Anyone got good advice for buying off German E-bay?

[Dan in NZ]

Since my bmw-pio/m adaptor got "lost in the mail" between USA and New Zealand, and www.discountcarstereo.com wont answer my e-mails, and UPS tracking is completely useless, I'm a bit skeptical of buying things from overseas.

Now I'm quite keen on selling my CDX-M30 and getting a BMW Business in-dash cd player. I see there are several from E36/Z3's on German E-bay, and a member of this board has successfully installed a CD43 in his E32, so I thought I might give it a go...

[Derek A.]

Why spend all that money for an in dash cd player ? There are aftermarket alternatives that have much better features and performance - plus they are less expensive.

[632 Regal]

but it will say BMW on it!

missin the point man.

[Paul in NZ]

dereck sometime in lil ol NZ the cheapest stuff is WAY more expensive than the US of A.Dan i helped a coupla german tourists out over the new year so i expect an email any day from a guy who lives in Munich........His girlfreind is staying in NZ for a holiday so if i dont hear from him soon i will get his email from her........

[Dan in NZ]

The new, cheap and nasty cd head units here go for about NZD$300. I can get a used bmw in-dash cd player for NZD$350 +shipping off german e-bay. I hear the cd43 units are very good, and as 632 Regal states, it would say bmw on it and match the illumination.

[Dash01]

Before you bid, contact the German seller to see if they'll ship "weltweit" or worldwide. They have a very quick and efficient internal shipping system in Germany, but it may be a lot of extra work for them to ship beyond Europe.

Payment may also be an issue: They have a wonderful electronic funds transfer system in Germany, but if you send them a cashier's check or money order, their bank may have a steep charge to deposit it. PayPal was planning to expand into Germany for eBay users, but I do not know if or how well that was implemented. Is there a branch of a German bank near you? Perhaps they can help.

[shogun]

And one good info for shipping cost. I use usually Postpaket International. This takes 10-12 days to arrive in Japan, but is much cheaper.
As a sample I just selected 5 kg to New Zealand. It costs only 37 EURO compared to 315 EURO for FedEx, which of course is much faster with 2-3 days.
Postpaket International is sent through their local post office.
Here you can 'play' some weights / price calculations.
http://www.posttip.de/besttarif.asp?content=paket&Gewicht=5&zone=Neuseeland&laenge=35&Breite=25&Hoehe=15&format=diagramm&go2.x=8&go2.y=5

[Dan in NZ]

And one good info for shipping cost. I use usually Postpaket International. This takes 10-12 days to arrive in Japan, but is much cheaper.
As a sample I just selected 5 kg to New Zealand. It costs only 37 EURO compared to 315 EURO for FedEx, which of course is much faster with 2-3 days.
Postpaket International is sent through their local post office.
Here you can 'play' some weights / price calculations.
http://www.posttip.de/besttarif.asp?content=paket&Gewicht=5&zone=Neuseeland&laenge=35&Breite=25&Hoehe=15&format=diagramm&go2.x=8&go2.y=5

Is Postpaket a guaranteed delivery, or track'n'trace type thing??? I'm not sure about these international mail delivery services after UPS lost my package.

[shogun]

What I can read is that the max. amount is EURO 500,--. But there are exceptions depending on countries.
I would suggest you contact your local DHL office in NZ, as DHL is owned by the German postal office and does the transport.