Any help ID'ing this item would be appreciatedlocoboy - 3/10/18 at 08:07 AM
Hi,
I run a specialist vehicle dismantlers and we have gone out on a limb a bit and bought a 2015 Mercedes C220 AMG for breaking.
Upon removing the speedo clocks we found this bit of trickery in between the speedo and the connector that originally plugged into the speedo.
My first thought was that it may be to convert KPH to MPH but the car is a UK spec car so would already be in MPH and was displaying MPH.
It certainly doesn't look factory quality.
Any clues as to what it may be for?
My suspicious mind is running away with me on this one!
[img]Merc
c220 amg by Colin MacColl, on Flickr[/img]
jps - 3/10/18 at 08:43 AM
Could it be a device to remove the 155mph limit?
I suppose that would be done in the ECU somewhere - but it's the only thing I could think of!
wylliezx9r - 3/10/18 at 08:56 AM
I think it could be factory TBH but I may be wrong. Highly unlikely that a C220 would be speed limited in the first place.
I was firstly thinking that it could be to frig the odometer but then the speedo wouldn't read correctly.
[Edited on 3/10/18 by wylliezx9r]
CosKev3 - 3/10/18 at 09:09 AM
No writing or numbers on box?
Could it be some sort of tracker/speed recorder?Either company employee monitoring or for insurance company?
HowardB - 3/10/18 at 09:13 AM
what's under the heatshrink?
gaz_gaz - 3/10/18 at 09:40 AM
It's a device used to stop the miles racking up.
Was it previously a lease car? And is it low miles?
Oh well least you know the engine is bedded in properly now. Haha.
I saw something similar on a merx years ago but had a switch so they could turn off miles on long journeys but keep rev counter etc.
locoboy - 3/10/18 at 10:28 AM
Bang on guys, thanks.
Yes 2014 vehicle and 43K miles puts is within the 10K per year lease limit I would think!
The annoying bit is that it had a private plate on it with the motor company name at the bottom of the plate, and the private plate letters read the
motor company name so we can only assume that they have fitted this device to their own car.
What else have they fitted to their sales cars I wonder!
jeffw - 3/10/18 at 11:07 AM
So they have reset the odometer and this is to stop the car reseting it back to what is should be?
locoboy - 3/10/18 at 11:18 AM
I'm not sure how it works, whether it comes with mileage installed in it and then the car continues to count upwards from that number or whether
it limits the rate at which the miles are added, or like you say allows you to reset the miles and it not revert back to what it used to be.
Upon reading the ebay ads it seems you add the unit in then correct the mileage presumably using a specific diagnostic/programming bit of kit and this
plug in gizmo stops it reverting back to what the other control units know it should be.
How can it even be legal to sell this kind of thing?
[Edited on 3/10/18 by locoboy]
gaz_gaz - 3/10/18 at 11:23 AM
You fit the item then you turn it off and on using a function in the car. Usually stop start button or cruise control. Turned off the odometer counts
up normally. Activated it stops counting..
Sounds very illegal!
Moral of the story, yes even modern day cars can be clocked.
When every you get a new car, whip out the speedo and check for anything like this installed in there!
[Edited on 3/10/18 by locoboy]
nick205 - 3/10/18 at 12:56 PM
quote:Originally posted by locoboy
I'm not sure how it works, whether it comes with mileage installed in it and then the car continues to count upwards from that number or whether
it limits the rate at which the miles are added, or like you say allows you to reset the miles and it not revert back to what it used to be.
Upon reading the ebay ads it seems you add the unit in then correct the mileage presumably using a specific diagnostic/programming bit of kit and this
plug in gizmo stops it reverting back to what the other control units know it should be.
How can it even be legal to sell this kind of thing?
[Edited on 3/10/18 by locoboy]
Probably legal to sell it, but illegal to use it!
If it were illegal to sell then it should reduce the number of them in use.
Daf - 3/10/18 at 02:52 PM
- Legal to buy
- Legal to use
Illegal to sell the car without declaring it or declaring an incorrect mileage. Daft really as why else would you fit it other than to increase the
value by having lower miles!
big_wasa - 3/10/18 at 03:45 PM
Probably to avoid exces mileage penalties on some kind of lease or finance arrangement.
ReMan - 3/10/18 at 10:01 PM
If you search eBay for MILEAGE CORRECTION you'd never buy a decent second hand car again!
jossey - 4/10/18 at 03:35 AM
I've seen it loads when I worked at the auctions with cars which are ex lease and obviously clocked.
As mentioned above its not illegal to alter mileage until you try sell it.
I've seen tons of lease cars coming back with 29500 miles on a 30000 lease. A lot of newer cars 2015 onwards its getting harder to do this.
The new BMW is connected so updates the mileage daily so will be more difficult unless you disable it.
Its a shame with that car that it has been done as the engine may have done 200,000 miles. A more reliable way to tell is wear on belts and rear discs
tell a lot. Also bushes on suspension tend to wear at around 80 to 100k so look at them and see if they have signs of wear.
nick205 - 9/10/18 at 03:20 PM
quote:Originally posted by jossey
I've seen it loads when I worked at the auctions with cars which are ex lease and obviously clocked.
As mentioned above its not illegal to alter mileage until you try sell it.
I've seen tons of lease cars coming back with 29500 miles on a 30000 lease. A lot of newer cars 2015 onwards its getting harder to do this.
The new BMW is connected so updates the mileage daily so will be more difficult unless you disable it.
Its a shame with that car that it has been done as the engine may have done 200,000 miles. A more reliable way to tell is wear on belts and rear discs
tell a lot. Also bushes on suspension tend to wear at around 80 to 100k so look at them and see if they have signs of wear.
Most (if not all) company cars are on an annual mileage figure. If you go over that figure you pay more as the value of the car will have dropped
more. I can well imagine people trying to find ways around this!
Angel Acevedo - 9/10/18 at 05:34 PM
Am I the only one to notice that doing so the car will have more miles with less service visits? therefore even worst condition?
nick205 - 10/10/18 at 04:23 PM
quote:Originally posted by Angel Acevedo
Am I the only one to notice that doing so the car will have more miles with less service visits? therefore even worst condition?
Not the only one to notice this, but if it's a leased company car or private lease as long as the car survives to the end of the lease term the
driver's not going to be worried since they won't own the car anyway.
gremlin1234 - 12/12/19 at 04:13 PM
Merc
c220 amg by Colin MacColl, on Flickr[/img]