Japan spec vs UK spec recons?

[anxious]

Over the CNY weekend I met my colleague's Japanese client and he confirmed that Japanese rarely drive to work and use their cars during the weekend. His 2 year old car only has done 14000km. He also stated that cars are disposed b4 they reach eiher their 3rd or 5th year as there are mandatory inspections done in Japan in Year 3 & 5 and such inspections are quite expensive. He also told me that a car with over 30k km was considered high mileage. That got me thinking about Japan spec cars. From what I have read I understand that Jap spec hv different radio type, mostly fabric/alcantara than leather, Jatco gearbox. What are your experieces with Japan spec BMWs. How does it compare to UK spec cars? Mind sharing your experiences? Thanks

 

[JKay]

All I know that is in the UK, a car with 30k KM would not be considered high mileage at all. Mate of mine got an SL55 from UK recently, 60k miles (100k KM), and that was normal for the age of the car (2002)

My dads Merc S320 only had 3000 KM when he bought it a year a go, its a 2002 car, and the dealer said its coz Japanese rarely use the cars, but I found it hard to believe that i could only have 3000 km after 5 years

 

[tamade7]

Most of the reconditioned cars have their mileage tempered. For e39 and e46 it's so easy to check. All you need to do is to read the LCM mileage and compared it to the cluster mileage. So far I have never seen a reconditioned car which tallies.

 

[SilverACBimmer]

I vote for Japanese as it normally come with more features.. also most of the low mileage are genuine.... not all la

 

[AlexNg]

europians like to go long distance ma, and jap roads are so tiny. hehe..

dad's w211 bought 2 years is a 2003 car, only 50,000 km mileage from UK, considered rare batch, low mileage.

 

[anxious]

I have learnt that low mileage isnt always better.

However it would seem that a 20-30k km mileage from a 3 year old Japanese car quite possible.

A friend of mine got a 2005 E60 525i Japan spec with 16000km on it late last year.

My visual inspection of the car revealed that it looks very new. But of course looks can be deceiving.

Anyway what have your experiences been with Japanese spec cars. I am sure that a lot of forumers are keen to compare notes.

Cheers.

 

[JKay]

. All you need to do is to read the LCM mileage and compared it to the cluster mileage. So far I have never seen a reconditioned car which tallies.

Will this still work if the car had a new LCM installed? Sometimes you need to get a new LCM when for example installing LED lights

If you tamper with E46 mileage and tak pandai, the tamper dot will appear

The thing is when you clock these cars, you have reprogramme the speedo, the lcm and all the keys too to make sure they all tally up. So even if the dot isn't there, dont assume the car is 100% ok.

 

[E46enthu]

So the dot appears mean the mileage has been tempered? May I know where did you find this information saying that if the dot appears mean mileage tempered? Can the dealer make the dot disappear using computer?

 

[JKay]

So the dot appears mean the mileage has been tempered? May I know where did you find this information saying that if the dot appears mean mileage tempered? Can the dealer make the dot disappear using computer?

Yes thats the tamper dot, which indicates the mileage may have been tampered with. Your car got?

I found this info on several other BMW forums, and also asked the dealer about it in UK when I paid them a visit

Edit: Not sure if they can make this dot disappear, but dont see why they cant. Best is to ask them

 

[E46enthu]

Jkay, no my car does not have the dot but my fren's car does.

He got a 2003 325CI with 18k mileage on it. The condition of the car does reflect the low mileage tho, new car like. The previous owner bought it new from the UK and its his 4th car so my fren is not sure why he would temper with the mileage, if he did. Now that I told him he want me to find out if he can 'erase' the dot.

 

[tamade7]

New LCM can be programmed to reflect the original mileage.

Will this still work if the car had a new LCM installed? Sometimes you need to get a new LCM when for example installing LED lights

If you tamper with E46 mileage and tak pandai, the tamper dot will appear

The thing is when you clock these cars, you have reprogramme the speedo, the lcm and all the keys too to make sure they all tally up. So even if the dot isn't there, dont assume the car is 100% ok.

 

[tamade7]

I think it's more like the other way round. Most of the low mileage are not genuine. Do a LCM check is the best way to tell.

I vote for Japanese as it normally come with more features.. also most of the low mileage are genuine.... not all la

 

[anxious]

Ok guys, let me steer the focus away from the mileage issue.

Can anyone summarise the differences b/w UK spec vs Japan spec BMWs.

It would seem that you are more likely to get a lower mileage Japan spec car but whether its genuiene is anybody's guess.

What about the car itself, what differences should one expect.

 

[E46enthu]

May I know what is LCM and where can I get my fren to go and check it? TQ

 

[JKay]

Jkay, no my car does not have the dot but my fren's car does.

He got a 2003 325CI with 18k mileage on it. The condition of the car does reflect the low mileage tho, new car like. The previous owner bought it new from the UK and its his 4th car so my fren is not sure why he would temper with the mileage, if he did. Now that I told him he want me to find out if he can 'erase' the dot.

Since its a UK car, get the VIN no, ring or email BMW UK customer services, and they will tell you any recorded service the car has had at a BMW dealer, and this may reveal the cars true mileage.

Maybe its not your friend who tampered with it, but could have been anyone.

 

[E46enthu]

Jkay, the car was brought in new from the UK so I doubt that there is any service record in the UK. But may be will get my friend to email BMW UK to verify since he wanted to know.

I do not think my friend tamper with the meter as he does not know much bout car except driving it.

 

[JKay]

anxious

WIth regard to your original question, dont know much about Jap spec cars, but I know UK spec E46 M3's come with the full 343 BHP, unlike USA models which only come with 333 BHP due to emission laws.

So dont know where Jap cars come into all this

 

[E46enthu]

Just some update.

After my disuccion here with fellow forumers, my friend did some research and found that the manipulation dot appears only if the VIN numbers of the IKE and LCM don't match and not because of a mileage difference. And according to him, the previous owner has changed the light before, so this could be the reason.

He is getting his mech. to check it out.Will keep all of you updated if interested.

 

[naharnms]

didnt the japanese spec car has a cut-off limit at 180 km/h, or is it only for japanese made car like supra, evos n such ?

 

[Abe Jak]

didnt the japanese spec car has a cut-off limit at 180 km/h, or is it only for japanese made car like supra, evos n such ?

no lah..mine is 318i japan spec m-sport...can reach 200km/h(trg-kl highway)...no joke dude..