Cheap W210 E55 with Sketchy History
Thread Starter
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Joined: Sep 2019
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BMW
Cheap W210 E55 with Sketchy History
Hi,
I'm new here from Bimmerforums, but I am hoping to get into a W210 E55 soon. I've found a car I thought looked great for a good price, but as I did more digging, I realized that it was once declared a total loss. However, according to the history report it was issued a salvage title erroneously but was later corrected (and the photo I have of the title doesn't show any branding). Also, the seller claims that the mileage shows 160k, but the history report shows it as being 250k+. So, I am wondering if the odometer was changed back 100k miles, or maybe the cluster pixels are burnt out? I can't think of anything else that could cause this discrepancy. All in, this car definitely has a rough past, but is extremely cheap and I likely could sell it for more as a parts car if I wanted to after driving for a while. So, I thought I'd ask around here and see if you guys think I should look at it in person or not, or run away as fast as possible. Thanks in advance! Really want a W210 E55, but they are hard to find and I am mostly looking at high-milage rougher examples anyway.
Best,
Lucas
I'm new here from Bimmerforums, but I am hoping to get into a W210 E55 soon. I've found a car I thought looked great for a good price, but as I did more digging, I realized that it was once declared a total loss. However, according to the history report it was issued a salvage title erroneously but was later corrected (and the photo I have of the title doesn't show any branding). Also, the seller claims that the mileage shows 160k, but the history report shows it as being 250k+. So, I am wondering if the odometer was changed back 100k miles, or maybe the cluster pixels are burnt out? I can't think of anything else that could cause this discrepancy. All in, this car definitely has a rough past, but is extremely cheap and I likely could sell it for more as a parts car if I wanted to after driving for a while. So, I thought I'd ask around here and see if you guys think I should look at it in person or not, or run away as fast as possible. Thanks in advance! Really want a W210 E55, but they are hard to find and I am mostly looking at high-milage rougher examples anyway.
Best,
Lucas
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Joined: Nov 2015
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From: Westcoast/Interior
02w163ML500 / 97w210E50AMG / 99w202C230k / 95w124500e-wip
Hi,
I'm new here from Bimmerforums, but I am hoping to get into a W210 E55 soon. I've found a car I thought looked great for a good price, but as I did more digging, I realized that it was once declared a total loss. However, according to the history report it was issued a salvage title erroneously but was later corrected (and the photo I have of the title doesn't show any branding). Also, the seller claims that the mileage shows 160k, but the history report shows it as being 250k+. So, I am wondering if the odometer was changed back 100k miles, or maybe the cluster pixels are burnt out? I can't think of anything else that could cause this discrepancy. All in, this car definitely has a rough past, but is extremely cheap and I likely could sell it for more as a parts car if I wanted to after driving for a while. So, I thought I'd ask around here and see if you guys think I should look at it in person or not, or run away as fast as possible. Thanks in advance! Really want a W210 E55, but they are hard to find and I am mostly looking at high-milage rougher examples anyway.
Best,
Lucas
I'm new here from Bimmerforums, but I am hoping to get into a W210 E55 soon. I've found a car I thought looked great for a good price, but as I did more digging, I realized that it was once declared a total loss. However, according to the history report it was issued a salvage title erroneously but was later corrected (and the photo I have of the title doesn't show any branding). Also, the seller claims that the mileage shows 160k, but the history report shows it as being 250k+. So, I am wondering if the odometer was changed back 100k miles, or maybe the cluster pixels are burnt out? I can't think of anything else that could cause this discrepancy. All in, this car definitely has a rough past, but is extremely cheap and I likely could sell it for more as a parts car if I wanted to after driving for a while. So, I thought I'd ask around here and see if you guys think I should look at it in person or not, or run away as fast as possible. Thanks in advance! Really want a W210 E55, but they are hard to find and I am mostly looking at high-milage rougher examples anyway.
Best,
Lucas
Lesson #1 - you get what you pay for.
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 9
Likes: 5
BMW
I was also thinking that, but I'd pay no more than $1k for it, at which point I figure I can't really lose for a perfectly drivable E55... but maybe the hassle is not worthwhile.
