BMW 3 Series

Rear drive is the first trap and it is larger here than on the X cars. In Europe nearly every second 3 Series is an xDrive; in California, Florida and Texas the majority of 330i and M340i are rear-drive only. The auction title does not say so — it reads "2020 BMW 330I" and nothing more. Check the VIN. Rear-drive cars are markedly harder to sell here.

The second trap is a shock to a European eye. The base American specification of the F30, the facelift included, widely came with plain halogen reflector headlights. A European buyer assumes a BMW of this class has xenon or LED as a matter of course, and does not look. Replacing them with LED and coding it is a thousand to two thousand leva, and that belongs in the arithmetic before the bidding rather than after it.

The engines read by generation. On the F30 look for the 2016-onward facelift — the 330i with the B48 or the 340i with the B58. On the G20 the sensible middle is the 330i xDrive; for maximum entertainment the M340i, again on the B58. The B58 is the engine that makes this series untroublesome.

Equipment is packages again, not standard. America sells three lines — Sport, Luxury and M Sport. M Sport is effectively required for resale here: aerodynamics, a sportier wheel, the anthracite headlining, firmer suspension. Track Handling on the F30 and M Sport Package Pro on the G20 add larger M Performance brakes and they show. Premium and Executive on the G20 bring the Live Cockpit Pro digital cluster, head-up display, Harman Kardon and heating.

The registration work is cheaper on the newer generation. On the F30 the tail lights come apart to have amber LEDs soldered in, or get replaced with European units. On the G20 European lights are a direct swap with minimal coding of the BDC module. That difference is real money and it is known in advance.