Mercedes G55 AMG
Discussion
Update: I am relocating back to the UK and after (not) much debate (it was really a man math inner dialogue) I have decided to take the G with me.
After all I am moving back to Newcastle and any self respecting gang leader must be seen around in a G wagen. Oh Aye.
Deciding is the easy bit. Taking on Dubai's finest on paperwork and bureaucracy is another matter altogether.
After much suffering, I managed to obtain an export certificate (with blue plates) from the Dubai RTA.
The process is as follows:
-RTA to send you a certificate of ownership via PDF - 70 AED
-Go to RTA Kiosk. Queue and get the car tested for Export - no matter if current certificate is still valid - 140 AED. It's the equivalent of an MOT but done by an exhausted bloke in 45 degree heat. Everything is awesome.
-Queue and obtain car insurance for export - 120 AED for 2 weeks.
-queue for hours and bring Emirates ID and original registration card - 110 AED. Meanwhile, about 10 people approach the desk you are sat at whilst discussing the process and address the functionary. Olympic calm needed.
-pay 1 AED for photocopy of all documents. Remember - and forget - to do more than 1 copy as you'll need these as currency
-wait again and get export certificate with blue plates.
Note - Blue plates are square and they won't fit in the plate holders. An imbecile there was about to put 4 screws into my bumper before I stopped him - his comment "it's just a small screw and it's a very solid bumper". Amazing. Even more amazing was that I spotted this because said idiot did drill two holes into the bumper of a spanking 2016 Turbo S. I hadn't the heart to take photos of that as the owner hit the nuclear button once I pointed out what was happening.
next week I'll take the car to the shipping company who will load it in a container I have booked.
On the UK side I'm using shipmycar as they'll do all the work, NOVA file etc.
I have an insurance quote - terrifyingly high - such is life.
Next, I was looking at some MPH instrument binnacles. Not needed for MOTas the car switches to miles, including the total mileage - which is nice - and the MPG - which is scary (15MPG on a flat motorway...)
I'll keep updating as things move on (will add photos with blue plates)
After all I am moving back to Newcastle and any self respecting gang leader must be seen around in a G wagen. Oh Aye.
Deciding is the easy bit. Taking on Dubai's finest on paperwork and bureaucracy is another matter altogether.
After much suffering, I managed to obtain an export certificate (with blue plates) from the Dubai RTA.
The process is as follows:
-RTA to send you a certificate of ownership via PDF - 70 AED
-Go to RTA Kiosk. Queue and get the car tested for Export - no matter if current certificate is still valid - 140 AED. It's the equivalent of an MOT but done by an exhausted bloke in 45 degree heat. Everything is awesome.
-Queue and obtain car insurance for export - 120 AED for 2 weeks.
-queue for hours and bring Emirates ID and original registration card - 110 AED. Meanwhile, about 10 people approach the desk you are sat at whilst discussing the process and address the functionary. Olympic calm needed.
-pay 1 AED for photocopy of all documents. Remember - and forget - to do more than 1 copy as you'll need these as currency
-wait again and get export certificate with blue plates.
Note - Blue plates are square and they won't fit in the plate holders. An imbecile there was about to put 4 screws into my bumper before I stopped him - his comment "it's just a small screw and it's a very solid bumper". Amazing. Even more amazing was that I spotted this because said idiot did drill two holes into the bumper of a spanking 2016 Turbo S. I hadn't the heart to take photos of that as the owner hit the nuclear button once I pointed out what was happening.
next week I'll take the car to the shipping company who will load it in a container I have booked.
On the UK side I'm using shipmycar as they'll do all the work, NOVA file etc.
I have an insurance quote - terrifyingly high - such is life.
Next, I was looking at some MPH instrument binnacles. Not needed for MOTas the car switches to miles, including the total mileage - which is nice - and the MPG - which is scary (15MPG on a flat motorway...)
I'll keep updating as things move on (will add photos with blue plates)
ALawson said:
We brought my mums 3 month old Honda Prelude back from Dubai in 1988, if you are paying for a shipping container with all your belongs you may as well use all the space.
Just make sure you get the bottom of the car undersealed!
Epic car by the way.
That is a very good point. I am taking pictures of the underside as one of the advantages of being in this climate is that there is no rust anywhere and the car looks like new underneath.Just make sure you get the bottom of the car undersealed!
Epic car by the way.
I'm looking into Dinitrol or something similar being applied once the car lands in UK - Mid August or so.
The downside of that is most dark rubbery plastic bits tend to cook and perish (side mouldings etc - 300$ a strip...)
