storing for winter

I am storing my 330i for the winter and need some advice. It is stored in an
indoor heated parking lot. I have performance Continental tires installed.
The dealership said that i should inflate the tires to 43PSI, and I should
run the car for half hour once a month or so, and drive it around in the
parking lot. A friend of mine suggested that I should not run the car at all
and constantly recharge the battery.

Could you please let me know what's the best way to store my car.

thanks,

kevin

On Tue, 14 Dec 2004 23:26:57 -0500, ksalous wrote:

> I am storing my 330i for the winter and need some advice. It is stored in
> an indoor heated parking lot. I have performance Continental tires
> installed. The dealership said that i should inflate the tires to 43PSI,
> and I should run the car for half hour once a month or so, and drive it
> around in the parking lot. A friend of mine suggested that I should not
> run the car at all and constantly recharge the battery.
>
Upping the tire pressure is a good idea and will help keep from
flat-spotting the tires. I'd agree with the dealer that running the car
long enough to bring the temp completely up to normal at varying rpm while
driving around in the garage is also a good idea. That will ensure that
lubricants are circulated over all the parts and will help keep the seals
from drying out. It is also a good idea, whether one is storing a car or
not, to run the A/C briefly once or twice during the winter to keep its
seals lubricated.

Keeping a "battery minder" connected in between runs will ensure that the
battery doesn't run down, which isn't particularly good for the battery.
I'd also suggest that you keep the gas tank full. If there's any
temperature variation in the parking area that will help keep from having
condensation form in the tank since there's no room for it to breathe and
suck in moisture laden air.

--
The instructions said to use Windows 98 or better, so I installed RedHat.

Here is how to store a car for the winter (around six months). PLEASE-I
don't want to start a huge thing with this. This is how I store my M5,
after taking lots of time to research it and asking the right people.

1-Tire pressure should be almost at the maximum (that's the psi figure
stamped on the side of the tires.

2-Cover with a breathable car cover.

3- DO NOT run the car at all. This is the point that gets people riled up.
Moisture WILL FORM and not be burned off no matter how long you run the car.
It can come from outside elements but it ALSO COMES from combustion, and
THIS is the stuff that can damage engine internals and the exhaust. Yes, it
happens when you drive the car every day, but the remaining condensate is
burned off the next time you drive the car, and new condensate is left. The
point is that you don't want to let condensate build up and then get
chemically more aggressive as it rests in the engine/exhaust. The best way
to avoid this happening MORE THAN ONCE is to park the car and not start it
up again until you plan to drive it daily/regularily again.

4-The best way to maintain the battery AND the system
electricals/components/memory is to leave the battery in the car and buy a
battery tender. BMW sells one which I bought for $95 Canadian. It plugs into
the cigarette lighter and manages the battery condition, trickle charging it
when necessary at a maximum of 2 amps. Just plug it in an leave it alone.

This is how my M5 has hibernated and it always wakes up happy.

Cheers



"Jim Levie" > wrote in message
news
> On Tue, 14 Dec 2004 23:26:57 -0500, ksalous wrote:
>
>> I am storing my 330i for the winter and need some advice. It is stored in
>> an indoor heated parking lot. I have performance Continental tires
>> installed. The dealership said that i should inflate the tires to 43PSI,
>> and I should run the car for half hour once a month or so, and drive it
>> around in the parking lot. A friend of mine suggested that I should not
>> run the car at all and constantly recharge the battery.
>>
> Upping the tire pressure is a good idea and will help keep from
> flat-spotting the tires. I'd agree with the dealer that running the car
> long enough to bring the temp completely up to normal at varying rpm while
> driving around in the garage is also a good idea. That will ensure that
> lubricants are circulated over all the parts and will help keep the seals
> from drying out. It is also a good idea, whether one is storing a car or
> not, to run the A/C briefly once or twice during the winter to keep its
> seals lubricated.
>
> Keeping a "battery minder" connected in between runs will ensure that the
> battery doesn't run down, which isn't particularly good for the battery.
> I'd also suggest that you keep the gas tank full. If there's any
> temperature variation in the parking area that will help keep from having
> condensation form in the tank since there's no room for it to breathe and
> suck in moisture laden air.
>
> --
> The instructions said to use Windows 98 or better, so I installed RedHat.
>

"tech27" > wrote in message
.verio.net...
> Here is how to store a car for the winter (around six months). PLEASE-I
> don't want to start a huge thing with this. This is how I store my M5,
> after taking lots of time to research it and asking the right people.
>
> 1-Tire pressure should be almost at the maximum (that's the psi figure
> stamped on the side of the tires.
>
> 2-Cover with a breathable car cover.
>
> 3- DO NOT run the car at all. This is the point that gets people riled up.
> Moisture WILL FORM and not be burned off no matter how long you run the
car.

