Would it be illegal to buy this in Germany and bring it here?
 

Like it. BMW has a program where you pick out your car in Deutschland, drive it around Europe, have it shipped to the states. On the West Coast, it lands Channel Islands in Ventura. You can ck MB to see if they have something similar.

You can only bring a car back or import it, if the manufacturer has the car certified to be compliant to all US crash regulations and noise and fuel standards. Plus bumpers, mirrors, and other items. Thats why even Bill Gates had to wait 25 years to make the 959 and other cars road legal. You can import with a show license that lets you drive it 500 miles a year or something if its not certified. Get caught, and the Feds can and will seize it and CRUSH it…….

The vehicle must be compliant to US specs and that is emissions, glass and windows, some body re-enforcements, bumpers, lights and other little things in between. When I lived in Germany there were a few vehicles I wanted to bring back with me but the laws are very strict on that matter. Even the oil that European market vehicles use is different when it comes to European vehicles for the American market.
Read this on the oil issues. European import cars motor oil specifications

Someone even told me that European market vehicles are better balanced (engine internals) since they are most likely to be driven at higher rate of speed when compared to European cars for the American market.
And no, you can't fool anyone because as soon as the DMV types the VIN number for the registration is going to raise a huge little red flag.

Thanks for the info. That really sucks. Would love to see the a45 amg stateside.

Maybe look into the GL45 AMG instead, alot of carryover parts

http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehicl...LA/model-GLA45

My buddy has a CLA45, bad little cars!

Mercedes builds this:
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcsi.d...20141213082518
but not the A class in the states.
Same with BMW building the i3, x4 and x6, but no 1 series hatch.

Do Americans only like really bloated horrific hatchback SUV's, but not high volume low cost regular hatchbacks?

OP just do European delivery and sneak it onto the boat on the cars they deliver to the states. Lol

That goes without saying. Of course there is compliance to deal with. The dealership will work with the mfr when destined to the states. There is special pricing where you save a little to pick up the car in Germany. They encourage you to take it to the Autobahn and across Europe before sending it to the States. The money you save goes to your travel expenses in Europe. Takes up to 10 weeks to the West Coast.

Oh I didn't know ED saves money. But how does that work? Doesn't the manufacturer still have to ship it?

After picking it up in their factory, you get to drive it around Europe. You may take it straight for delivery to the states but that defeats the purpose of the experience in picking out your car. It all starts at the dealership. Not a lot of savings 5k maybe but it all goes towards your travel cost.

I followed one of these yesterday here in Germany......ughhh

If i were to get a U.S. built substitute? It would be the GLA45 AMG. But i prefer the lighter chassis of the A45 AMG