BMW 320D Mileage correction

[citysunny]

Hi

Im thinking of buying a BMW 320d 62 plate from a sales guy I know. The odometer reads around 30,000 miles but I know that he is on the road much more than that.
I am wondering can mileage be corrected or changed on this model of car? I have spoken to a few people and they say that this model cant be changed because of the headlight readings, the fem unit and the keys as well as many other systems.

Is it even detectable if it has been changed?

[citysunny]

Hi

Im thinking of buying a BMW 320d 62 plate from a sales guy I know. The odometer reads around 30,000 miles but I know that he is on the road much more than that.
I am wondering can mileage be corrected or changed on this model of car? I have spoken to a few people and they say that this model cant be changed because of the headlight readings, the fem unit and the keys as well as many other systems.

Is it even detectable if it has been changed?

[Driver101]

There's plenty of 320d out there. Why even take the risk?

[Driver101]

A quick internet search shows up companies offering the service on that car.

[scenario8]

I'm ashamed to admit I'm not technically minded so would someone kindly explain how the headlights would betray a clocked car? And what were those other things, too?

Thanks in advance.

Sorry I'm no help to the OP.

[Quhet]

Don't buy it if it's dodgy

[andy118run]

Quhet said:

Don't buy it if it's dodgy

^^^^^^^^^^ What he said.

Why bother if you have doubts? Not exactly a hard to come by make/model.

[S800VXR]

Unusually for PH il just answer the question. Yes you can easily adjust the miles on these. The keys do not hold mileage info BTW, dealer rubbish.

[velocefica]

No, many people put new engines in cars and it's not a problem as long as when you sell it states the original mileage and date of engine change with mileage. No issue with that.

However it's quite possible especially if he's in the motor trade or has contacts that it's been clocked. You can get software to do it through a laptop but t's only supposed to be used with legitimate reasons.

If i'd even the slightest hint it had been clocked I'd run a mile. Could have done 300,000 miles for all you know.

Edited by velocefica on Saturday 10th October 22:20

[gizlaroc]

S800VXR said:

Unusually for PH il just answer the question. Yes you can easily adjust the miles on these. The keys do not hold mileage info BTW, dealer rubbish.

You sure about that?

Everytime I go into BMW they put my key in their reader and know exactly how many miles the car has done, along with what service items are due and in how many days and miles.

[Teebs]

gizlaroc said:

You sure about that?

Everytime I go into BMW they put my key in their reader and know exactly how many miles the car has done, along with what service items are due and in how many days and miles.

Same here with my old 1 series.

[TheEnd]

Yes, the keys do hold mileage data.

http://www.vag-info.com/?/statics/page/Programmers...



It has the VIN, paint colour, upholstery code, reg date, mileage and when it was last used.

The last used bit is sometimes used by insurance companies for a "stolen" car, and they can check if it has been used by the owner since it was declared missing.

Any other data is pulled up from cross referencing the VIN number against BMW's databases.

[Mr Tidy]

TheEnd said:

Yes, the keys do hold mileage data.

http://www.vag-info.com/?/statics/page/Programmers...



It has the VIN, paint colour, upholstery code, reg date, mileage and when it was last used.

The last used bit is sometimes used by insurance companies for a "stolen" car, and they can check if it has been used by the owner since it was declared missing.

Any other data is pulled up from cross referencing the VIN number against BMW's databases.

While my current BMWs are too old to have those keys, previous one did so I'm just curious!

I see the reader displays mileage but if the mileage has been "corrected" by one of those helpful internet traders, what mileage is the key reader going to display - the "corrected" one or the original one?

[gizlaroc]

Depends on what they code, there is about 3 different modules that hold the mileage, so you need to make sure they code all of them.

[8Tech]

And getting back to a reason for the possible "mileage correction", as the car will have either an N47 or N57 engine, it could have already had the notorious camchain failure or be approaching the mileage to have one!

[beanbag]

Is there a "dot" like next to the odometer?

If so it's definitely been tampered with and I would walk away. But there are ways to get around that with a bit of effort....

[citysunny]

to be honest its just got me curious as to whether its even possible as I have heard mixed things, some say its possible but others say that even if its changed on the odometer, its still recorded elsewhere....

[citysunny]

so other than the key, where else is it recorded. I called up one guy and he said it couldnt be done, another said you would need to do the keys and the fem unit, another said the headlights store it...so now Im not sure what to believe, to be honest the whole thing has just sparked my curiosity... can it even be done on a 62 plate 320d?

[MissChief]

citysunny said:

to be honest its just got me curious as to whether its even possible as I have heard mixed things, some say its possible but others say that even if its changed on the odometer, its still recorded elsewhere....

It'll be a digital readout so it's not 'stored' on the dash only displayed. It'll likely be stored in the ECU somewhere and with the tools and systems available to dealers I wouldn't be surprised if they can do something with the mileage but if it's a 2 1.2-3 year old car then 30k isn't a lot really. 10-13k miles a year which is about the average. Surely if they were looking to pull the wool over your eyes in a big way they'd halve the mileage to make it look like a genuine bargain? Get the reg and VIN and take it to another dealer and ask them nicely if they can check its service history as the mileage would be recorded at the time?