The legal situation for tuning in Germany? (Tuning Germany)

Recently updated on September 11, 2023 at 01:02 am

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Good tuning places value on improving the technique. Spinning wheels and a loud exhaust pipe look good in Hollywood films, but they don't dominate the everyday life of tuning fans. After all, we want to improve the standard condition of the car. This can be achieved, for example, with large wheels, dark windows and deeper bodies. Individuality and numerous setting options are important here. Of course, the optics also play a major role. After all, new alloy wheels give every car a new shine. The manufacturers have long recognized this trend and offer numerous tuning options ex works. These include body parts such as underride protection or spoilers as well as larger wheels, an adaptive chassis and numerous performance upgrades. But all of this is primarily tailored to the masses and does not emphasize our individuality. This can only be achieved via the aftermarket.

Tuning Germany

Unlike in the USA, for example, the rules for tuning are much stricter in Germany. Anyone who believes they can safely ignore it is only pursuing their own goals faster than they think. This phrase from football is often used in everyday life. It describes someone who makes a terrible mistake and sabotages themselves. That's exactly what happens if you don't adhere to the legal requirements for tuning in Germany. The tuned car and the corresponding driver's license are confiscated faster than you think. Apart from the trouble with the authorities, such an incident can be quite expensive. There are essential requirements for every form of tuning and thus changes to the vehicle. These are the valid general operating permit and going to the vehicle inspector. In Germany, you can't just tinker with your vehicle at your own discretion. Anyone who disregards this can very quickly lose the operating license for their car. Cars without a valid operating permit are prohibited on public roads. If that is not enough, insurance cover can also be omitted. There are also fines and points in Flensburg.

What to do?

So what's the best way to go about tuning? It is best to turn to reputable providers. As a rule, they have the necessary reports and approvals for their products. Acceptance of the change to the vehicle thus becomes a routine task. However, if there are total renovations, the authority uses an officially recognized expert. He assesses whether the conversion is legally OK. After that, it is particularly important that you inform the insurance company after the approval. This ensures that the data in all official papers is identical. So there can be no discussions in the event of damage. When installing new parts, you have to distinguish between guarantee and warranty. The guarantee is a voluntary service by the manufacturer; the guarantee comes from the legislature. The installation of tuning parts can void a guarantee if, for example, the drive was subsequently changed. That brings us to the great advantage of tuning ex works.

Factory tuning saves time and hassle

As a rule, all changes are legal, the guarantee remains in effect and the changes do not have to be added. It gets tricky with safety-relevant parts. According to the applicable laws, these may only be used in an officially approved design. This primarily concerns the lighting, the tires, the brakes, the engine, the exhaust system and attachments. In addition, the acoustics cannot simply be changed. Fortunately, there are also a number of tuning parts that can be sold with a general operating license. However, you have to make sure that this must be carried in the vehicle after installation in the original. A copy is not permitted and is not considered a valid document in the event of an inspection. It becomes difficult when you combine two individually approved tuning parts and so there is an influence of the parts on each other. Then these must be approved again in an individual acceptance. This could be the case, for example Combination of a chip tuning and pass a sports exhaust.

Tuning Germany

All of these rules apply not for off-road traffic. As long as the vehicle is driving on private property, you can tune as much as you want. In practice, however, this probably only takes place on the racetrack or when driving in your own company car park. Tuned vehicles are not even allowed to be driven there, they have to be transported with an appropriate aid. So you can see that although tuning offers an infinite number of possibilities, the legal regulations in Germany are correspondingly strictly formulated. But if you stick to the requirements and regulations, you won't have any problems.

Of course that had not been the case.

tuningblog.eu has a lot of other articles on the subject of auto & tuning in stock. Do you want to see them all? Just click HERE and look around. But also planned changes in the law, violations in road traffic, current regulations in the field of STVO or on the subject inspection we would like to inform you regularly. Everything you can find in the category "Test sites, laws, offenses, information". Following an excerpt of the last information:

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