Long Term Vehicle Storage Guidelines

Otto receives a load of vehicle storage questions from BMW and Mini owners as we head into the fall and winter months. Additionally, we see these questions in the spring when “snow birds” are storing their southern vehicles and heading north for the summer. Whatever the cause for the extended vehicle storage, if we follow a few simple steps our BMWs and Minis will be well taken care of and be ready to go when it’s time to wake them from their sleep.

In prepping your BMW/Mini for extended storage, we would suggest the following steps.You can choose to perform all steps or just the most imperative.

1. In dealing with our current ethanol laced fuel, it is more important than ever to pay attention to prepping the fuel system. If the vehicle has been running regularly and the fuel is fairly fresh, add the appropriate amount of fuel stabilizer (for a full tank) and add fuel to fill the tank. Run the engine for a few minutes to distribute the fuel (driving home from the gas station is plenty).If the vehicle is not driven regularly and the fuel in the tank is fairly old, it would be best to run the fuel down to near empty and then proceed as noted above. This is not imperative, but in light of the corrosive and moisture attracting properties of the ethanol laced fuel, we would recommend that you consider this step.Fuel stabilizer is typically available at auto parts stores, marine stores, etc.
2. With the engine warm, change the engine oil and filter. Run the engine for a couple minutes to fully distribute the fresh oil.
3. Get the vehicle into the storage location (if not in place already). Remove the wheels/tires, if you wish, to prevent flat spotting of the tires. Note that with most of today’s tires, this is not really a major issue if the vehicle is only being stored for a few months.
4. You can either remove the battery for maintenance charging or leave it in the car with a storage/maintenance charger connected. Do not skip this step. Your battery will suffer if left for months without maintenance charging. We recommend the CTEK pulse technology charger for in-car or out-of-car battery maintenance.
5. Apply a generous application of the Gummi-Pflege rubber care product to all door, hood, trunk and convertible top rubber seals. This will keep the gaskets and seals pliable, keep them from sticking to the windows, doors, etc. and extend their life overall.

NOTES:
We do not recommend periodically starting the engine. There is no need for this if the actions that are noted above are followed. In fact, starting the engine and only running it for 15 to 30 minutes is more harmful than beneficial. In this amount of time, the engine and exhaust will not have built enough heat and run for long enough to burn off the condensation and acids that form in the systems. What this will do, however, is generate additional condensation once the systems cool back down.This condensation will build acids and potential corrosion in the engine and additional corrosion in the exhaust.

In reference to the above notes, we should also address the questions about oil draining off of various engine parts … and the potential need to periodically start the engine in order to keep the parts oiled (or some variation of this theme). Any oil drainage that happens in the engine, has already happened after a few hours of the engine sitting idle. In reference to this point, there is no need to periodically start the engine.