The saga of getting this car from the Netherlands to San Diego, CA was an interesting one.  It took some research, a leap of faith and a fair amount of money, but in the end, it was well worth the trouble.  Would I do it again?  Sure, for the right car.  I have my eye on a couple of those racing 2002's on Lauren Mander's website.  Hopefully, this part of my journal can convince someone else to chase their dream car half way around the world.

After the negotiations were finalized and money was wired to Lauren's bank in the Neterlands, it was time to make plans for delivery.  Lauren was insistant on using Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines because he had used them in the past and knew what paperwork they required.  I was in no position to object, so Wallenius was the pick.  I am sure that other freight shipping companies probably were cheaper, but this was not something I could research or negoitate from my end. One bad thing about Wallenius is that they only drop ship to Port Huemene on the west coast, which is about 160 miles north of San Diego.  My preference would be to use a shipping company the served San Diego or worse case, Long Beach.  The only out of pocket expense was the insurance fees which were paid by Lauren out of the funds I wired to him.  The insurance on the car for the 30 day journey was $350.00, not cheap by any means and another expense that I had no control over. On November 4th, 2003, Lauren drove the car from his home to the Wallenius facility in Belgium.  The car sat overnight in the holding area before it was physically loaded on the ship.  Sometimes cars sit in these lots for months waiting for security inspection before loading, so special arrangements were made for reducing this time in the holding area.

At the Dock in Belgium

U.S Customs

After I received the Notice of Arrival, I decided to get serious about the U.S. Custom's paperwork. There are two ways to get a car imported into the U.S., with or without a Customs Broker.  I elected to do it myself, just to prove to myself that I could.  In hindsight, it was the best way to go in my situation.  If your BMW is less than 25 years old, I wouldn't even try to import it unless you have nothing but time and money. Most of the forms and information you need is available on the web, here's a link on BMW World that was a good starting point. When the car arrives, it takes a few days to get physically off the ship and into a quarantine area where the undercarriage is inspected for unwanted pests.  You will need to wait until after the car passes this agrilcultural inspection before you can pick it up.  The Wallenius office in Port Huememe had this information. When I had a solid date that the car could be picked up, I made a appointment with Customs at Port Huememe.  You need an appointment, you can't just show up and expect to stand in line for service.  It turns out that I didn't need the Customs form, the Customs Agent had everything, I did need the Bill of Lading, Bill of Sale, and other documents related to the purchase.  None of the DOT and EPA paperwork was required.  I wrote the Customs Agent a check for 2.5% duty on the purchase price, she stamped my Customs form and I headed over to the Wallenius office to pay for the shipping charges.

The ship left port the following day and about mid-November I received a Notice of Arrival from Wallenius indicating the estimated arrival date in Port Huemene and the total charges for the shipment, $976.00.  This payment is made at the Wallenius Offices in Port Huemene (Cashier's Check) after the car clears customs.

THE REST OF THE STORY...