I know there are a lot of German Evo owners who post here; are there any Dutch evo's out there? I'm going to be moving in January or February to Amsterdam area and would like to bring my 03 US Evo VIII. I haven't done too much to it, CBE, tune, cone filter, MBC. Anything I should worry about? Any good Dutch evo shops?

 

do you have to pay tariff to bring your car? have your done research?

 

http://www.google.nl/search?hl=ru&q=...ск moving to dutch land its awesome i love it here too

 

From what I understand there's no tariff since I'll be bringing it in when I move and I have owned it for more than 6 months. I know I can't drive it until I get it inspected. The major thing I worry about is how hard will it be to get parts and a good mechanic when it breaks. I'll be using the car purely for pleasure.

 

In Amsterdam you can sample the local greenery and then you won't care about the availability of Evo parts.

 

I been in Europe for 25 years and like many other Europeans might tell you is that the anual inspections are super strict. In Europe the road Inspections are exempt when your car is 5 years or newer but once yo pass the 5 year mark they check absolutely everything.

Your car is tested on rollers to check the eficciency of the brakes, it is tested for parking brakes, it is tested for the headlights beam adjustment, it is tested for body damage, tires sizes,exhaust, side mirors, windshield wipers and there is also visual inspection of engine and hidden VIN numbers. Also emissions, rusted exhaust, you name it.

In the UK is called MOT, in Germany is called TUV, in Spain is called ITV, they all share the same standards of safety so be very aware. A simple CEL will bounce your car back for a retest, it could be a simple brake light or a turn signal or a ABS monitor light but everything must be absolutely in good working order.

They have bays underground in which a mechanic checks your car from underneath, he checks for play on the stetering rods, joints, axles, shocks, fuel tank, absoluteley everything.

Sorry to give you the "not so good news" but at least I am letting you know. Best of luck!

Cars I owned while I lived in Europe, 2 Renault 5 Turbo, 1 Renault 21 Turbo, 2 Citroen BX GTI, 1 Porsche Carrera 4 Cabriolet, 2 Talbot 150, Lexus LX450 SUV, 1 Ford Sierra, 1 Ford Fiesta and a few motorcycles (BMW K75c, Vespa PK75XL).

Carlos

 

here's some news i found interesting. HID's - if you have them, they must be self-leveling. The stock HIDs on my 03 are not, just manually from inside the car - they will not pass inspection here in Europe.

 

wow, thanks for the info guys. I keep the car in good shape. I still have the Cat on it. It's the AMS exhaust. I assume emissions is a sniff test. Is that true? I have a tatrix cable and can clear any codes myself. I usually only get CEL's from bad gas anyway.

I have the stock HID's. I just looked it up, and you're right about the regulation. God bless the EU. It's pretty funny requirement Holland where there aren't even any hills. Any of the German evo importers have to deal with this auto-leveling requirement? Any way to convert my existing HID's?

Turn signals are all amber so those shouldn't be a problem, right?

Thanks again folks!

 

Most of us German people are US military, we are exempt from the HID rule. My guesses are that you are gonna have to get a set of non-HID lights.

Also, I belive you have to go through both a sniff and a noise test.

 

Just buy some non hids for the test (APK / RDW ) and after the test you putt back the hids , you only have to do this ones in the year for the APK.

i have a us 8 with oem hids and every year i do the same with the lights and i have a turbo back system without the cats and put for the apk the cat back between the pipes and every thing is ok.
it also depends where you go for the apk test.

You need also a foglight at the back.

if you are over here join the dutch/belgium evoclub and all you have and wanted to know is there.

Eric.