Owning a car in Germany/other EU state? I need your advice!

[dunhill99]

I`m from a non-EU state and i`m currently considering buying a car in Germany for using while on tourist trips across Europe. The car will be of the kind that`s hard to find in good condition in my country, something like e34 m5, e39 m5, e38 750, e31 850, etc. So those are pretty old, high powered, high displacement cars with euro1 - euro2 emission standard.

I`d be very grateful if anyone could share some details about owning a car in Germany, or other EU state, like possible tax on such an auto, cost of annual state inspection (or what is called?), insurance price, including full insurance with unlimited drivers, and other such aspects.

 

[Boogle]

Will you actually be keeping it in Germany? Where you keep the car for the majority of the time is where you need to worry about inspections / tax / etc.

As for driving it, you'll be under 'temporary import' laws. That is, you'll be driving your car in a foreign country, but only temporarily (the max duration varies from country to country). You don't have to pay road tax for any of these countries, but you'll still be liable for tolls. Finally you do need to ensure your car meets the minimum roadworthy standards in each country, with Germany being the strictest. As long as your car is properly maintained you won't have a problem.

Still, your forum flag is Romania - Romania is an EU state? If you are in Romania, afaik you can buy a car in any EU state and re-register it in Romania. You'll be free to drive to any EU state whenever you feel like it. Unless you stay in another state for an extended period with the car you won't need to worry that much.

 

[dunhill99]

Thanks for your reply, Boogle.
I`m actually from Russia and the most probable country for buying, registering and keeping the car is Germany, one of the reasons is an opportunity of registering the car on a friend/relative who is a German citizen and driving it by getting a letter of attorney or whatever it`s called. Another reason is a good market for such BMWs.

So most probably I`ll have to worry about tax, inspections etc in Germany and I wonder how hard and costly can they be for a car like 99-01 BMW 750 e38 or similar.