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The One That Didn't Get Away [100K Mile E30 325is]


SteelBlue

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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:

  1. I add STA-BIL to a full gas tank and run it through for a bit
  2. Battery maintainer WITH overcharge protection
  3. 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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4 hours ago, patsbimmer1 said:

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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12 minutes ago, KaiserRolls said:

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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On 10/5/2020 at 3:58 PM, KaiserRolls said:

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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On 10/5/2020 at 3:58 PM, KaiserRolls said:

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.

6 hours ago, SteelBlue said:

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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On 10/7/2020 at 12:56 PM, SteelBlue said:

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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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 months later...

0189FE13-E660-4C50-A781-298A95FA7D05.jpeg

I had the center waffles repainted as well to match the wheels. Purchased some eBay red BBS center badges for them as the BMW logos were pretty beat. Really liking the combination.

I also wanted to check on the car and make sure it was still there. Good news is that there wasn’t a lake of fluids underneath, just one small spot that I’m assuming is oil.

Going to charge the battery up and maybe let it run for a little bit next week when it’s warm.

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  • 1 month later...

It lives. 

Charged the battery up and dropped it last night after work, started right up.

Drove it up and down the street just to stretch it out a little bit. In dire need of a wash and probably a little air in the tires.

Probably need to have a valve adjustment done this spring, sounded a little ticky. Or the oil just hadn't circulated entirely from starting for the first time in 6 months.

Back into the storage until it's nice out full time.

Image from iOS (4).jpg

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2 hours ago, B C said:

I dont know why but lucas fuel additive seemed like it helped with the ticking but it probably just lubricated the injectors so they werent as loud when they closed. Get a louder stereo.

Unfortunately, I am using a bluetooth speaker for the time being as I get Daft Punk/R2D2 noises when I turn the car stereo on. Something I would like to figure out this summer. Don't think it's the speakers themselves as they get deafeningly loud when it's making noises. More than likely the AMP or deck. Would like to convert to the Continental deck that most people switch to.

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  • 2 weeks later...

F30 update. New wheels and tires.

VMR V801

19x9.5 ET35 square

255/35R19 Falken FK510

Really love how these look and how much it improved the cars overall appearance. Enough show that they look good, but also subdued enough that look OEM+ ish. Think they are very reminiscent of the F80 MX snowflake wheels.

Could be a little lower, but I think got daily purposes, this is pretty good. I think the fitment is about as good as you can get it, fills out the wheel well and is just at the fender.

This has made me look at this car as more than just A to B transportation again. Some other big updates coming soon that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time.

4A01B337-482F-44DF-8E33-DC3EED5B4BC6.jpeg

E4CA6046-A568-448B-B16A-D4D551B7CE05.jpeg

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