Prepare car for winter storage
 

In mid-November, I'm going to stop driving my car for a few months. It's a 2020 BMW 3-series, and it will be parked in my garage, connected to a CTEK MXS 5.0 charger. Is there anything else I need to do to prepare it for storage? What should I expect when I start it up again in the Spring?

Thanks in advance.

Is your garage heated?

Depending on the tires you have, you may want to consider putting the car on jack stands, and the tires off the ground. Stuff your tailpipes with shop towels to prevent critters from crawling in or building a nest. Top up all your fluids, including gas, and if possible, throw a car cover over the car. Cleanliness pretty important, especially your interior, so clean it up as best as possible. Obviously, wash the car before storing it, and wait until the car is entirely dry before throwing on a car cover (if you have one.)

I stored my cars in a non-heated detached garage for many years, and after every spring, the car fires up no problems. Remember to pull out the shop towels in the spring. If you are OCD and if your annual mileage is relatively low, change your engine oil in the spring and enjoy for the rest of the season.

top up fuel with ethanol-free like chevron 94
wash/detail
oil change if it's due
tender
turn recirc on (so hvac closes from outside)
tire pressure to spec
choke wheels (dont like parking brake for extended periods, don't leave it in gear)

optional if sitting only through winter
stabilizer
car cover
tire saver
pest control if an issue
desiccants inside
tarp underneath if not heated garage on concrete

Was under the impression a loaded suspension is better than one hanging at full droop. Pls correct me if wrong.

I suggest filling tires to max pressure. Every few weeks, roll the car fwd or bk to avoid flat spots. Push it, don't start it.

Come Spring when you're ready to drive it, pull the fuse to cut ignition/fuel and crank it to build oil pressure. Once you have oil pressure (assuming you have an oil pressure gauge), fuse back in and go.

good suggestions - but mostly overkill.

full tank of ethanol free gas

pest/moisture control

battery maintainer if you have one, otherwise just pull it and store it indoors. I don't even take them out of the cars anymore - just disconnected.

that's about it. 4 months at pretty moderate lower mainland temps isn't going to permanently square up decent tires, or affect suspension.

It’s a brand new car. Cars like this sit on the lot for months at a time ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Don't a lot of new cars have shipping blocks in their suspension that don't get taken off until PDI?


I would advocate using one of those moisture sucking tubs for your interior in case of condensation and mold. You can get them for $2 at Daiso. I have them in all my closets. I put one in a CRX that I stored though, and it didn't seem to have sucked much moisture out.

Top up fuel like others said.

Not terribly concerned about the exhaust, critters are more likely to hide in the airbox or cabin air filter and I'm not sure there's anything you can do except drip some peppermint oil to ward them off (bonus the car will smell like fresh mint haha)

Put some loose carpet under your tires and over inflate them if you are concerned about flat spots. I'd advise against putting the car on jack stands. You don't know if the floor or stands are even and I don't think keeping the chassis slightly tweaked for 4 months would be good for the car.

More discussion on the use of jack stands please.

I had mine on jack stands to avoid flat spots, but have recently put it back on the ground because I was told that full droop will harm my suspension and flat spots isn't a problem with modern day tires.

Most modern tires will not flat spot, or at least none that I personally know of. I could be wrong.

Just be mindful of the tire make/model and type/designated use. Despite my original post above, I find that it is excessive to use jack stands. I only did that when I had my 78 Alfa Romeo Spider and it had older tires that was known to flat spot. I didn't do that for my MR2s or my other cars, but then again, I drove the M3 and 996 year round, and all cars were fine. Some people take the wheels off altogether and put the car on jack stands. I don't think there is a right, wrong, or "best" way to do it. Best to use your judgement. Only you know where your car is being stored.

if im not mistaken overinflating to max psi will just lose air faster

i've left mine on gojaks for a little over 3 months without problems

that's why you buy those witha good discount

I've seen critter deterrents mentioned a few times. What would you guys recommend to deter mice and other critters? Rat traps around wheels? What else?

So it looks like there's a debate between flat spots vs tweaked frame/drooping suspension. lol

If I do decide to not use jack stands, should I swap in my winter tires or leave my summer set on?

Jack stands under the control arms.

... Just swap them on and off every couple weeks as some other RS members do.

:troll:

Acura604? :troll:

E brake off to keep rear calipers from seizing.

Lol I thougth you were storing a 60's Bugatti or something.

I've stored my Datsun for the last 17 years without doing any of that for 10 months at a time. Your 3 series is not going to get a flat spot or messed up suspension sitting for 4 months lol.

I agree that the worry of flat spots is a little overkill for storage of only a few months. But some of us do park for longer, I'm usually parked mid october to sometime in april sometimes may. So we're talking 6+ months.

You can jack up the car slightly to take the weight off the tires, but not so far that they come off the ground, this will minimize the flat spot, but also keep your suspension from going to full droop (the fear here with full droop is the shocks being a full extend for so long).

I actually do something a little different, not necessarily relating to my tires so much, but my air suspension bags. I air up the car to it's max setting, put some wood blocks under my frame, and air the frame out on them. This supports the weight of the vehicle, then only the suspension weight is on the tires. This protects the rubber of the bag, and the shock since they are not at either extreme in their travel pattern, and also helps my tires since they only have 100lbs or so on them instead of 1200lbs each.

I saw other people also commented on changing of oil, might seem like overkill, but I change my oil before and after storage, takes only 30 minutes for me to do, and oil is cheap comparatively. My process is like this:

before storage drain the oil and change the filter, refill as normal.
After storage just a drain and fill with new oil (no need for filter as the filter should be nice and newish still).

If you only want to do oil once a year, do it before you store the car, not after. Used oil is slightly acidic, and will wear seals and stuff within motor down.

Other recommendations on storing with full fuel and fluids, all should be followed.

If you dont want to leave the car on the tender all year long, I would just pull the negative terminal and you can leave the battery like that for over a year with no issues. I have a battery disconnect switch installed which serves this function.

i had this gravel looking thing, messy and not sure if it works or just got lucky

moth balls around perimeter of the car cover

bounce sheets in the engine bay

honda also sells spicy electric tape
https://www.thedrive.com/tech/33236/...odent-invasion

Fill the tank, crack the windows*, unlock all the doors*, disconnect the negative terminal of the battery & don't set the ebrake on fully (chock the wheels). Done.

For pest control I like the little squealer things you plug into an electrical outlet in the garage.

* apparently some modern BMWs have windows that have to open slightly when you open and close the door, so if the windows are up and the battery is dead or disconnected you'd have to smash a window to get in if you didn't leave the hood popped. either way leave the windows open so some fresh air gets in.

Moths balls and bounce sheets? Now I've seen everything.

Ixnay on the moth balls. You will regret it.

Bounce sheets, on the other hand... Sounds like an engine bay fire in the making :suspicious:

I always just plug in the battery tender, did this for many winters on a concrete drive way. Now I do the same but just indoors

Continental's ExtremeContact DWS and DWS06 both have a tendency to flat spot after even a couple weeks of sitting around though the flat spot comes out after a few kms (or a light heat cycle). My TSX sits around a lot now with WFH and every time I drive it there's the familiar "thud thud thud" sound of a flat spot.

When I stored my Miata for the winter I put the pressures up to minimize flat spots - I think I went up to 40-45psi.