I did this with my BMW ~5 years ago. There are no import tarrifs or environmental problems. The car I bought there is 100% to USA spec and when I'm done with it I can sell it back to the dealer down the street and it is just the same as a car bought on US soil.

There is a huge forum just dedicated to BMW European delivery if you are interested and it helped me out a lot when I was researching this back then. Also someone there every year I believe posts the internal pricing for BMW US/Euro wholesale and with dealer markup so I just went to my local US dealer told him I would give him $1k above German wholesale and he filled out all the paperwork for me. I flew to Munich a few months later showed them my passport and off I went. It was great.

Link here: http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=68aa7500...

BMW is most known for their European Delivery program. The car you're purchasing is a model made for the US market, you're just picking up your order at the factory instead of the dealership.

In fact, once BMW ships it to the states you normally pick it up at the dealership anyway. I believe some eager beavers pick it up at the New Jersey dock but I think most wait until the car is delivered and titled in your home state (and any shipping damage is discovered/rectified).

BMW will also let you pick up your car at their plant in South Carolina. They make the X3, X5, and X6 there, but also have a performance center with a track and instructors. You can also order in, say an M5, which they deliver there, then they'll let you drive an identical car on their track with an instructor, so not as to work your own so hard. They've done well with making it an experience worth aspiring to.

Also, there is a recommended break in period on the new engines, precluding you from going above 6k RPM, IIRC. Still, if you did a European delivery, it'd probably be very possible to legally drive 100+ MPH on the Autobahn.

>Still, if you did a European delivery, it'd probably be very possible to legally drive 100+ MPH on the Autobahn.

No, not 'probably very possible' - it's entirely legal to do 155mph+ on the Autobahn. There's one heading straight out of Munich. (most German cars except Porsche are limited to 155)

Still, running in the car first might be a good idea.

I guess the real question is if you can get a BMW to 100 MPH without ever going over 6K RPM. I'm guessing you can. =) I was certainly able to do it in a rental crackerbox Opel.

Yes you can. I have photographic evidence.

The other thing, in a car like a BMW, you hardly "feel" like you're doing that speed (well, we went up to 112mph / 180kph). In a more average car, you can do it as well, but you'll feel it shaking and you get a much stronger feeling of "wow I'm going really fast" (which is kinda unnerving IMO). It's a complete waste of gas either way, of course (110 kph generally gives the most kilometers for your litre, in most types of cars, I've found).

BMW also has an amazing military/diplomatic sales program -- it was something like 15-20% off MSRP, and contractors were eligible. It would actually have been profitable for me to buy an M3, ship it to UAE, drive it for a year, and sell it on the UAE domestic market (where BMWs were marked up 20-50% over US MSRP).

I did Mercedes, and like others have said, I've heard great things about BMW's program as well. They took care of all the paperwork to get me licensed and insured in Europe. I'd definitely do it again.

This was also available for my Volvo XC90 when I bought it, though I didn't do it.