part prices at various dealers

[m5bb]

Hi Gary, What is the Duty rate for imports into the US, I am in Canada but am only 3 miles from the boarder of Washington State. I can check if it is cheaper to import through Canada.
Warren

You know Warren I really don't know what the duty is.
I needed the parts and W&N had them and was a much better price than BMW so I just ordered what I needed.
To me it seems kind of unpredictable what Customs will charge for.

I ordered carpets from KHM in Germany and it was $600+ and the package came and no duty was charged.
So??????

Gary

 

[m5bb]

RealOEM is an excellent site to view parts diagrams and get part numbers however their prices are a bit off,altho with the recent price increases maybe they just haven't been updated. My latest experience was with these two small parts for the doors. OEM listed the door lock gasket at $1.64,dealer was $3.06.OEM's price for this little bumper was $1.25,dealer was $7.00! OEM prices were more realistic for what the part was but hey when you need it what else ya gonna do?

REALOEM does not update their parts prices. Or at least not with any predictability.
That's why you see such a spread on some of the prices.

I emailed them asking who runs the site but no answer so I Googled it and found that people have been asking this question for years now. One post was from 2010.

 

[Gary Knox]

Warren,

Confirming what Gary said above, I purchased full carpet kit from KHM, as well as stainless steel exhaust from W & N, both came with no duty charges (and of course, no European VAT).

 

[rsporsche]

You know Warren I really don't know what the duty is.
I needed the parts and W&N had them and was a much better price than BMW so I just ordered what I needed.
To me it seems kind of unpredictable what Customs will charge for.

I ordered carpets from KHM in Germany and it was $600+ and the package came and no duty was charged.
So??????

Gary

exactly the same thing for me. no duty

 

[mulberryworks]

Doppelganger

The reality of 3-D printing is that it while you can quickly make something that has a certain size and shape, the physical characteristics are limited to the materials that your particular printer can melt and form into your shape. Smooth curved surfaces are difficult, physical strength may be below what the part needs. size is limited by the size of the printer, resolution of print is tied to the time it takes to print an object so making many copies is time consuming.

Our cars have been made by teams of engineers who have chosen particular materials, and manufacturing processes to get the best performance. I can think of very few parts where a 3-D printed part would be an adequate replacement. If you were making a custom dash and were going to cover that with leather, that might work, but it would be made in several pieces by most affordable printers. Hubcaps would also work for alloy wheels. A standoff to hold wiring under the dash would also be a possibility.

Materials will improve, prices will fall, creation of the data file may become easier, but it will be a while before a 3-D print is the right part for our cars.

Ian

 

[jmackro]

The reality of 3-D printing is that it while you can quickly make something that has a certain size and shape, the physical characteristics are limited to the materials that your particular printer can melt and form into your shape.

Yup. I shouldn't hijack this thread to debate 3D printing, but my sense is that as a consumer technology, it's right up there with flying cars. Sure, in an engineering environment 3D printing is great for making molds to build real parts or creating prototypes that even marketing people can understand.

But the idea that every household will have one next to its microwave, and use it to print out whatever products it needs ("oh, let's print a new e9 tail light today!") is kind of humorous.

 

[Markos]

Yup. I shouldn't hijack this thread to debate 3D printing, but my sense is that as a consumer technology, it's right up there with flying cars. Sure, in an engineering environment 3D printing is great for making molds to build real parts or creating prototypes that even marketing people can understand.

But the idea that every household will have one next to its microwave, and use it to print out whatever products it needs ("oh, let's print a new e9 tail light today!") is kind of humorous.

I understand the sentiment, but the tech is here to stay and certainly not limited to consumer grade parts. There are other types of 3D printers besides ones that print with plastic. Case in point, GE uses 3D printers for their injectors on jet engines in production. They even built a functional jet engine out of all 3D printed parts. A huge benefit of 3D printing is that you can build parts from the inside out, so you can create shapes that can't be molded or machines.

Jet engine:
http://www.gizmag.com/ge-fires-up-all-3d-printed-jet-einge/37448/