Service history

[Lannister902]

Hi,
I'm on the lookout for a car. It's around 6-7 year old (bmw m235i). It seems the vast majority don't have a 'full' service history going by the onboard idrive.
Some do have paperwork/invoices for services carried out over the years. Would the fact its not got a full service history going by the idrive put you off, or would you look through the paperwork, see that there's been services carried out at regular intervals be enough assurance that the cars been well looked after?

I can't help but look for a onboard history of services and consider buying one with it fully up to date.

[soad]

You might have trouble selling it on (if/once it comes to that).
As in, letting it go cheaper…just my thoughts.

[E63eeeeee...]

I think it depends what you mean by full. Quite a lot of recent BMWs have variable service schedules, so if you're expecting to see services every 12 months or whatever it will potentially look patchy but still be in spec according to BMW. If it's fairly low mileage that's unlikely to be an issue. Lots of people don't trust long service intervals (18k, 24 months or whatever) even when that's what the manufacturer recommends, particularly for oil changes.

[tooslow96]

Ive bought cars before with no 'official' service history. But where the chap has kept the Ebay receipts for Oil and filters etc.

[E63eeeeee...]

Also think about how long you expect to keep it, what the mileage is likely to be and if you're going to sell privately or trade in.

If it'll be a low mileage, well looked after car that you'll want to get good money for from a private sale, then a book with a stamp from BMW for every year is likely to make a difference.

If you expect to be trading in a slightly tatty 12 year old car with 150k on the clock to a dealer, a wedge of receipts is likely to be perfectly adequate.

[Lannister902]

I find it alarming just how many cars do seem to have gaps in their history. Maybe we're all very anal about it or have a different mindset on cars and how to maintain them. If I'm paying £20k for a car (which is alot of money for me), I'd expect a fully backed up, recorded service history

[Brassblaster]

Depends on what the car, and particularly engine, actually is.

(I'm not talking particularly new or high value here, though!!)

To give an example...
What I know best is Volvo's, and for me there's a big difference between how much service history I'd be comfortable with on a D5 vs on a car with the PSA 1.6D if both are at around 85-100k miles.

One of the more common killers on 5-pot D5 engines is aux belts taking out the cambelt, so in the absence of a long list of service history I can simply do the belts and tensioners myself (fairly cheaply) and go from there - most other potential issues I can pick up on a fairly brief inspection, so I'll take my chances with limited history.

A car with the 1.6D I wouldn't even consider if it hadn't had EOLYS fluids every 35-40k and DPF filter replaced at 70-80k - expensive problems otherwise.


Or in other words - some cars are fussier than others about particular service items at particular intervals... And it's the fussier cars I'd be most uncomfortable buying with limited SH.

I think maybe people are particularly fussy about SH because most of the time a step into something newer means we DON'T have that history/knowledge with a given engine and feel like a stack of receipts is a reassurance that it's been taken care of... Even though we'd still need to know what we're looking for in that stack to know whether we're dodging a bullet or not!!!

[Truckosaurus]

E63eeeeee... said:

I think it depends what you mean by full....

Indeed. When I have had BMWs with variable servicing there didn't seem to be a single 'service' as such, you just went in when the computer thought a certain fluid or component had got to the end of its life.

There's also things with misleading names like 'Inspection Service' that's actually more detailed than the usual 'oil service' but doesn't sound like it is.

[ScoobyChris]

I believe even if it's not been to a BMW main dealer, most BMW indy's will have access to update the service history on the key so if there were gaps, I'd want to see a paper trail of servicing carried out instead. Servicing is done based on condition so the maximum window between oil change services should be 20k or 2 years with a brake fluid change at year 3 and then every 2 years therafter.

Personally, I'd be wary of buying a car like this with missing history...

Chris

[Sir Bagalot]

Check iDrive history with dealer that did it. Not always as it seems