Self Import 5 series (G30) or X3 (G01) worthwhile?

[Micarforum]

Hi guys,

Need some advice on whether it's worthwhile to self import 5 series (G30) or X3 (G01) from UK to Singapore... I am looking at it purely from the perspective of cost savings.

I have business there, so I am familiar with the import process (not cars though), the savings seemed to be quite significant, although there's no local warranty / maintenance included:

520i G30: S$150k-160k (vs S$240k+ locally)
X3 G01: S$170k-180k (vs S$210k+ locally)

Hopefully someone with experience can shed some light on this?

My primary concern is the repair / maintenance costs of BMW, which seem to be the highest among continental cars, with the lowest reliability.

Edited December 24, 2018 by Micarforum

[inlinesix]

Hi guys,

 

Need some advice on whether it's worthwhile to self import 5 series (G30) or X3 (G01) from UK to Singapore... I am looking at it purely from the perspective of cost savings.

 

I have business there, so I am familiar with the import process (not cars though), the savings seemed to be quite significant, although there's no local warranty / maintenance included:

 

520i G30: S$150k-160k (vs S$240k+ locally)

X3 G01: S$170k-180k (vs S$210k+ locally)

 

Hopefully someone with experience can shed some light on this?

 

My primary concern is the repair / maintenance costs of BMW, which seem to be the highest among continental cars, with the lowest reliability.

You need to check how custom determines OMV. Custom don’t necessary take invoice value as OMV.

[camrysfe]

Have you considered the e class w213

[Piyopico]

Hi guys,

 

Need some advice on whether it's worthwhile to self import 5 series (G30) or X3 (G01) from UK to Singapore... I am looking at it purely from the perspective of cost savings.

 

I have business there, so I am familiar with the import process (not cars though), the savings seemed to be quite significant, although there's no local warranty / maintenance included:

 

520i G30: S$150k-160k (vs S$240k+ locally)

X3 G01: S$170k-180k (vs S$210k+ locally)

 

Hopefully someone with experience can shed some light on this?

 

My primary concern is the repair / maintenance costs of BMW, which seem to be the highest among continental cars, with the lowest reliability.

 

You should be comparing to PI prices. The 520 is about 210k or below for PI ........ definitely still higher than your import price but certainly not 240k which is PML price.

[Ody_2004]

I only know self import way need to be cash rich; which most MCF people are! 

[Micarforum]

You need to check how custom determines OMV. Custom don’t necessary take invoice value as OMV.

 

Yes, thanks for the advice :)

Have you considered the e class w213

 

Actually that was my first choice, because good resale value, high reliability among continental cars.

 

But I was pretty troubled by the fact that there is no touchscreen, and the changing of gears is via the stick near the steering wheel, and the drive wasn't as good as BMW 5 series imho.

 

Still, I am pretty flexible in terms of driving/cars, I just want to get a car that's relatively cheaper to begin with, and then hopefully due to the good resale value, I will get a lower depreciation overall for the ride I am getting.

[Thaiyotakamli]

Hi guys,

 

Need some advice on whether it's worthwhile to self import 5 series (G30) or X3 (G01) from UK to Singapore... I am looking at it purely from the perspective of cost savings.

 

I have business there, so I am familiar with the import process (not cars though), the savings seemed to be quite significant, although there's no local warranty / maintenance included:

 

520i G30: S$150k-160k (vs S$240k+ locally)

X3 G01: S$170k-180k (vs S$210k+ locally)

 

Hopefully someone with experience can shed some light on this?

 

My primary concern is the repair / maintenance costs of BMW, which seem to be the highest among continental cars, with the lowest reliability.

The local price is before disc and trade in bonus if you have existing car to trade in.

 

For X3 seems saving not much better go for G30. Maybe you can import highest spec 520i from UK.

 

Dont worry about repair or maintenance cos pml only cover first 5 yrs. dont think you will spend that much on repair for first 5 yrs

[Inlinefour]

Have you considered the e class w213

 

[ER-3682]

Let P.I. earn a bit of Money,self import may be cheaper,but once car arrive,you need to send it for Inspection,& of course,must have proper Documents like Emission Paper,anything missing,means you cannot Reg the Car...

[1fast1]

First of all I doubt the "savings" will be that high. For 5 series, 20k less than PI and 50k less than AD I can believe. Yours seems to be 80k below AD. Not sure how you're accounting for it, but remember that OMV cannot suka suka be declared. And as @Davidtch mentioned the gahmen may not accept your OMV if it sounds too good to be true even if it's legit and you didn't try anything funny. I've heard rumours of people getting into trouble with the law for under declaring OMV (even to the extent of squatting inside for a while!) so be careful about "cheating" the gahmen (doesn't matter if you actually intended it, it's what they say that goes).

 

Apart from that, ensure you've taken all costs into account. I think for used imports there's an additional 10k to be paid but not sure about new imports.

