Carfax please!

[geneseodave]

if anyone out there has any carfax time left I'd appreciate them running this VIN - WBADB7404E1193931
thanks
dave

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

thanks for reminding me about this. I'll put together something that will allow people to check carfax.

[4BYR]

I checked the number and it indicated that they could not offer their endorsement and guarantee. This was a red flag! The mileage reported was the problem. It appeared that the numbers reported when the vehicle was turned were in error and are a problem. The following was posted.
* ALERT!
This 1984 BMW 533I (WBADB7404E1193931) DOES NOT QUALIFY
for the CARFAX Certified History, a guarantee worth up to $5,000 that
protects you from buying a vehicle with severe damage, mileage fraud,
or Lemon history.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sect.# Section Name Section Results
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. ACCIDENT CHECK
Total Loss Check NO Severe Accident Reported to DMV
Other Accident Indicators NO Accident Indicator Found

2. MILEAGE ACCURACY CHECK
Truth-In-Mileage Check ODOMETER PROBLEM REPORTED TO DMV
Odometer Rollback Check NO Odometer Rollback Detected

3. LEMON CHECK(R) NO Manufacturer Buyback Reported to DMV

4. OWNERSHIP CHECK
Number of owners 2 Known Owner(s)
Type of owners Checked 9 Types of Vehicle Registrations

5. Recall Check No Recall Information Reported to CARFAX

DETAILED VEHICLE HISTORY 9 HISTORY RECORDS REPORTED

VEHICLE DESCRIPTION
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Year/Make/Model: 1984 BMW 533I
Body Style: SEDAN 4 DR
Engine: 3.2L V6 FI
Fuel: GASOLINE
Driveline: REAR WHEEL DRIVE
Manufactured in: GERMANY

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
SECTION 1 ACCIDENT CHECK
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

TOTAL LOSS CHECK:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* RESULT: NO SEVERE ACCIDENTS REPORTED
This 1984 BMW 533I (WBADB7404E1193931) had
no severe accidents reported to CARFAX from a Department of Motor Vehicles
(DMV).

Salvage Title.......................> NO Salvage Title Reported
Junk Title..........................> NO Junk Title Reported
Rebuilt/Reconstructed Title.........> NO Rebuilt/Reconstructed Title Reported
Dismantled Title....................> NO Dismantled Title Reported
Loss Due to Fire Title..............> NO Loss Due to Fire Title Reported
Flood Damage Title..................> NO Flood Damage Title Reported
Hail Damage Title...................> NO Hail Damage Title Reported
Canadian Total Loss.................> NO Canadian Total Loss Record Reported

OTHER ACCIDENT INDICATORS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This 1984 BMW 533I (WBADB7404E1193931) has had no accident
indicators reported to CARFAX. CARFAX receives accident indicator
information from many sources, continues to expand its coverage, and
recommends a vehicle inspection by your dealer or professional mechanic.

Salvage Auction Record..............> NO Salvage Auction Record Reported
Fire Damage Record..................> NO Fire Damage Record Reported
Crash Test Vehicle Record...........> NO Crash Test Vehicle Record Reported
Airbag Deployment Record............> NO Airbag Deployment Record Reported
Damage Disclosure Record............> NO Damage Disclosure Record Reported
Police Accident Record..............> NO Police Accident Record Reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
SECTION 2 MILEAGE ACCURACY CHECK
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

TRUTH-IN-MILEAGE CHECK:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* RESULT: ALERT!
This 1984 BMW 533I (WBADB7404E1193931) has had
odometer problems reported to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) under
the Truth-In-Mileage Act. This vehicle DOES NOT QUALIFY for the CARFAX
Certified History, a guarantee worth up to $5,000.

Not Actual Mileage Title............> NOT ACTUAL MILEAGE TITLE REPORTED
Exceeds Mechanical Limits Title.....> NO Exceeds Mechanical Limits Title Reported

ODOMETER ROLLBACK CHECK:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CARFAX did not uncover any odometer rollbacks for this
1984 BMW 533I (WBADB7404E1193931).

