Mileage Question...

[tluv]

I found a local 91 318is with 75k miles. The guy selling it claims that it has been garaged and minimally driven because he's out of the country a lot. He claims that the carfax backs him up.

The mileage sounds WAAAY too low to me, rather fishy. Any suggestions as to what/how I should approach this? If a car is garaged and not driven, is it bad?

Thanks guys. I really appreciate it.

[RealBMW 02]

do a carfax....see if he's telling the truth. it is a great thing to find an older car that has been garaged. My 02 had sat for 6 years before I baught her. that means six less years of wear and tear. but it also means some work before firing her up.

There are a few things to do before you attempt to fire the engine up:
1) Drain all of the old oil and gasoline....easy procedure

2) Pull all of the spark plugs and the valve cover. Pour some "Marvels Mystery Oil" down all of the plug holes and over the cams and lifters/valve springs. This will help the rings reseat. Be generous and let the oil sit for a few days to a week. Any excess oil will just burn off when you do start it up.

3) Turn the engine over with a wrench to make sure it is free and not rusted together.

4) Flush the coolant system (if there is white goop in your coolant than you have a possible head gasket leak)

Thats about it for reviving a sitting engine (unless someone thinks i forgot something).
I started my engine up very easily and after putting another 10k hard miles on it, she still runs very well.

You will want to check the suspension too as the rubber bushing could be dried out, but 91 is not too old and the milage is what really affects them.

Thats all I can think of at the moment. Good luck with the car. If the price is right, I would say go for it. If you want an E30, low miles is the best thing to have. Enjoy and WELCOME to the forum

Adam

[Kowalski]

Originally posted by RealBMW 02@Jan 18 2005, 07:18 PM
do a carfax....see if he's telling the truth. it is a great thing to find an older car that has been garaged. My 02 had sat for 6 years before I baught her. that means six less years of wear and tear. but it also means some work before firing her up.

There are a few things to do before you attempt to fire the engine up:
1) Drain all of the old oil and gasoline....easy procedure

2) Pull all of the spark plugs and the valve cover. Pour some "Marvels Mystery Oil" down all of the plug holes and over the cams and lifters/valve springs. This will help the rings reseat. Be generous and let the oil sit for a few days to a week. Any excess oil will just burn off when you do start it up.

3) Turn the engine over with a wrench to make sure it is free and not rusted together.

4) Flush the coolant system (if there is white goop in your coolant than you have a possible head gasket leak)

Thats about it for reviving a sitting engine (unless someone thinks i forgot something).
I started my engine up very easily and after putting another 10k hard miles on it, she still runs very well.

You will want to check the suspension too as the rubber bushing could be dried out, but 91 is not too old and the milage is what really affects them.

Thats all I can think of at the moment. Good luck with the car. If the price is right, I would say go for it. If you want an E30, low miles is the best thing to have. Enjoy and WELCOME to the forum

Adam

[snapback]274420[/snapback]

also before you take the car for a burn, let it idle and keep it arround 1800 rpm, to get the oil into all the vlaves and in the sides and in the connecting rod bearings and evrything else drive it easy for the first day, no high reving, and then after that it should be good. prolly put in some fuel injector cleaner also prolly some gunk built up on them, or sonic bath the injectors either or, and while they're out get them tested.

[Numark318i]

dude... i bought mine at 80k..its a 91. Carfax is checked out and everything.


Go for it.

[bmwsmurf]

Watch out for head gasket profile issue.

Also.. most of the time you can tell if the mileage has been turned back.. Something with 75k miles should be very clean..... if you have alot of seat wear, the wheels are messed up, lots of seaps in the engine bay, lots of rock chips, etc... then you know they've rolled back the mileage. Rollback is a common problem especially for cars from some areas like the greater NY area. Some guy used to tell me (proudly) that he had someone turn back the m ileage before selling his car. People are such d*cks.

[viali8]

just use your common sense. look at the interior and the condition of the car and see if it matches up with the mileage. if the car is in terrible condition, chances are the mileage is not correct. good luck.