The racetrack oriented 2020 AMG GTR-PRO

This week’s rare visitor was one of a kind, 2020 AMG GTR-PRO.  You can get this car for a quarter million dollars. The racetrack oriented PRO as the name states is fully “carbonated ” everywhere notwithstanding super-light forged magnesium alloys and weight optimization to the max. Carbon fiber torque tube from the engine to the transmission at the rear axle, dry sump lubrication and endless lightweight goodies.

577 Horsepower

The   R-PRO meant for race for the pro drivers only. Oh and not to forget your race license naturally. Why for pro drivers only? Because if you want to drive this car, you need lightning quick reflexes with exceptional driving skills to harness anything over 4 hundred horsepower on a rear wheel drive platform. And the AMG GTR-PRO is a rear wheel drive. Puts out solid 577 horsepower, and 516 pound-feet of torque. I would suggest driving gloves, because to wrestle this monster under your control will produce some really sweaty hands.

The GTR Pro comes with a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged handmade (AMG formula one man one engine)  V-8 engine,  which is enough for 0-100 km acceleration in 3.5 seconds. The top speed is around 310 km/hour.

Only 150 ever assigned to the entire north America and the  car on the photo is 1 from that 150.

2020 Mercedes AMG GTR-PRO.

Mercedes AMG

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One Cracked AMG Rim. Unsafe to Drive.

The winter is almost over, but you should not change your winter tires yet.  There is a down side to driving on all season tires  on snowy, icy road. Some of our clients find this out on the hard way.  A small mistake might be very costly.

Every driver should know: Smaller the tire’s tread, smaller its biting edges and your tires will have less traction. For reliable braking and cornering performance at winter driving condition, on wet, snowy and or even icy road, you need good quality winter tire, not worn down all season tires.

The weekend weather took it’s toll, one cracked AMG rim. The replacement rim cost $1570.00 from MB, one bent alloy for late model 530 BMW cost of replacement $1230.00 + alignment.

How do you check a rim for any possible damage?

New wheel has arrived nice and shiny. Now the question remains: How do you check the other rims for any possible damage? In our high tech world, we have solution for almost everything. Meet our laser guided 3D tire balancer, check the next video out.

Yes, there was one more rim which is wobbly for now we made the best out of it. We do this all the time. To be able to make a smooth ride you need a precision machine which can pinpoint rim or tire defects and recommend match-mounting by dismounting the tire and remounting it to a specific spot on the rim to bring the highest point of the tire to the lowest point of the rim to get it close as possibly can to perfect.

Laser Guided Made in Germany Alignment Machine

Let me note it: This is our second machine of the same made. We use the first one about 20 years. Yes this balancer is 23 thousand dollars but precision and technical innovation has its price. We actually take it one step further by marking each wheel with their precise run out. It goes like this, the best wheel to the left front, 2nd best to right front, 3rd to the left rear and worst is the farthest away from you the driver.

Naturally when your wheel looks like the one on the video, with the multiple bubbles are toast, unsafe unfit for any use.

One of our other clients, bent his AMG suspension driving on summer performance tires. Even though his car is a 4 wheel drive, it was no match for the weather.

Click on the thumbnail to view bigger images.

Any questions how may we help? Call us for more details. Telephone: 905.795.0419

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BMW  four wheels alignment

Our Hoffmann  laser Guided (German) Computerized 3D Alignment Machine

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Why does my car’s engine burn oil?

Explanation continued in here, ICE (internal combustion engine) has been around for over a hundred years. Since the last oil embargo in the eighties governments decided to try to limit the amount of fuel being consumed by the engines. Later the EPA (environmental protection agency) started enforcing CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) to force the manufacturers to reduce the fuel consumption of the automobiles. Car manufacturers had to pay penalties so at the first opportunity the manufacturers decided to start with a clean sheet of paper immediately.

