Odometer Tampering and ECU

[onesecond]

So I'm looking at an e30 and when I did the CarFax it seems like there has been some tampering done. I can't seem to find any info and was wondering if the e30 ECU stores the mileage and I would be able to compare the two?

The overall condition of the car seems great but the tampering has me worried, haven't had a chance to talk to the owner about it yet, though.

[rturbo 930]

Why do you think the odometer has been tampered with? The odometers on these cars break all the time.

[dnguyen1963]

Mileage on these cars means nothing. How well documented on the PM/repairs is utmost important.

[onesecond]

The seller is posting the mileage of 120k km but the Carfax shows 119k in 2012. To add to that he states it's his DD. Just doesn't seem right

[onesecond]

Mileage on these cars means nothing. How well documented on the PM/repairs is utmost important.

Hasn't show me much on the documents end, not sure what there is as it's out of province. Will ask about it next time I chat with him

[nando]

These cars are ancient dude. No, the DME doesn't store the mileage anywhere. It doesn't have any non-volatile memory to store such things in it. As soon as you unplug the battery, whatever it's saved in RAM is lost.

the odometer is 100% mechanical, and yes, the turn into sawdust after 30 years. Cluster swaps and odometer rebuilds are extremely common (more likely than not, in fact).

[onesecond]

I know they're ancient just thought if I could get the actual mileage out of it, it would be nice to know. Also if I had that info it could help with negotiations with the seller as it is misrepresented.

The car itself does look to be in pretty good condition and it is being inspected by a mechanic, will have to see what the mechanics report is.

[Sonny]

Odometer Tampering and ECU

How dare he do that to the mileage! Tell me exactly what’s that guys phone number so I can call him and tell him why this is so wrong with E30 owners and he should not be trying to pass on something like this.


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[nando]

I know they're ancient just thought if I could get the actual mileage out of it, it would be nice to know. Also if I had that info it could help with negotiations with the seller as it is misrepresented.

The car itself does look to be in pretty good condition and it is being inspected by a mechanic, will have to see what the mechanics report is.

But you have no way to know whether it is or not. It could be on it's 4th or 5th cluster by now, maybe the original report was wrong and it really does have 120k, there's no way to know for sure.

[onesecond]

Fair enough, guess I will just have to wait for the mechanics report

[cheffy30]

it's all about maintenance.
my 90 has 281k. runs perfectly. odo is working. my 85 also purrs. odo broke at 220k god knows how long ago... who cares.
they are tuned and maintained.
do your research. don't be that guy.


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[lukeADE335i]

Seeing as you're getting a PPI, just wait for that and see what it says. I doubt there's much to worry about.

Unless you're buying it as a collector / survivor car and paying massive $$ for it on BAT based on the mileage, then the mileage is basically irrelevant providing its well maintained.

My car says 204,000km - it's on its third instrument cluster. Real mileage is a shade over 400,000km, but the entire driveline including cooling system, suspension / brakes and exhaust has been changed, with most parts having done 100,00km at most. The front end for example has done around 5000km.

As soon as a mechanic looks under the bonnet, and sticks the car on a hoist, the maintenance completed is pretty obvious.

[TobyB]

How dare he do that to the mileage! Tell me exactly what’s that guys phone number so I can call him and tell him why this is so wrong with E30 owners and he should not be trying to pass on something like this.


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Maybe a pizza needs to be sent.

t
jus' trina say...

[Sonny]

Maybe a pizza needs to be sent.



t

jus' trina say...

Yes you are correct

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.!