Tag Archives: diy

Everything You Need to Work on Your BMW

Whether you want to make some modifications to your BMW or simply have to perform repairs and maintenance, you’re going to need a few tools. Turn your garage into a makeshift mechanic shop with these essential pieces of equipment. Then, get to work!

1. Floor Jack and Stands

If you plan to work on any of the components beneath your BMW, you’ll need a floor jack to lift and lower it. You’ll also need at least two jack stands to hold your car in place. Purchase stands that are rated for the weight of your vehicle to ensure the safety of both you and your car.

2. Wheel Chocks

Every year, roughly 13,000 automotive technicians sustain injuries while performing regular maintenance and repairs. To minimize injuries and fatalities, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) mandates the use of wheel chocks while operating on heavy machinery. These little blocks will keep your BMW in place as you work and will provide peace of mind if you don’t trust your parking brake.

3. Micro-Abrasive Tube Brush

It’s also wise to have some tube brushes on hand. Use nylox micro-abrasive brushes for internal deburring and finishing applications. For battery maintenance and scrubbing the inside of cooling tubes, you might use a wire tube brush instead. You might also use these brushes to eliminate rust, clean corroded light sockets and unclog EGR ports.

4. Socket Wrench Set

You must replace your spark plugs every so often. When the time comes, you’ll need a socket wrench to remove the old ones. Purchase a set with multiple sockets to ensure you always have the right size for the job. Odds are good you’ll be using it for more than just spark plugs.

5. Breaker Bar

Sometimes nuts and bolts simply won’t move, no matter how much force you use. In this case, you’ll need a breaker bar. The long handle provides maximum torque and stability. Ones with flexible heads also allow you to work from any angle and reach around tight spaces for the best leverage.

6. Tire Pressure Gauge

AC Schnitzer M3 Wheel

In a BMW — and any car, for that matter — correct tire pressure is critical. Check the pressure every so often by using a gauge to take readings. Some even come with a built-in air bleeder to easily reduce tire pressure and a display that glows in the dark so you can ensure your tires are full day or night.

7. Creeper

Working on the undercarriage of your BMW for long periods of time calls for something a little more comfortable than a skateboard. Invest in a creeper with cushioning to support your body and rotating wheels to easily roll you under your car. After an hour or two on your back, you’ll be glad you did.

Do Your Research

As you know, BMWs are luxurious and come with a hefty price tag. Therefore, if you want to perform maintenance work on it, you must know what you’re doing. Otherwise, you’ll end up paying to repair damages on top of the problem you were trying to fix in the first place.

Before grabbing your wrench, take some time to research the job you’d like to tackle. Read the owner’s manual, consult YouTube and public auto forums, and speak to experienced modders. These resources are invaluable as you work to maintain your ride and care for it properly.

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.

How to fix your bmw after hail damage

Something is relaxing about a stormy day. You can watch the rain with a warm drink in your hand, and enjoy how things seem to slow down. Of course, all of that relaxation goes out the window when the skies open up and start dropping hail on your home and, worse, your BMW. Hail can range in size from little pebbles to softball-sized rocks that can do some serious and expensive damage. What steps can you take to fix your car after hail damage?

Assess the Damage

Wait for the storm to pass. Don’t try to get to your car or fix anything while there are still chunks of ice falling from the sky. You’ve already seen the damage that hail can do to your vehicle. With this precipitation able to fall at more than 100 miles per hour, imagine what it could do if it hit you. 

Once the storm has passed, and it’s safe to be outdoors again, head outside and assess the damage. Depending on the size of the hailstones, these issues could include anything from paint chips and cracked glass to a shattered windshield and fender dents. If there are any broken windows, take the time to cover them with tarps or plastic to prevent water from getting into the interior. 

Fix Broken Glass

While repairing dents and paint damage is important, fixing any cracked or broken glass should be your priority after a hail storm. These problems make your car impossible to drive, so you may need to put in a call to your local repair service that offers house calls. Cost will be determined by the model of the car, size and complexity of the windshield.

Windows can be complicated, partially because most of the companies that replace windshields don’t handle window glass. Plus, unlike the laminated windshield glass, which spiderwebs when cracked, windows tend to shatter into a ton of small pieces. As a result, you have to clean out the debris before you can fix anything.

If you have a sunroof on your vehicle, a severe hailstorm might damage or destroy that too, and you may need to go to a dealership or to a specialty shop to get it repaired or replaced. Either way, make broken glass your priority. 

Remember the Dents

Once the car is drivable again, you can start thinking about exterior damage that needs attention, including dents and scratches or chips in the paint. Removing hailstone dents is no different than removing any other dings if only one or two stones struck your vehicle. If your hood or fenders have tons of little pockmarks from a barrage of ice crystals, however, you may need to employ the skills of a professional body shop.

Hailstone damage tends to be clustered on the surface of your car, making it more difficult to remove the dents because, with standard DIY tools, it’s impossible to get a good seal. You can get under the fender and start hammering the dents out. Still, if you’re not skilled at bodywork, you risk causing more issues. If this is your first BMW, you might get a shock to find that repair is going to be more expensive than your old beater, so use caution.

Dents and paint chips might not seem like a priority. However, if they’re left alone, water will come into contact with the body’s unprotected metal, allowing it to rust. Over time, this oxidation eats away at the metal and makes it weaker. It can also cause parts to stick together, making repairs trickier. 

Try to Park Inside

If you live in an area that’s prone to hail storms or other weather-related disasters like hurricanes or tornadoes, the best advice is to park your car indoors or under some type of covering. Even parking under a large tree can help mitigate the damage caused by ice chunks, though it isn’t a good solution for hurricanes or tornadoes. You can also consider renting a garage space between the beginning of June and the end of November when 97% of Atlantic hurricanes occur.

If you get caught out in a hail storm, try your best to take shelter. Hail can cause some serious and expensive damage to any vehicle unlucky enough to be caught in it. Plus, if you’re driving while the glass shatters, you can get in an accident or injured.

Fixing Your Car After a Hail Storm

No one links having to fix their car, especially when it’s your BMW that you’ve been saving up for and finally have. Still, the inevitable can happen, especially if it’s an unpredictable storm. If your vehicle sees damage after a hail storm, follow the advice above.

Images: Bimmerfest