BMW N52 Engine

In the case of BMW it was 2006 with the E90 platform and N52 engine which was first time ever was designed and build with ultimate efficiency, the first of their new iteration of the efficient dynamics slogan.

Naturally the fuel economy standards kept getting more strict so they enacted accordingly which brought us to the new turbo era of the N55 and N20 engines. Let’s go back to the question why does today’s modern engines burn motor oil way more than the previous models decades ago?

This is all due to the maximum effort to provide fuel efficiency at the highest possible level.

How does all this work?

The N52 introduced the valvetronic system, the N55 introduced a refined version paired with twin scroll turbocharger and direct fuel injection. This all helps the ICE to operate at it’s highest efficiency level at any operating conditions. Naturally all the internal components has been reduced to the bare minimum and every component has been redesigned for minimal friction.

This is where the oil consumption comes in to the picture, by reducing the piston rings to the bare minimum, and reducing the piston ring tension to the same minimal pressure. The piston rings if just ever slightly get carboned up by infrequent oil changes or poor quality motor oil, just by topping it up cheap oil will jam the oil ring and the engine will start to consume more and more motor oil burning it up in the combustion chamber.

BMW N55 Pistons

Here are some relevant pictures of the N55 piston, as you can see the rings are extremely thin and the oil ring tension is next to nothing.

N55 BMW engine also has a variable pressure oil pump to further reduce the internal load. Additionally the camshafts are hollow and the engine has been specified with a light weight motor oil to reduce the pumping losses even further. If you look closely you can see the rings are like stairs looking at them from the top down which showing the compression ring protruding out the most. The oil scraper ring in the middle is less so, and the oil ring at the bottom sticking out just barely which accounts for the least amount of ring tension.

Maintenance with The Best Lubricant

To make this jewels of engineering last some considerable time you need to give it the best possible care. Maintenance with the best lubricant you can afford and that should give you minimal oil burning and maximal peace of mind.

This is as always, a double edges sword, the clients want maximum power, the manufacturers are there to sell cars, and the government wants efficiency. It’s a difficult fight, a kind of tug of war to have your cake and eat it too, so to say.

I hope this helps, any question, how may we help? Call us for more details. Telephone: 905.795.0419

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More info on, why car’s engines might burn oil.

The importance of proper oil changes

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Synthetic Motor Oil

Group-3, Group-4, Group-5!

What does it really means? Synthetic motor oil describes a process, not a material, let me explain. The general public thinks, all synthetic motor oils are the same.  That is incorrect. Synthetic motor oil have 3 stages of the actual grade or level which is important to know.

Group 3 Synthetic Motor Oil

Group 3 synthetic motor oil is a highly refined petroleum based motor oil, usually made from decent quality base petroleum oil. The group 3 motor oil used to be called a regular motor oil, until a court case challenge many years ago by an oil manufacturer.

The important facts to know it’s based on petroleum oil, and the molecules are not as consistent as group 4 especially group 5 synthetic motor oils. Theoretically better than group 1 or 2.  Group 3 is made from a higher grade base stock, has a higher viscosity index, and in overall better performance than group 1 or 2, which makes sense.

Group 4 Synthetic Motor Oil

Group 4 motor oil a PAO or Poly Alpha Olefine or in other word a highly processed synthesized petroleum based motor oil which can tolerate higher temperature extremes, has a higher oil film strength.

Stage 4 or group 4 synthetic oil will need to have oil pressure to be built up to create a viable oil film and it doesn’t cling to metal, but because it’s based on mineral or petroleum based oil stock it’s relatively inexpensive to make in large quantities.

Group 4 synthetic oils are not meant to cling to metal parts, they will sort of roll off when the engine is stopped, so there is no standby protection whatsoever thereafter.

Furthermore group 4 PAO based motor oils will turn into a hard carbon deposit if pushed into the extremes, kind of turning back to a crude oil look alike dark carbon deposit clogging vital engine components in the process and will leave deposits as they burn inside the engine under elevated temperatures.

