Jump to content
  • When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Odometer reset to "0" ...or not?


Toga

Recommended Posts

Hi everyone! Still working on my 2002tii restoration. I've heard that after a full restoration like the one I did (engine,gearbox, rear drivegear rebuild + total body restoration), it is "common sense" to reset the odometer to O km....
I like the idea.
Did anyone do that job? Is there a DIY about it?
Thanks for you help

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Many original unrestored 2002 odometers are broken.  For those cars, your question is moot since the mileage is unknown.  I have a big box full of salvage yard instrument clusters, ALL of which have dead odometers- there's a little plastic gear that just spins on a metal shaft instead of turning the shaft IIRC.  An odometer from this era can be set to whatever mileage you want, as was sometimes done by used car dealers way back when- thus laws against the practice and the various tamper proof methods used after our cars were built.  

 

I don't know what the restoration community considers correct, but I think it's all about truth.  Resetting the odometer to 0 while making the previous "actual" mileage (working odometer or not) part of the car's permanent record wouldn't bother me if I were buying a restored car. 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, visionaut said:

No. You don’t reset the odo…


+1

 

Tastes and preferences obviously vary!

 

Let me start by saying I don’t trust any ‘02 odometer without lots of documentation. The ‘02, and many cars, have a long history of speedometer, odometer, and speedometer cable failure. And, of course, the five-digit odometer was tailored for cars that were built to last 10 years and be fully consumed by 100,000 miles, as I believe the ‘02 was. Thus, a five-digit odometer on a 20-or-more-year-old car is bound to tell lies. “TMU” or True Mileage Unknown probably describes a large majority of 50-year-old cars.

 

Nonetheless, to me, there is something “slimy and slippery” about altering odometers. Perhaps it’s because I grew up in the era of rampant odometer cheating. Honest people didn’t screw around with odometers; that work was left to third-tier used car sellers. Perhaps it’s because I prefer a partial or flawed history to an erased history. Ten years and two owners from now, that reset to zero will be forgotten and the car will be listed on eBay with “47,000 original miles”… No thanks!

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1

1976 2002 Polaris, 2742541 (original owner)

1973 2002tii Inka, 2762757 (not-the-original owner)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you know that the mileage (or kilometerage--is that a word?) on your car was correct at the time you began the restoration, I would leave it along, and simply record in your repairs/mileage booklet (you do keep one, don't you?) the odometer reading at the time the car's restoration was completed.  However, if you don't know that the odometer reading is correct (how many times has ti rolled over, was it broken when you bought it, etc), then it's your choice:  zero it, or simply note the reading at restoration completion, and note that the previous reading may or may not have been correct.  

 

When the gear on my '73's odometer worked loose and it stopped recording, I kept track of where I drove during the week it wasn't functioning, and when I repaired the odometer, I connected it to my cordless drill and ran those missing 30 or so miles back onto the odometer so it would be absolutely correct.  But that's me...

 

mike

 

 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1

'69 Nevada sunroof-Wolfgang-bought new
'73 Sahara sunroof-Ludwig-since '78
'91 Brillantrot 318is sunroof-Georg Friederich 
Fiat Topolini (Benito & Luigi), Renault 4CVs (Anatole, Lucky Pierre, Brigette) & Kermit, the Bugeye Sprite

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, Mike Self said:

 

… When the gear on my '73's odometer worked loose and it stopped recording, I kept track of where I drove during the week it wasn't functioning, and when I repaired the odometer, I connected it to my cordless drill and ran those missing 30 or so miles back onto the odometer so it would be absolutely correct.  But that's me...

 


 

Geez, Mike, now I’m feeling like a third-rate used car seller from the ‘60’s! When the speedometer cable on the ‘76 broke, 40-some years ago, it was probably a week until I received and installed a new cable. And I did not correct the odometer! Of course, the ‘76’s factory-screw-up speedometer/odometer overstated my speed by 9% for 100,000 miles (indicated), so maybe my cheatin’ on the broken cable was more than offset by BMW’s speedometer screw up on the odometer gearing! ?

 

Best regards,

 

Steve

 

 

1976 2002 Polaris, 2742541 (original owner)

1973 2002tii Inka, 2762757 (not-the-original owner)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Toga said:

I've heard that after a full restoration like the one I did (engine,gearbox, rear drivegear rebuild + total body restoration), it is "common sense" to reset the odometer to O km....

That appears to be a common practice in Europe.  Vintage American muscle cars are imported, totally refurbished and listed with 0 miles, at least in Germany that was the case. But as imports with no "brief" they probably receive a brand new one (brief)

Not sure what hoops you must jump through with TUV (German DMV) to make that happen but its probably many.

In Germany, cars all have a "brief" issued, this document remains with the car  its entire life. Specs, all owners, mileage, history, its all there. Perhaps Belgium is similar?

 

Cars are not tracked like that in the states, no brief, mileage is not tracked and altering odometers is pretty much frowned upon and considered a shady, sharp business practice. ?

 

But you are in Belgium, it may be an accepted practice there, so check it out with Belgian TUV equivalent.

No idea how to actually reset an odometer to zero but on and 02 its probably not too difficult.

Edited by tech71
  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1

76 2002 Survivor

71 2002 Franzi

85 318i  Doris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No body is going to believe it's a new 0 mile 2002, I would record the mileage when you returned the car to the road which is the important data and tell a future buyer that the mileage shown is the best total you can come up with. 

