Previous owner service records?

So, I picked up a new(to me) car this weekend - a 2003 325Xi 5-speed, sport package, etc. It was with the original owner all its life and serviced at a BMW dealer in upstate NY. The car fax was not just clean, but indicated meticulous and regular visits to the dealer to have things done, right up till a few months ago for what looks like service 1 or 2.

While this is good and all, some notations on the car fax are a little vague and only read "service" while some, like the recent ones, indicate what fluids were flushed, changed, etc.

Anyway, to my point, I have been told that it is nearly impossible to obtain copies of the service history on a car, particularly throught a BMW dealer because the records belong solely to the previous owner and BMWNA and as such, would be a violation of privacy. Does this sound right? I was just hoping to keep tabs on the history from the day it was new.

Yes, that's right. Most companies won't release records from the previous owner. In my experience, German companies are the hardest to get info out of.

With consent from P/O we used to release our records when I was in the biz.

If you bought the car directly from the original owner, can you contact them to see if they have the receipts?

It seems like a relatively high percentage of BMW keep records on their cars -When I bought mine, the previous owners provided big binders full of records of just about everything (including oil changes and car washes) dating back to when they were brand new.

Klayfish wrote: Yes, that's right. Most companies won't release records from the previous owner. In my experience, German companies are the hardest to get info out of.

But the Germans, they do love their records.