Liqui Molly Sythetic Motor Oils
Liqui Molly Synthetic Motor Oils

Group 5 Synthetic Oil

Group 5 is the real deal, Ester based for maximum protection and ultimate performance over all of the others. These real synthetic motor oils are entirely man made and provide an outstanding reliable extreme protection to any internal engine components.

Ester based synthetic motor oil has a static cling to metal parts by an electro chemical bond which is essential for any metal to metal component to get the maximum protection. This means before you start your engine there is already a film of lubricant present, no need to wait for an oil pressure to be built to reduce friction.

Should I say this Ester based synthetic oil came from aviation where reliability is at utmost importance.

Ester based true synthetic oils are used and tested, refined in extreme motorsports like 24 hours of Le Mans and other high end endurance racing where temperature extremes are the highest. The lubrication and wear resistance is 5 times higher than any other lubricant used hence the popularity of the real synthetic group 5 motor oil in motorsport.

Ester based motor oil, the real synthetic motor oil , will leave next to zero deposit if burned as it is the most tolerant of extreme pressures and temperatures at both end of the scale.

Ester based synthetic motor oil is much more expensive as it is made from renewable resources in very small batches, a more delicate and more expensive process which is reflected in the actual cost of the final product.

I hope this helps, any question, how may we help? Call us for more details. Telephone: 905.795.0419

Related:

Which one is right for your car? Which one is better? Synthetic or conventional motor oil?

The Importance of Oil Changes

Oil Recommendations by BMW

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Changes to Modern Car Engines. Motor Oils Standard

This is going to be clear as “mud”. I have been a licensed automotive mechanic since 1976 and still at it and the changes to engines and motor oils is incredible. This could get very long indeed, let’s say there are 2 major standards API and ACEA, the former is the American the later is the European lubricant standards. The Europeans started to create their own standards mainly driven by their car manufacturers as they found the API standards were not to their liking.

Please take a look at them by clicking on the links down below. (Your browser will open and load the page content in a new tab. To return to this page you should close that tab).

Fuchs Synthetic Motor Oil

Motor Oil Specifications

https://www.api.org/products-and-services/engine-oil/eolcs-categories-and- classifications/oil-categories

https://www.acea.be/uploads/news_documents/ACEA_European_oil_sequences_2016.pdf

https://bevo.mercedes-benz.com/bevolisten/229.71_en.html
https://bevo.mercedes-benz.com/d/d/en/Spec_223_2.pdf
https://bevo.mercedes-benz.com/bevolisten/bevo-sheets-sort1.html

https://360.lubrizol.com/Specifications/BMW/BMW-Longlife-17-FE
https://360.lubrizol.com/Specifications/BMW/BMW-Longlife-12-FE
https://360.lubrizol.com/Specifications/BMW/BMW-Longlife-04
https://360.lubrizol.com/Specifications/BMW/BMW-Longlife-01

https://products.liqui-moly.com/top-tec-6200-0w-20-7.html

If money is no object and you want the best keeping the oil specification grade in mind by the respective manufacturers than this is the best money can buy , group 5 ester based synthetic motor oils. Not recommended for diesels with DPF filter equipped vehicles! Take a look at it at here.

I have a small car repair facility in Mississauga, Ontario where we work on 3 brands: BMW, Mercedes and Porsche cars. There is a great push for efficiency from the manufacturers side especially since they pay penalty to the EPA, so they will try any trick in the book to reduce the internal friction and the pumping losses within the ICE as much as possibly can.

BMW

We have variable oil pump on say BMW since 2006 , every part, oil notwithstanding has been crucified to the finest details, hence we have 0-20 W oil for awhile now to reduce pumping losses. There used to be an intensive push from the regulatory side (EPA) to reduce fuel consumption which Europe used to trail behind,  not anymore.

Europe wanted to get more aggressive on regulating emission and fuel consumption ultimately driving forward to electrification.

Most manufacturers have their own “secret” recipe for their own proprietary motor oils which gets more and more complicated by the day.