TNW said:
Could of been worse, I tried to export my car to a buyer in the Netherlands only to be told by the local guy at the RTA that this was impossible as there was no such country 
I believe you. On my first attempt, the lady there first selected (Italy) - I was born in Italy - then I had to scroll through the screen and select UNITED KINGDOM for her as "UK" did not exist as such and she had no idea. Also, my registration papers say that the car was manufactured in "Australia" not "Austria" due to some obvious moronic clerical error
]as for parking lots and McDonalds
Edited by stuckmojo on Friday 23 June 14:53
Did you ever look into Kleeman?? They are a very impressive operation indeed when i had mine i asked around they were the ones who got all the reccomendations.
There is a guy based in the UAE who has one with the SLR 722 engine transplanted into it!
Like you have said one thing i never thought the car needed was was more power, better brakes yes, but never more power!
There is a guy based in the UAE who has one with the SLR 722 engine transplanted into it!
Like you have said one thing i never thought the car needed was was more power, better brakes yes, but never more power!
Yes, the brakes are barely adequate, which is fair enough given the mass they have to deal with (and the engine has a lot of inertia with the supercharger, so lifting your foot won't slow the car down).
Thanks for recommending Shipmycar. So far so good.
Now I have these square blue plates which state 23/6 but the "official" rule is that they are valid for 14 days. Obviously it depends on the mood of the policeman if they stop me. Not that I'll be driving it much until it's loaded next Wednesday.
One interesting thing about this car is that it isn't as big as some other SUV's, especially width-wise. (It is quite small inside). It fits in narrow parking spaces and it's probably the easiest car in the world to park as one can see every corner perfectly. My wife's 220i is a nightmare in comparison.
On the flipside, it has a very wide turning radius - 285 tyres and solid axle at the front won't help I guess.
Best thing about it: Its engine and overall capability.
Worst thing about it: NOT the fuel consumption, but the hopeless Mercedes electrics from "that" era. Worse on a G-wagen as they're a melting pot of old and new. (see other MB Threads ere, can you spot a common theme? every single one of them has electrical niggles.) Here you won't need a car electrician, you need an exorcist.
Next to do, debadging. The car has the full G63 makeover, so the badges have to go. (Maybe replace with the originals, but clean looks fine by me)
Thanks for recommending Shipmycar. So far so good.
Now I have these square blue plates which state 23/6 but the "official" rule is that they are valid for 14 days. Obviously it depends on the mood of the policeman if they stop me. Not that I'll be driving it much until it's loaded next Wednesday.
One interesting thing about this car is that it isn't as big as some other SUV's, especially width-wise. (It is quite small inside). It fits in narrow parking spaces and it's probably the easiest car in the world to park as one can see every corner perfectly. My wife's 220i is a nightmare in comparison.
On the flipside, it has a very wide turning radius - 285 tyres and solid axle at the front won't help I guess.
Best thing about it: Its engine and overall capability.
Worst thing about it: NOT the fuel consumption, but the hopeless Mercedes electrics from "that" era. Worse on a G-wagen as they're a melting pot of old and new. (see other MB Threads ere, can you spot a common theme? every single one of them has electrical niggles.) Here you won't need a car electrician, you need an exorcist.
Next to do, debadging. The car has the full G63 makeover, so the badges have to go. (Maybe replace with the originals, but clean looks fine by me)
Yeah nothing like lifting off and still accelerating for that split second, got scary some times!
Best electrical fault i had was the lights would sometimes turn off if i turned right for too long, this meant that roundabouts were a process of turning right followed by straightening up and turning right again!
I have heard of the switches for the windows swopping occasionally but have never seen this.
Mine was sold last year and some of the funds got me a m240 convertible, figured not as mad obviously but same idea big engine in small car. But as you say the 2 series is huge in comparison, i know the G-Wagen has huge road presence but for people not overly familiar with it let the shock value dissipate and then take in the actual size it will be a lot smaller than you first thought.
Good luck with the process of bringing over here, mine mainly stayed in Europe but did come over for short stays and then a final trip to Yorkshire to be sold to its new owner.
Best electrical fault i had was the lights would sometimes turn off if i turned right for too long, this meant that roundabouts were a process of turning right followed by straightening up and turning right again!
I have heard of the switches for the windows swopping occasionally but have never seen this.
Mine was sold last year and some of the funds got me a m240 convertible, figured not as mad obviously but same idea big engine in small car. But as you say the 2 series is huge in comparison, i know the G-Wagen has huge road presence but for people not overly familiar with it let the shock value dissipate and then take in the actual size it will be a lot smaller than you first thought.
Good luck with the process of bringing over here, mine mainly stayed in Europe but did come over for short stays and then a final trip to Yorkshire to be sold to its new owner.
Well, the car is on the water. Fingers crossed all will be ok.
