[GCOOL1996]

Hello All, looking at purchasing a 2017 435D but noticed in the service history that the first service hadn't been carried out until 2+ years and 31000 in. Does this seem odd/worrying? The service has a green ok which might suggest a service was carried out in between but no evidence to back this. Also the dealer code for the 2 services carried out is ‘AYR’ rather than the usual 5 digit code? I have never seen this before. Any advice appreciated

[Watsey]

Maybe it’s not been serviced but the service indicator/status has been overridden with an app ?

I’d want documented evidence of serviced having been carried out at a main dealer or respected Indy (and I’d call them to verify), otherwise no deal.

[Pond]

31k is a lot of miles for a first oil change IMO.
AYR could be "Ayrshire Independent BMW and Mini specialists" but normally indies come up as 00000 in the iDrive?

What is the history like from 2019 until today?

[GCOOL1996]

Originally Posted by Pond

31k is a lot of miles for a first oil change IMO.
AYR could be "Ayrshire Independent BMW and Mini specialists" but normally indies come up as 00000 in the iDrive?

What is the history like from 2019 until today?

Im thinking that but first time ive ever seen a place name or letters over the 5 digit code. I could maybe call them and find out.

PDI 28.07.17 - 17 miles

03.12.2019 - 31,231 miles

28.05.2021 - 42,184 miles

Nothing else on idrive. They do have another invoice for a service carried out at 60000 miles in early 2023 can’t remember exact date.

[MY340i]

Got a link to the advert?

[Pond]

Originally Posted by GCOOL1996

Im thinking that but first time ive ever seen a place name or letters over the 5 digit code. I could maybe call them and find out.

PDI 28.07.17 - 17 miles

03.12.2019 - 31,231 miles

28.05.2021 - 42,184 miles

Nothing else on idrive. They do have another invoice for a service carried out at 60000 miles in early 2023 can’t remember exact date.

So over 60k miles and three services? Not exactly been pampered. It's the 31k to the first that would concern me. The first few years of an engine's life is the most important IMO.
There must be other 435D cars out there with better history.....it's not like they are rare.

Your call but remember most garages charge £100 + per hour these days and if it needs anything that only a BMW dealership can do it will be double that.

[GCOOL1996]

Originally Posted by MY340i

Got a link to the advert?

https://www.arnoldclark.com/used-cars/bmw/4-series/435d-xdrive-m-sport-2dr-auto-professional-media/2017/ref/arnag-u-41267

[GCOOL1996]

Originally Posted by Pond

So over 60k miles and three services? Not exactly been pampered. It's the 31k to the first that would concern me. The first few years of an engine's life is the most important IMO.
There must be other 435D cars out there with better history.....it's not like they are rare.

Your call but remember most garages charge £100 + per hour these days and if it needs anything that only a BMW dealership can do it will be double that.

Yep, if I or the dealer cant find any other history of service I dont think i’ll be going ahead with it.

[TurboWeasel]

If you can get the car's VIN, you can look at 'Vehicle Histories' on here and see how it compares to the iDrive - https://myair-bdr.bmwgroup.com/air/f...rt.xhtml?guid=

Sounds like the first 18K service isn't showing on the iDrive for some reason.

[Allworth]

Your worries are legit. If an oil hasn't been changed for 31k miles you don't want that car.

[MY340i]

https://smallpdf.com/file#s=af54d28e...5-196ec05869db

password will be the reg in all caps

[GCOOL1996]

Originally Posted by MY340i

https://smallpdf.com/file#s=af54d28e...5-196ec05869db

password will be the reg in all caps

Thanks very much for that. So what are all those things done at Harry Fairbairn glasgow? Repairs?

[Allworth]

Originally Posted by GCOOL1996

Thanks very much for that. So what are all those things done at Harry Fairbairn glasgow? Repairs?

so in April 2018 oil had 3.7k miles of life left, and finally oil was changed in December 2019, which fits the time frame for oil change, but doesn't fit the mileage allowance. So the car made twice the mileage allowed by factory on the same oil. Admittedly, 18k miles factory interval is already hugely stretched, and any motorist will recommend to change it at 12k max. If you consider engine break-in during first few thousands, it is really crucial for oil change.
If this is the only bad thing about this car, I'd consider it very carefully.

[MY340i]

Originally Posted by GCOOL1996

Thanks very much for that. So what are all those things done at Harry Fairbairn glasgow? Repairs?