For instance BMW has LL01 (older cars) then LL04 which is low SAPS which succeeds LL01 and were intended for diesels with DPF in mind but it is not recommended in NA for gas engines due to our Sulphur content in our gasoline per say. Then later we had an LL14+ and even later the LL17+.

Mercedes

Mercedes has 229.31, 229.51, 229.61, 229.71 (Diesel low SAPS) then 229.3,  229.5, 229.52, 229.6, 229.72. Does it look complicated enough?

This whole thing is in my opinion is completely out of hand and everyone will try to toot their own horn to their liking and you as the consumer it’s your responsibility to know what belongs in your lovely high tech state of the art engine.

For instance you get the oil level warning, with this little jewels and you need to top up your oil, most of them will have no dipstick to discourage you to put anything wrong in there. So good luck to you to find the appropriate lubricant at your gas station or department store lately.

Having put the wrong oil for instance 229.5 (the most common) oil into a DPF equipped diesel engine (229.51) will ruin the DPF by contaminating it with zinc which will render it defective and will void the warranty on your emission system in a hurry.

This whole silly stuff is all out on the window in my opinion in particularly in NA as people thumb their nose up on light efficient cars. Instead they want monster SUV  trucks or massive pick up trucks with gigantic gas guzzling engines. There is this huge tug of war between governments, car  manufacturers and the public.

The governments want electric cars, the public wants 800+ horsepower trucks, the car manufacturers are on the hook for making gas guzzlers.

We are also caught in between to provide the appropriate slur(oil) for the application,  you get the picture.

My only question is: Where is the common sense in all of this may I ask?

The problem with all this high tech stuff is, the general public has no idea as we often find wrong oils and filters has been installed elsewhere, in a lot of places they are not aware of this fancy specifications.

I hope this helps.  All the best, cheers.

Any questions, how may we help? Call us for more details: 905.795.0419

Related:

European import cars motor oil specifications.

What could be done wrong possibly with a simple oil change

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BMW or Mercedes Maintenance During COVID.  

The importance of your BMW maintenance, in fact not only your BMW, but any other car, Mercedes, Porsche, Mini, etc. preventative maintenance is very important.

Most clients do not realize the amount of damage being created by parking and literally abandoning their cars.  Your BMW or Mercedes proper maintenance more important then ever been before. Please allow me to explain.

We have seen two major areas being problematic for cars, during COVID. The number one is the amount of brake jobs increased exponentially during the shut down and we have also seen more engine breakdown for the same reason.

Corroded BMW – Mercedes Brakes

The brakes get corroded as the vehicle sits for extended periods of time. The open iron surface will turn into a surface like rough sandpaper which will destroy the brakes in short order. Furthermore the thick rust build up also will cause severe brake vibration as well. The only cure is a complete brake rotor and pad replacement. To prevent this problem the owner must exercise the brakes vigorously on their vehicle at minimum 2 to 3 times a week.

Clients Driving Their BMW, Mercedes Ultra Short Distances

The second issue we have seen: Clients driving their cars ultra short distances to buy groceries and supplies only. Which will not allow the engine to warm up to the point where it can get a proper circulation by boiling off excessive fuel and water being vaporized off from the motor oil.

Random cold start without proper warm up cycle will destroy internal components like bottom end bearings and might damage other vital internal components too. The rule if thumb is, once the engine is started it should run for 30 to 40 minutes and should be also exercised vigorously to elevate internal engine and oil temperature as part of a regular engine maintenance.

MINI Repairs

On the photo down bellow is a  Mini’s cylinder head and valves with severe carbon build up on .

Using  overly light weight, and / or poor quality oil  will accelerate the carbon build up. Notwithstanding poor fuel quality as oil vapor blow by, will burn onto the hot valves and the cylinder head. Visit our Facebook page for more photo.

BMW maintenance MINI repair

Coolant and oil leak problem on Porsche Macan S.  Check out our Facebook for photos and details.

