068

October 2013, i bought a BMW R1150R - 2004, in Los Angeles. Traveled for 8 months - 23 states + Canada. Took the bike with me home to Norway, and the trouble began. Because of some COC rules, it look like it is impossible / difficult to get Norwegian plates on the bike.

1. Do anyone on this site know where / how to get COC certificate on a BMW R1150R - in Germany ( TUV ) ?

2. Can I drive in European Countries with USA plates ?

[Marty Hill]

You might be able to drive US plates for 90 days. Might require US drivers license which would be impossible to get. Doubt that there is a good solution to this. We have the same problem bringing a Euro moto back to the US.

[CarrotNC]

Assume by CoC you mean a Certificate of Conformity?

 

Once the machine has been placed upon the market (BMW into USA) the initial window of opportunity for BMW to issue the CoC is closed. BMW can not issue a certificate after the fact.

 

When a machine is imported into the EU from abroad, the importer is responsible for ensuring it meets the applicable requirements such as emissions, sound, EMC, braking, steering, lighting, etc. It's highly unlikely that BMW is willing to provide you with their dossier of approval documents, leaving you with the only route of contacting a notified body.

 

TÜV is a certainly capable of issuing single type approval, but the costs may be prohibitive. They can request permission from BMW to utilize their dossier in issuing your approval, but BMW can refuse.

 

I'm with an OEM who self certifies for EU shipments, but homologates with TÜV-Sud under both general and single type approvals. We've had customers do the same as you: buy a machine abroad, use it, import it into the EU, and then discover the paperwork nightmare. Of the handful of times I've been involved, the importer contacts a notified body (TÜV, DEKRA, MIRA, Bureau Veritas) then ships the machine to a neighboring country without such issues (outside of the EU) to sell it, then buy an EU equivalent already certified.

[Hansi]

 

Hey thank you all. This is disappointing,to be stopped by rules I don`t understand its intention, - so the next step is to sell.

[Guest Kakugo]

Hey thank you all. This is disappointing,to be stopped by rules I don`t understand its intention, - so the next step is to sell.

 

I have an acquaintance who deals with "grey imports", chiefly cars from Japan.

I can tell you that, yes, it's possible to register a vehicle originally sold outside of the EU, but it ain't cheap. Usual practice is usually to have it first registered in a country with "amenable" local laws and then have it registered again in your country of residence. Transport costs alone usually make the operation uneconomical and it's mostly done for highly sought after exotica (Nissan Skyline GT-R, Honda NSX etc).

You should also check how hard it would be to pull the same trick through Switzerland: the Swiss are enamored with old American cars and import large numbers of them each year, apparently without too much trouble.