Odometer

[318i 1985]

First off I should say thankfully I am not having any issues with my odometer however in researching these cars prior to buying it seemed as if it was common for the odometers to break. The most frequent reason was resetting the trip odometer.

With the cost of gas and simpley as a diagnostic I track my gas mileage by miles/gall., so finally the question is on a 22 year old car am I rolling the dice by doing this a couple of times a week?

85 318i 118K and counting.

 

[Big Daddy]

I have never heard of this problem and have never had an issue with the odometer in my e30 or any of my bmw's for that matter. Keep doing what your doing.

 

[Average Jae]

couple times a week? you fill up that often?

 

[Doughnut]

I've got 200 000km+ on my clock and it still clicks over fine.
Im sure you wouldent be "rolling the dice" if you travel the same distance each week and you turn up very similar numbers in tearms on mpg.

couple times a week? you fill up that often?

Must have a long commute?

 

[echothreezero]

Also never heard of this prob. Plus swapping out speedo's is easy as is doctoring the kms to match the old one.

Edit: Sorry miles, forgot I'm on a yanky forum.

 

[318i 1985]

yeah I do about 110 miles a day for the commute. I do feel a little guilty driving this car that only had 114k put on it in its first 22 years then racking up 2.5K a month but I did buy it for an economical (gas and cash outlay), sporty, commuter. So far so good.....

I guess what i heard was a bunch of bull from less than reputable sellers on ebay. Thanks for the straight word.

 

[Kirby]

Yes, this is a known problem. It's been discussed here in the past. Check this thread or search here on odometer gear. I had the exact same problem in my 87 Volvo years ago, which also use a VDO instrument cluster.

Apparently the plastic breaks down over heat and time and cracks from use. In some cases, the odometer gear breaks even if you don't use the reset.

If you are worried about it, don't use the reset. just subtract the old total mileage from the new.

 

[Big Daddy]

The most frequent reason was resetting the trip odometer

This is the part I was responding to, I am sure this is not the reason!

 

[Kirby]

On my Volvo, if you reset the mileage or even fiddled with the reset knob, the odometer could be made to stop or start working.

 

[MTBL525i]

I'm with Dan on this one, I reset my trip odometer at every fill up and know a bunch of guys that have been doing the same for years - never had any problems.

 

[nadroj]

odo breaking is a common problem on e30s mine broke and my friends broke. it mainly happends through reving fast i think. because mine broke while at autox

 

[Big Daddy]

On my Volvo, if you reset the mileage or even fiddled with the reset knob, the odometer could be made to stop or start working.

I know what you are talking about Kirby, I had an old chev that would do that, it was like if you reset it too slowly it would wind up between gears, but that was an old style odo. Never experienced the problem with my 318is. Maybe I was just lucky!

 

[E30m42cab]

Out of the 3 E30's I own(ed), and my girlfriends E30, all the odometer still work. The lowest in KM's is my cabrio and it's at 239,000km, and I press the reset at every fill up. I've had both VDO and Motometer gauge clusters, and even if they do break, they are easy to swap out, and the numbers are very easy to doctor to match the car. I would worry about when my timing belt was going to break more than worrying about the odometer. Don't worry, just enjoy the car

 

[Doughnut]

And if all that is wrong with the car is the odometer, I'd buy it

 

[echothreezero]

Odometer for sale: $2500. Comes with free e30.

 

[jrt67ss350]

The odometer gears break because over time and exposure to heat, the grease that VDO/Motometer applied to the gears in the factory eats away at the plastic, turning the plastic gears into a fragile gummy, rubbery mess. The gears then easily crack or the teeth fall off.

The gears that are affected by the grease "decay" are a completely separate mechanism from the trip odometer reset mechanism in the E30 BMW. Resetting the trip meter will NOT accelerate the wear on the odometer gears or cause the gears to fail more quickly. So, don't be afraid to use the trip meter. Plus, if a gear breaks, it's an easy fix.

 

[nadroj]

Maybe that why mine broke (and my friends) broke so easy. Both our cars spent their lives in texas. and it gets hot in texas

 

[Doughnut]

The odometer gears break because over time and exposure to heat, the grease that VDO/Motometer applied to the gears in the factory eats away at the plastic, turning the plastic gears into a fragile gummy, rubbery mess.

So your saying that the lubricant (grease) is not nessesary/should be removed? Dunno why they'd put it there if it leads the odo to being unservicable? I'm thinking its a one of those things that gives us mechanics.... A job

 

[jrt67ss350]

Well, I'm not saying the lubricant isn't necessary - it's just that the combination of the type of lubricant they used, the type of plastic the gears were made out of, and 20 years of heat cycling all lead to deterioration of the plastic.

That being said - when I replaced my gears, I did NOT lubricate them with any type of grease or lube and they worked great. In most cases, I doubt the gears need to be lubed.

 

[Doughnut]

Well, I'm not saying the lubricant isn't necessary - it's just that the combination of the type of lubricant they used, the type of plastic the gears were made out of, and 20 years of heat cycling all lead to deterioration of the plastic.

That being said - when I replaced my gears, I did NOT lubricate them with any type of grease or lube and they worked great. In most cases, I doubt the gears need to be lubed.

Fair enough, I'll be taking this into consideration whan i have to replace the gears in my dads nissan.
donut.