2011 BMW X3 XDRIVE35I VIN 5UXWX7C55BL733232

The BMW X3 XDRIVE35I described here left the factory in 2011. Power reaches the wheels through an automatic gearbox. Under the bonnet is a 3.0-litre petrol engine producing 300 hp.

At the time of recording, the car had covered 130,903 miles. The figure is in miles and needs converting before it is compared with kilometres: one mile is about 1.6 km. A single figure proves little: what makes a mileage believable is a series of readings that rise steadily over the years. Title paperwork often notes the mileage at each change of owner, which makes it a useful cross-check.

The record lists damage to the left side as the main problem on this car. A damage entry is a starting point for the inspection, telling the mechanic where to look first. Given the kind of damage entered, a mechanic should look first at the pillars, sills and doors on the left side.

The record notes that the car ran and drove. A key was there when the car was checked. Months of standing can leave a car with seized brakes and perished tyres.

The record shows a salvage title. Such a title means the car was declared a total loss and can return to the road only after repair and inspection.

Behind every used car lies a string of events: who owned it and for how long, what the inspections found and which repairs and claims were made. Pieces of a car’s history sit with registries, dealers, workshops and insurance companies, and none of them sees the whole picture. What a car has been through is seldom visible at first glance, and a respray can make even a badly damaged car look sound.

A cold start, the colour of the exhaust smoke and any oil leaks tell a mechanic a good deal about how an engine has been treated. A petrol engine in good order starts cleanly, idles evenly and pulls without hesitation. Automatic transmissions, CVTs included, are expensive to repair, so the test drive should include pulling away from a standstill and a stretch at motorway speed. Drive to all four wheels means more to maintain: differentials and couplings have oil of their own, which some manufacturers want changed at set intervals.

Every modern car carries a 17-character VIN, and no two cars share one. The VIN on file for this car is 5UXWX7C55BL733232. The VIN usually appears at the base of the windscreen, on a door pillar and stamped into the body, and all of them should match the documents.

What a history report can list depends on what has been documented about the car: registrations, mileage readings, damage, branded titles and theft reports. Paperwork is only as complete as the people who kept it, so a report with few entries lowers the risk without removing it. However complete the paperwork, only an inspection shows the condition of the body, suspension, brakes and electrics today. Before going any further with this BMW X3 XDRIVE35I, it makes sense to look up VIN 5UXWX7C55BL733232.