Recall clearance letter / Vehicle Warranty Inquiry document info

[kennyt]

If you recall, the Registrar of Imported Vehicle in Canada is accepting either a recall clearance letter from BMW North America or a vehicle warranty inquiry document (or vehicle service history).
A lot of Canadians go for the vehicle warranty inquiry document because dealers can easily print it from the service database.

However, I have a hard time finding a US BMW dealer to print me the vehicle warranty inquiry document for my X5 because BMW has classified this document as Confidential. They have also added that the information is not to be shared with "third parties".

One service advisor told me that he got into trouble for giving the document out to customers. I could not convince him that I was not a "third party". However, he was able to verbally inform me of all services that were done on my vehicle, but no hard copy.

I believe BMW is trying to clamp down on Canadians that don't go through BMW Canada for the recall clearance letter ($560 + "inspection" cost at the dealer + $ for Km/hr cluster even the US one has both) resulting in losses in revenue on top of losing Canadian market.

Lucky for me, I found a very helpful service advisor at a different dealership and he gave me a copy of the document for my car.

Attached are samples of the recall letter and vehicle warranty inquiry document found on the Internet.

[Dwhoa]

Thanks so much for this information! I am hopeful that I will find an NYC-area dealer that will provide this for me without much of an issue.

I understand that having the US dealer provide the recall letter negates the need for BMW Canada to charge you $500 for it. However, once you did your inspection at Canadian Tire, didn't they tell you that you need to change the mph/kph to kph only, and to change the DRL to full-time, and to get the bilingual labels for the airbags etc.? Wouldn't this put you right back in the hands of a BMW Canada dealer to get this stuff done?

I'm a bit confused as to how consistent the inspectors are for X5 inspections. Say they do ask for all of those things I listed - what would be the estimated cost to do the work? I'm assuming a BMW Canada dealer is the way to go to avoid negatively impacting the warranty as well.

Thanks!

[kennyt]

I have two of my co-workers who have successfully imported vehicles from the US, passed inspection at Crappy Tire and had warranty works on them. Did not change the cluster at all because it has km/hr on it. They did not go through dealers for the inspection. You need to ensure DRL is activated by the dealer in the US, it's free. You can activate DRL on US X5 via iDrive yourself. It's listed in the menu. Canadian vehicles don't have this option listed in the menu.

[kennyt]

BTW, there are people who have their imported bimmers serviced at dealerships in Calgary on warranty works w/o any problems. They did not go through BMW for the recall letter and cluster change.

[Dwhoa]

Cool - thanks!

I currently live in NYC (have for the past four years), but plan on moving back to Canada in the summer. Given that my savings are now all in the weak USD, plus the fact that CDN prices are so much higher, it only makes sense that I convert some of my savings into something I am going to get anyway.

Best case scenario - I get the X5 Premium, and it clears the Canadian Tire test with no issues (turn on the DRL, pray they acknowledge the km/h in addition to the mph, and forget about bilingual labeling), and I save $10 - $12 k.

Even under the worst case of a BMW-dealer cluster change, the savings should still be well worth it.

[kennyt]

two people I know got their US vehicles cleared at Crappy Tire w/o any issues. Took 15 mins for him to walk around to do the visual inspection and sign the documents.

[beemersn]

Originally Posted by Dwhoa

Cool - thanks!

I currently live in NYC (have for the past four years), but plan on moving back to Canada in the summer. Given that my savings are now all in the weak USD, plus the fact that CDN prices are so much higher, it only makes sense that I convert some of my savings into something I am going to get anyway.

Best case scenario - I get the X5 Premium, and it clears the Canadian Tire test with no issues (turn on the DRL, pray they acknowledge the km/h in addition to the mph, and forget about bilingual labeling), and I save $10 - $12 k.

Even under the worst case of a BMW-dealer cluster change, the savings should still be well worth it.

I am also planning to return after being here for over 12 years. I called BMWNA to get a recall free letter for my 2008 M5 and I was told that BMWNA will not issue this letter to me. I am the original purchaser and I am lost of words. Appears that BMWNA is alienating their customers to support BMW Canada.

I have escalated this issue with NHTSB and FTC. I beleive that BMWNA is required to give assurance that specific vehicle is free of recall when a customer request it.

I have bought 5 BMW's all brand new since 2006. If I don't get this letter, I am done with BMW.

[kennyt]

They have 3 BMW dealers in Oregon. Call them or walk in to the dealership and ask for Vehicle Warranty Inquiry form to ensure no open recalls on your vehicle. Explain to them you are selling your M5 and you need the document to show your potential buyer.

I called 2 dealers and spoke to the service manager but they all refused to give it to me because BMW NA now classify the document as Confidential, not to release to third parties. I was lucky to find a very nice service advisor and he faxed the document to me immediately after I hung up.

[kennyt]

You should write a letter to BMW and tell them: "I have bought 5 BMW's all brand new since 2006. If I don't get this letter, I am done with BMW."

They need to hear from you directly.

[beemersn]

Thank you Kenny. I will take this approach.

[stizzi]

There's a dealership in Toronto called Unity Automotive that actually provides letters and handles everything with RIV. If I remember correctly, it was around $375 and took them about a day to process. I didn't have to do the whole cluster change and all of bmw's gimmicks

[kennyt]

I am aware of Unity Automotive but why pay somebody when the whole process can be done by yourself. It's supposed to be straight forward because all forms and step-by-step instructions are available all over the Internet.
It is no longer a secret like in the old days when the Internet was not available and people (ie. consumers like us) were not well informed.

Remember you are not required to change the cluster because both mile/hr AND kilometer/hr are on the cluster (especially on a BMW). BMW Canada makes us change the cluster to make up part of the money they don't get from vehicle sales. DRL option is available on iDrive menu in US vehicles so you can actually activate it yourself. This option is not available on Canadian vehicles. Search the Internet for this DIY.

[realast8]

Originally Posted by kennyt

BTW, there are people who have their imported bimmers serviced at dealerships in Calgary on warranty works w/o any problems. They did not go through BMW for the recall letter and cluster change.

Does anyone know of a BMW dealer near Toronto that will do warranty work on a US car that hasn't gone through BMW for the recall letter and cluster change?

[VancouverBMWs]

Originally Posted by clearanceletter

Hi all,

If some of you still need the Recall Clearance Letter to register an imported BMW in Canada, I can provide the document and make sure everything is fine with the RIV in a way to get your Form 2 very quickly.

The best part is that you won't have to go to any Canadian BMW Dealership and be forced to pay ridiculous fees (could reach more than $3,500) to change things that already work perfectly.

Send me an Email if you're interested : **********************************

Have a great day and enjoy your BMW!

This guy seems like a 100% scam... seen him post on almost every thread.

+1 if this dude deserves a ban.

Anyone know any legitimate people on the BC side who can get by this??

[blue dragon]

Originally Posted by wonx5

Does anyone know of a BMW dealer near Toronto that will do warranty work on a US car that hasn't gone through BMW for the recall letter and cluster change?

I have had my x5 serviced at both Parkview and BMW Toronto with no issues. I got my recall clearance letter from my selling dealer and never went through the hoops of changing the cluster etc.