Monthly Archives: July 2020

Car Care

Why You Should Never Park Your BMW on the Street

Bringing a BMW home means you’re taking on a certain responsibility. You need to care for it, protect it and maintain it — if for no other reason than a well-maintained BMW will last you for many years. Where should you be parking your BMW, and why should you avoid parking it in the street?

Careless Drivers

You can be the safest driver in the world, but you have no control over all the other drivers on the road. All it takes is one distracted driver — especially an uninsured one — and you’ll find yourself on the hook for a costly deductible or expensive repairs. Parking your car in the street leaves you vulnerable to anyone texting and driving, doing their makeup or trying to eat breakfast while they’re driving to work.

Car Thieves

A luxury car like a BMW is a prime target for car thieves. According to industry experts, most car thefts occur when you park a vehicle on the street or on your property. Leaving your BMW on the street is like walking into a junkyard while wearing a steak around your neck to greet the junkyard dog. Don’t make your favorite vehicle a tempting target. 

Snow Plows

In the winter, the most dangerous thing isn’t the ice, snow or cold temperatures — at least to your car. No, the most dangerous beast is the snowplow your city uses to keep your streets clear. If you leave your BMW on the street, you could end up with scratched paint, broken windows or worse. The snowplow driver isn’t targeting your car maliciously — they just can’t see it under all that snow, so you’re tempting fate by leaving it on the side of the road.

Keep your car in the garage during the winter months to avoid this kind of damage. If you’re worried about an old garage door opener that might not function as it used to, upgrade your current model for one connected to a smart home system. Some even come with security lights and alarms to ensure your ride’s security.

Harsh Weather 

A rainy day might seem like an easy way to wash your car, but harsh weather can do all sorts of damage to your vehicle. Severe winds can throw debris that will scratch your paint. Hailstones can break windows and shatter windshields. Parking your car on the street leaves it vulnerable to all of these things. Around 20% of the automobiles parked on the street regularly get struck with flying debris.

Birds

If you park outside, there’s always the risk that a passing bird might poop on your car. In addition to being unsightly, bird poop and splattered bugs are both acidic enough to burn through your BMW’s clear coat in 48 hours or less. Leave it for too long, and it could potentially eat down to the bare metal. The easiest way to avoid this is to park your car indoors and keep it off the street. 

Always Park Indoors When You Can

There are plenty of reasons to park indoors whenever you can, especially if you spent the money to bring home a luxury car like a BMW. Rocks, bird poop, careless drivers and snowplows can all damage your vehicle if you park on the street. Save yourself the expense and heartache by parking in your garage as often as possible. 

Information

How to Buy an Antique BMW

BMW may not be one of the oldest companies in the world, but it has more than 100 years of experience in automotive engineering. That means that if you want to add an antique BMW to your collection, you’ve got decades of models to choose from. Here’s how to find one you can enjoy for years to come.

Set Your Budget

This is the first thing you should do before you buy a car — whether you’re bringing home a new BMW or looking for the perfect antique to add to your collection. Set a budget and stick to it. When you’re looking for a new-to-you car, it’s easy to spend an arm and a leg — and a couple of nonessential organs — trying to bring home the perfect one. Establishing a budget will keep you from breaking the bank. 

Choose Your Seller

When you’re looking for an antique car, you’ve got three potential seller types to choose from, each with its pros and cons. Auctions can be more affordable, but won’t give you the option to inspect or test-drive the vehicle before buying it. Dealerships might have a better selection, but they’ll be more expensive because of dealer fees. Private sellers can be hit-or-miss — you might find a treasure from a widow who just wants to get rid of her late husband’s collection, or you might find someone trying to scam you out of your antique car fund. Choose carefully. 

Have a Safe Place to Park 

Don’t bring home a piece of automotive history unless you have a safe place to store it. Parking an antique BMW in your driveway or on the street is like asking a car thief to take it off your hands. In addition to protecting your vehicle from unsavory elements, parking in an insulated garage can protect your new addition from anything Mother Nature might throw at it. Antique cars tend to not do as well in extreme temperatures, so the more you can do to make your garage climate-controlled, the better.

Learn Its History

Now that you have your new BMW safely stored in your garage, we can move on to the fun part. Take some time to learn about your car’s history. It might be something simple — maybe you purchased it from a private seller who bought it new and has maintained it carefully throughout its lifetime. It could be something exotic — maybe it belonged to a gangster in Chicago during Prohibition or showed up in the background of a classic black-and-white movie. Perhaps it’s just your favorite BMW model of all time. 

