Winter storage

[quality_sound]

Originally Posted by gilbertfg

Yeah drive all year long lol! I wish I could on mine but I'm stationed here on the hilly side of Germany (an hour away from the ring)! It's fine for flat or low incline roads but I don't think the M3 can manage steep hills here! When i had my e90 335i, i sucked on hils but it was fun drifting =)!!!! By the way I don't baby my car when I get on the autobahn =)! I'll be storing mine next month with almost 19000 miles on it and it's an '09! Broke it in just six days after picking it up from the dealership with just .07 miles......

The M3 will absolutely handle steep inclines. It's all about the tires. You'd be surprised the places I've been able to get into with no issues. Hell, even getting up my driveway would shock most people.

[Projectile]

Poor OP who wants to hear advice on storage rather than how others justify driving their M3s in the winter.

[voidhack]

Oh well.

My gorgeous Toyota Echo 2005 is committed for this winter. But I have seen the light and will take (maybe) the M3 out next winter.

I will purchase the car cover and charger from Tischer and drive down to pick it up in the States.

montreal_red; if you ever see an Echo trying to keep up with your M3 this winter, that would just be me with a case of M3 winter blues.

Otherwise, I am going with the least amount of gaz in the tank.

[walsh]

Air in the tires, trickle charger, and full tank of gas with fuel stabilizer. All of these have already been said but take into account where you'll be storing it. Mice and other little rodents love getting into small places to make homes, like your exhaust. So if you're storing it somewhere animals could have access to it make sure to cover them up.

[Frozen Black Panther]

its not meant to drive in the winter its a rear wheel drive car with performance tires on it, the guy asked how to store not how he should drive it jesus

[Possible Hero]

Originally Posted by SonnyJack

+1 on the winter beater.

Maybe folks in Canada driver better than in the Metro DC area. People around here are absolute lunatics when it snows so I'd rather they hit my nearly 3 ton Expedition than my M3. Was rear ended twice last year with barely a scratch on the SUV. Also, my truck paint gets beat to hell every year from all the salt MDOT uses. I don't store my car for the entire winter, just for snow days.

OP: I have heard of people using trickle chargers, putting 40 psi in tires, fuel stabilizers and damp-rid if you're in a humid environment.

Lol nope there are still mostly retarded drivers here to. One nice thing is that there is SO much extra space in Canada. It gives people an extra 80ft to stop before they ram your car's buttoch.
Every year when is snows the first day, I just stare at my mirror praying the car behind me will slow down fast enough. It's really those first 2-3 weeks where people just dont realize you cant stop like you normally would in summer.

[shpritz]

This is what I do;

Leave a half tank of gas in tank. Add stabilizer and take it for a drive to get the stabilized gas through out the engine.

Fill tires to maximum psi listed on the side of the tire. (40psi I think)

Park the car. I park it in my folks heated under ground lot.

Disconnect the negative.

Cover it and kiss her goodbye until spring.

In the spring all I have to do is reconnect the negative terminal. Car starts right up without any problem at all. Let the air out of the tires to the correct pressure. Drive to the gas station and fill right up. Then I try to remember what all the buttons are for... (lol) and go for a nice long drive.

Is it Spring yet?????

[Frozen Black Panther]

Originally Posted by shpritz

This is what I do;

Leave a half tank of gas in tank. Add stabilizer and take it for a drive to get the stabilized gas through out the engine.

Fill tires to maximum psi listed on the side of the tire. (40psi I think)

Park the car. I park it in my folks heated under ground lot.

Disconnect the negative.

Cover it and kiss her goodbye until spring.

In the spring all I have to do is reconnect the negative terminal. Car starts right up without any problem at all. Let the air out of the tires to the correct pressure. Drive to the gas station and fill right up. Then I try to remember what all the buttons are for... (lol) and go for a nice long drive.

Is it Spring yet?????

gonna copy this method thanks

[3s-a-charm]

Just took my summers off in exchange for winters... that night it snows! Timing.

[Georgeair]

Originally Posted by shpritz

Leave a half tank of gas in tank. Add stabilizer and take it for a drive to get the stabilized gas through out the engine.

