Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Please note that it is not permitted to have referral links posted in your signature. Keep these links contained in the appropriate forum. Thank you.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2055940817/signature-rules
Hi all,
Vanilla are planning an update to the site on April 24th (next Wednesday). It is a major PHP8 update which is expected to boost performance across the site. The site will be down from 7pm and it is expected to take about an hour to complete. We appreciate your patience during the update.
Thanks all.

Any negatives buying 192 UK import (from main dealer)

  • 24-04-2021 8:15pm
    #1
    DriveSkill
    Registered Users Posts: 757 ✭✭✭


    Hi,
    Are there any concerns or negatives buying a relatively new (Dec 192 Reg) UK import from a main dealer ? I sort of see it as an issue but not really sure why! In the past the MPH speedo would have been a big no for me but this is full digital cockpit so not an issue. Comes with same 2 year warranty as the Irish cars being sold.

    What pi$$es me off a bit is I asked on the history of the 2 cars I was looking at and was told they were corporate fleet cars (one was a 2020 and this late 192). No indication that one was a UK import :mad:, the 2020 one is not. Its fully registered and Irish plates so not sure when it was imported.

    I would do a full motorcheck on it before making a final decision but assuming nothing bad on that is there any reason to not like imports or am I being old fashioned!


Comments

  • #2
    athlone573
    Registered Users Posts: 726 ✭✭✭athlone573


    DriveSkill wrote: »
    Hi,
    Are there any concerns or negatives buying a relatively new (Dec 192 Reg) UK import from a main dealer ? I sort of see it as an issue but not really sure why! In the past the MPH speedo would have been a big no for me but this is full digital cockpit so not an issue. Comes with same 2 year warranty as the Irish cars being sold.

    What pi$$es me off a bit is I asked on the history of the 2 cars I was looking at and was told they were corporate fleet cars (one was a 2020 and this late 192). No indication that one was a UK import :mad:, the 2020 one is not. Its fully registered and Irish plates so not sure when it was imported.

    I would do a full motorcheck on it before making a final decision but assuming nothing bad on that is there any reason to not like imports or am I being old fashioned!

    Corporate Fleet could mean ex rental

    UK use a lot more salt on their roads than here

    If its e.g. a Vauxhall rather than an Opel, or some other model not sold here, it may be more expensive to insure.


  • #3
    DriveSkill
    Registered Users Posts: 757 ✭✭✭DriveSkill


    Yeah, I've no idea now on the history but obviously an ex-rental is a different category (in my view anyway) to a "normal" fleet which would typically have had just 1 or 2 drivers.

    The annoying part is the impression I was given was it was Ireland Head Office fleet - i.e. part of the brand corporate fleet. Its a BMW so no issues such as Vauxhall/Opel and I think spec or trim level is pretty similar also for M-Sport etc.


  • #4
    Speedline
    Registered Users Posts: 532 ✭✭✭Speedline


    DriveSkill wrote: »
    Yeah, I've no idea now on the history but obviously an ex-rental is a different category (in my view anyway) to a "normal" fleet which would typically have had just 1 or 2 drivers.

    The annoying part is the impression I was given was it was Ireland Head Office fleet - i.e. part of the brand corporate fleet. Its a BMW so no issues such as Vauxhall/Opel and I think spec or trim level is pretty similar also for M-Sport etc.

    Straight away they are lying to you, or at best being evasive. Would I now be willing to hand 40/50k over to them? I'd be running as fast as I could.


  • #5
    DriveSkill
    Registered Users Posts: 757 ✭✭✭DriveSkill


    Speedline wrote: »
    Straight away they are lying to you, or at best being evasive. Would I now be willing to hand 40/50k over to them? I'd be running as fast as I could.


    Sort of my thoughts exactly! But it was a nice car :)


  • #6
    Speedline
    Registered Users Posts: 532 ✭✭✭Speedline


    DriveSkill wrote: »
    Sort of my thoughts exactly! But it was a nice car :)

    Nice, but not rare. There's more out there.


  • Advertisement
  • #7
    athlone573
    Registered Users Posts: 726 ✭✭✭athlone573


    A few years ago it would have been worthwhile to import personally from UK BMW Approved Used in GB/NI. Not sure if its still the case after brexit with NOX, VAT etc.


