If you own a BMW, one important check you need to do is checking the mileage history records. Checking odometer history is essential because it allows you to easily discover the number of miles or distance covered by the vehicle.
Also, if you ever plan on selling your vehicle, knowing the correct mileage allows you to easily sell the vehicle without any issues. You must be wondering do miles matter while selling a car?
Well, yes mileage affects the selling price of the vehicle. Miles traveled by a vehicle is an indication of wear the car has sustained in its lifetime. In this article, we will be discussing how to easily check the mileage on your BMW vehicle and also answer any questions around this topic.
How to check the mileage on a BMW
Before checking the mileage, you need to know where the odometer is located. The odometer is an instrument used for measuring the distance traveled by your vehicle. The location of the odometer is usually on the dashboard meter panel of the vehicle.
The odometer is usually placed near the information circle related to the tachometer and speedometer. Tachometer is a tool to measure the rotation of a car engine, while Speedometer is a tool to measure the speed of a car.
If your vehicle is equipped with the BMW operating system 7, when you enter your vehicle, the odometer is located in the instrument cluster just at the dashboard.
After starting the vehicle using the start/stop button, the instrument cluster will switch to your current location. This will usually display the total mileage. If you would like to see the total while the engine is running, then you can use the button on the turn indicator lever.
There is also a thing called a journey data widget which shows the total driven mileage. If you want to reset the journey data widget, you simply long press on the turn indicator.
After switching off the drive ready state, the odometer will appear again which displays the mileage on your BMW.
Here is a YouTube video that shows you how to do this
Is an Odometer the same thing as Mileage?
Odometer and mileage are two different things and they have different meanings. An odometer is simply an instrument that is used to measure the distance traveled while mileage is the fuel consumption per kilometer. The distance traveled with a vehicle helps in finding out the mileage.
The odometer reading comes in very handy if you are looking to sell your vehicle and it also helps you calculate the mileage.
What is the purpose of an odometer in a vehicle?
We all know what an odometer is used for in a vehicle, but here are some other uses of an odometer in a vehicle
- The resale value of a vehicle: The amount of kilometers a vehicle has traveled is one of the biggest factors that determines its resale value. If the mileage is high then it is likely that the condition of the vehicle will be worse than if it was low.
- The fuel consumption: You can reset the day’s reading of an odometer to evaluate the fuel efficiency. If you plan on using your car for daily commute, this is a very beneficial feature as you can evaluate your finances and set your monthly budget as needed.
- Running time of a tire:. We all know that the tires of a car will go through wear and tear and the shelf life of a tire is determined by the kilometers it has been used for. So by checking the mileage on the odometer we can quickly know when a tire needs to be replaced. The running life of a tire is usually between 10,000km to 50,000km.
- Service and maintenance. The odometer can also be used as a reference for drivers to determine maintenance and service requirements for their vehicles. So by regularly checking the mileage, drivers can have a sense of when to schedule maintenance and oil change of their vehicles. If you want to learn about upcoming services & maintenance of your vehicle run a VIN check now and get service and maintenance report free.
Can the odometer be reset?
Before you think of resetting your odometer, let us tell you that it is deemed as fraud and you should abstain from doing it. But yes, you can reset the odometer in your vehicle. To do so you need to replace the entire car components from the engine, transmission, suspension, brakes, alternator, wiring and so much more.
If you are thinking of buying a used vehicle, running a check for odometer fraud is a good idea so you can avoid buying a vehicle with odometer rollback.
How to calculate mileage from a VIN number
The best method to calculate the real mileage of a car is by using a VIN decoder. By using a VIN decoder, you will obtain a full vehicle history report which will not only tell the true mileage of a car at different periods of time but will also show the average mileage of such models.
The history will have all of the accidents the car has experienced, the countries it has been registered in and even the archive photos if there are any available. It also gives information about odometer rollback records or if the vehicle was the victim of miles busting.
How to know if the mileage has been changed
To spot if the mileage of a vehicle has been tampered with, look closely at the numbers on the odometer. Some auto makers program odometers to show an asterisk if the mileage is changed. If you see a white or silver space, the odometer probably has been changed.
Conclusion
Checking the mileage on your BMW is very easy. All you need to do is to locate the odometer and you can view the mileage history. Want to check if your vehicle mileage has been tampered with then run a VIN check now.