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BMW & Mercedes Benz Preventative Maintenance

Fall Vehicle Maintenance

Brake Service – Brake RepairsBrake sets for German Import Cars.

We at Techmax offering original  import, aftermarket import and domestic brake parts to European import cars.  Products include quality brake pads, brake shoes, master cylinders, disc brake calipers, drums & rotors, cross drilled performance rotors, power brake boosters, wheel cylinders, brake hoses and hardware, brake cables and brake fluids. We have brake parts for any European import car.

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BMW 535ix low oil pressure warning

The perils of using the wrong method trying to correct the problem. We received this BMW 535ix with low oil pressure warning related to a known issue which started from a common oil leak the filter pedestal and cooler gaskets.

Maintenance on BMW N55 Engines

This considered a common “maintenance ” type of work on the BMW N55 engines. We charge $450.00 to replace both gaskets, and only viable part is the revised genuine gasket, it will hold up better in the future.

The technician working prior on this engine, (the vehicle has been towed from a another garage), had this “clever” idea to just apply silicone sealant.  Unfortunately in a futile attempt, that made the leak actually worse, which resulted in the classic usual result.

When the belt gets soaked long enough with motor oil, it will shred and gets grabbed by the crankshaft and whipped up into a ball or cord and rubber.  It gets pushed thru the front crankshaft seal,  the timing chain will grab it and the whole thing gets ingested by the engine.

You can imagine what happens with a bunch of cord and rubber, when it gets shredded internally by the timing chain, it creates a complete disaster. Now to fix this,  the entire bottom below the oil pan needs to be removed, like axles, differential, the steering rack control arms, the engine mounts and the sub-frame assembly to expose the oil pan.

BMW Gasket Replacement

Naturally the top engine cover, the valve cover has to come off as well, including all the high pressure fuel lines and rail and so forth. The rather mundane gasket replacement turned into a partial engine overhaul, where we have to remove the oil pump and must inspect the connecting rod bearings for excessive wear, due to oil pump suction pipe restriction by the belt pieces.

We went from a $450.00 dollar job to a 6 thousand dollar engine recovery and major resurrection. They tried to fix the oil leak, replaced the front seal the wrong way, as well as by removing the center bolt holding the timing chain sprocket in place by friction.

BMW Camshaft & Timing

Needless to say the camshaft timing was moved as the vehicle would need to be set up with a special jig to be precisely timed for proper operation. Worth to note, the center bolt must be replaced, as it’s a single use stretch bolt, or it could cause major engine damage.

We have documented all the problems, detailed with plenty of pictures.

Repair,  Maintain BMWs

Things that you can see in the photos below happen, when  individuals try to repair or maintain BMWs without  proper knowledge, expertise and tools.

Click on the thumbnail to view bigger photo, or as an alternative, you can check  our Facebook  out for more photos and related info.

BMW N55 Engine Repair

BMW Specialist in Mississauga

I appreciate my general practitioner or dentist for what they do, but I would not want to get a brain or heart surgery from either one of them. They are a specialists in their own field. This is why they call a specialist,  a specialist. They have expertise in their own field and the proper tools and experience to perform a task to the best of their knowledge.

Any questions, how may we help? Call us for more details: 905.795.0419

Related: Information and the key features of our services and programs. Type of service that we offer, specializing on fine European cars.

Why does my engine burn oil?

BMW & Mercedes Benz Preventative Maintenance

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Fall Vehicle Maintenance

The fall is upon us again, this is the time to have your car checked and inspected to prevent any issues in cold weather.

We Use Liqui Moly & Fuchs Motor Oils

We recommend a comprehensive physical check up, perhaps paired with an oil change, naturally with approved proper synthetic motor oil and German oil filter to ensure longevity. We use Liqui Moly and Fuchs motor oils with manufacturers approved ratings, which is essential to keep your warranty intact. We document the appropriate approval numbers on the invoice for future reference.

