BMW repair at home. Should you do it yourself?

The ultimate question is, should you attempt to repair your own BMW? BMW is particularly popular with the young owners modifying them actively.

With the help of YouTube, people think they can tackle literally anything on their beloved car. So why bother taking it to a professional mechanic, right?

Repair your BMW at home. Should you try?

We had recently two actually 3 BMW when their respective owners tried to repair, fix with terrible results.

Owner #1: Young gentleman replaced his BMW’s suspension with fashionable lowering kit. While doing so he decided to replace the corroded steel brake lines and the old flex-lines with braided “race” ready version.

The suspension replacement went relatively well, only the suspension angles and alignment was messed up.  But YouTube brake line replacement went absolutely terrible, in fact more like terrifying.

BMW Brake Calipers Mounted to the Wrong Side.

Routing it thru control arms and moving components deleting the flex lines permanently to top it off he managed to mount the rear calipers upside down so they will never bleed the air from the system.

BMW Brake calipers are mounted to the wrong side, upside down, so they will never allow to bleed off the air within the hydraulic system. Brake lines are criss crossing and dangling against the fuel filter on the same BMW.

The question is what will leak first fuel or brake fluid? Flexible brake hose cut off and remnants are left in the mounting secure bracket on the same BMW.

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I’m not here to judge anyone’s job or competence, except this car came in with non existent rear brakes, brake fluid was dripping constantly on the floor.  It begs the question:  Why would you endanger your life and the life of others getting into a repair which is way beyond your knowledge and or qualifications?!

Oil Change on a Late Model BMW at Home. Was it Worth it?

The second owner performed an oil change on his own late model BMW.  Doing the process he removed the top of the air box, while doing so he accidentally left the paper rag in the lower part of the air box.

After the restart the engine lost power.  He had it towed to us and we did all the regular system test and kept having low boost and no boost faults from the computer. Naturally we checked wastegate operation and every aspect of related components.  Finally we decided on to see the turbocharger impeller face, with our fiber optic camera system .

Long behold we found a paper rag being sucked in by the turbocharger blocking the impeller entirely. Than we had the job to trying to extract the wrapped up paper rag and try to not to damage the fragile turbocharger impeller in the process.

Suffice to say, we managed to do it, but while the rag has been extracted we still had some paper pieces stuck between the impeller and the casing of the same. Finally we managed to remove all the bits and pieces and all is well at the end.

Culprit found, our labor on oil change is $20.00*, to resolve this issue costed him $240.00. You do the math, was it worth?

BMW Turbocharger in Action

BMW Drive-train Malfunction Message on the Dashboard.

The 3rd owner had a drive-train malfunction message on his BMW dashboard when the vehicle was driven in a spirited manner.  Owner diagnosed it with his hand held OBD 2 scanner.  After the scanning, he decided to replace the low pressure pump, but the problem still reoccurred. Than he decided to replace the high pressure fuel pump as well.

Needless to say the problem still persisted and the amount of money he spent is ludicrous to say at least . All was really required is a proper factory level diagnostics to pin the problem down.  Which actually was only a faulty high pressure sensor, reporting wrong data to the engine computer.

While the owner was busy replacing the high pressure fuel pump, he managed to crack the fuel line to the pump,  therefore it had to be replaced to.  The repair took additional hours, and considerable effort, as it was the low pressure line feeding the high pressure pump, and pretty much wrapped around the engine.

Please note, on BMW, the high pressure pump’s fuel lines must be torqued to the manufacturers specifications or may cause a split flare or a fuel leak onto the hot exhaust system.

Clients try to repair their own BMW.

This is ultimately world wide problem, created by YouTube. Clients try to repair their own BMW without the necessary knowledge base. Doing so at the end they  risk their own life and the life of others, which is wrong in so many ways, is a understatement.

Would you allow someone to perform “brain surgery” without any qualifications, on yourself or your loved ones? You wouldn’t.  Right?

So why is that people think they can just go in tackle anything on their own without any training or knowledge and see how it will turn out to be only by watching YouTube? This is just wrong so many ways .

Any questions how may we help?

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Oil change on BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, and MiniOil, Lube & Filter Service

Proper Maintenance of European Cars

Ester Core full synthetic motor oils from Motul.

* Our labor on a simple oil change presently on a BMW is $20.00, plus materials (oil, oil filter,  air filter cabin filter and what ever else needed to be replaced). This price is a subject to change at anytime with out any given notice!

 

How often should I change the oil in my car?

Whilst car engine and oil technology has dramatically changed which resulted in increased service intervals from 5 thousand kilometers to 15 to 20 thousand kilometers.

Fuchs Synthetic Motor Oil Fuchs Synthetic Motor Oil for Your Fine BMW – Mercedes – Porsche

Many car owners are unknowingly imposing upon themselves a false sense of security by assuming that their oil needs to be replaced at 15 or perhaps at 20 thousand kilometers. In this part of the world due to frequent short distance and stop and go city driving you should be servicing your car under severe service section.

Today most car’s engines can last if looked after properly at least a quarter million kilometers, and most will last twice as long.

Oil dilution from un-burned fuel, frequent cold start and water from the combustion process while driven frequently at short distances will damage the engine.

