Garage Queen Maintenance

[earlgrey69]

The purpose of this post is to get some good insight on maintenance that should be performed on an older, low mileage car. I have a 2007 M Coupe with roughly 20k miles.

Anything in particular I should be doing other than once a year oil changes, periodic brake flushes, air filters etc?

I know there is a wealth of knowledge on this board so thanks in advance for any help that you are willing to provide.

[maupineda]

Review the state of bushings and suspension components that may be worn due to time. basically all rubber items. if it has been in a closed-door garage, all of that will be fine. just drive it a bit, warm it, and let it sing to 8k every now and then.

[wdb]

Mind the leather. It doesn't care about miles as much as it cares about time. Keep it clean and moisturized.

[earlgrey69]

Originally Posted by maupineda

Review the state of bushings and suspension components that may be worn due to time. basically all rubber items. if it has been in a closed-door garage, all of that will be fine. just drive it a bit, warm it, and let it sing to 8k every now and then.

Thanks for the tip. It has always been garaged and the garage is shaded. I also keep a dehumidifier running in the garage.

[earlgrey69]

Does anyone know about the timing chain? Is this a "lifetime" item or still something that should be changed due to aging?

[Coi]

If they've never been changed you should do brake fluid, transmission fluid, and diff fluid. If you're not tracking the car then can just go with OEM fluids or something very similar. So for brake fluid do BMW DOT 4 or ATE SL6 DOT 4. For transmission fluid get BMW MTF-LT-2 GL4 75W80. For diff fluid get BMW SAF XJ+FM GL-5 75W140 (the one with friction modifier is expensive but worth it). When I did my transmission fluid I also got new fill/drain plugs. There's a lot of discussion on the forum about which non-OEM fluids are best, especially for the transmission, but OEM is generally a safe choice.

BMW recommends brake fluid every two years and diff fluid every 3 years. They say transmission fluid doesn't need to be changed but that's ridiculous. If the car is in a warm climate like Florida then you could probably do transmission fairly infrequently, like maybe every 5 years. Would probably do it more frequently if the car was seeing below-freezing temps every year, even if parked. If you start driving more than can do transmission fluid every 30k miles.

If you really feel like spending some money you could get a valve adjustment. I don't know if these go out of spec with time vs mileage, but maybe someone else could speak to that. I would be careful taking the car to a dealership for this though because some of the techs there have no experience with the procedure and may mess it up; this happened to my car. A very reputable independent shop that works on E46 M3s frequently is a better bet, and will cost less.

If you really feel like throwing money at it then can change the spark plugs (get NGK). Ignition coils are fine but if one fails you should change all six (get either Eldor or the newest Bosch revision).

If it's never been changed then should do engine air filter. There's also a cabin air filter for the HVAC system that you could change too. These can be bought as OEM-equivilant for way less than BMW-brand online (get Hengst, Mann, or Febi Bilstein).

I would also replace the tires if they're more than 7 years old.

Driving the car occasionally, and getting the engine up to temperature each time, is important because it keeps condensation from building up in the oil and keeps gaskets and rubber seals lubricated. If the car sits for more than a year those things can become an issue. Personally I drive my Z4M as much as possible. Cars are meant to be driven.

[earlgrey69]

Originally Posted by Coi

If they've never been changed you should do brake fluid, transmission fluid, and diff fluid. If you're not tracking the car then can just go with OEM fluids or something very similar. So for brake fluid do BMW DOT 4 or ATE SL6 DOT 4. For transmission fluid get BMW MTF-LT-2 GL4 75W80. For diff fluid get BMW SAF XJ+FM GL-5 75W140 (the one with friction modifier is expensive but worth it). When I did my transmission fluid I also got new fill/drain plugs. There's a lot of discussion on the forum about which non-OEM fluids are best, especially for the transmission, but OEM is generally a safe choice.

BMW recommends brake fluid every two years and diff fluid every 3 years. They say transmission fluid doesn't need to be changed but that's ridiculous. If the car is in a warm climate like Florida then you could probably do transmission fairly infrequently, like maybe every 5 years. Would probably do it more frequently if the car was seeing below-freezing temps every year, even if parked. If you start driving more than can do transmission fluid every 30k miles.

If you really feel like spending some money you could get a valve adjustment. I don't know if these go out of spec with time vs mileage, but maybe someone else could speak to that. I would be careful taking the car to a dealership for this though because some of the techs there have no experience with the procedure and may mess it up; this happened to my car. A very reputable independent shop that works on E46 M3s frequently is a better bet, and will cost less.

If you really feel like throwing money at it then can change the spark plugs (get NGK). Ignition coils are fine but if one fails you should change all six (get either Eldor or the newest Bosch revision).

