The One That Didn't Get Away [100K Mile E30 325is]
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Haven’t done anything to the car other than drive it. Got a storage unit about a minute from my house to keep it in for the winter.
Does anyone have recommendations for storing their car in a non climate controlled garage over the winter? My plan was to swap back to the stock wheels and keep the style 5s in my parents basement so the tires stay in a warmer environment. Buy a tender for the battery and fill it up with gas before parking it for the winter.
Any other suggestions? Probably was going to put something between the tires and the concrete even though I’m not too concerned about the tires on the stock wheels.
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Ensure the coolant is able to handle Wisconsin winter, this can be done with a cheap "gauge" from a parts store. It's basically a pipette with a few balls in it to determine the freezing point.
Outside of that, nothing too drastic to do.Those wheels look oh so good!
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Ensure the coolant is able to handle Wisconsin winter, this can be done with a cheap "gauge" from a parts store. It's basically a pipette with a few balls in it to determine the freezing point.
Outside of that, nothing too drastic to do.Those wheels look oh so good!
Got it, will do.
Got something for the wheels that I’m hoping shows up before I put it away for the year.
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I always add fuel stabilizer to the tank and then run the car for a bit to circulate it through the system too
I second this ^^^^^
And don't forget the most crucial part of storing your bmw over winter ...... fold in the mirrors.
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And don't forget the most crucial part of storing your bmw over winter ...... fold in the mirrors.
An absolute essential!
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First thing I do is thoroughly clean out the interior and get rid of any wrappers, receipts, etc that may have made it through the winter then vacuum every crevice to get rid of any potential mouse food that my kids may have left in there. Then in no certain order:
- I add STA-BIL to a full gas tank and run it through for a bit
- Battery maintainer WITH overcharge protection
- Check all fluid levels to make sure they're full and winter ready including winter washer fluid. If it's not rated for winter use it can freeze and could cause some damage to that system
Something I've never done for winter storage is remove the wheels and tires. I do make sure the tires are properly inflated but other than that it sit's as is. I've never had an issue with flat spotting after storage over winter.
I'll also add that although I've never had a mouse issue with one of my stored cars I have worked on too many cars WITH mouse problems that keeps me paranoid enough to set up about 4 mouse traps and mouse poison in the garage over the winter. Dryer sheets are bullshit and have no effect on mice. I've pulled engine covers with the fucking dryer sheets in the mouse nest.
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I see there is a STA-BIL product labeled "storage". Is this the one I should I go with or is there just a standard one I should use?
I believe that's just the standard STA-BIL and that's the one I use.
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I see there is a STA-BIL product labeled "storage". Is this the one I should I go with or is there just a standard one I should use?
I didn't know there were different ones, the normal one has been fine for me
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Something I've never done for winter storage is remove the wheels and tires. I do make sure the tires are properly inflated but other than that it sit's as is. I've never had an issue with flat spotting after storage over winter.
Trick for this is park your car on cardboard!
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Am I the only one that just removes the battery all together??
I just toss them on a shelf and then slap them back in when the salts gone.
unless your radio station presets are that important
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Am I the only one that just removes the battery all together??
I just toss them on a shelf and then slap them back in when the salts gone.
unless your radio station presets are that important
Yeah I was going to remove it and leave it on a tender. No electrical outlets at the storage unit.
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Am I the only one that just removes the battery all together??
I just toss them on a shelf and then slap them back in when the salts gone.
unless your radio station presets are that important
Same here, always place on a shelf with a tender running.
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I don't know if you usually use E10 fuel but if you can run it low and fill up with non ethanol fuel it is much better. It doesn't deteriorate rapidly like ethanol fuel does.
I've only put 91 in this car. I think that's ethanol free or is that 93?
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Am I the only one that just removes the battery all together??
I just toss them on a shelf and then slap them back in when the salts gone.
unless your radio station presets are that important
My radio stations stay saved when the battery is removed so for me it's more about convenience.
I've only put 91 in this car. I think that's ethanol free or is that 93?
Depends on the brand of gas. You can buy both ethanol free.
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I've only put 91 in this car. I think that's ethanol free or is that 93?
Octane doesn't mean anything. At the little station in town by me I can get 87 with no ethanol. Kwik Trip around this area has 91 without ethanol and the pump handle is red.
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Octane doesn't mean anything. At the little station in town by me I can get 87 with no ethanol. Kwik Trip around this area has 91 without ethanol and the pump handle is red.
The red handle is the one that I use.
Good to know.
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