Any way you look at it, you’re bringing home a piece of BMW history, and it might have an incredible story to tell. 

Restore and Enjoy

You may find your favorite BMW, but unless its previous owner kept it in the garage, it will likely need some TLC to bring it back to its former glory. Take the time to restore it so you can enjoy it fully and show it off around town. If you care for it properly, it will serve you well for years to come. 

Car Care

10 Tips to Take Better Care of Your BMW

When you shop for a new car, you have dozens of makes and models to choose from, but owning a BMW is a unique experience. These marvelous examples of automotive engineering can last for decades if you care for them well. Here are 10 tips to help you take better care of your BMW:

1. Polish Your Headlights

No matter how well you care for your BMW, the plastic headlight covers fog up over time, which reduces visibility at night and in poor weather. Thankfully, all you need to polish your headlights is some abrasive headlight compound, a buffing wheel and any old electric drill. Apply the buffing compound and buff until the headlight is clear again. With a little effort, you’ve made your BMW safer.

2. Remove Any Salt Buildup

Salt buildup will be an issue in any location that uses salt to melt snow and ice from the roads during the winter. Salt and other de-icing chemicals can damage your BMW, encouraging rust and corrosion. If you’re driving on salted or treated roads, make sure you’re hosing off your undercarriage to remove any salt or chemical buildup. If this location is your permanent residence, you may even want to invest in an anti-corrosive undercarriage coating. 

3. Have Your Engine Checked

They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and that goes double for taking care of your BMW. Whenever you head into the shop for regular maintenance, have your engine checked to ensure everything is working correctly. Catching small problems before they cause your car to break down can save you a lot of money in the long run. 

4. Flush Your Brakes

When we think about our car brakes, we usually picture changing brake pads and having rotors turned. But unless there is a problem, we generally don’t think about the brake fluid that transmits that hydraulic pressure. Still, automotive manufacturers recommend flushing and changing your brake fluid every two years. You should do this because brake fluid readily absorbs moisture, which can damage your anti-lock braking system’s (ABS) components over time. 

5. Check and Rotate Your Tires

AC Schnitzer M3 Wheel

It sounds simple, but something as easy as checking your tire pressure can make a world of difference. Underinflated tires don’t grip the road as well as properly inflated ones. They also reduce fuel economy. Check your tire pressure weekly and schedule a tire rotation every 3,000-6,000 miles to ensure everything is wearing evenly. 

6. Flush and Fill Your Transmission

Your BMW dealer will tell you your transmission is a lifetime fill, meaning you never have to do anything with it. It’s a great excuse to sell you a new transmission. That’s why you might hear people complaining about how BMW transmissions tend to slip at 70,000 to 90,000 miles. Instead of spending thousands on a new drive train, flush your transmission and replace the filter every 50,000 miles to keep your BMW running smoothly. 

7. Change Your Oil More Often Than Recommended

Your owner’s manual likely recommends you change your BMW’s oil every 12,000 to 15,000 miles. This can allow carbon to build up on your intake valves, which can cause a whole host of different problems — especially if you drive or live in a hot climate. Instead, change your oil every 5,000 miles or so, especially if the temperature outside is climbing. 

8. Park in the Shade

Ultraviolet (UV) rays are awful for your BMW. They can damage both the interior and the exterior over time, causing all sorts of problems. Whenever possible, park in the shade. You may also want to protect your exterior with a UV-resistant wax for those times when parking in the sun is unavoidable. 

9. Be Picky About Your Fuel

It’s tempting to drive up to whichever gas station crosses your path when you need a fill-up, but if you want to protect your BMW, you need to be picky about your fuel. Only use reputable gas stations. Others can look great on the outside but may not mix their fuel correctly. Or, they may have dirty tanks that can cause more problems. 

10. Treat and Protect Your Interior

It doesn’t matter if you have leather, vinyl, fabric or some combination of the three in your BMW’s interior. You need to take care to treat and protect it. Look for products designed specifically for your interior type. Leather needs to be cleaned and conditioned to keep it from drying out and cracking. Vinyl needs to be protected, especially from UV damage. 

Cloth upholstery also needs to be cleaned — and a liberal coating of Scotch Guard won’t hurt if you regularly eat in your car.

Take Care of Your BMW, and It Will Take Care of You

A well-cared-for BMW will serve you for decades, no matter how many miles you put on it. Care for your BMW, and it will take care of you for many years to come.