If it's never been changed then should do engine air filter. There's also a cabin air filter for the HVAC system that you could change too. These can be bought as OEM-equivilant for way less than BMW-brand online (get Hengst, Mann, or Febi Bilstein).

I would also replace the tires if they're more than 7 years old.

Driving the car occasionally, and getting the engine up to temperature each time, is important because it keeps condensation from building up in the oil and keeps gaskets and rubber seals lubricated. If the car sits for more than a year those things can become an issue. Personally I drive my Z4M as much as possible. Cars are meant to be driven.

Thanks so much for all of the great info. I used to drive it a lot before kids. Now I make sure to at least crank it once a month but i try to actually drive it at least once a month. I keep it on a trickle charger constantly.

[grannyknot]

Originally Posted by earlgrey69

Does anyone know about the timing chain? Is this a "lifetime" item or still something that should be changed due to aging?

Age won't affect the timing chain system, there are 2 little O rings on the lower chain guide that might get hard with age but certainly not worth remove the timing cover for them.
The upper chain guide/tensioner does wear but only with mileage and 20K is nothing.

The Vanos does have a number of Orings that will perish with age and mileage so that might be something to consider.
There are newer materials for the Orings that will last much longer than the OEM stuff. Getting into the Vanos also gives you the opportunity to upgrade the oil pump disc with a redrilled disc that has tighter clearance for the drive lugs on the exhaust cam hub gear.

[bob'smerlot]

Originally Posted by earlgrey69

Thanks so much for all of the great info. I used to drive it a lot before kids. Now I make sure to at least crank it once a month but i try to actually drive it at least once a month. I keep it on a trickle charger constantly.

If you really mean a trickle charger, don't. Get a smart charger that maintains rather than gives a trickle charge constantly.

[earlgrey69]

Originally Posted by bob'smerlot

If you really mean a trickle charger, don't. Get a smart charger that maintains rather than gives a trickle charge constantly.

I have the battery tender brand charger. I believe it is a smart charger but please correct me if I am wrong.

[Squidd99]

The "Battery Tender" (that's the brand name of the original device of its kind) and its ilk are indeed "smart chargers" and are not trickle chargers.
Generally speaking, there are three kinds of charges you can give your battery: Full Charge, Trickle Charge, and whatever the charge given by Tenders is called (it's a monitored trickle charge, I guess).
Use Fast Charge only when necessary to get a battery recharged fast; it's not that good for the battery and not always the best charge, but it will get the car started. Use a trickle charge when you have the time to fully recharge the battery.
A battery tender is used for the battery of a vehicle in storage or one that is not used very frequently. (I have a friend who has 9 motorcycles in his garage, and each has its own Battery Tender.) The tender gives the battery a very slow charge; when the battery is fully charged, it stops charging, until the battery gets low again. It cannot overcharge a battery, which can cause damage to the battery.
This is why you should never use a trickle charger for a car in storage; use a tender only or no charger and hope that the car will start when you go to drive it.
I'm pretty sure that this is correct info, but would be glad to hear from battery experts if I have something wrong.

[Squidd99]

Efthreeoh is right. "Battery Tender ®" is a brand name for the battery charging products made by Deltran Corp. (since 1965). There are now several other companies that also make products that provide a "maintenance charge," but of course they can't call their products a Battery Tender due to Deltran's trade mark ™ protections.
As far as I know, a maintenance charger is the safest, least expensive and most convenient way to protect the battery of a vehicle that is not driven frequently.

[Piper1]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Neat info. I never knew Deltran went as far back as 1965, wow. I first started using a Battery Tender on my motorcycle in the 1992 when the local motorcycle mechanic started selling Battery Tenders. I used just the one unit for 20 years or so until I tried to resurrect a 1-year old flat battery (it had been dead for a while). From some reason it killed the Tender. By 2012 Deltran moved production from Florida to China. I bought a few more Tenders for more vehicles I now had, all for the new Tenders died within a year or so. Discouraged, I found a new maintainer company, Granite Digital (Save-a-Battery), which I really like.

Something I never tried but at one of my local auto parts stores where I bought my first battery tender brand maintainer sales clerk mentioned if there’s multiple vehicles being stored you can simply bridge them from battery/charging points from one to the other with jumper cables and let the tender hook up to only one maintain them all. My battery tender died before ever even attempting that, I have 3 schwaben maintainers now that I picked up from turner for each during the winter months. First one I picked up has already outlasted the battery tender brand I had. Even my daily for winter since this week it won’t be driven much is plugged in to be safe.

[wdb]

I've settled on CTEK brand chargers, ever since my first one resurrected the $300 battery in the E93.

Merry Christmas everyone!

[chickdr]

Great post OP. I have an 06 M Roadster with 20k and wondered the same thing. It has always been garaged as well. I had to replace my tires last year as they were getting rock hard at the 9-10yr mark (only had 10k miles on them). Such a difference the new shoes made.