  • #8
    bazz26
    Registered Users Posts: 51,100 ✭✭✭✭bazz26


    BMW dealers here have been importing used BMWs from the UK for years, they used even have a "Sterling" collection which was promoting the fact they were from the UK. They source them through BMW UK and BMW main dealer network as there is more choice than over here. Short term leasing is also very common in the UK so they could well be what they are claiming. Usually anything that was rented would end up going to auction rather than back into the BMW dealer network. The 2 year BMW warranty that will come with it is as close to a manufacturer's warrant as you can get on a used car but your paying for it in the price of the car. But like anything you need to your own background checks, try and get the old UK reg, do a google of it so you know what part of the UK it was registered in and also do a UK history check. If there is no evidence of abuse or accident damage then I wouldn't be too concerned.


  • #9
    DriveSkill
    Registered Users Posts: 757 ✭✭✭DriveSkill


    Yes, I remember the Sterling collection but at least it was upfront. I guess it all just part of the "game" but I just know when I come to trade it back I'll get the "Oh, its UK import - they dont make as much...." but when they are selling it themselves its worth every bit as much as an original Irish car :-)
    Maybe given the amount of UK imports over the last few years this is no longer an issue and definitely with the digital cockpit there is very little if any visual difference between and UK and an Irl car.


  • #10
    bazz26
    Registered Users Posts: 51,100 ✭✭✭✭bazz26


    UK and Irish BMW standard specs are the exact same as BMW Ireland and BMW UK have been the same entity for well over a decade now. However as the UK hasn't VRT they don't get screwed on options like we do so tend to tick more when ordering. The digital cockpit is standard on the 3 Series M Sport upwards and standard on all 5 Series models since late 2019 for the UK/Irish market. And you won't get anything extra regarding trade-in values from a dealer for any extras but you can be sure they will price it higher than the same car without them.

    And I would not worry about trying to sell a UK import on, sure half the country is full of used UK imports. I never had a problem selling/trading mine on.


  • #11
    Water2626262
    Registered Users Posts: 212 ✭✭Water2626262


    BMW don’t feature in the top ten selling brands in Ireland but they are near top of the imports chart. 3,119 new regs in Ireland last year and 8,449 imports. Probably more than half the BMWs in the country are from the UK. All the main dealers do it. Even distributor owned garages sell imports.

    I can’t see any issues here and they are offering it with the two year warranty. To be fair, a lot of salesman can barely accurately describe the cars they are selling, never mind it’s history.

    If it’s ex rental there should be tell tale signs and high mileage (a short term lease car won’t be idle, a corporate fleet could have low mileage depending on the driver).


  • Advertisement
  • #12
    Water2626262
    Registered Users Posts: 212 ✭✭Water2626262


    One final thing, maybe my dealer was sloppy but my car is an ex UK fleet and while the idrive appeared clear, I could still access the previous owners email address, home location etc. Probably a long shot but would prove it wasn’t a rental.


  • #13
    sdanseo
    Registered Users Posts: 9,233 ✭✭✭sdanseo


    I've a 171 UK 3er which I believe was also ex fleet, had it nearly two years from an Irish main dealer also.

    One thing to watch out for is it the booked features on iDrive - mine had real time traffic, online services and a few other bits which ran out when the car turned 3 - they weren't permanent and the dealer couldn't or wouldn't reinstate them foc, although they did apologise profusely and give me a fairly large discount on servicing which more than made up for the lost value & inconvenience.


  • #14
    DriveSkill
    Registered Users Posts: 757 ✭✭✭DriveSkill


    Thanks for all the replies - I will go ahead and get the full report on the car and see what it says.
    Interesting about the features on iDrive expiring - is there a way to actually confirm that in the car (apart from asking the sales guy)


  • #15
    Wildly Boaring
    Registered Users Posts: 3,629 ✭✭✭Wildly Boaring


    athlone573 wrote: »

    UK use a lot more salt on their roads than here
    .

    No they don't.
    No idea how this still gets sprouted.

    May have been true 20 years ago
    May be true for the highlands in Scotland.

    Nowadays we plaster salt and brine onto our Motorway network same as the uk.
    Have a look next Jan and Feb. They are literally white with salt during dry cold weeks
    We salt our N roads thoroughly. We salt most major R roads.

