Bringing a car to Germany

Sorry if this has been covered before.

I will be moving to the Frankfurt am Main area in July, from the U.K. and I am considering bringing my current U.K. registered BMW to Germany. I accept the car would need to be re registered and a few modifications made. I have been driving in Europe for years so having a right hand drive car does not worry me.

Would insuring this car be more expensive than an equivilant Left Hand drive car?
Is the cost of re registering in Germany significant? / Complicated?
Has anyone had any experience in modifying U.K. spec cars for Germany?

Many thanks

John

Hi John,

I did this some 11 years ago with a RHD BMW, I had no major problems
first of all I had to get a form from Flensburg (German DVLC) to declare
the car wasn't registered as stolen etc. then off to the TüV who did
a complete "Abnahme" i.e they issued a Log book, on a German car this
won't be a problem but it will cost a few hundred Euros I guess.

...But beware If you have any non-factory parts on the car, like sports
steering wheel or sports suspension / springs etc. which are NOT from
BMW you will need an ABE (Allgemeinberiebserlaubnis) from the maker
of the parts to say it conforms with German regulations.

Then off to the Straßenverkehrsamt to register and get your plates.
You need to get a "Doppelkarte" from your insurance company before
you can register the car you and will also have to bring an Anmeldebescheinigung
from the Einwohnermeldeamt which is less than 6 months old as proof that
you have a permenent address here Germany, your passport and all the paper
work from the TÜV. I did not have any problems with RHD, in fact nobody even
inquired about that. I still have a RHD VW here as well and there is no diffence with
the insurance.

Some things may have changed since I did it, but that is roughly the form.
Being able to speak a bit of German will be a big help, or take someone with
you who can would be my advice.

It's now a single card, Neil. The 2nd half of the old card used to be sent back by the Straßenverkehrsamt to the insurance company to show that the insurance had been "activated" with a registration, so to speak. This is now done electronically.

Ok thanks for that ...you can see how long ago it is since I last registered a car :$

I'm also thinking of buying a car in the UK. I've been in Hamburg for 11 years and have a German driving licence - I had to give my Brit licence up back then by law .

I lost all my no-claims, as my insurance company in the UK did not keep the records long enough!! I didn't insure the car in my name last time. If I insure a car in my name now, I'd have to start from scratch!

I'll keep an eye on this discussion...

Thanks, this is a very useful discussion to me too. I have a LHD 1987 Porsche 944S...it's an American-spec. version which I shipped with me to the UK, where it only needed a few minor modifications to make it legal for UK use.

If I move to Germany, I'd definitely like to take it with me, but this comment really worried me:

But beware If you have any non-factory parts on the car, like sports
steering wheel or sports suspension / springs etc. which are NOT from
BMW you will need an ABE (Allgemeinberiebserlaubnis) from the maker
of the parts to say it conforms with German regulations.

My car was quite extensively modified (suspension parts, computer chip) by one of the previous owners, with all sorts of aftermarket parts, from various manufacturers. I think it would be impossible for me to research and gain documentation for each and every one of them. I think such requirements would make it virtually impossible for me to bring the car, in fact. So my questions are:

1. Are there any exclusions for my car since it's so old (1987)?
2. If not, are we sure they will know how much the car has been modified? And how far do they take the rules- I mean, it has Koni brand gas shocks, but I think some Porsches came with that as a factory option, even though they are not officially made by Porsche. Will these bureaucrats go mad and rip my head off?

Thanks

You may want to PM Clive from TT, he just went through that with his Landrover. Did it all in English to boot!

If he doesn't respond to a PM, them PM me and I email him

@The Sun King

basically as far as I know things like Koni Shocks shouldn't pose much of a problem,
as long as they basically the same spec as the original ones and not the adjustable
variety. This applies to all aftermarket spares, theoretically they should all have an ident.
number which is cataloged for use on the appropriate vehicle. The problems come when anything
which is performance enhancing like non standard springs are fitted, you must have
an ABE/Gutachten for lowered springs, non standard brakes, K&N filters, non-standard exhaust
system or even towbars (yeah I know they're not performance enhancing, but it's a safety issue here).
With the Chip tuning you're on thin ice, basically they won't know or notice ...but if you
were involved in an accident with injury or worse you could find your car being very carefully
scrutinised ! Non standard steering wheels, sports seats also attention.
I have a Recaro seat in my Passat so always keep a copy of the ABE in the glove box, theoretically
a policeman could ask to see it if you get stoped (very unlikely though) I basically have it there
so I don't forget it when I go to the TüV.
I should also have pointed out all these goodies can be split into 2 sections:

