Clocked BMW

Communicationb

Basically over Xmas I wrote off my car on black ice..no biggie..an old banger.

So I picked up a 1996 BMW 320 saloon last week for €950.00. Great deal. Guy lost his job etc and wanted a quick sell and I needed a quick cheap buy.

- NCT 9/2011
- 82k miles
- Was imported from UK originally but all paperwork etc in order.

The car is going fine happy with it. Save it needs proper rear tyres and rear defroster and external ambient temp broken.

Basically there is no way a 14 yr old BMW can have 82k IMO so I am pretty sure it is clocked.

I have no problem with this as such I knew what I was getting into.

Is there any way I can find out the true mileage on the OBC (on board computer)?

ps It was a private deal.

EPM

It could be genuine. I love the way everyone thinks a low mileage car is automatically clocked. Newer BMW's can have their key checked for mileage. I don't know about E36's. My sis has a 4 year old car with 25k km on it. By the time it will be 14 years old at this rate it will have less mileage than yours. You may have just bought a good un:D

robbie99

Arguably there's no way a bmw can last 14 years without having low mileage.

smash

I have a 97 car with genuine 70k on the clock. My mother has an old megane lying around that she bought new in 98, it has 55k on the clock! there's no reason the mileage can't be real....

unkel

Communicationb wrote: »

- Was imported from UK originally but all paperwork etc in order.

Did you run a full HPI check on it?

Anan1

OP - Did you check the service history? If so, that should back up the mileage - if not, I wouldn't put the mileage at the top of my worry list.;)

Communicationb

EPM wrote: »

It could be genuine. I love the way everyone thinks a low mileage car is automatically clocked. Newer BMW's can have their key checked for mileage. I don't know about E36's. My sis has a 4 year old car with 25k km on it. By the time it will be 14 years old at this rate it will have less mileage than yours. You may have just bought a good un:D

Okay did some research...

The car was imported into Ireland in January 2006 with 82,768 miles on the clock.

It had just over 82,800 when I picked it up last week....:mad:

So basically the last 4 years of driving in Ireland have been written off. I know the guy I bought it from bought it from a mechanic in Waterford..I bought it in Kerry..

Is there any way to check on the computers?

ps It actually doesnt bother me just curious..

Mr Benevolent

Meh, you paid €950 for it. Still a reasonable price for a 140,000 mile car.

Communicationb

Confab wrote: »

Meh, you paid €950 for it. Still a reasonable price for a 140,000 mile car.

Oh yeah...I have no quibbles. I got what I paid for and it's driving perfectly just curiosity getting the better of me that's all.:)

congo_90

I've a 1990 jaguar xj6 with 18,000 genuine miles on it.
My sister drivers a 95' Micra with 67,000 miles on it

Still for 950 then why not.

Anan1

Confab wrote: »

Meh, you paid €950 for it. Still a reasonable price for a 140,000 mile car.

Quite true. My main worry at this stage would be whether it's been serviced at all during the past four years.

no1beemerfan

congo_90 wrote: »

I've a 1990 jaguar xj6 with 18,000 genuine miles on it.

Pics please!!


Would the NCT have any details on cars they test kept on record...like milage at tests etc as it should've been NCT'd at least twice since it was brought into Ireland?

EPM

no1beemerfan wrote: »

Pics please!!

+1:D

Harcrid

Communicationb wrote: »

Oh yeah...I have no quibbles. I got what I paid for and it's driving perfectly just curiosity getting the better of me that's all.:)

While it was not a big deal in this case, I hope you have learned to do all your research BEFORE you buy your next car. You might not be so lucky with the next car.

keithg89

as far as i know there is a small light at the end of the speedo that comes on if someone tries to clock it. At least there is on my one. I take it its a digital odometer?

gofaster_s13

We have a 1999 Micra that comes into the garage with 9000 genuine miles on it, just because mileage is low doesnt mean its clocked:D

JHMEG

Anan1 wrote: »

Quite true. My main worry at this stage would be whether it's been serviced at all during the past four years.

