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Thread: Looking for advice on this M3

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    San Diego, CA
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    119
    My Cars
    BMW 325is

    Looking for advice on this M3

    Hey guys, saw an ad for a 95 M3. I emailed the seller, and he said that even though the car's odometer says it has 88XXX miles it actually has around 100XXX because in 1999 the cluster was replaced or something and the mileage was not changed. He said the car has a sticker for the dealer on the door saying that the cluster was replaced or what not. I was wondering whether this sounds fishy or is it legitimate? He also gave me the VIN number and said run a carfax, but I was wondering if you guys knew how carfax worked and stuff... if anyone can help me out it'd be great! Thanks in advance.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    FL
    Posts
    311
    My Cars
    M3
    See If he has any dealer records, If there arent any records of this then yes I would say its "fishy".

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Fishers, Indiana & Barrie, ON, Canada
    Posts
    945
    My Cars
    M4, NSXs, E63, 911 C4
    Most likely if he was that upfront about it and offered proof, he is probably legit. Either way, do your research.
    Mitch

    'Live your dreams today, because tomorrow may never come.'

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Alexandria VA
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    1,258
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    99 M3, 06 Evo MR #7 STU
    Yeah, that's the sticker I got when I changed clusters. Hopefully there is some documentation for it though, so that if you ever have to sell it you won't have a problem.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
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    Ames, IA
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    TRM E36 M3, E46 330i
    If he has documentation its legit, when the dealer swaps clusters they put a sticker inside the door stating the original mileage when the cluster was replaced. What sounds fishy to me is why the cluster says 88k if it was replaced in 99. So either the dealer put in a used cluster, i thought they always used new though. Or in 99 the car had 12k miles on it and in the past 9 years had 90k put on it. I would guess the latter of the two, but without documentation you can't be sure.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    SEPA
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    2000 M5
    get a ppi and see what other kind of records it has.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    San Diego, CA
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    119
    My Cars
    BMW 325is
    so I think when the cluster was changed (maybe 1999?) the car had 12K, then they put in a new cluster, and the sticker says the cluster was changed out at 12K, then he drove it, and now it has about 88K, so thats how he says the car has ~100K.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    WA State
    Posts
    36
    My Cars
    2005 VW Golf TDI, 1998 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins,
    When the cluster is changed, generally the dealership or the technician is required to send the new one back either to BMW or the manufacturer(hopefully BMW) to have the accurate mileage programmed on it. Without that being done, the vehicle is considered to be a TMU vehicle, or Total Mileage Unknown.
    Carfax pulls data via DMV/DOL registration events, so with any luck, it will show that the mileage changed, potentially negatively, from one year to the next. However, some agents don't ask this data. When the ownership changes hands on the car, the mileage is required to be input and logged, however if it's been the original owner, you may not see anything via Carfax.
    The company I work for(a local credit union) has a diesel pusher motorhome that should retail for around $120-$130,000. However, the odometer quit working on it at around 2600 miles and the dealership ordered out for a new one, but didn't get it reprogrammed at the manufacturer with the prior mileage... This unit is now worth around $60-$80,000 on the open market, and maybe even less... The dealership put a friggin sticky note on the dash that indicated when the odometer was swapped out and the mileage at the time. Apparently these things have the ability to log the mileage in on the computer, because when it was scanned, the mileage on the new odometer, plus the mileage on the sticky note, lined up. HOwever, it all has to be certified by the DOL/DMV, and if it isn't, the car is truly not worth much as it's a TMU, and true mileage cannot be verified.
    I would be very leery because no matter what you do, unless you both can get it straightened out at a DMV/DOL office and get the true mileage certified, you will have significant issues trying to sell it yourself. This is just what I've encountered in the situation with the motorhome at our credit union...

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