1) Parts which you only need an ABE for ie my recaro seat, a sports wheel, non standard alloys
or a roof rack etc. (You should keep copies of all these ABEs in the car)

2) Parts which affect performance /safety like uprated springs, non standard tyres, engine mods
i.e different carbs, manifolds etc, all these things have a so-called Gutachten from the maker to
prove that it is fit for use on your car and then it has to be entered into the log book, I used to drive
and Audi ur-quattro which not only had the permitted tyre sizes but also the tyre manufacturer
and model had to be adhered to ...it was of course only Pirelli P7000 which cost a small fortune each !

Thanks.

Oh bloody hell, this sounds like an absolute NIGHTMARE...basically nothing more than a vehicle for sadistic bureacrats to cause us an infinite amount of grief and financial hardship. I agree that I could get away with the chip, but my car has been slightly lowered, has stiffer springs, Weltmeister (I think) roll bars, and who knows what else...I don't think my maintenance records indicate exactly what brands/serial numbers were used; I just have the invoice showing how much it cost the previous owner to install all those goodies. And if some of the parts were made by an American specialist company, do you think they'd have the "Gutachten"?

The other thing is that my car has wheels and tires which could be construed as being factory standard on a more modern Porsche- they are a Porsche design from around 1994, not 1987. And you think that they'd actually try to make me buy the original equipment tires for the car (which probably went out of production at least 10 years ago?), or at the very least the same brand? If that's the case, I guess I'll have to sell it here before leaving- this sounds beyond insane.

I'm goin' for a pink Daewoo Matiz instead Oh yeah

yeah it can be a nightmare when you don't know the system, but it's not
impossible !
If your springs are from a German firm you should be able to
get a Gutachten/ABE (Recaro you can download them from their website)
If the wheels are original Porsche and have been available on that model of
car then I don't see any problems either, even if they are not from that model
if they have the same sizes (i.e RIM, ET etc) and they're original then I don't
think they would mind either, but you will have to have tyre sizes which are approved
for that car (try mailing Porsche to aske them what sizes you can run). You could
also be lucky and get a TüV Prufer who is either dozie / ignorrant /stupid or in a good
mood ...maybe even all four ! But it's probably worth a go as long as it's not too
OTT tuning-wise

Thanks mate, yeah, maybe I can get by. My tires are considerably larger than the standard size my 944S wore out of the factory in 1987, but other Porsches during the nineties certainly wore this size. I don't know if those bureacratic Lord of the Rings Ork drones would freak out due to my current Yokohama brand tires...hopefully not.

I was thinking that probably the best route for me would be to take the car over, take it to the inspection and play dumb, knowing I'd fail, and wait and see what they point out as mandatory for modification (That's what I did when entering the UK). That way, not only do I not change anything they don't notice, but also I will pay less having the changes done in Germany, for the simple fact that it would be very difficult indeed to find any corner of the world where Porsche repair prices are more insane than they are around London!

Many thanks for all the advice...cars are a huge part of my life and thus a serious factor when going through international relocation

Is your Passat a V6?

'wish it was mate ! ...no it's also a 1987 (after we bought a house here I had to change
my priorities ) ... but the old work horse has done me proud and 300,000km later,
it still runs like a wee sowing machine, I did retrofit power steering to it 2 years ago and
it's also got a british stainless exhaust (without the nesscesary numbers stamped on it )
I've also upgraded the shocks to gas struts all round ...and the smart guys from the TüV still
haven't spotted it ...the only thing they've checked so far is the ABE for the
Recaro Ergomed seat

Sounds nice actually- If it's the one I'm thinking of, yours is actually my favourite body style- before they made it a bit too rounded & generic looking. A friend of mine had that earlier shape with the V6, he tightened the suspension just a bit and it was a really nice car. Glad the TuV Orks haven't caught on to your improvements!

Thanks Neil

Does not sound to difficult to bring the car over.
All I have to do now is sell the house and pack for Germany.

Best wishes
John