At that price I wouldn't care if it had never been serviced. As long as it's running well and keeps running well what does it matter.

Abelloid

JHMEG wrote: »

At that price I wouldn't care if it had never been serviced. As long as it's running well and keeps running well what does it matter.

Servicing is what makes it run well, and keeps it running well.

enol

JustinOval wrote: »

Servicing is what makes it run well, and keeps it running well.

+1

Seth Brundle

gofaster_s13 wrote: »

We have a 1999 Micra that comes into the garage with 9000 genuine miles on it, just because mileage is low doesnt mean its clocked:D

Does it come in with that mileage on it each time.

Guy:Incognito

Communicationb wrote: »

Basically over Xmas I wrote off my car on black ice..no biggie..an old banger.

So I picked up a 1996 BMW 320 saloon last week for €950.00. Great deal. Guy lost his job etc and wanted a quick sell and I needed a quick cheap buy.

- NCT 9/2011
- 82k miles
- Was imported from UK originally but all paperwork etc in order.

The car is going fine happy with it. Save it needs proper rear tyres and rear defroster and external ambient temp broken.

Basically there is no way a 14 yr old BMW can have 82k IMO so I am pretty sure it is clocked.

I have no problem with this as such I knew what I was getting into.

Is there any way I can find out the true mileage on the OBC (on board computer)?

ps It was a private deal.

Of couse it could be genuine. EDIT obviously not since you checked, but it very much could have been.

I've a 10 yeart ol Xantia sitting outside with 65k ish on it with a full verified history.

mick.fr

It might be clocked alright. But as many said this is not because a car is old it has to have lots of mileage. My 1998 BMW 5 series just passed 80000 miles the last week. And they are genuine, backed up by a few kg of paper, worth of service history.

Run a scan on it, on the e36, I am not sure if mileage is stored on light control modules etc like on newer cars. Someone might be able to shed some light here.

qz

My Alfa is 1999 and has only around 24000 miles on it! Genuine too, it's been in the family since new. I took this picture back in the summer.

mullingar

qz wrote: »

My Alfa is 1999 and has only around 24000 miles on it! Genuine too, it's been in the family since new. I took this picture back in the summer.

Has it been in a garage for repairs 11 months of every year since new?

(Thats crazy low mileage)

qz

mullingar wrote: »

Has it been in a garage for repairs 11 months of every year since new?

(Thats crazy low mileage)

No. :rolleyes:

It was just never driven.

JHMEG

qz wrote: »

No. :rolleyes:

It was just never driven.

Cos the Sellafield gearbox lost all its gears?

Only joking.

ShadowHearth

congo_90 wrote: »

I've a 1990 jaguar xj6 with 18,000 genuine miles on it.
My sister drivers a 95' Micra with 67,000 miles on it

Still for 950 then why not.

pics or it didnt happened

unkel

542.8 miles on a tank of petrol is impressive too

Absurdum

Communicationb wrote: »

Okay did some research...

The car was imported into Ireland in January 2006 with 82,768 miles on the clock.

It had just over 82,800 when I picked it up last week....:mad:

So basically the last 4 years of driving in Ireland have been written off. I know the guy I bought it from bought it from a mechanic in Waterford..I bought it in Kerry..

punch him in the nose for being a big fat liar!

cascade35

Is there any garage stickers on the car ie on the back window etc or is there a garage name printed on the bottom of number plate?
If so contact them and they may have a record of milage if they done any work on the car.
All said and done it seems you got a nice car for the money.

Abelloid

qz wrote: »

No. :rolleyes:

It was just never driven.

Wouldn't start?

PaulKK

Clocking seems to be rife unfortunately, I rang about a NI reg 320d with 70,000 miles on it yesterday. Did a HPI check last night to discover it was recorded with 125,000 miles on it in July 2008.

Its no wonder so many hide their reg when advertising their car!

ninty9er

Depending on where you check, the mileage isn't actually a record, but an estimate absed on age and car type.

