Hi all, I just bought a 97 E320. The odometer mileage disagrees substancially with the title applications odometer listing over the years. My question is is it possible to operate the car with the odometer disconnected ( my BMWs would not run with it inop)? I bought it from an 80 year old lady who was agast at my suggestion of foul play. Also, even I think I know the answer to this, is it possible to tamper with the odometer by a wizard or something? I suspect that at some point, someone transposed a couple of numbers on the title application, but that will be very difficult to trace.Thislittle old lady did not keep all her service records, but the ones she did keep seem to confirm the odometer reading with the time frames involved. Anyway,any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

Best to not disconnect it from the cluster.It is registered in the ecu if checked.
Some dealers on some models can reprogram with the star diagnostic machine,or you could look around for a cluster with closer miles at a mb wrecking yard.Why does it bother you so?
ohlord

 

The reason it matters is that the title (when last re-registered in 2004) lists the mileage as 104,000. Currently, the odometer has 77,000 in the window. If I accept this difference and decide to sell it later, I will have a very hard time explaining the discrepancy to a new buyer. I am trying to discover if the last owner drove it with no speedometer or odometer for several years. If so, that greatly changes the value of the car( over a thousand dollars)( one owner, but she changed states three times since 1997).

 

Somebody replaced the cluster probably because of the dead pixel issues and did not note it in the records.The car is only worth in the 5-6tho range as it is so by the time you sell it any explanation you give as to the odo being off will have little to no influence on the selling price.Keeping it properly maintained is the best thing you can do to preserve its value.
ohlord