I queried the low miles with HJ earlier today and was advised that such low mileages are relatively common on cars in the Middle East where one person can often own 10 vehicles. However if it came to the UK in '06 then it's had 6 years here to put on a decent mileage, unless it's been locked away in the proverbial barn.

My friend has been told it has a full BMW service history and has been looked after by a BMW dealer in Leigh on Sea, Essex recently.

Low miles is also common on a grey import, originally built with a kph speedo - when it's converted/changed for a mph one, there's no requirement to show the true distance covered.

Why not wait on a decent UK car coming along and avoiding the hassles with a foreign car when buying, and even greater hassles when selling.

Anyone who buys a V12 BMW without a FULL BMW Service history and 3 year warranty has no financial sense .. or is hoping to be very lucky.

The model year of the vehicle is given by the 10th digit of the VIN.

Buying a vehicle of this nature from a trader whose practices may be as you describe is like making a bonfire of money - although that's a lot less trouble.

Being besotted by a vehicle and its specification is not the way to land a bargain - and neither is a lack of basic knowledge relating to vehicle age and origin.

659.

I'm afraid you are sadly mistaken Sandy.

I run an ever so 'umble Kia Cee'd SW with room for dogs etc.

My pension won't stretch to such a sophisticated mechanical marvel as a Beemer 760 and won't allow me to revel in such beautifully manicured leather and exquisite walnut with detailed marquetry.

No, t'is as I originally posted, a situation that a dear friend has found himself in.

It's a RHD and you can easily see it on Autotrader, still posted for its original price, Funnily enough £10K was what he was offering to pay for it.

I guess he's been lucky so far too as he's run three of them with no massive money issues, although he did tell me that he clattered a door mirror on a country lane and it cost over a thousand pounds to replace.

but a RHD would not have needed a speedo change .

UK is the only significant RHD country to use miles - Ireland, Australia and Japan all use kilometers

The difference as stated above if you read properly is the fact that these countries may drive on the right but use KMs and not miles.

Whoops, small gremlin there: Nigeria changed to driving on the right in 1972!