Help needed - Fuel consumption and Mileage query

robocal · #1 09-10-2005, 08:46 AM

Hello,

I wonder if anyone can help give me some advice. I am currently in the middle of buying an X5 and today took it for a test drive. It is a 2002 model with very low mileage 17,700 KMS (10,500miles). Although this sounds really low it is not unusual for the part of the world where I live. Anyway after the test drive I decided to check the trip computer for the fuel consumption. It had two readings. One was a stagering 39.5litres per 100kms (7.15mpg) and the other was about 29.5litres per 100kms (9.5mpg). Now being of a suspicious nature I also noticed that some of the LED orange lights that form the letters and digits on the trip computer were not working. So here are my theories / questions ?

1. Could this car have had the mileage rolled back ? Is it possible to do this on an X5 with the digital readout ? It certainly may account for the very high fuel consumption figures on the trip computer.

2. If you cannot roll back the mileage on these cars then can anyone give a reasonable explanation of why the trip computer figures were so outrageously large. Note I did drive the car and it's in beautiful condition and it drives very well.

Anyway any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated

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UCrewX5 · #2 09-10-2005, 08:51 AM

Maybe I'm not understanding your question, but the fuel mileage has nothing to do with the number of miles on the vehicle. You can reset either or both fuel mileage "trackers" whenever you like.

Tampering with the vehicle's actual miles, on the other hand, is much more difficult and in most (if not all) cases would result in a mileage tamper warning symbol in the dash. There are multiple places in the vehicle where the vehicle's miles are stored, and if any become out of sync then red flags go off very quickly.

It's also not unusual for some LED's to go out. That is a common problem with BMW's and is not normally a sign of tampering.

I don't think you have anything to worry about.

:welcome: to X5world

LeMansX5 · #3 09-10-2005, 08:53 AM

Are you in Canada? I have heard from more than one person that they have been rolling back mileage on BMWs in Canada. Buy the X5 from a reputable BMW dealer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by robocal

Hello,

I wonder if anyone can help give me some advice. I am currently in the middle of buying an X5 and today took it for a test drive. It is a 2002 model with very low mileage 17,700 KMS (10,500miles). Although this sounds really low it is not unusual for the part of the world where I live. Anyway after the test drive I decided to check the trip computer for the fuel consumption. It had two readings. One was a stagering 39.5litres per 100kms (7.15mpg) and the other was about 29.5litres per 100kms (9.5mpg). Now being of a suspicious nature I also noticed that some of the LED orange lights that form the letters and digits on the trip computer were not working. So here are my theories / questions ?

1. Could this car have had the mileage rolled back ? Is it possible to do this on an X5 with the digital readout ? It certainly may account for the very high fuel consumption figures on the trip computer.

2. If you cannot roll back the mileage on these cars then can anyone give a reasonable explanation of why the trip computer figures were so outrageously large. Note I did drive the car and it's in beautiful condition and it drives very well.

Anyway any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated

igosal · #4 09-10-2005, 08:55 AM

As Jeff said mpg calculator has nothing to do with actual miles. BUT yes, there are few people, especially in Canada, who offered me too to bring the actual miles down without any signal or warning coming on later. The charges for X5 are huge as it has too many things to prevent this. So, beware. Check all the service records. See if they are periodic and if not, then better not take chances.

robocal · #5 09-10-2005, 09:08 AM

My thinking on the mileage vs fuel consumption is as follows:

Lets say mileage since last reset of trip computer was 2,000kms and it used 400 litres of gas then the fuel mileage would be calculated at 20litres per 100km. Now imagine you were to roll back the mileage by 1,000kms. The computer could possibly now think it has used the same 400litres to drive 1,000kms and thus the fuel mileage calculated would be 40litres per 100kms. Now imagine this on a grander scale mileage wise and hopefully you will see whta I am getting at.

If it is the case that it is unlikely the mileage has been tampered with how can you explain those outrageous fuel consumption figures on the trip computer. Has anyone else experienced this ?

UCrewX5 · #6 09-10-2005, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robocal

If it is the case that it is unlikely the mileage has been tampered with how can you explain those outrageous fuel consumption figures on the trip computer. Has anyone else experienced this ?

On a short term basis I can make my fuel consumption look as outrageously high or low as I want. It's my opinion that it is only a useful indicator over a period of time.

If you are suspicious, however, I would definately check everything very closely to be sure there is nothing that has been tampered with.

motordavid · #7 09-10-2005, 09:24 AM

I assume you reset the Trip Computer before your test drive?

I agree w/UCrew...the mpg or lt/km can look really ugly in a short run.
Also, from memory, the "mpg" readout is an alogorithm of the last 200ish
miles, not necessarily the entire "run/tank".

I find my "mpg" readout to be an "indicator", over long periods of time, but
not really spot on during a tank. A real test would be to drive a tank or 2,
(maybe not poss. in your situ), and do a "miles driven divided by gallons added"
arith. for a more real world mileage answer.

You also didn't mention if it's a 4.4 V8: if so, in stop and go, it is not an econ.
car, due to weight.

Pixels incomplete or out situ: as posted by UCrew, very common. Impossible to diagnose if odo has been tampered with, though I thought I remeberd reading that the odo reading is stored in the OBC.?

Edit: why would someone roll back an Odo only 600 miles, IF they could roll it back?

GL, md

03Topazbluex5 · #8 09-10-2005, 02:45 PM

Yes it is possible to turn back the clock on the X5 and pretty much any car for that matter especially here in canada! But the l/kms could show pretty much any number depending on how many kms driven and how those kms were driven if you reset it and drive say, 50kms like your Michael Schumacher i have no doubt that the numbers you saw were acurate! Could be a sign of abusive driving by the stealer which i've caught them doing around here a few times! Like Ucrew said get the backlogs and look for anything out of place! Goodluck with the purchase and dont forget that there are plenty of fish(X5's) in the sea

JCL · #9 09-10-2005, 04:49 PM

Lots of suspicion around Canadian odometers, I see

Robocal is in Hong Kong, from the duplicate post on another board.

The previous posters have covered everything I said there.

robocal · #10 09-10-2005, 10:49 PM

Thanks for all you responses. I'm getting the car independently checked out tomorrow and am also chasing up the service records...Not as easy as you may imagine as the garage cannot give them to me directly due to privacy issues. Just a follow on question though if the car has only done 17,700kms even though it's three years old then how many times should it really have been serviced..Is the service interval a function of time or mileage ?

Thanks again for your help so far.

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