Like lots of things, there are many schools of thought. I will add that I spent a lot of time researching this for both car and boat storage, and the predominant rule I came away with was to fill completely with the highest octane fuel available along with the stabilizer, and definitely drive it enough to mix and get throughout system.

The theory is (apparently) that the more air you have in the tank, the greater the liklihood for condensation. A completely full tank virtually eliminates that. For boats with a water separator it's not a big an issue, but for our cars that may experience repeated store cycles it could be a bigger cumulative issue. I've been following this advice for 16 years with positive results.

YMMV

[Looper]

You could immerse the entire vehicle in cosmoline........ Just kidding of course, everything you mentioned will work. I see youre in Montreal is there a marina somewhere close by if so run your tank way down and go get some fuel there but not much (1/4 tank maybe) as its NOT going to be 91 or 93 octane. Most marine fuels dont have any ethanol (call them and ask) in it so it doesn't separate, when the alcohol separates it absorbs moisture like crazy which is normally the killer for long term storage. Dont forget to fuel up with 93 in the spring before driving! Your car should just hibernate just fine.

[richardbb85]

i don't see the point doing all these things for one season........it's 2010 guys.......

[SKY888]

As per Shpritz winter storage method above, can you just disconnect the negative wire from the battery and not use a trickle charger?

[passing]

i would change the oil AFTER storage, so additives don't break down early.

[bandit408]

You want to change oil before you store it. The oil additives will not breakdown early because it sits only when run.

Keep the tank Full. This does not allow condensation to collect in the fuel tank and cause contamination issues of the fuel. I also put a can of Seafoam in the tank before I fill it up and store it.

I just disconnect my negative battery cable and I do not use a battery maintainer as the battery is not hooked to any draws.

I also just use a cheap car cover I got at Fleet Farm so it keeps most of the dust off.

I pop the hood so I can access the battery jump posts in the spring. I just hook up a jump box when I want to get in the trunk and hook the battery up.

With this I have had no issues over the last 8 years. I not only do this to mine but I also do this to about 50 other units that I am responsible for at my part-time job for seasonal changes. We used to use Stabil in the gas but we had issues of carb needles and injectors sticking when we used it so we switched to Seafoam and no issues have arose.

[thai357sig]

Originally Posted by SonnyJack

+1 on the winter beater.

Maybe folks in Canada driver better than in the Metro DC area. People around here are absolute lunatics when it snows so I'd rather they hit my nearly 3 ton Expedition than my M3. Was rear ended twice last year with barely a scratch on the SUV. Also, my truck paint gets beat to hell every year from all the salt MDOT uses. I don't store my car for the entire winter, just for snow days.

OP: I have heard of people using trickle chargers, putting 40 psi in tires, fuel stabilizers and damp-rid if you're in a humid environment.

I agree with DC area being lunatic drivers. Since I picked up my M, after it had arrived at the port, I drive my M as a daily driver. Only when frozen precip is in the forecast wil I opt to take out the AWD family Sienna. Otherwise the M will get the abuse and love it. I plan to ride her for all she is worth until I finish paying her off next year.

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

The ///M3 does not like to be stored/put away/or ignored during the winter months ... best accept the fact that she likes to be loved and driven

The ///M3 is an all around fun car if you plan to store your toy the best get a Porsche

[zsx_m]

I cringe at the thought of salt/snow/mud all over my M3. I would rather store and put the miles/abuse on a car I don't care as much about.

[redline9001]

Originally Posted by montreal red

lol.. i know, i hang around this forum called montreal racing and i see all these people with their civic si and mitsu eclipse, etc all storing their car for winter!! i dont get it... whats the point? its a car, not an exotic, we should all be driving it in winter.

+100000000

I drive my truck on snow days cause people can't drive and don't want my car hit but the next day I am right back in th M. I could not stand not driving the car for 4 months

[m3h]

Fill up with non-ethanol gas.

[m3h]

Originally Posted by Team Plutonium

Good luck with that...

We can get ethanol free gas up here in Canada. OP is in Montreal. Petro-Can Superclean 94 is ethanol free.

[sparkyg]

Going into my 5th winter in the E90 M3 here in Edmonton. We have full on nasty cold weather, the M3 is great. It's not an AWD car but its easy with winter tires.