EGR recall

[un1eash]

You can put what ever you want in the service history. I've done it on mine and a few others. You can even make it look like a main dealer service that's on-time, late or overdue.
This is mine as I did a full service myself but I could change the 00000 to say anything and even show 10048 BMW

[Pond]

Originally Posted by un1eash

You can put what ever you want in the service history. I've done it on mine and a few others. You can even make it look like a main dealer service that's on-time, late or overdue.
This is mine as I did a full service myself but I could change the 00000 to say anything and even show 10048 BMW

Indeed. Without paper invoices, service history is not necessarily to be believed.

Of course the brilliant GDPR rules mean the dealers have a good excuse for not having any paperwork, or destroying it! Makes it even more of a lottery.

There are still people selling blank (and some pre-filled) old fashioned service books on eBay. Using the excuse of "lost service book replacements"...yeah OK!

[SkyJawa]

Originally Posted by Allworth

If this is the only bad thing about this car, I'd consider it very carefully.

I wouldn’t consider it at all.

Plenty of others out there that’ll have been looked after better.

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by Pond

Indeed. Without paper invoices, service history is not necessarily to be believed.

Of course the brilliant GDPR rules mean the dealers have a good excuse for not having any paperwork, or destroying it! Makes it even more of a lottery.

There are still people selling blank (and some pre-filled) old fashioned service books on eBay. Using the excuse of "lost service book replacements"...yeah OK!

I'm fairly sure you can pick up a service book from the dealers? Granted not pre-filled out though haha.

FDSH isn't something I would aim for these days, I'd much rather the car had been looked after by a respected indie. Far too many horror stories at dealers and being burnt by their mistakes puts me right off, I have first hand experience of it.

Anyway, I purchased the service book through my local dealer and then I just have the guys I use stamp it after every service. They're a well trusted tuning/handling/servicing garage who also build their own track cars. My digital service history in the car stops around 2018 when my warranty was up and I could escape dealers, it now continues in the book and whether that'll put people off when the time comes I'm not entirely sure, but I know for sure the car has been treated a lot better than if I had been overpaying at a dealer.

[DB118D]

I'd hazard that it was a dealer car. Demo, service, staff whatever and it was sold on in April 2018

You'd expect it to be serviced at that point, and most likely was, probably not by HF but the wider Arnold Clark group who have serviced it and not recorded it.

As others say, plenty similar cars out there with verifiable history though

[TurboWeasel]

Originally Posted by fortythirtyfive

FDSH isn't something I would aim for these days, I'd much rather the car had been looked after by a respected indie. Far too many horror stories at dealers and being burnt by their mistakes puts me right off, I have first hand experience of it.

Indeed. If you've owned and driven enough cars over the years and have good mechanical aptitude, you instinctively know a good car from a rotter just from visual inspection and the test drive, without even needing to interrogate the service records.

Looked after cars are as obvious as neglected ones.

FDSH is purely for the carphobes who know nothing about them and rely on 'reputable' servicing as a level of trust - and BMW dealers as a whole, are not to be trusted. They can certainly be trusted to drain your bank account for very little in return though.

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by TurboWeasel

Indeed. If you've owned and driven enough cars over the years and have good mechanical aptitude, you instinctively know a good car from a rotter just from visual inspection and the test drive, without even needing to interrogate the service records.

Looked after cars are as obvious as neglected ones.

FDSH is purely for the carphobes who know nothing about them and rely on 'reputable' servicing as a level of trust - and BMW dealers as a whole, are not to be trusted. They can certainly be trusted to drain your bank account for very little in return though.

Not to go off thread too much but from sheering plastic trims with impact guns, to billing me for warranty checks that later turned out to be an issue, those are the sorts of things the dealer network drove me away with.

I spent close to £350 having the steering rack knock diagnosing with no avail, I remember printing out the TSB release and the service adviser brought a mechanic out. He looked shocked that I had provided them with it and asked me where I found it, once I mentioned it came from a forum he ran to a defence of "there's far too much speculation and people talking crap on those websites, ignore everything you hear".

Funnily enough the part became accessible to the public after 2 years of fighting them over it so I had the guys I now trust do the fix.

If the car has a limited warranty then fine, I'll stick to the basic requirements a dealer asks of me, otherwise I wouldn't trust them at all these days, there are so many senior tech to choose from who are leaving dealerships to setup on their own.

Anyway apologies OP, I went down a rabbit hole of a rant there haha

[peetee]

31k first service is a shambles. Anyone even remotely mechanically minded will know this is just wrong 😅