Japanese import BMW?

[goldbazinga]

I'm looking for a ~10 year old BMW 5 series (or similar) and have noticed that a local dealer seems to have a fairly constant trickle of low mileage cars that match my needs. I've also noticed that most of them seem to be Japanese imports. What are the implications of buying a Japanese import BMW?

My main concerns are that they may be slightly different spec (making repair/servicing painful), or that the history can be more easily hidden.

Thoughts?