Date: Mileage:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10/10/1989 62,150
----------------------------------------
09/23/1997 62,150
----------------------------------------
09/23/1997 62,150
----------------------------------------
05/25/1999 131,162
----------------------------------------
07/14/2000 143,726
----------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
SECTION 3 LEMON CHECK
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

* RESULT: NO MANUFACTURER BUYBACK REPORTED
This 1984 BMW 533I (WBADB7404E1193931) has had no
manufacturer buyback (LEMON) reported to CARFAX from a Department of Motor
Vehicles (DMV).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
SECTION 4 OWNERSHIP CHECK
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

This 1984 BMW 533I (WBADB7404E1193931)has 2 known owner(s).
In compliance with the U.S. privacy laws, CARFAX does not collect or
report owner names or addresses.

Known Owners: Date: Location:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
1st owner No data No data
2nd owner 12/18/2001 New York

Types of Owners:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This 1984 BMW 533I (WBADB7404E1193931) was
checked for 9 types of registrations.

Private Use Registration............> NO Private Use Registration Reported
Lease Registration..................> NO Lease Registration Reported
Rental Registration.................> NO Rental Registration Reported
Government Registration.............> NO Government Registration Reported
Taxi Registration...................> NO Taxi Registration Reported
Fleet Registration..................> NO Fleet Registration Reported
Commercial Registration.............> NO Commercial Registration Reported
Non-Profit Registration.............> NO Non-Profit Registration Reported
Built to Non U.S. Standards Record..> NO Built to Non U.S. Standards Record Reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
SECTION 5 RECALL CHECK
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
BMW does not report recall information for specific vehicles to CARFAX.

You can also contact an authorized dealership or BMW at 1-800-334-4269
or at www.bmw.com to find out if this 1984 BMW 533I (WBADB7404E1193931)
still has recalls that require repair.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
DETAILED VEHICLE HISTORY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

CARFAX searched over 2.07 billion records from nearly 800 sources and found
9 record(s) for this 1984 BMW 533I (WBADB7404E1193931).
------------------------------------------------------
Date: 10/10/1989
Odometer Reading: 62,150
Information Source:
New York
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Clifton Park, NY

General Comments:
NOT ACTUAL MILEAGE TITLE ISSUED

------------------------------------------------------
Date: 09/23/1997
Odometer Reading: 62,150
Information Source:
New York
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Lockport, NY

General Comments:
NOT ACTUAL MILEAGE TITLE ISSUED

------------------------------------------------------
Date: 09/23/1997
Odometer Reading: 62,150
Information Source:
New York
Motor Vehicle Dept.

General Comments:
NOT ACTUAL MILEAGE TITLE ISSUED

------------------------------------------------------
Date: 09/23/1997
Information Source:
New York
Motor Vehicle Dept.

General Comments:
Title issued

------------------------------------------------------
Date: 05/25/1999
Odometer Reading: 131,162
Information Source:
Nebraska
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Arlington, NE
Title #99145050057

General Comments:
Title issued

------------------------------------------------------
Date: 07/14/2000
Odometer Reading: 143,726
Information Source:
Massachusetts
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Lancaster, MA
Title #AU660293

General Comments:
Title or registration issued

------------------------------------------------------
Date: 07/14/2000
Information Source:
Massachusetts
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honeoye Falls, NY
Title #AU660293

General Comments:
Title or registration issued

------------------------------------------------------
Date: 09/12/2001
Information Source:
New York
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Mount Morris, NY

General Comments:
Title issued

------------------------------------------------------
Date: 12/18/2001
Information Source:
New York
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Paul Smiths, NY

General Comments:
Title issued
New owner reported

[geneseodave]

First off, thanks for the Carfax! Secondly, what does that mean now? doe sit mean simply that the wrong mileage was reported to the DMV or is this a bigger problem? any insight would be appreciated. thanks again.
- dave

[Bob540iA]

The way I read it is that the mileage is not correct. All the other checks came up good.
My guess is that at some time the Speedometer/cluster was replaced and the mileage on the new cluster wasn't as high as the original.

On a car of this age this is a pretty comon problem.

My 1988 535i has a different cluster than original but I was lucky and found a replacement that had about the same mileage on it.

These clusters have a history of going bad and causing any or all of the gages to malfunction.
The biggest culprit is the rechargeable batteries that are mounted to the cluster PC board. They go bad and if not removed and replaced they leak on the PC board and damage it.

The batteries are for maintaining the service interval LED's that are supposed to tell you when to bring it in for service.

If you have one of the e28's I would recommend pulling the cluster and replacing the batteries.

I believe Peake Reasearch in San Jose, Ca. sells a kit for this. (1-800-231-6861)