Fuchs Synthetic Motor Oils for BMMW and Mercedes BenzFuchs Synthetic Motor Oil for Your Fine BMW – Mercedes – Porsche

In case we find something notable at the time of the inspection, like excessive wear or fluid leak, we will bring it to your attention and for easy reference we will take a picture or visually will show you on your vehicle if you’re present the issue at hand.

We will provide detailed description and choices to make an informed decision. Proper description and recommendations prioritizing the issues at hand and the order which they should be corrected, you always have a choice.

BMW & Mercedes Benz Proper Maintenance

Proper preventative maintenance is essential to reliable vehicle operation and ensures years of affordable motoring without major break downs. Tires are the only contact between you, your automobile and the road, so tread carefully, worn tires will overwhelm your vehicles sophisticated traction and it’s stability control system.

Liqui Moly Lubricants for European Import CarsLiqui Moly lubricants & Additives

Worn Tires & Canadian Winter

Worn tires will wear your brakes out prematurely as well, since they are the first choice for said stability control system to stabilize the vehicle in poor driving conditions. Also you should not drive winter time if your car’s tires are worn.

Any questions how may we help? Contact us via on-line contact form or give as a call to 905.795.0419.

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Noelle Performance Partnered with Liqui Moly

BMW & Mercedes Benz Preventative Maintenance

Liqui Moly Developed and produced in Germany for your car. Tested on the racing circuits, proven daily on the road.

Engine oil essentials.

Brake sets for German Import Cars.

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Noelle Performance Partnered with Liqui Moly

We at Techmax Auto Repair Inc., as the first and presently the only Noelle Performance Software dealer for BMWs,  in the Mississauga and GTA area, please to announce a technical partnership between LIQUI MOLY Canada and Noelle Performance.

Noelle Performance Software for BMW

Noelle Performance offers high performance software for BMWs, creating increased performance and demands on the engine that require the best oil, therefore Noelle Performance recommends to use LIQUI MOLY full synthetic motor oil.

LIQUI MOLY Full Synthetic Motor Oil

Please check the next short video out or select and click link bellow for more information.  As an alternative you can give as a call to 905.795.0419 with your related questions.

Related:
Visit our Noelle Performance related web page for more info.

More information on Noelle Performance & LIQUI MOLY’s technical partnership.

BMW & Mercedes Benz Preventative Maintenance

Timely maintenance is ever more important today than ever before, due to highly complex vehicle architecture in today’s high tech automobiles.

There is a lot of frustration and money can be saved by performing timely proper maintenance. Being many occasion model, or engine specific before bigger issues develop as the result of disservice or neglect.

Late Model Diesel Mercedes

Most late model modern diesels should have a regular carbon cleaning. Therefore at later stage, extensive scrub and clean procedure performed to keep everything working in optimal performance. However have over two decades of proven record of keeping this cars work for long periods after purchase.

Remember it’s your investment, if you shrug it off it will cost more to correct later.

BMW 335D Diesel

Here are some photos to the point ML350 CDI with massive injector leaks and the BMW 335D diesel badly clogged up due to lack of maintenance.

Also carboned up BMW N54 engine due to lack of cleaning of the intake tracts. It is a known issue with them, now the turbochargers taken a beating as they tried to push a lot harder for a very long time.

Lack of maintenance on ML350 CDI & BMW 335D

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The McLaren 720S

Last but not least even exotic cars are not exempt. The McLaren 720S down bellow almost blew its rear tire at 22 thousand kilometers. It needed a new set of tires, alignment, brake maintenance and service.

BMW & Mercedes Preventative Maintenance

I have to note it, all of the above problems would not happen if we checked those cars (preventative maintenance).

If you do not maintain your automobile, the problems will add up eventually and the cost of repairs will increase substantially, after all it’s your car.

Remember your life is at stake, not just your money.

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Related: Information and the key features of our services and programs. Type of service that we offer, specializing on fine European cars.