 

I'm not sure if you need to worry about homologation but be careful if you do. My friend who brought in a used Audi RS6 on his own had to undergo repeated cycles of emissions testing first with Euro standards, then Japanese (yes they actually accept these for German cars!) before finally getting it registered - and he was out of pocket almost 20k more and car was laid up for months more. And the Tesla guy's story is a real cautionary tale.

 

It's a hassle. The established PI route is the best middle ground approach in my opinion.

Edited December 25, 2018 by Turboflat4

[flashbang]

Self-PI is possible but be prepared for a lenghty process. I think that's the main point you need to bear in mind. There may be savings but have to consider if the hassle and paperwork is worth it.

 

On the bright side once you worked it out, you can open your own PI shop! 

[Micarforum]

First of all I doubt the "savings" will be that high. For 5 series, 20k less than PI and 50k less than AD I can believe. Yours seems to be 80k below AD. Not sure how you're accounting for it, but remember that OMV cannot suka suka be declared. And as @Davidtch mentioned the gahmen may not accept your OMV if it sounds too good to be true even if it's legit and you didn't try anything funny. I've heard rumours of people getting into trouble with the law for under declaring OMV (even to the extent of squatting inside for a while!) so be careful about "cheating" the gahmen (doesn't matter if you actually intended it, it's what they say that goes).

 

Apart from that, ensure you've taken all costs into account. I think for used imports there's an additional 10k to be paid but not sure about new imports.

 

I'm not sure if you need to worry about homologation but be careful if you do. My friend who brought in a used Audi RS6 on his own had to undergo repeated cycles of emissions testing first with Euro standards, then Japanese (yes they actually accept these for German cars!) before finally getting it registered - and he was out of pocket almost 20k more and car was laid up for months more. And the Tesla guy's story is a real cautionary tale.

 

It's a hassle. The established PI route is the best middle ground approach in my opinion.

 

As far as declaring OMV is concerned, everything will be above board, I am not interested in saving money via under-declaring, it's penny-wise, pound-foolish.

 

It'll be brand new car, same model as that is already sold in Singapore, to skip the homologation etc, as far as possible.

Would be good to have some inputs from someone who has self-imported before, but hard to prove lah, I am sure some PI will be here to discourage ppl to self import... Afterall, it's their livelihood, so I can understand :)

[inlinesix]

As far as declaring OMV is concerned, everything will be above board, I am not interested in saving money via under-declaring, it's penny-wise, pound-foolish.

 

It'll be brand new car, same model as that is already sold in Singapore, to skip the homologation etc, as far as possible.

Would be good to have some inputs from someone who has self-imported before, but hard to prove lah, I am sure some PI will be here to discourage ppl to self import... Afterall, it's their livelihood, so I can understand :)

 

As @turboflat4 mentioned, it is not about under-declaring.  

 

Even above board, if the price is too low to be believed by Custom, Custom may deemed OMV based on their estimation.

 

With regards to Homologation, you can't escape even though it is spec exactly to be the same as AD.

[ngmingtong]

However I have noticed car prices in UK are more expensive than the declared OMV prices of ADs in Singapore. That is after taking into account for VAT refunds. 

 

Is it true for the above cars mentioned?

[Volvobrick]

You have to take into consideration the conversion of the built-in navigation system (if 520 and E-class).  This is not cheap, running into thousands of dollars.  Any loading of software needs to login online with special key and most workshops don't have it.  And the E-class has steering rack problem, needing replacement very soon.

 

(My workshop boss told me one....)

[inlinesix]

You have to take into consideration the conversion of the built-in navigation system (if 520 and E-class).  This is not cheap, running into thousands of dollars.  Any loading of software needs to login online with special key and most workshops don't have it.  And the E-class has steering rack problem, needing replacement very soon.

 

(My workshop boss told me one....)

 

Just spec in apple CarPlay.  You have a choice of Google & Apple Map as well as Waze.

[Zxcvb]

 

 

It'll be brand new car, same model as that is already sold in Singapore, to skip the homologation etc, as far as possible.

 

 

I believe all parallel import cars have to go thru VITAS cos some years back many PI under-declare tax for the subsequent batches. For all we know, a common model like BMW 520i can have varying specs and trims from across different PI's. 

[Spring]

As far as declaring OMV is concerned, everything will be above board, I am not interested in saving money via under-declaring, it's penny-wise, pound-foolish.

 

It'll be brand new car, same model as that is already sold in Singapore, to skip the homologation etc, as far as possible.

 

Would be good to have some inputs from someone who has self-imported before, but hard to prove lah, I am sure some PI will be here to discourage ppl to self import... Afterall, it's their livelihood, so I can understand :)

I’ve been told by a PI that all their cars under go homologation even if they have brought in the same model with same specs before. This is unlike ADs who only need to do homologation for their very first model of its kind. True or not I’m not sure but do check this up as if what they say is true then u can’t skip homologation even though the model u bringing in has already been sold here before.