  • Like 2

If everybody in the room is thinking the same thing, then someone is not thinking.

 

George S Patton 

Planning the Normandy Break out 1944

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most of these cars have only the body that went the total miles.  The rest of the mechanicals and suspension parts have been replaced at various times, I see no importance in the odometer reporting the true mileage unless the car is being sold as a low mileage (less than 100k).

Change the diff ratio and the speedo needs changing anyway for the correct ratio.  When I changed from a 3.64 to a 3.90, I bought a new speedometer and started over at 000.  The original speedo has 83K in the box.

Edited by jimk
  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1

A radiator shop is a good place to take a leak.

 

I have no idea what I'm doing but I know I'm really good at it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I bought a complete car and fixed something, I would not change the odometer.

 

When I stripped a shell to bare metal and made a car out of 3 total cars and

various other mechanical parts found at garage sales, I picked

the speedo I liked best, fixed the broken gear, and started out at 0.  

 

That was possibly illegal.  But the statute has run out on it, I'm sure.

 

t

 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1

"I learn best through painful, expensive experience, so I feel like I've gotten my money's worth." MattL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you all for your opinions.  Tech 71 you pointed to a specific topic I didn't think about! The legal side of it! And that's right that in Belgium we have what's called "carpass". This a record of the different "kilometrage" noted by the different places where you went for a service : new tires, engine maintenance etc. Each time you enter a garage, the first thing they do is taking note of the km. And when you sell the car, the carpass follows the car. All this to avoid the cheaters paradise that existed in the past. I'll check that particular point with our Belgian "controle technique" and see what is possible. They will may be note on the pass that the car was fully restored...The aim is not to make believe anyone that this is a new car, but to have an easy reference to her full restoration. I have no history documentation at all about the car and the capass gives only 3 dates in 2009 and nothing before or since then! So not really reliable either. I contacted BMW Germany and I have the exportation date to Paris. But BMW France is not answering to my different e-mails.
At least now for a new "0", I have a full detailed documentation, bills and pictures on what has been done... ...

Important to add that I'm not a professional, and anyway will probably keep the car or transmit it in the close family.
 

Edited by Toga
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Couldn't find any description on how to do a odometer reset or adjustment in any way, so I'm gonna open that question again:

Based in Germany (km) I am swapping my US model speedometer (mph) with an euro (km/h) one BUT would like to continue the odometer mileage and adjust the kilometers accordingly. I don't wanna mess too much with that gears and not break anything or make things worse. So is there a fairly smooth way to adjust the odometer?

 

Seems like one could the little metal plate on the side that holds the only odometer gears and pins I can see ... pull it off and freely spin the pin/gear right at the odometer (both ways cw/ccw would work?); and then simply put screw it back on. But I'm not sure.

 

c167c115-dc53-4eb3-9ea7-f228d66a674d.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here’s my story on this unusual topic for my previous VW Beetle…

 

Purchased used Beetle in April 1993 that was just a shell. Body and floor pan didn’t have matching numbers (72 body, 71 pan).  Title and registration were for the 71 VIN.  Speedometer looked older to me, so I got another used one, cleaned it up and changed the odometer to zero.  Never thought I would sell it, but did so in 2012.  Had to change the title and get a VA State Police officer to examine the car AND get a special plaque to secure to the driver’s door jamb so that it had the 72 VIN.  Buyer got the original speedometer in a box.

 

After that mess, I never have messed with another odometer.

  • Like 2

Jim Gerock

 

Riviera 69 2002 built 5/30/69 "Oscar"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • BMW Neue Klasse - a birth of a Sports Sedan

    BMW Neue Klasse - a birth of a Sports Sedan

    Unveiling of the Neue Klasse Unveiled in 1961, BMW 1500 sedan was a revolutionary concept at the outset of the '60s. No tail fins or chrome fountains. Instead, what you got was understated and elegant, in a modern sense, exciting to drive as nearly any sports car, and yet still comfortable for four.   The elegant little sedan was an instant sensation. In the 1500, BMW not only found the long-term solution to its dire business straits but, more importantly, created an entirely new
    History of the BMW 2002 and the 02 Series

    History of the BMW 2002 and the 02 Series

    In 1966, BMW was practically unknown in the US unless you were a touring motorcycle enthusiast or had seen an Isetta given away on a quiz show.  BMW’s sales in the US that year were just 1253 cars.  Then BMW 1600-2 came to America’s shores, tripling US sales to 4564 the following year, boosted by favorable articles in the Buff Books. Car and Driver called it “the best $2500 sedan anywhere.”  Road & Track’s road test was equally enthusiastic.  Then, BMW took a cue from American manufacturers,
    The BMW 2002 Production Run

    The BMW 2002 Production Run

    BMW 02 series are like the original Volkswagen Beetles in one way (besides both being German classic cars)—throughout their long production, they all essentially look alike—at least to the uninitiated:  small, boxy, rear-wheel drive, two-door sedan.  Aficionados know better.   Not only were there three other body styles—none, unfortunately, exported to the US—but there were some significant visual and mechanical changes over their eleven-year production run.   I’ve extracted t
  • Upcoming Events

  • Supporting Vendors

×
×
  • Create New...