Do you think this has been clocked?

[hunt123]

Hey

I'm looking at a '08 335i to buy, it has 62,000 miles, i've hpi'd it on vcheck and it's clear, the mileage history seems legit on an mot history check.

Part of the ad states "Signs of wear on some interior parts (steering wheel + drivers seat faded). ", i've linked the photos of these from the ad :

https://ibb.co/FsDnhP7
https://ibb.co/hf7HNMk

I've just got off the phone to a mate who knows more about cars and bmw's especially (he has an E92 3 series) and he says it's been clocked, because he thinks there should be no wear on the steering wheel and seat, that they should be like new.

If i proceed i'm going to pay to have it inspected by a mechanic before purchase as i'm not good with mechanics etc.

Personally i don't think it's been clocked, even with just 62k there should be some wear but all the same i'm a bit worried now.

Do you agree with my mate? Should a 62,000 mile car have no interior wear?

[MattsCar]

Looks normal to me.

If it has done lots of short trips in its 15 years age and used once a day, someone has been in and out the seat, over 5000 times.

Check the MOT history to see if the servicing tallies up and remember most cars are clocked in their first 3 years, before the first MOT.

[hunt123]

^ well, the 1st MOT in 2012 states the mileage as 12k which seems low so it's possible it had been clocked in the 1st years....

[ads_4116]

That steering wheel looks fairly normal to me (sometimes people use rubbish cleaners on steering wheels, which end up making them look worse than they actually are).

The drivers seat on the other hand looks as though its been leather painted with the wrong colour match. Looks pretty awful to me. But does not necessarily mean that its been clocked. It could have had some slight wear, and then someone decided to do a home job repair of it by leather painting it and doing a massive hash job of it.

[Deep Thought]

hunt123 said:

Hey

I'm looking at a '08 335i to buy, it has 62,000 miles, i've hpi'd it on vcheck and it's clear, the mileage history seems legit on an mot history check.

Part of the ad states "Signs of wear on some interior parts (steering wheel + drivers seat faded). ", i've linked the photos of these from the ad :

https://ibb.co/FsDnhP7
https://ibb.co/hf7HNMk

I've just got off the phone to a mate who knows more about cars and bmw's especially (he has an E92 3 series) and he says it's been clocked, because he thinks there should be no wear on the steering wheel and seat, that they should be like new.

If i proceed i'm going to pay to have it inspected by a mechanic before purchase as i'm not good with mechanics etc.

Personally i don't think it's been clocked, even with just 62k there should be some wear but all the same i'm a bit worried now.

Do you agree with my mate? Should a 62,000 mile car have no interior wear?

Looks quite normal to me, and if backed up by the service history and MOT history then i think it'll be fine.

Quite possibly the worst colour match on interior leather i've ever seen - but an easy fix.

Have a read at my 330i thread, specifically the before and after pics on page 2 when i redid the badly worn leather.

The leather in that looks like a prime candidate for a Gliptone kit!

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Deep Thought]

hunt123 said:

^ well, the 1st MOT in 2012 states the mileage as 12k which seems low so it's possible it had been clocked in the 1st years....

Did you not say it had a service history? Surely the SH confirms the mileage for that period?

Its not that unusual to have low miles car.

[ads_4116]

Also, have a look at the brake pedal rubber to see if there's any major wear on it. And see if there's any major wear on the drivers mat where your right heel would be.

[SO27]

It's also a 15 year old car that's only done about 4,000 miles per year. First MOT mileage seems to tie up fine.

The seat looks like it's faded with sun damage, not unusual for a car that old.

[hunt123]

thx for comments all, you've all basically re-affirmed what i was thinking. i think my mate is being a bit paranoid. it has service history but in the form of receipts/invoices rather than a service booklet.

