Inheriting used X1 in Canada and bringing to US

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Hoping an expert will know something. Apologies to mods if this is the wrong place…

We live in NYC and my wife’s family lives in Vancouver, BC. Her father passed away and had a paid off 2017 BMW X1 with about 3300 miles (he never really drove it). The family offered it to us and I was wondering what if anything I would need to do to get it across the border. I called BMW USA and they didn’t have an answer, they transferred me to BMW Canada who transferred me back to BMW USA. So I’m trying here.

Will I have to make any changes to bumpers for safety reasons (I was told by someone I might)? Is there anything I should know before flying out there to pick it up? Anyone know how ownership is transferred now that he’s passed away (he didn’t leave it to anyone in his will)?

Thanks…

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If it follows US Law, you need to open a probate and wait for all that to clear (Spouse then Children then Grandchildren then Siblings in that order) then after the court issues an order (up to 24 months in US) the new ‘owners’ need to transfer it to their name then to your name (Sometimes in the same transaction).

I’m more concerned will BMW honor the warranty in the US?

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The warranty is already expired. BMW’s factory warranty is 4 years or 50k miles.

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Warranty is more than just B2B, there is the 12 year Rust warranty for example or 8 years on the Cat.

I just wondered how it works. Or is OP basically invalidating it all by changing countries.

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And here’s a link, some folk say you need to change the Speedo, but others say the digital one is good (If you have a digital)

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If u have a digital dash I’m pretty sure you can change it between KPH and MPH.

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TLDR it’s not worth the hassle.

So many costs and headaches, here’s just a few:

  1. Obtaining the compliance paperwork. You’ve already gained a taste of the runaround.
  2. Import duty. That’s before NY sales tax.
  3. Possible federal and state income taxes on the gift. Talk to a lawyer.
  4. Shipping ($$$$ and very slow these days).
  5. Resale: why would any diligent buyer want an import over the 20,000 other X1s that for sale at any given time?

All for a car that probably will need a lot of service & maintenance because it just sat for prolonged periods and was only driven ~500 miles per year.

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If it’s been sitting in the Canadian elements for 5+ years, without timed out TLC, you gotta think about rubber degradation - are the tires still good, plus any requirements to bring it to US registerable spec. Dumb stuff like windshields, TPMS sensors, etc…

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How much is a comparable x1 in the US ? Start with that while making decisions.

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17 X1 still have an analog dash with mph unless you can swap with a newer cars.

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Thank you Max and everyone else,

The car was garage kept and well cared for. It was driven weekly but basically to the bank up the street and back. It was also kept in a garage and not exposed to the elements- although Vancouver winters are MUCH milder than east coast winters with significantly less snow.

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IMO would sell it to the Canadian equivalent of Carvana or Vroom & take the $ and buy something here in the U.S

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