US specs car to EU Specs

For all those that want to import or bring your US car into Europe, here is what I changed to get it as EU as possible.
First I had some required changes in order to have it imported into Holland, then I made some voluntary changes.

Required:
- Orange front leds to be taken out
- Fog lights and Fog light switch
- Orange rear turn signals

Voluntary:
- EU Speedo and Rev meter
- Clear front reflectors
- EU mirrors (with 'dead angle' view)

Other changes:
- '09 iDrive knob
- 456PS
- Speed limiter removed
- EU Navi-maps...

Some pictures:

Before:

After:

Fog lights:

For importing I was not allowed to have a fog light switch for front and back fogs, as no front fogs are present.
2009 Fog lights switch:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:
You must change the US settings to Canadian settings in order to have the KMH-Speedo and cruise control working properly.

Orange fronts:

Clears:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

New idrive know now fully installed.

Pictures added above...

Wow! Awesome! You answered a question that I was unsure about for a very long time...a KMH speedo can be added to a US spec car!

I originally tried to do this while in Germany, but the SA told me that it would cost 700 euros for a new console, and that there was no guarantee that it would work. They said that nobody had wanted to do it before, and BMW could not provide a definitive answer as to how or whether it would work. Did you just take a gamble, or did someone tell you about the Canadian work around?

Cool!

I gambled a bit... while discussion with the dealer, the dealer wondered why US Specs had KMH as well, so I told them that Canada had KMHs too. So was not a red or black gamble...

Now thinking of the euro-bumper as the clear reflectors are not too bright any more...

Big Windy wrote

Wow! Awesome! You answered a question that I was unsure about for a very long time...a KMH speedo can be added to a US spec car!

I originally tried to do this while in Germany, but the SA told me that it would cost 700 euros for a new console, and that there was no guarantee that it would work. They said that nobody had wanted to do it before, and BMW could not provide a definitive answer as to how or whether it would work. Did you just take a gamble, or did someone tell you about the Canadian work around?

Cool!

Thanks for the info! Looks great!!

...soooo... I've been told that I can't upgrade my iDrive to the 09 module because I have an E90 and the iDrive upgrade is only for the E92/93 (sedan wasn't upgraded for 2009). Seems you have done the impossible. Did you just use the E92 kit? Details, please!

dnvrdrvr wrote

...soooo... I've been told that I can't upgrade my iDrive to the 09 module because I have an E90 and the iDrive upgrade is only for the E92/93 (sedan wasn't upgraded for 2009). Seems you have done the impossible. Did you just use the E92 kit? Details, please!

Whaaa? I have an 09 335i sedan also. I hope this works. My colleague here from the Embassy also has an 09 335i, but coupe, and his idrive Navi is identical to the one in my car.

dnvrdrvr wrote

...soooo... I've been told that I can't upgrade my iDrive to the 09 module because I have an E90 and the iDrive upgrade is only for the E92/93 (sedan wasn't upgraded for 2009). Seems you have done the impossible. Did you just use the E92 kit? Details, please!

I have not heard about different kits for E90 vs E92. All the same IMO. Did you check Real.oem? All buttons work fine, just plug and play.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=PM91&mospid=51048&btnr=65_1917&hg=65&fg=45

my friends
i'm from ukraine and i want to buy a M3 or m5 e60 from USA but somebody told me that US version differs from EU version ,please, if somebody know which are differences between US and EU, For me it's more important to know the differnce on the engine and chassis

nasca wrote

my friends
i'm from ukraine and i want to buy a M3 or m5 e60 from USA but somebody told me that US version differs from EU version ,please, if somebody know which are differences between US and EU, For me it's more important to know the differnce on the engine and chassis

I don;t know the ukraine regulation, but for EEG/EU is pretty much as described above.
Make sure your dealer supports your US specs car in maintenance.
Almost all differences (see above) are overcomeable... Only the radio freqs may be not so easy as you need 2 radios for service (see also above).

Good luck!

Must be a Netherland's thing - You can register US spec cars in Germany & drive them all over the EU - No problem.

Moxie wrote

Must be a Netherland's thing - You can register US spec cars in Germany & drive them all over the EU - No problem.

Registering a US spec in Europe is pretty much only permitted under SOFA. If you are an ex-pat in Europe without SOFA protection, I do belive you have to fall in line with the same law the locals do for vehicle compliance.

osteome wrote

Registering a US spec in Europe is pretty much only permitted under SOFA. If you are an ex-pat in Europe without SOFA protection, I do belive you have to fall in line with the same law the locals do for vehicle compliance.

Yep, the BS rules for locals. The US Specs car must be EU Specs compliant for safety reasons... unless you are on a government program, then you can drive an unmodified US Specs car in the EU... what was it again, oh yeah, safety reasons...BS!

FYI, there is also another set of postings on this topic that may be of interest.

European chip for the Radio?

Atny286 wrote

The US Specs car must be EU Specs compliant for safety reasons... unless you are on a government program, then you can drive an unmodified US Specs car in the EU... what was it again, oh yeah, safety reasons...BS!

I have a US spec car in Germany registered through a special permit. I didn't have to change out any parts. However, BMW denied to change out the speedo, claiming it "wouldn't be possible". Atny286, which dealership did you have the conversion work regarding the instrument cluster done? Maybe it is worth giving them a call to see if they would be willing to swap mine out too.

hanmaas wrote

I have a US spec car in Germany registered through a special permit. I didn't have to change out any parts. However, BMW denied to change out the speedo, claiming it "wouldn't be possible". Atny286, which dealership did you have the conversion work regarding the instrument cluster done? Maybe it is worth giving them a call to see if they would be willing to swap mine out too.

My dealer also said, it was not possible. Then I told him I would be willing to take shot and have it swapped. My rather small dealer (100km away from my hometown) is not used to having M3 owners as customers... I convinced him to try out. We set the program to Canadian mode and it worked fine. I have had an external GPS and the speedo was not more than 5% off, that's even less than I had on my US Speedo... I can introduce you to him, but as BMW AG does not want local dealer to do this kind of work, I'd like to talk to him first before giving any contact details.

Is there a difference in the front bumper/lip area of the car?

meevo wrote

Is there a difference in the front bumper/lip area of the car?

Not on my car, just clear reflectors...

i mean between the usdm and the euro spec

when you changed to 09 idrive knob, everything worked properly?

meevo wrote

i mean between the usdm and the euro spec

I'm not sure...

meevo wrote

when you changed to 09 idrive knob, everything worked properly?

Yep, just plug and play, all buttons work!

Hi there,

Could anyone tell me if there are any differences between the software/hardware of US spec M3's vs Euro spec?

I'm temporarily living in the US and would like to buy an E92 M3 somewhere in the near future to take it with me to the Netherlands when I return. I have checked with my BMW dealer in the Netherlands what adjustments I'd have to make and he says that they can adjust the lights to make it compliant with Dutch regulation, but that BMW in the NL would not be able to do any software/programming related work.

Is this true? Or are they just being tough as they don't like the fact that I'm importing a car for which I paid half of what you'd pay in the NL? Could anyone tell me where I can find the right info about this?

Thanks a lot!