[POKERSCHOOLS]

Go with your personal instinct, any doubt walk away.Always good do a car check for the sake of a few pounds, my thoughts would be if obvious signs of poor care are evident on the interior what else has been neglected or poorly done in the passed? Cheap oils , poor servicing , cheap tyres ect.
Good luck and hopefully you will come to a good decision. As much as we all are drawn to low mileage vehicles, they may not be as well maintained as a car owner who relies and uses their car more frequently. A 10 year old vehicle be it with 50k or 90k on the clock has the same aged parts and experienced the same amount of weathering and deterioration on many parts.
The important thing is to find a good example at a reasonable price and if buying private you can usually make a good informed decision from the sellers lifestyle, cars owned , reason for selling , length of time previously owned ect.
Good luck and happy motoring

[Tomanybikes]

Looks to me that the drivers bolster was dirty and someone has taken some harsh cleaning product and taken the colour out of the leather.

[Yomamaisasnowblower]

Interior looks awful for 62k, must have led a hard life for those 4k a year!

[steveo3002]

Tomanybikes said:

Looks to me that the drivers bolster was dirty and someone has taken some harsh cleaning product and taken the colour out of the leather.

thats had a "repair" where they come out and repaint the damaged bolster , guy didnt get the memo about using the correct colour

looks a bit rough for low miles , might have been a large previous owner

[hunt123]

Deep Thought said:

Looks quite normal to me, and if backed up by the service history and MOT history then i think it'll be fine.

Quite possibly the worst colour match on interior leather i've ever seen - but an easy fix.

Have a read at my 330i thread, specifically the before and after pics on page 2 when i redid the badly worn leather.

The leather in that looks like a prime candidate for a Gliptone kit!

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

i've just read your thread and googled Gliptone, impressive, their premises is only about 8 miles from where i live so if i buy the car i might just take a trip there and ask them for a quote on how much it'd be for them to fix the seat colour.

[Jaguar99]

Steering wheel and rest of dash look fine to me

Seat is a bit of a mess but looks more like dye transfer than wear that has then been badly coloured. Ten years of a dodgy coat on a bigger than average driver can easily do that to a seat. The squab looks fine and barely worn at all

60k seems quite plausible to me

[georgeyboy12345]

I think your mate is talking rubbish. It’s an old car

[Deep Thought]

Yomamaisasnowblower said:

Interior looks awful for 62k, must have led a hard life for those 4k a year!

Those light interiors are a disaster as the car gets older. But easily renovated.

[bigmowley]

I’ve just bought an 07 318i chip shop and station runabout with 38K up. Every service done and everything checks out. The interior is worse than yours, there are ring marks everywhere, the wheel is scratched to death, the leather is ingrained with muck, it’s the same awful color as yours. But beggars cannot be choosers and all that. Its been used for years and years by a lady driver for short trips lots of getting in and out. Funny though it drives great exactly like a brand new one. I think E90 interiors were not BMW’s finest hour.

Edited by bigmowley on Monday 1st May 18:52

[Deep Thought]

hunt123 said:

i've just read your thread and googled Gliptone, impressive, their premises is only about 8 miles from where i live so if i buy the car i might just take a trip there and ask them for a quote on how much it'd be for them to fix the seat colour.

I dont honestly know if they offer a service to do it. Their primary market is selling the kits.

You would - in your case - hand them a headrest and ask them to colour match it. In my case i posted one off to them.

Its a paint on solution. You clean the leather first then build up multiple layers. I only spent maybe a couple of hours on mine tops to get that finish. Its surprisingly hard wearing too. I'd the car near a year and it never flaked or discoloured. They also say the cleaning solution can be used subsequently for jean marks etc. I had a touch of "blue" on mine after a few months and the solution took it right out again.

You could also very likely get away with just doing your front seats rather than the whole inside, if you wanted to, and then just give the rest a good clean.

IIRC i gave around £70 for the kit at the time, and that included the colour matching process.

[Mr Whippy]

My E81 lemon leather looks similarly wonky/worn at 100k miles with a previous wrong shade “fix”

I’m going to get mine re-finished.

I’d be more worried about rust starting to get in behind the front arches by now.

Why BMW insist on tight friction fit arch liners, or plastic arch liner ends butted up to the metal work to rub fine grit into the metal, is beyond me.

Late 90s Saab I see around, clean arches. Have a feel, bit cheeky, they have no liner up to the edge! It just washes clean.
Uhhhhh.