Odometer hacks

[Whacko]

I suspect that there is some irregularities with the proposed km's on the M3 Coupe I bought. The BMW guys seem to be very sensitive to questions asked, but the odometer reading does not correspond with the service history from BMW. I was told by the seller that the vehicle in question had a odo change under warranty @ 66 014 km's and the new odo was at 0km's.
BMW denies that this was done (Club Motors Randburg) and have service records indicating logged service under motorplan at higher km's than the stated 66 014 by the seller. The odo is now at 18 000 km's.
The question then, is it possible that someone might have hacked the odo? Is it possible?

Whacko

 

[zaleonardz]

Its not just possible, its highly likely.

You can have an odo hacked for like 2k, or get a tool off of ebay for like 900 bucks or less

Very simple what you do, contact the dealer, tell him you have evidence of the hack, and that he should refund your purchase price in full including interest.

If he refuses, you contact the bank where you financed at, and make a case, they will come down on the dealer, but hard, and cancel your agreement.

Also, there is onbudsman, but the banks will make some waves for sure, dont take this laying down dude.

 

[msm]

Its not just possible, its highly likely.

You can have an odo hacked for like 2k, or get a tool off of ebay for like 900 bucks or less

Very simple what you do, contact the dealer, tell him you have evidence of the hack, and that he should refund your purchase price in full including interest.

If he refuses, you contact the bank where you financed at, and make a case, they will come down on the dealer, but hard, and cancel your agreement.

Also, there is onbudsman, but the banks will make some waves for sure, dont take this laying down dude.

+1

Also, check if your engine number matches the reg papers. Sometimes, when an engine is changed guys reset the odo. However, it's most likely just an odo hack, which would VOID the motorplan in any case.

 

[Whacko]

Its not just possible, its highly likely.

You can have an odo hacked for like 2k, or get a tool off of ebay for like 900 bucks or less

Very simple what you do, contact the dealer, tell him you have evidence of the hack, and that he should refund your purchase price in full including interest.

If he refuses, you contact the bank where you financed at, and make a case, they will come down on the dealer, but hard, and cancel your agreement.

Also, there is onbudsman, but the banks will make some waves for sure, dont take this laying down dude.

It's a bit more messy than that, problem is I paid cash for the damn thing. BMW wouldn't give me the service history before I purchased the vehicle, as you need to proof ownership. It's only after the deal and the vehicle got registered to my name that I could submit the proof of ownership, and that's when I noticed the irregularities. I have already spoken with the owner of the dealership, and emailed him the proof. So I guess it's going to land up with the ombudsman, but I believe new legislation passed in 2008 will enable me to lay a criminal fraud charge at SAPS, but damn, I like the car. I just don't have a friggin clue what the km's on her amounts to.
Real bummer..

 

[zaleonardz]

Thats always an issue.

Nice thing about the NCA, under those conditions, the sale would be cancelled.

Good luck man, as MSM says check engine and vin number as well

Oh, another thing, the seller is full of BS, if that cluster was changed by BMW, it would have been coded to the correct KM's without a shadow of a doubt, they would have never left it at zero particularly if it was done under motorplan

 

[sykotic]

if the odomoeter was tampered with without the seller telling you about it, then you can lay charges of fraud. it is possible to change the mileage and im sure it was the case here. maybe it had a high mileage and he came up with this story. but yeah you can take action against this.

 

[Whacko]

Thanks guys, I'll update as it progresses. Can't trust these dealers no more.

Whacko

 

[sykotic]

sure dude, keep us informed :thumbsup:

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and if you taking this up further, be sure to keep a copy from bmw stating that it has had a service at higher km's. thats all the proof you need

 

[Hellas]

and if you taking this up further, be sure to keep a copy from bmw stating that it has had a service at higher km's. thats all the proof you need

+1 Hope you get this one sorted. Ride it out! :thumbsup:

 

[Whacko]

Don't know what the seller was thinking, I got written proof from him about the supposed cluster change, and I got the service reports from BMW as well as denial of any cluster odo change from BMW. Get this, I was also told this vehicle was accident free by the seller, BMW sent me an accident report, the right driver's door and Right rear fender was replaced. Shocking, I won't mention the seller's name yet as it might be subjudice, but I will reveal the dealer as soon as it is "sue" safe.

 

[freerider]

club motors seems to be full of shit! I have never had a problem getting my hands on a full report from BMW, I've even got it faxed straight to guys in jhb.

I suspect they knew something was fishy, and hence would not give you a report until you married it.

 

[Hellas]

Nobody wants their hands 'dirty' with a fishy BMW since a single call to the dealer will spill all the beans (usually).

I had the same run with Connoisseur Autohaus in Somerset West with an E39 that 'apparently' had no reports, but a call to BMW proved the car was written off and repaired by a substandard shop and subsequently the motorplan was cancelled...

The things the motorcar salesman can come up with :facepalm:

 

[Whacko]

It is simply unbelievable, I checked the engine and VIN no's, seems to be ok.

 

[calypso]

Also the ODO'd have a tamper light that comes up shoudl it detect problems. A dealer can get around it, but a hack job could set it off. Its just a small dot that becomes illuminated close to the KM's

 

[Whacko]

Also the ODO'd have a tamper light that comes up shoudl it detect problems. A dealer can get around it, but a hack job could set it off. Its just a small dot that becomes illuminated close to the KM's

Thanks for that, I'll have a look.

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Also the ODO'd have a tamper light that comes up shoudl it detect problems. A dealer can get around it, but a hack job could set it off. Its just a small dot that becomes illuminated close to the KM's

Thanks for that, I'll have a look.

Just checked her, I can't see any dots, only the main odo and the trip characters. I wonder if the ECU keeps a backup in the firmware of the km's.

 

[Hellas]

Like this: Next to the mileage:

 

[applehero]

This probably won't help... But damn, I love that instrument cluster! Especially the lights for the recommended red line! Sorry that you're going through this bud...

 

[Whacko]

Like this: Next to the mileage:

Thanks, there's definitely no dot illuminated. So the plot thickens at the BMW stall I think. I wonder if they just have their facts all screwed up, and the odo was changed, but there again they wouldn't leave it at 0 km's. Maybe an inhouse quick repair to a vehicle that was abused by a fast salesman?

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It seems that there is some difference between models. Here's mine.

 

[Hellas]

:thinking: Yeah, you got me there. If there is fowl play here, they definitely went to some trouble to hide it...

 

[netercol]

the e46 beemers (should include the m3 i think) stores the true milage in at least 5 differant places, the cluster, ZKE, key, EWS i think, not sure where else.. anyways, the point being,unless whoever hacked the odo really went to a lot of trouble changing the km's in all the controllers it gets stored, (the ZKE being a bastard to hack as i understand), the true km's will still be stored in the other controllers, accessable with any tool like bmw scanner, carsoft, ect..

the secure eeprom ,m35080,which stores the milage in e46 clusters, is very easy to hack nowadays, with several generic tools avaidible even on e-bay..