Odometer Changed On It's Own

[cgiibanez]

Hello Everyone,

I have a 2016 BMW X5 with 39,760 miles. The car went in for service 2 months ago for regular oil and filter change.

We took a road trip 3 weeks ago and everything was fine with the car.

The next day I vacuum the car and back it out from the garage. I noticed the mileage jumped to 123348 miles. I thought it was KM but no luck.
The car runs fine and no error lights on the dash.

I scheduled an appointment at my local BMW service department. The car has been there since. On Friday they told and engineer came by and the odometer was tampered with.

I bought the car brand new and it's always been serviced at the dealer.

I asked where is the proof of the tampering and no one can really show me facts. I've been also asked if the car got hit by lighting.

BMW Case Manager is going by what the local engineer said.

Now the service center wants me to pick up because they can't do anything else for me. My car is worthless now and I still owe $30,000.

I'm telling you guys I have never touched the car. It had 37,000 miles when I took into service why would I try missing with miles and if I have tried why would I take to service and give the car more miles.

Has this ever happened to anyone on the board?

I need help and some guidance. If they are any lawyers on the board and you think I have a case please contact me.

[CatalinP]

You can use an app like Carly to check the car milage. It is written in many ECUs in the car, not only in the dash (Kombi)... By comparing the numbers then you can see which ECU is to be blamed...

[cgiibanez]

CatalinP,

Thank you so much for the quick response, so why can't the service center fix the bad ECU. Don't they have the tools to see any malfunctions?

[parkstr8]

Every time a car goes into a dealer they note in their records the mileage. There should be accurate mileage records there after each service visit.

It's also how insurance agencies verify miles - they get reported to them on each visit.

[P1]

How bizarre. Are the miles going up as usual?

[cgiibanez]

Yes, when I drove it to service the miles changed.

This really frustrating.

[CatalinP]

Originally Posted by cgiibanez

CatalinP,

Thank you so much for the quick response, so why can't the service center fix the bad ECU. Don't they have the tools to see any malfunctions?

They can. The real question is why they don't want to do it...

[mrfochon]

37k to 125K is a lot of miles. Almost impossible in a couple of months.
I would take the route of reading the ECUs and challenging bmw.

When did you do your last service ? Was it at BMW? Which location? Do you have the records ?

[TheUltimateDrivingManiac]

Have you replaced any modules for whatever reason?

[smyles]

post your VIN.

[RED_Y_]

You should have mileage on your work orders from last service, as well as you can get mileage from different ECU blocks. Did you do the 6WB retrofit?

[OnlyGerman]

This is crazy, I have never heard of something like this before. I am sure others are shocked as well. You may want to consider an attorney. Maybe it was tampered at the last service. Either way, I wouldn’t allow the dealer to just give it back with this problem.

[pwrdbym]

Originally Posted by CatalinP

You can use an app like Carly to check the car milage. It is written in many ECUs in the car, not only in the dash (Kombi)... By comparing the numbers then you can see which ECU is to be blamed...

I agree with this, purchase the carly adapter and use the "used car check" to verify the mileage matches in all of the ECUs.

[cgiibanez]

Update,

To answer some question from above the car is stock and nothing has been replaced. All services have been done at the dealer.

I picked up the car today and took it to other BMW service. I explained what happen and there no answer was don't worry we will get to the bottom of what happen.

If anyone lives in South Florida area BMW of Pembroke Pines next to I-75 treated me like a liar and criminal. They could not give any documentation on there findings. BMW Customer Service same treated me the same way as they were reporting back what the service was saying. KEEP AWAY FROM THIS SERVICE DEALER. I even told guys you might want to make sure on your findings because this could be serious problem for BMW. There was no answer.

All I want is for my car to be fixed.

I hope where my car is now the techs can figure it out.

If they do it's not going to be looking good for Pembroke Pines and BMW of North America for falsely accusing me and making my life a living Hell for the last month.

I will post the outcome if the techs could fix the car.

[mrfochon]

Is the car under warranty?
If they don't fix it you should consider writing and executive letter to their CEO with a lawyer. Small cost for the possible return.

I have once experience a similar but different situation with Apple. They lost my item which was returned under warranty. When I got mo response I asked the manager to escalate to supervisor etc.. it went all the way up the chain to the C level. Got a call back and lots to be happy with

Good luck man.

[W37V]

Originally Posted by cgiibanez

Update,

To answer some question from above the car is stock and nothing has been replaced. All services have been done at the dealer.

I picked up the car today and took it to other BMW service. I explained what happen and there no answer was don't worry we will get to the bottom of what happen.

If anyone lives in South Florida area BMW of Pembroke Pines next to I-75 treated me like a liar and criminal. They could not give any documentation on there findings. BMW Customer Service same treated me the same way as they were reporting back what the service was saying. KEEP AWAY FROM THIS SERVICE DEALER. I even told guys you might want to make sure on your findings because this could be serious problem for BMW. There was no answer.

All I want is for my car to be fixed.

I hope where my car is now the techs can figure it out.

If they do it's not going to be looking good for Pembroke Pines and BMW of North America for falsely accusing me and making my life a living Hell for the last month.

I will post the outcome if the techs could fix the car.

It's quite easy to to figure out true mileage on the car. There are over 50 different computers on the car. There are about 3-4 computers (ECUs) that actually log the car mileage: lights module, dashboard, transmission, engine, etc. All they need to do is to pull up the parameters and compare them. If mileage was tampered, there should be a warning dot on your dash next to the mileage.

One of the main reasons as to why the car might display incorrect mileage is if the speed dials were replaced with one (non virginized) that had higher mileage. Mileage does not appear just out of blue for no reason.

You state that nothing was ever replaced. Are you sure of that?

[mrfochon]

Why don't you buy an odb and read your car. Lots of folks here can guide you on what to do to get all this figured out.
Alternatively I am sure most garages have tools that can read that for you as well and then hit BMW back.
What was your last change ? When and where? Can you post the receipt of work ?

[smyles]

OP ran out of warranty and tried to roll back odo using ebay diag tool to get some work done or sell the car for more $$?

[W37V]

Originally Posted by smyles

OP ran out of warranty and tried to roll back odo using ebay diag tool to get some work done or sell the car for more $$?

Probably not OP, but the previous owner. Not surprising since - Florida.

[smyles]

Originally Posted by W37V

Probably not OP, but the previous owner. Not surprising since - Florida.

OP said he bought new.

[Violator]

This is crazy

[Twin Peaks]

Originally Posted by Violator

This is crazy

A crazier story would be a service tech swapping out his or his buddies bad instrument panel with a customers hoping they wouldn't notice. Aren't there stickers on these things with manufactured dates that correspond with the build?