HMRC wrote an email giving me a TOR number and accepting my duty relief. I read that as confirmation that I need not pay duty on car and KTM. Which is great.
Now the other part is to wait for the car to arrive and for the Shipmycar guys to get it registered in the UK.
It will be a long wait.
In the meantime, I have decided for the garage to also add undersealing to the car, since the dry Dubai weather left the underside in pristine condition. Worth doing it since there's no rust anywhere to be seen.
I'll send some more photos as things progress
Cheers
HMRC wrote an email giving me a TOR number and accepting my duty relief. I read that as confirmation that I need not pay duty on car and KTM. Which is great.
Now the other part is to wait for the car to arrive and for the Shipmycar guys to get it registered in the UK.
It will be a long wait.
In the meantime, I have decided for the garage to also add undersealing to the car, since the dry Dubai weather left the underside in pristine condition. Worth doing it since there's no rust anywhere to be seen.
I'll send some more photos as things progress
Cheers
Having bought my 360 back from Dubai in 2015 I feel (a little of) your pain - though I had no issues at all with RTA on the day (possibly because I was there so often that most of the guys knew me anyway)
The biggest issue that I faced (apart from the shipping agents being a complete shower of clowns) was when the car came to be registered in the UK - because the exact registration date isn't important in the UAE the RTA had just written 2001 as the date of manufacture, this meant the DVLA dated the car as Jan 1st 2001 and gave it an X plate.
It took me 6 months and the intervention of Ferrari North Europe to get the DVLA to change the date to the correct October 21st and issue the 51 plate that it should have been on.
The biggest issue that I faced (apart from the shipping agents being a complete shower of clowns) was when the car came to be registered in the UK - because the exact registration date isn't important in the UAE the RTA had just written 2001 as the date of manufacture, this meant the DVLA dated the car as Jan 1st 2001 and gave it an X plate.
It took me 6 months and the intervention of Ferrari North Europe to get the DVLA to change the date to the correct October 21st and issue the 51 plate that it should have been on.
K50 DEL said:
Having bought my 360 back from Dubai in 2015 I feel (a little of) your pain - though I had no issues at all with RTA on the day (possibly because I was there so often that most of the guys knew me anyway)
The biggest issue that I faced (apart from the shipping agents being a complete shower of clowns) was when the car came to be registered in the UK - because the exact registration date isn't important in the UAE the RTA had just written 2001 as the date of manufacture, this meant the DVLA dated the car as Jan 1st 2001 and gave it an X plate.
It took me 6 months and the intervention of Ferrari North Europe to get the DVLA to change the date to the correct October 21st and issue the 51 plate that it should have been on.
Yes, I did read your post, which is why I am looking into preventive action on this. The biggest issue that I faced (apart from the shipping agents being a complete shower of clowns) was when the car came to be registered in the UK - because the exact registration date isn't important in the UAE the RTA had just written 2001 as the date of manufacture, this meant the DVLA dated the car as Jan 1st 2001 and gave it an X plate.
It took me 6 months and the intervention of Ferrari North Europe to get the DVLA to change the date to the correct October 21st and issue the 51 plate that it should have been on.
I'm trying to find a contact in Mercedes to confirm the date of manufacture - which anyone can see online with a free VIN checker.
stuckmojo said:
K50 DEL said:
Having bought my 360 back from Dubai in 2015 I feel (a little of) your pain - though I had no issues at all with RTA on the day (possibly because I was there so often that most of the guys knew me anyway)
The biggest issue that I faced (apart from the shipping agents being a complete shower of clowns) was when the car came to be registered in the UK - because the exact registration date isn't important in the UAE the RTA had just written 2001 as the date of manufacture, this meant the DVLA dated the car as Jan 1st 2001 and gave it an X plate.
It took me 6 months and the intervention of Ferrari North Europe to get the DVLA to change the date to the correct October 21st and issue the 51 plate that it should have been on.
Yes, I did read your post, which is why I am looking into preventive action on this. The biggest issue that I faced (apart from the shipping agents being a complete shower of clowns) was when the car came to be registered in the UK - because the exact registration date isn't important in the UAE the RTA had just written 2001 as the date of manufacture, this meant the DVLA dated the car as Jan 1st 2001 and gave it an X plate.
It took me 6 months and the intervention of Ferrari North Europe to get the DVLA to change the date to the correct October 21st and issue the 51 plate that it should have been on.
I'm trying to find a contact in Mercedes to confirm the date of manufacture - which anyone can see online with a free VIN checker.
The only proof of age that DVLA will accept is:
1) Export cert as above
2) Letter from the manufacturer confirming date of build
I was very very lucky to get mine changed post-registration, the import agent had never known anyone be successful at this before.
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