I Imported A Thing, AMA

"RPM esq." (rpm3)
12/10/2019 at 14:00 • Filed to: Wagon, good ideas, import, Mercedes-Benz, 300TE, AMG

Getting to know its stablemate

Under the harsh lights of the customs inspection

It’s a ‘93 Japan-market 300TE with a mixture of authentic and replica AMG parts and much of the interior out of a 500e. It’s not authentic to anything that ever came from Affalterbach, but it’s pretty authentic to a certain ‘90s Japan sensibility, and it therefore scratches a lot of my very particular itches.

The seller, who imported it from Japan to Canada and did some of the modifications, clearly took good care of it during his ownership and was very flexible when two different airlines canceled my flights out of two different airports yesterday. The CBP officer who handled the import paperwork at the border was very pleasant and efficient, and I cannot recommend highly enough taking advantage of the 25-year rule. If anyone has questions about that process, the car, or what to eat if you’re stuck at SeaTac for several hours, hit me.

ETA : Here, have a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! much nicer than anything I could take from the original listing.

DISCUSSION (35)

For Sweden > RPM esq.
12/10/2019 at 14:01

Why did you import a brick of something other than cocaine

412GTI > RPM esq.
12/10/2019 at 14:02

Why are you so awesome??

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > RPM esq.
12/10/2019 at 14:02

Yes.

Yesssss.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS

Kinja'd!!!

Sovande > RPM esq.
12/10/2019 at 14:03

It's beautiful.

BlueMazda2 - Blesses the rains down in Africa, Purveyor of BMW Individual Arctic Metallic, Merci Twingo > RPM esq.
12/10/2019 at 14:03

That thing looks absolutely delicious.

Please post a shitload of pictures of it whenever you can.

Nibby > RPM esq.
12/10/2019 at 14:05

marry me

RPM esq. > For Sweden
12/10/2019 at 14:07

I like bricks.

RPM esq. > Nibby
12/10/2019 at 14:08

RPM esq. > 412GTI
12/10/2019 at 14:08

Yes

RPM esq. > Sovande
12/10/2019 at 14:10

I thought so too

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > For Sweden
12/10/2019 at 14:10

I think you need to get your eyeglass prescription checked, because that’s exactly what it looks like he imported.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > RPM esq.
12/10/2019 at 14:10

Oh, I’d love a post dedicated to the paperwork process. I’ve used the Port of LA (and a Customs broker) to get UK “broken down kits” into the US... then dealt with my local DMV on the paperwork to get a title.... but I’m curious what you had to do for paperwork-and-process to come over from Canada under the 25-year rule?

Did it drive over at one of the checkpoints south of Vancouver? Or ship it in?

Anyway, it’s a great looking piece. More details, please! And pics!

fintail > RPM esq.
12/10/2019 at 14:13

I swear I have seen this at a MBCA gathering in the past, but maybe not. Now that you have two of these mouths to feed, you should join the club. You’d be in good company:

Kinja'd!!!

boredalways > RPM esq.
12/10/2019 at 14:14

Maybe it's the lighting in the photos but is it LHD, yet still originated from Japan?

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > RPM esq.
12/10/2019 at 14:16

I can’t tell fro m the picture, but does it have the monoblock wheels?

RPM esq. > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
12/10/2019 at 14:24

A full post on the paperwork process is a good idea once I’ve completed the registration part of it today or tomorrow, but I did the customs paperwork and drove it across the border myself. I had more , but here’s what I actually needed:

1. EPA Form 3520-1, with box E checked (vehicle at least 21 years old)

2. NHTSA Form HS-7, with box A checked and the date of manufacture (vehicle at least 25 years old)

3. Bill of sale

4. Trip permit (3-day temporary registration) from Washington’s Department of Licensing. I don’t think the agent handling the import paperwork needed this , but the agent in the kiosk at the crossing sure cared about it .

5. CBP glances at those documents and your passport, goes out to physically verify the VIN, calculates and charges the import duty, and stamps the most important form: Customs Form 7501, the official report of entry that confirms you’re legal.

RPM esq. > boredalways
12/10/2019 at 14:29

Most nicer German cars in Japan from this era were LHD—apparently it was cool at the time to have the more exotic LHD in an import. The build sheet lists it as “Japanese edition,” so it was LHD but with headlight lenses for left-side traffic.

RPM esq. > fintail
12/10/2019 at 14:30

Nice!

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > RPM esq.
12/10/2019 at 14:33

Wow! Thanks.... that’s the best summary of this I’ve ever seen.

It IS interesting that the kiosk-dude even cared about WA State registration/permit.

Although maybe the CBP are more attuned to this than I’d have thought— I recently had a bizarre exchange with a CBP at one of those 30-miles-in-from-the-border checkpoints south of Phoenix. He had some snarky comment about my “out of state” vehicle registration on my tow rig (pulling my old FJ40 on trailer). We didn’t “have words” about it escalate out of control-- and I didn’t have to dig into my glovebox to prove it... but I was definitely surprised that he even cared.