Most drivers don’t realize that the internal combustion engine needs at least twenty kilometers of driving to remove the blow by water and fuel from the motor oil which is the blood of the engine as we all know it.

FUCHS on MercedesFuchs Synthetic Motor Oil for Your Fine BMW – Mercedes – Porsche

Worth to note; Proper high quality oil filter is also equally important to keep all the precious internal mechanical components in great shape to decades or more. More info on oil filters…

Please also pay special attention to specific ACEA designation by each respective manufacturer of all the European automobiles.

We will be happy to assist you if you have any questions, give us a call to 905.795.0419

Thank you for reading.

Related:

Oil Recommendations by BMW
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The Importance of Oil Changes

Oil change on today’s high tech ultra efficient cars

The relatively simple oil change on today’s high tech ultra efficient cars are anything but simple. For instance BMW has a bunch of numbers on their oil requirements on vastly  different engines. The oldest one is LL98 then, the next is LL01 there after came LL04 and the next would be LL14.

German long life synthetic mootor oilFuchs Motor Oils

There is an even newer one which, is only for the very latest engines, from 2017 and up.

Furthermore older M engines require a specific grade like 10/60.

Mercedes is quiet the same MB 229, 31-229, 51-229.5 is the three most common designation for late model engines.

In most cases the diesel oriented BMW LL04 can be used in the gas engines for limited distance (no longer than 15 thousand kilometers between oil changes). The LL01 or the LL98 oil is prohibited in the diesel engines due to zinc in those  motor oils. Ditto for Mercedes Benz the 229.5 oil is strictly gas engines only.

The 229.31-229.51 oils are diesel oriented but can be used in most gas engine Mercedes Benz vehicles, except AMG which must have the 229.5 oil specifically.

There is one more additional spec for MB but that only applies to a single engine which is a rarity so we leave that one out for now. The implications are huge for using the wrong oil in the wrong application which at least will damage the diesel particulate filter (in short form DPF) or in the case of a gas engine possible engine damage may occur, especially if the extended service intervals are used.

Liqui Moly Synthetic motor oilsLiqui Moly Lubricants

To make it more confusing Mercedes specifies a felt oil filter for extended oil changes. The original manufacturer is in most cases Mann & Hummel of Germany.

There are two more original filter manufacturer Hengst of Germany and Knecht Mahle of Austria. There is currently a new French manufacturer which is also original equipment manufacturer called Pureflux. Read more about oil filters.

The question we often get;  Can I get my oil changes done elsewhere other than the dealer? The answer is yes, definitely, however you need to pay special attention to detail and must document the type and make of the oil and the filter on the invoice, so there are no issues if the question asked in the future while your car is under warranty.

The next question is; Are there better oils available than what has been sold by the dealer organization?  The answer is yes definitely there are better oils available. In most cases they are mainly imported from Germany.  Canadian dealers are providing North American sourced motor oils. Currently BMW uses Shell – Pennzoil.  Mercedes prefers Mobil1 from Exxon Mobil or sometime Shell – Pennzoil.

If you have any additional questions please don’t hesitate to contact us. Our phone number is: 905.795.0419.

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Preventative Maintenance and Your Car

We often get the question how can I make my car last longer?

Does not matter what type of car you drive, it can be a domestic or an import, either way the answer is maintenance above all. Proper timely maintenance, tune up and engine service, is absolutely essential for any car, regardless of make or model. It’s in the name of the procedure called preventative maintenance as simple is that.

A little common sense goes a long way,  we have some really long distance driven cars  to prove it.

We recommend oil changes at ten thousand kilometres, use high quality long-life synthetic motor oil.  Than  coolant flush and fill at least every five years, brake fluid service at every second year, transmission and differential, transfer case fluids at every hundred thousand kilometres, the rest should be a breeze.

Most manufacturers like BMW, Mercedes Benz and Porsche has their own spark plug and filter replacement schedule. They are the minimum standards to follow at least.

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If you have any questions please call as at your convenience.

Oil Change Related Frequently Asked Qestions

1, Why do European cars have such a long oil drain interval?
Because the oil’s quality that we use today. Continue Reading…

2, Why don’t American or Asian manufacturers recommend such long intervals?
North American and Asian Import manufacturers have been quietly increasing their oil change intervals as API standards have improved the quality of the standard oils on the market.  Continue Reading…

3, Why do most quick lubes recommend changing oil every 5,000 kms?
Because the oil quality that they use and because oil is cheaper than a motor: While there will be no damage caused by more oil changes, the environmental impact of unnecessary used oil is a high price for the sense of security it gives. Also more oil changes mean more money for quick lubes places.Continue Reading…

4, What do the numbers on the front of the bottle mean?
They are the viscosity numbers and…Continue Reading…

5, I heard some synthetics are just fancy mineral oils, is that true?
Yes and no… It’s true that some oils called ‘synthetic’ are comprised of severely refined mineral base stock, but there is more…  Continue Reading…

6, What kind of synthetics oil does Total use in their oils?
Total S.A. is a base oil producer. Depending on the application… Continue Reading…

7, What is Low SAPS?
Low SAPS stands for low content of Sulphated Ash, Phosphorus and Sulphur.Continue Reading…

Contact us for more details at:  (1) 905.795.0419

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