The BMW corporate-administered program offering European delivery of new USA or CDN-specification BMW motorcycles to civilian customers ended in 1993; its continuation by BMW dealer BMWNY ended in 1998. US citizens are also not allowed to order US-spec BMW motorcycles directly from European BMW dealers for European delivery. The only exception is that US armed forces personnel in Europe may be able to purchase US-spec BMWs for European delivery by special order through the BMW subsidiary of the country where they're stationed, or through specialty agents in Europe such as www.militarysalescenter.comor www.bmw-military-sales.com.

As a general rule, European countries require that a person be a 'resident' to legally purchase/ title/ register & insure a motor vehicle in their own name. US (any country) civilian citizens traveling in Europe as tourists cannot therefore legally buy bikes in Europe (some non-Europeans 'get around' this restriction by having a local citizen/ friend register & insure a bike in the local's name, but this obviously requires a close personal relationship). US civilian citizens in a European country on a student, work or similar 'resident' visa canlegally buy, register & insure a bike in that country. 

The exact procedures for vehicle purchase/ title/ registration & insurance vary between Euro countries. In Germany, for example, vehicle registration is a local municipality, not State-level function. If you're legally able to buy & register a bike, insurance must be obtained from an underwriter/ broker in that country (there is no 'reciprocal' underwriting of Euro-registered vehicles by US insurance companies). Because your US driving & insurance record is not available to European insurance companies, it may help obtaining Euro insurance at reasonable rates to get a summary of your US driving and insurance record to show Euro insurance agents.

Some Americans ship & keep/store a US-registered bike in Europe for periodic riding, retaining US home State title/ registration & insurance, and Euro-insuring the bike (only) for the periods during which it's ridden there (using temporary Euro green card insurance described above). This is technically against local Euro registration rules (as it is in the US), but such rules are not 'enforced' so long as the rider has current US registration and temporary Euro insurance documents. Such US-registered bikes very occasionally become available for sale, and the sale transaction is handled just as one would in the US; there is no involvement of local Euro agencies.

If you're legally able to buy a Euro-spec bike in Europe, do not expect or plan to ship/ return that bike with you to the US, for reasons described in the next section..