A local reseller approached me with a unique car.
F10, quite poor kit (for example, a small screen, no NAVI), but the car is a practically mint condition (at least so claimed the “owner”). The vehicle is as if purchased from the local dealer (so – the mileage should be verifiable). The only owner – a woman. The car is as if very groomed, mileage 40’000 km. My first thought was – I should take it before someone else has bought it!
And now let’s see the car.
I have no agreed privacy statement (and in this case, I wouldn’t even agree with that), so I will indicate also the VIN code.
Here:
The only record in Online servers is for 2 years old maintenance, which was performed in Wess service center by mileage of 38’000 km. A car of dreams, isn’t it?
Should be noted immediately – except a repainted front bumper, nothing criminal was spotted – at least this is not a “constructor” from 3 vehicles.
But…
This is what the steering wheel looks like. On the buttons – a layer of fat and dirt. No signs of scratches from a lady’s fingernails. No, a strong gender being has worn out the driving wheel. He has lived in the car, constantly grabbing at the steering wheel?
The IHKA seat warming button. The inscription is worn. And again – no scratches from a lady’s fingernails. It’s exactly worn.
Here, a lady without fingernails has worn out the icon of the fan. It looks that she had some mental issues! Can you imagine – how many times this button should be pressed for the inscription to be worn out after 40’000 km!
Women are not petty.
And this lady has continuously stepped in/out of the car because of the doorway is worn out as for car with a mileage of 400’000 km.
And so looks like the handle of the driver’s door. I have to admit that the lady was not only cutting off her nails very diligently but also was a quite dirty person.
And now let’s see what we can find regarding the history of this car.
OK, the change interval of the coolant: 2 years. Deleted for 4 times (now it has to be deleted for the 5th time) – corresponds to the age of the car. I have no illusion that the coolant would be actually replaced at least for one time.
Oil change. 4 changes, the interval you can see by yourself. Till the 5th change of oil: 1%. The oil changes correspond to the mileage of at least 150’000km. One more thing has to be taken into account – the oil change interval has been changed (increased), accordingly – the person(s), who has (have) performed the maintenance of the car, “knows” ISTA or a similar tool.
Vehicle inspection. Default interval 50’000 km, if I remember correctly. Been deleted for 2 times, then the interval changed for 255’000 km (turned off). I believe, the math is clear.
The brake pads – once already replaced, the second ones – already worn out, and… Let’s take a look at the car:
Just now the reseller has installed new (for a second or even the third time) brake discs and at least the third set of the brake pads for all wheels. I have no illusion – of the discs would be rusty or twisted, they would be lathed. If new ones are installed, the old ones were completely worn out and the leftover of the brake pads would correspond 1%! True thou, this time the person has had no knowledge of CBS.
Several tests of the CO catalytic converters correspond for mileage of at least 150’000 .. 200’000 km if we assume that basically, the car was driving evenly, with an average speed of at least 50 km/h. For a city mode, the mileage 200 .. 300’000 km corresponds.
Also, pass/fail counter-indications are a catastrophe. With a very high probability – after repairing the basic issues, the error messages regarding CO catalytic converters will appear. For this car, the replacement of CO catalytic converters costs 1500 .. 2000 EUR. There are no alternatives if the deleting of error messages and inability to pass the TI.
It looks that somebody already has had questions regarding the origin of the car.
Here the basic data regarding the car, if someone wants to (not) purchase this current car:
Of course, the resellers will do the chemical cleaning of the vehicle, refresh the driving wheel and the doorway. The buyers will have to listen regarding the poor quality of the modern finish of BMW and the button inscriptions, which wear out for one year. From an unattended car with a mileage of 200’000 km, this car will turn to car of the dreams, which has been attended to, loved, etc.
And finally: how the locally purchased car (as if with traceable mileage – we have the every-year TI, where the mileage is recorded, and the dealer maintenances) can turn out such a “rewound” (car with a rewound mileage)?
At first, to avoid the “tension”, during a warranty time – do not perform the maintenances at the dealer services. Since we are the EU country, the dealer has no right to impose the maintenances (such is a requirement from EU).
Second, perform the correction of the odometer each year before TI. For the F series, this operation can be done very easily and cheap. If the owner of the car himself (or his pals) are in this “business”, this manipulation gives no trouble at all and is incomparably more profitable than the drop of the price of the car with high mileage.
There is also one more option – a specific electronic device, which is installed on the data communication channel, and a miracle happens – the mileage of the car (KOMBI) doesn’t increase or increases very slowly.
The moral of the story: trust the pre-purchase inspection of the car to the specialist!
P.S. what’s the difference between an attended car with a mileage of 40’000 km and an unattended car with a mileage of 200’000 km, used locally? They are two different cars.
I will mention only several details, which will cause problems in the second case:
- the manufacturer of the gearbox defines, that the oil and the filter of the gearbox should be replaced after each 120’000 km (or 8 years). Accordingly, for such a car, the oil & filter should be changed 2 times. For this car – no replacement is done. What are the consequences? Repair of the gearbox: 1500 .. 2000 EUR;
- problems of CO catalytic converters. As already mentioned before, the costs of the repair: around 1500 .. 2000 EUR;
- NOx system (the average resource of it: around 150’000 km for NOx catalytic converter, around 30’000 .. 50’000 km for NOx sensor): around 2500 EUR;
- injectors: EUR 250/piece;
- HPFP fuel pump: EUR 750;
- if the oil of the engine is not changed in time – the oil rings burn, the oil consumption increases, the exhaust system is getting damaged. Repair of the engine can reach: 2’000 .. 3’000 EUR;
- running gear: shock absorbers, levers, bearings – also here some EUR 1’000 – 2’000 could be invested;
- active steering column – around: EUR 1’000, etc.
If you purchase the car with a mileage of 200’000 km, you may need to invest EUR 5’000 or even EUR 10’000 – depends on the exact vehicle.
