Kinda old thread, but it catched me
Quote:
Originally Posted by drob23
Might be some annoying stuff with North American spec safety requirements. I notice that Eurospec 3 series is almost 150lbs lighter than the equivalent NA version. Seems like Germans are often apprehensive to bring over cars unless they can make a serious case for sales margins. Especially if you're a fan of the hot hatch or wagons.
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Good guess but I have a different perspective.
Alpina sells D5 "single" Turbo exclusively for Japan instead of BiTurbo in order to adapt to Japanese strict regulations on diesel emissions. This means they are capable of manufacturing country-specific model.
In fact, I heard Alpina has been interested in the US market for some time, but your country is too big for them! As said, Alpina's production is very low because they almost hand-makes their cars (one meister per one car), so they can hardly handle the orders if they get into the US.
One exception is B7. You can buy B7 through BMW dealerships in your country as an alternative "M"7. The 7er doesn't sell much even in the US, compared to 3er and 5er.