by Chris Keefer | Oct 16, 2008 | BMW Service
Having a clean and functioning microfilter in your BMW is extremely important as it promotes clean air circulation throughout the cabin while running your A/C or heater. This filter should be changed during the Inspection II service or major tune-up on your BMW. In San Diego we see many of these filters completely clogged with dust, dirt and debris. With the wildfire season upon us in San Diego and Southern California clean air is of utmost importance. (more…)
by Chris Keefer | Sep 23, 2008 | Shop Talk and BMW Advice
While at your BMW Service Center you might have overhead a lot of “e” words, and possibly some “f” and “s” words, but terms such as e36, e60 and e28 have a distinct meaning to BMW technicians and enthusiasts. For instance, if you have a 2003 330i, it is termed an e46. These ‘e’ terms are used to identify BMW Body style design depending on the look and year of your BMW. E is short for “Entwicklung” which is the German word for development, or to link the ‘e’, evolution.
If all these terms are Greek to you, here is a list that should prove helpful in determining the code name of your BMW. (more…)
by Chris Keefer | Aug 25, 2008 | BMW Restorations, Shop Talk and BMW Advice
“Barn Finds” are talked about rather frequently amongst classic car collectors, no matter their preference in automobiles. It’s a story of driving down a country road and out of the corner of your eye you see the sun reflecting off the chrome of a car just sitting half covered in a shack. After approaching the owner you come to find that it belonged to their grandfather and has just been “sitting there” since the 70’s . . .
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by Chris Keefer | Aug 20, 2008 | BMW Service, Shop Talk and BMW Advice
Once the factory warranty expires on your BMW, it can be a scary thing. If your philosophy toward car care is the old “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” you’ll need to change your views on car maintenance or head down to trade it in for a new one.
Over the past 5 years I’ve noticed an incredible pattern with BMW owners. They have little or no problems while under the warranty, which is not surprising as today’s automobiles are usually symptom free for the first 4 years or 50k miles. They will have one or two little issues pop up from 50-70k miles which they will pay for out of pocket, and it’ll typically be expensive but not painful. Things are honky-dory for the next year or so until 80k rolls around, then the car will basically need about $3,000 in catch-up work and they wind up hating their car. Ouch!
If your warranty expires today, here’s a few starters to keep the car going strong and to keep your wallet out of harm’s way. (more…)
by Chris Keefer | Aug 8, 2008 | BMW Restorations
In my opinion, the 3.0cs/csi/csl is the most beautiful car BMW has ever built, and this 3.0csi is a really attractive example for a number of reasons. It’s owner is a really nice guy who also owns an old 2002 and happens to live right around the corner from the shop. Originally the car was not delivered to the US Market, but made its way to California early in life and has been very well cared for since. This car came into us for what I would call a day-spa treatment — none of the work being major surgery, but in the end you notice a big difference and it’s expensive.
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by Chris Keefer | Jul 29, 2008 | BMW Restorations, Shop Talk and BMW Advice
A visit to the Monterey Historics should be on the ‘list of things to see before you die’ for any fan of vintage cars. It is just around the corner, running from 8/15-8/17, see www.montereyhistoric.com for more details. What the website won’t tell you is just how incredible this experience can be, and that you really need to be there for a full week. There are many events not to miss, especially the concours events that are not really part of the Rolex event, but always coincide with the weekend. This is a bit of a snap-shot from my last visit which was two years ago.
Far left is Rug Cunningham (since deceased) of Cunningham BMW. He was one of the great dealership owners who had an extreme passion for BMW racing and was a staple of the historics as long as BMW was allowed in the gates. Toward the middle is Boris Said, a successful GT Driver and current NASCAR driver for NoFear. I first met Boris at a BMW tech conference in St. Louis and see him at different events here and there. Incredibly edgy driver and a nice guy.
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by Chris Keefer | Jul 21, 2008 | BMW Restorations, Shop Talk and BMW Advice
If you are looking for a Classic BMW, but you’re not prepared to spend upwards of $15,000, you just can’t beat the BMW e30 3-series. The ‘e30’ was delivered to the US Market between about 1984-1992, but I’d stick to the 325i versions from 1987-1992. You can get them cheap, they are extremely reasonable to service, and they are a blast to drive. What more can you ask for in an older BMW? The e30 was available in various engine and interior combinations over the years, but the two that stand out are the 325ic and the 325is from about 1987-1992.
The BMW e30 325ic (1987-1992) – BMW goes topless for the Masses
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by Chris Keefer | Jul 16, 2008 | Shop Talk and BMW Advice
Buying tires for your BMW can be expensive, and with so many brands these days that it can be hard to find what’s best for you and your car. In San Diego we have it easy; all we use are High Performance Summer tires and never really have to worry about wet weather or snow. If you live in an area that is subject to foul weather, my first suggestion is that you pick up another set of wheels and have all-weather tires mounted and keep them in your garage for when the weather gets bad. (more…)
by Chris Keefer | Jul 11, 2008 | BMW Service, Shop Talk and BMW Advice
There really is no ‘best’ oil to pour in the engine of your BMW, after all, if there was one that shined completely above the rest you’d be buying it. Engine Oil has always been a great debate for those that are a bit serious about their service. I sometimes feel that debating about oil brands is much like squabbling over which Brewery produces the best Lager. I love beer, and I’ve had some really crap beers (especially in college) and I’ve had some really good beers. Same can be said for Oil. Crappy oil is the stuff that is really cheap, has generic packaging and there is usually almost all of it still on the shelf – the ‘Natrual Light’ of oils. Hopefully none of you are using that stuff, or worse yet, drinking that sort of beer.
I find that the most common oils in the great debate are Mobile-1, Castrol, Royal Purple, and Amsoil. I should say that I am not a fluids expert, I’ve done no crazy amount of testing on any of these oils, nor have I read 15 different case studies that have — this is all based on experience (and opinion). Aside from all the great things that oil does for any engine, modern BMWs need oil to feed both the Vanos unit(s) as well as the hydraulic lifters (if your engine has them). Now for my super scientific test results. (more…)
by Chris Keefer | Jul 2, 2008 | Funny BMW stories
For some reason these cars are always dropped off after hours. I’m starting to think that the owners are so embarrassed that they don’t want to see the look on my face when they show up. I’ve got a 17 year old sister that would kill for this car, unfortunately this car has just been killed its whole life.
As usual, I have to find the key, and of course, the battery is dead. So I go to the trunk and find out that the battery isn’t actually dead, it’s just not there. Who does this? (more…)
