How to check mileage is authentic
 

Hi All,

I just sold my 2005 X5 and will be buying a 2004 BMW X5 E53 3.0D on Thursday. The mileage on the odometer reads 67,000km which is quite low.

How can i check that this is authentic? I have the cable and software from BMW OBD USB Diagnostic Fault Code Cable - This Lead allows full Coding, Programming and Diagnostics for your BMW which includes INPA, DIS, SSS Progman, NCS Expert, WinKPF, Navcoder etc.

My question is can i use any of these programs to check that the mileage is genuine? If so which one?

Or is it possible to determine from the hidden menu on the car?

Thanks for your help, i just want to make sure the mileage has not been tampered with before committing to buy.

Tommy

If the mileage has been tampered with then you will see a little red dot by the mileage reading on the dash. Don't know about Gibraltar but in the UK now on the MOT certificate they record the last 4 years mileage readings. I normally check the paperwork for the mileage checks such as MOT certificate, Service record, Bills, receipts etc

Thanks for this. I have seen a service record carried out several months ago stating 65,000km, but wanted a better way of testing this. Since i have all the software and cable etc i think there must be a way of verifying.

The fist thing I do is check those 2 screws on the top underside of your cluster visor. There is no way of taking them out and not stripping some paint off them. If they look tempered then its another clue.

Yep, as Lancer says, there is a tamper dot that will pop up. I still come across very low miles older X5's and 740's that are now 12+ year old cars. :)

Thats good to know as 67,000km seems extremely low for a 2004 x5..from the pictures though the car does look immaculate. From experience would you say that those with lower mileage are in much better condition mechanically etc? Thanks.

No. They may be, but it is up to how the individual vehicle was stored, maintained, and used. You can increase your chances of finding a better one by using lower mileage as a starting point, but remember that many components on a car wear just as fast when they are not being used. Sitting in storage is not easy on a vehicle.

with INPA you can read the modules and get the miles from them... actually, it is recorded in kilometers... the little red/orange dot that would be illuminated next to the kms readings in the cluster comes on when two locations do not agree with each other on the miles... however, if both locations were tampered with in unison, then you will not get the tamper dot, and the reading from both modules will just confirm the stated mileage...

when pulling the info from the modules, check the dates of the manufacture for each module that you are checking (especially the LCM/LKM, the light control module and the IKM, the instrument cluster module). The manufactured dates of the modules should be a month or two younger than the birthday of the car. However, even of the module is older, it does not mean anything , just part was laying around a warehouse, but if the module is younger, it means it was replaced at a later date, which could be innocent or malicious... best way is to track registration records, if possible...