What's your opinion of turning the motor over a few times with the main
ignition relay out? (or the equivalent for the car in question) IE
circuclating lubricants with no combustion?

-Russ.

DO NOT run the car at all. This is the point that gets people riled up.
>>Moisture WILL FORM and not be burned off no matter how long you run the
>
> car.
>
> What's your opinion of turning the motor over a few times with the main
> ignition relay out? (or the equivalent for the car in question) IE
> circuclating lubricants with no combustion?
>
> -Russ.
>
>

Not necessary.

--
Rob Munach, PE
Excel Engineering
PO Box 1264
Carrboro, NC 27510

"Rob Munach" > wrote in message
...
> DO NOT run the car at all. This is the point that gets people riled up.
> >>Moisture WILL FORM and not be burned off no matter how long you run the
> >
> > car.
> >
> > What's your opinion of turning the motor over a few times with the main
> > ignition relay out? (or the equivalent for the car in question) IE
> > circuclating lubricants with no combustion?
> >
> > -Russ.
> >
> >
>
> Not necessary.

What would you do to store it for 2 years, 4 years, or 10 years? Anything
different?

How about storing a bare motor?

-Russ.

On Tue, 14 Dec 2004 23:26:57 -0500, "ksalous" >
wrote:

>I am storing my 330i for the winter and need some advice.

Gosh. You're the first person EVER to ask that question of USENET!

Ever hear of google? Sheesh!

On Wed, 15 Dec 2004 01:25:09 -0500, "tech27"
> wrote:

>2-Cover with a breathable car cover.

Why? Dust hurts cars?

>3- DO NOT run the car at all. This is the point that gets people riled up.
>Moisture WILL FORM and not be burned off no matter how long you run the car.
>It can come from outside elements but it ALSO COMES from combustion, and
>THIS is the stuff that can damage engine internals and the exhaust. Yes, it
>happens when you drive the car every day, but the remaining condensate is
>burned off the next time you drive the car, and new condensate is left.

Your logic is failing you. Either way, 90% of the time you are not
driving your car, so the "moisture" is there.

>The point is that you don't want to let condensate build up and then get
>chemically more aggressive as it rests in the engine/exhaust. The best way
>to avoid this happening MORE THAN ONCE is to park the car and not start it
>up again until you plan to drive it daily/regularily again.

Nonsense.

"Somebody" > wrote in message
...
>> What's your opinion of turning the motor over a few times with the main
> ignition relay out? (or the equivalent for the car in question) IE
> circuclating lubricants with no combustion?
>
> -Russ.
>
I can't see what the point would be. The engine won't seize up just from
sitting there. The internals that need oil will still have oil on them (it
doesn't drip off totally), so there is really no need to do this. I'm not
sure exactly when the oil pump pressures up, but I think its during the
start cycle (in fact, there is a known issue with a noisy Vanos on startup
before full oil pressure is reached which BMW says will not affect engine
wear or life, but they have on occasion retrofitted an electrical precharger
for customers that complained a lot). The point is that if you just turn the
engine over a few times you might cause extra wear, and all for no real
purpose.

Cheers

"dizzy" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 15 Dec 2004 01:25:09 -0500, "tech27"
> > wrote:
>
>>2-Cover with a breathable car cover.
>
> Why? Dust hurts cars?

No, putting a non-breathable cover on a car traps moisture which will hurt
the car. If you aren't planning on covering your car then it doesn't matter,
does it? Why don't you think before you type?
>
>>3- DO NOT run the car at all. This is the point that gets people riled up.
>>Moisture WILL FORM and not be burned off no matter how long you run the
>>car.
>>It can come from outside elements but it ALSO COMES from combustion, and
>>THIS is the stuff that can damage engine internals and the exhaust. Yes,
>>it
>>happens when you drive the car every day, but the remaining condensate is
>>burned off the next time you drive the car, and new condensate is left.
>
> Your logic is failing you. Either way, 90% of the time you are not
> driving your car, so the "moisture" is there.

Wrong again idiot. The presence of condensate over TIME causes the moisture
to react and creates corrosives. These get burned off when you drive the car
every day or 2 or 3 or whatever. The point is that you don't want to keep
adding moisture which will start the process again, once a month or so. It's
better to let it happen once (when you put the car away), and not every week
or month. Why are you such an asshole? If you don't understand something
just ask, people usually don't mind explaining if you can stop being such a
prick.


>
>>The point is that you don't want to let condensate build up and then get
>>chemically more aggressive as it rests in the engine/exhaust. The best way
>>to avoid this happening MORE THAN ONCE is to park the car and not start it
>>up again until you plan to drive it daily/regularily again.
>
> Nonsense.

Sheesh. This has been discussed over and over. Don't you know how to google
usenet? Get some facts before you disagree with things you clearly know
nothing about.


>