Conflicting mileage between cluster/vehicle

[RollTideBimmer]

I recently purchased a used 2015 650i Gran Coupe. Mileage listed was ~58k. Service records confirm this as it was serviced in Aug with ~57k. After speaking with owner (pre-purchase), he informed me that he just replaced the cluster because it failed. He did not go through BMW (rightfully so as it's expensive) and instead purchased aftermarket and installed. Now the issue is the discrepancy in the mileage. New gauge cluster (at time of purchase/installation) listed ~75k. He was already working with BMW to get this fixed when i purchased the vehicle. But now I have it and obviously i can't expect him to continue trying to fix this. Obviously, BMW can fix this, but I would need to buy a cluster from them and have them install it, and that would be ~$1200+ installation. Does anyone know any other methods to get this fixed legally. It doesn't really affect me right now but WHEN/IF I ever get to the point of selling it, that 17k mile discrepancy could garner me a couple of thousand more $.

[AccordTR]

Originally Posted by RollTideBimmer

I recently purchased a used 2015 650i Gran Coupe. Mileage listed was ~58k. Service records confirm this as it was serviced in Aug with ~57k. After speaking with owner (pre-purchase), he informed me that he just replaced the cluster because it failed. He did not go through BMW (rightfully so as it's expensive) and instead purchased aftermarket and installed. Now the issue is the discrepancy in the mileage. New gauge cluster (at time of purchase/installation) listed ~75k. He was already working with BMW to get this fixed when i purchased the vehicle. But now I have it and obviously i can't expect him to continue trying to fix this. Obviously, BMW can fix this, but I would need to buy a cluster from them and have them install it, and that would be ~$1200+ installation. Does anyone know any other methods to get this fixed legally. It doesn't really affect me right now but WHEN/IF I ever get to the point of selling it, that 17k mile discrepancy could garner me a couple of thousand more $.

On these cars very very much doubt it. There is no user access to this input value. I never seen or heard of any tuner or programming stating they could access the bank. Dealership I think would only option. I'm guessing they may even have connect directly to the 'mother ship.'

[Luftpost]

There are companies out there that will service the instrument cluster. I had my E39 worked on years ago (do to speedo needle issue). Unfortunately, when I got it back, the red tamper dot was there. In this particular case, I knew that I would probably be the last owner, turned out somebody else did buy the car, and I fully disclosed this info. Moral of the story....$1,200 + install (should be under two hours) from the dealer in my opinion is reasonable, and will be guaranteed. 17,000 miles can have a wide range of "worth", depending when and whom you sell it to.

L

[mjposner]

Plus you can sell your old cluster

[dagoo98]

Originally Posted by RollTideBimmer

I recently purchased a used 2015 650i Gran Coupe. Mileage listed was ~58k. Service records confirm this as it was serviced in Aug with ~57k. After speaking with owner (pre-purchase), he informed me that he just replaced the cluster because it failed. He did not go through BMW (rightfully so as it's expensive) and instead purchased aftermarket and installed. Now the issue is the discrepancy in the mileage. New gauge cluster (at time of purchase/installation) listed ~75k. He was already working with BMW to get this fixed when i purchased the vehicle. But now I have it and obviously i can't expect him to continue trying to fix this. Obviously, BMW can fix this, but I would need to buy a cluster from them and have them install it, and that would be ~$1200+ installation. Does anyone know any other methods to get this fixed legally. It doesn't really affect me right now but WHEN/IF I ever get to the point of selling it, that 17k mile discrepancy could garner me a couple of thousand more $.

Purchasing a brand new cluster and having it programmed is your only option. The price seems reasonable to me considering the digital dash and the price of this vehicle. If the seller didn't want to spend $1500 to fix the car right I would wonder what else he cheaped out on during the time he owned the car. Doesn't seem like the maintenance history is going to be pristine and might not have been the best one to buy.

[Qsilver7]

Do some homework and look for vendors or persons that have the knowledge on how to "virginize" an F-chassis instrument cluster. This apparently can be done because we read of owners with the basic cluster and 6WA clusters...finding used digital 6WB clusters and installing them succesfully.

A BMW dealership can do nothing with a used cluster...their software will not let them alter the mileage or write/code a used instrument cluster. Only people that have aftermarket software/hardware which allows them to zero the mileage and code the car's VIN to the used instrument cluster can get a used cluster to work properly.

BMW uses redundant data with the instrument cluster and other control modules...and they must have matching VINs written to them and will only share mileage etc if things match. When BMW does replace the cluster with a new one...the mileage is already zeroed...and they then write the VIN to the replacement cluster. So again, if you can find someone (other than a BMW dealership) that can zero-out your used cluster...you can then write/code your car's VIN to the module and it should then be able to communicate with the other control modules on the bus and begin sharing the mileage and service data.

BTW...if you don't already have an odometer tamper dot illuminated...you still may want to keep the mileage LOW. You don't want the car to accept the higher mileage because if it does...there's no going back to the lower mileage.

[RollTideBimmer]

I do not have a tamper dot illuminated. This is going to be a 50/50 daily for me. So I'll probably be keeping it at least another 5 years or so. By then I will be right at the 100k mark. At that point it's a matter of cost of repair vs savings during sale.

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

Do some homework and look for vendors or persons that have the knowledge on how to "virginize" an F-chassis instrument cluster. This apparently can be done because we read of owners with the basic cluster and 6WA clusters...finding used digital 6WB clusters and installing them succesfully.

A BMW dealership can do nothing with a used cluster...their software will not let them alter the mileage or write/code a used instrument cluster. Only people that have aftermarket software/hardware which allows them to zero the mileage and code the car's VIN to the used instrument cluster can get a used cluster to work properly.

BMW uses redundant data with the instrument cluster and other control modules...and they must have matching VINs written to them and will only share mileage etc if things match. When BMW does replace the cluster with a new one...the mileage is already zeroed...and they then write the VIN to the replacement cluster. So again, if you can find someone (other than a BMW dealership) that can zero-out your used cluster...you can then write/code your car's VIN to the module and it should then be able to communicate with the other control modules on the bus and begin sharing the mileage and service data.

BTW...if you don't already have an odometer tamper dot illuminated...you still may want to keep the mileage LOW. You don't want the car to accept the higher mileage because if it does...there's no going back to the lower mileage.

[Qsilver7]

If the odometer tamper dot is illuminated...that means the PO (previous owner) never wrote the car”s VIN to the used/replacement instrument cluster. And the “working with BMW” is dubious at best since again, a BMW dealership wont touch a used instrument cluster because their equipment can’t do anything with it. They can’t zero the mileage...thus means they can’t write the VIN to it. They can only install a new one or an officially/licensed reconditioned one.

[Franktea1$]

I have a used Cluster from a F85, need to install into my F85. Is there a way to power this up on the bench to find out the existing mileage before installing it?

Thanks,
Frank

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by Franktea1$

I have a used Cluster from a F85, need to install into my F85. Is there a way to power this up on the bench to find out the existing mileage before installing it?

Thanks,
Frank

Try a google search using this phrase: how to power up a BMW KOMBI instrument cluster

Copy & paste the above phrase into a google search field. The M cluster in the F85 is basically a take off of the 6WA cluster used on the F chassis BMWs. It just has the red needles and M specific digital stuff that appears in the lower half of the display.