Cartell has a disclaimer for this or at least it did when I bought my car in Jan 08 with 25k miles on it. Cartell suggested it should have almost 50k it being 7 years old at that point. I've had it 2 years and almost doubled the mileage and it's still below 50k with its 9th birthday approaching.

bungler

qz wrote: »

My Alfa is 1999 and has only around 24000 miles on it! Genuine too, it's been in the family since new. I took this picture back in the summer.

23,000 miles of it have been clocked up been towed

rebel.ranter

I have a 1996 320i Convertible with 100k miles on it, that's not far off your 82k miles. It took ages to go from 50k to 60k miles as I had a company jeep at y disposal for about 4 years, only using the car on fair weather days.
I bought it with 50k miles in 2000 & handed it over tot the wife with 64k miles in 2005!
So low mileage is possible!

dubal

I have a 1996 320i saloon with 83k miles on it, I have owned it since 1999 so I know its history fairly well.

I cycle to work, so its often not used during the week, the original owner (who I know) lives beside the dart station so he didnt use it during the week either.

Its well serviced and still doesnt give me any problems.

Dubal

An Ri rua

I think that a vital point that's being missed here is that these low mileage cars that some of you have a lot of faith in may not be getting the servicing they require. Not your own cars! Not attacking them. Just low mileage older cars as a general buy. I wouldn't recommend etc.
Another poster earlier mentioned how vital servicing was. I have a 2000 Xantia HDi that I bought, one owner, in 2005. It had a full service history until then. Since then, its had oil & filter changes every 5k even though the manual says 10 or 12k, as 1. its cheap and 2. most of us do a lot of small journeys in our cars, hence wear.

I wouldn't give a damn about mileage on a car but I would about servicing. A low mileage car that has just has standard interval servicing (ie fleet manager maximums) is a bad buy in my opinion. A car that's potentially clocked as its selling with no recent service history, but cheap as chips, could be a true bargain. A car that's got a nice service history with no problems could be a well scanned scam that, worse still, may not have had the required servicing. The UK has a mileage register. To my knowledge, we don't. But the NCT database could store such info as one poster points out.

I'm on 170k with same clutch and same exhaust as new. Its my 3rd Xantia over the years and, like many cars, once you know them and know what problems to expect, then there are no problems.

There are all sorts of reasons why mileages can be low. But IMO those reasons amount to a car that can have potentially more problems than one bargains for when paying the cash premium wrongly expected of such cars.

As James Ruppert of Bangernomics fame notes, there's a lot to be attracted to in a high mileage car, particularly as they're so cheap, hence the risk is lowered already.

corktina

my 1995 escort has 53000 on it...it cost nothing when you deduct the T&T and the new stereo and tyres on it and when it goes wrong, I'll throw it away. How is that not a good buy?

An Ri rua

corktina wrote: »

my 1995 escort has 53000 on it...it cost nothing when you deduct the T&T and the new stereo and tyres on it and when it goes wrong, I'll throw it away. How is that not a good buy?

Is your question aimed at me? If it is, then I would need to know whether you mean a good buy for you when you did, or the next person? Is it a diesel escort or a petrol? And did it get minimum services only since 1999? Did you pay more for it because it was low mileage?

I'll be honest, I don't understand your question at all.

corktina

rhetorical i suppose, but you suggest a low mileage car isnt necessarily a good buy and that a higher mileage car with service history is a better buy. Just pointing out that IMHO my method would be cheaper, its as close to free motoring as you can get.

(Its petrol and I paid 310 sterling for it, no service history whatsoever)

ottostreet

robbie99 wrote: »

Arguably there's no way a bmw can last 14 years without having low mileage.

I dont know if im reading that wrong, but im curious as to what ya mean by this. ive had two 318is's, one 99 with 165k miles, and most of the original bmw suspension components and clutch have been changed in the last 5k!

the other one is 18 years old with 100k and still going strong.

a look around at the vast amount of 80s bmws still on the road, and the high proliferation of early 90s e36s as well suggests that they are one of the better marques for survival?

500sel

To answer your question, it is possible to check depending on how thorough the offender was