US-spec cars in Germany

[pfh@aspen.cray.com (Peter Hill)]

Thomas_Jobs@Novell.COM asks:
> I will be moving from Utah to Germany and I need to ship my car (90
> quattro)...anybody know if I have to modify my cars...?

I know somebody who took a US-spec Saab 900 Turbo to Germany two years
ago.  I asked him (via email) to expound.  Short summary:  Never
underestimate German rules and regulations.

I asked:
>> you had to have it "upgraded" before you even got it out of Customs, right?
>
> Not exactly.  I was able to take possession of the car from the shipper,
> no problemo.  (Good idea to arrange insurance first.)
> 
> In Germania they have this thing called the TUV (pronounced toof).  It
> is a bi-yearly inspection.  In order to register your car initially, it
> has to pass.  In order to keep it registered, once registered, it has to
> pass.
> 
> So they have regulations about all sorts of things.  Some of which they
> randomly applied to me. These included:
> 
> Headlights.  US style are apparently not good enough.
> 	Replaced at tremendous cost.
> 
> Turn indicators.  Only one bulb allowed.
> 	The dickheads I took my car to fixed this one problem by
> 	replacing all the lens assemblies. (morons, yous could have
> 	simply unscrewed a bulb)

[I bet they don't want you to be able to replace the removed bulb.]

> Pattern of illumination of brake lights.
> 	All the lights have to be in one row. On the US Saab, they are
> 	kind of staggered. So they didn't give me a new wiring harness,
> 	they just dicked the existing wires around.
> 
> You must have a cyclops red-eye pointing backwards for use in fog, with
> an indication on the dash that it is turned on.

[My '89 80Q already has this, but of course it might not comply with
German regulations.  The US-spec taillight assemblies are different
from the German ones, I believe.]

> They have to take the dash apart to put a light and a switch in.
> (Probably could have been done with an under-dash switch for $19.95.)
> And run some wires to an adapted reflector in back.
> 
> So, it's not customs, but the registration process that is the
> problem.  Remember, this is for Germany, not anywhere else in Europe.
> They also check for safety glass etc. There may indeed be random other
> things they could complain about.
> 
> Total cost:
> 
> DM 5,000 = US$3,125
> 
> Probably Mel's could have done all the work for about $1,000.  (If that
> much.)  Figure $200 labor, the rest is these enormous chunks of glass
> that become the headlights.
> 
> Not that I'm bitter.

[I've seen the car since the surgery, it looks great, but I wonder if
he'll be hassled by the Feds if he ever brings it back to the U.S.]