    It's as if Irish people think we use some magical non rusting salt that the rest of europe never heard of.


  • #16
    athlone573
    Registered Users Posts: 726 ✭✭✭athlone573


    Wildly Boaring wrote: »
    No they don't.
    No idea how this still gets sprouted.

    May have been true 20 years ago
    May be true for the highlands in Scotland.

    Nowadays we plaster salt and brine onto our Motorway network same as the uk.
    Have a look next Jan and Feb. They are literally white with salt during dry cold weeks
    We salt our N roads thoroughly. We salt most major R roads.

    It's as if Irish people think we use some magical non rusting salt that the rest of europe never heard of.

    I stand corrected.
    OP - The dealer should be able to run a printout of the service history from their system which may allay concerns you may have.


  • #17
    Water2626262
    Registered Users Posts: 212 ✭✭Water2626262


    DriveSkill wrote: »
    Thanks for all the replies - I will go ahead and get the full report on the car and see what it says.
    Interesting about the features on iDrive expiring - is there a way to actually confirm that in the car (apart from asking the sales guy)

    If it has CarPlay then the real time traffic etc aren’t really worth it. A few of my services are expiring soon, mainly real time traffic, voice input and some crappy news feature. While the bmw nav is very good, I tend to use Waze or google maps more. At least on Waze you have updates on checkpoints or speed cameras etc. You can renew any of the bmw services but there is an annual fee.


  • #18
    finalfurlong
    Registered Users Posts: 182 ✭✭finalfurlong


    athlone573 wrote: »
    I stand corrected.
    OP - The dealer should be able to run a printout of the service history from their system which may allay concerns you may have.
    I bought an 18 audi a4 in december -imported by main dealer.Main Audi dealer in UK sent me on print out of service history once I sent them email of my license and reg cert -this is the V5 equivalent to them and it has chassis no and original UK reg so that is proof they need.


  • #19
    bazz26
    Registered Users Posts: 51,100 ✭✭✭✭bazz26


    sdanseo wrote: »
    I've a 171 UK 3er which I believe was also ex fleet, had it nearly two years from an Irish main dealer also.

    One thing to watch out for is it the booked features on iDrive - mine had real time traffic, online services and a few other bits which ran out when the car turned 3 - they weren't permanent and the dealer couldn't or wouldn't reinstate them foc, although they did apologise profusely and give me a fairly large discount on servicing which more than made up for the lost value & inconvenience.

    That's the BMW connected drive services here - https://www.bmw-connecteddrive.ie/app/index.html#/portal which are free for the first 3 years of the car, after that some of these services are subscription based and require an annual subscription fee to retain them. They have

    Lots of manufacturers do the same.


  • #20
    sdanseo
    Registered Users Posts: 9,233 ✭✭✭sdanseo


    bazz26 wrote: »
    That's the BMW connected drive services here - https://www.bmw-connecteddrive.ie/app/index.html#/portal which are free for the first 3 years of the car, after that some of these services are subscription based and require an annual subscription fee to retain them. They have

    Lots of manufacturers do the same.

    Yeah, pretty much he just forgot to mention they needed to be renewed. They sorted it anyway.

    I really should get carplay activated, but struggling to justify the one off cost.


  • #21
    DriveSkill
    Registered Users Posts: 757 ✭✭✭DriveSkill


    Well the report didnt show any red flags really. Purchased in Oct 2019 in the UK and imported into Ireland end of Dec 2020 so it would appear BMW did import it themselves.
    It did have a rather unfortunate reg number in the UK of BJ69 :-)
    So I guess its still an option, there is one more I need to check out and hopefully decision time.


  • Advertisement
  • #22
    sdanseo
    Registered Users Posts: 9,233 ✭✭✭sdanseo


    DriveSkill wrote: »
    Well the report didnt show any red flags really. Purchased in Oct 2019 in the UK and imported into Ireland end of Dec 2020 so it would appear BMW did import it themselves.
    It did have a rather unfortunate reg number in the UK of BJ69 :-)
    So I guess its still an option, there is one more I need to check out and hopefully decision time.

    Oh that's very unfortunate, stay well clear. It's from Birmingham. :D


Advertisement