Blog - Motorwerkes

Protecting Your BMW from Autumn Leaves

19 September 2016

Summer presents its own challenges when you want to avoid maintenance problems and preserve the great look of your BMW’s exterior. When it comes to autumn, however, one form of debris stands out in particular: leaves.

On Your Exterior

Autumn is a beautiful time of year, but as those leaves fall off the trees, they bring plenty of other stuff with them. Sap and quercitannic acid, for example, aren’t particularly friendly to your exterior. Calgary doesn’t usually experience a lot of rain, but the leaves always seem to accumulate water and turn into dirty mush anyways, this can wreak havoc on surfaces by producing leaf stains. Driving away while there are dry leaves on your exterior isn’t the best idea either, as they can sometimes be covered in abrasive grit that is rough on your paint job. Always be quick to remove them from your windshield, and don’t let them block your headlights or tail lights!

Mechanical and Other Issues

Keep an eye on that plenum chamber at the base of your windshield so that rain can drain effectively as you drive, otherwise you could end up with a wet interior. You depend on your wipers for visibility and a safe drive, so be diligent about preventing blockage by clearing them of leaves regularly. Your ventilation system could fall victim to stray leaves as well, leading to odors, unusual sounds, or overall dysfunction of the air system due to clogged vents and filters. Even if the leaves in question aren’t on your car, they’re certainly all over the roads! Watch your speed, turning, and braking when large quantities of wet leaves are present.

What You Can Do

Avoid parking under trees and be sure to use your garage at home if you can. For complete peace of mind when parking for an extended period, consider getting a car cover. If you do find leaves resting on your exterior, your first move shouldn’t be to sweep or wipe them off, otherwise you’re asking for scratches as noted above. As long as there is a manageable amount, pick them off by hand. If you’ve found them building up at the base of your windshield or in other crevices, a vacuum will do the trick. It’s all about prevention and attentive care!

It’s important to be aware of seasonal maintenance issues if you want your BMW to stay in great shape. To make sure it gets the best service, give Motorwerkes a call at (403) 768-3169 to schedule a detailing or inspection!

More Ways to Extend the Life of Your Brakes

12 September 2016

Last week’s blog gave you an idea of how good braking habits contribute to reduced stress on your BMW’s braking system, but there are many more ways you can make them last. If you want to prevent costly damage, here’s what you can do.

Treat Them Well

If your brake pads and/or rotors are newly installed, it’s often recommended to “break them in”. This typically involves making a few medium stops at a moderate speed and following with several hard stops at a higher speed, gradually bringing your vehicle to a resting position so that the pads and rotors are properly bedded. However, depending on the BMW specialist replacing your brake parts, this might be done for you upon replacement. It’s also wise to be cautious about how soon you park your car after an extended period of hard braking. If you’ve been going downhill for a while and repeated brake use was necessary, keep moving for a bit at a lower speed to allow time for cooling and avoid rotor warping

Be Aware of the Signs

Many drivers hear screeching and squealing and allow it to go unrepaired for too long. Whether it’s worn brake pads allowing contact between the rotors and wear indicators, or the rotors themselves have rusted, the system should be examined by a local BMW specialist as soon as possible. Has a significant amount of brake dust accumulated on the surface of your wheels? This symptom is easy enough to notice, so you should take a look if it’s been awhile since you had those pads installed!

Trust an Expert

Are you investing well in the quality of your brakes? It might be tempting to save in the short term when you need replacements or repair, but you should remember that the safety and integrity of your BMW is on the line. Always trust recommended maintenance schedules and replacement parts so that your brakes get the best and most compatible treatment possible. To avoid buildup of moisture, take your BMW in for a brake system flush at an interval that they recommend. With the guidance and skill of a certified technician, you’ll be getting the safest, most cost-effective drive out of your brakes!

Are your BMW’s brakes showing signs of wear? Don’t hesitate to give them the most experienced care in Calgary! Call Motorwerkes at (403) 768-3169 to make it happen.

Tips for Good Braking Technique

5 September 2016

It’s important to assess your driving technique every once in awhile. Many common concerns, from safety to the longevity of your BMW’s parts, are connected to the manner in which you operate a vehicle. Braking is a perfect example!

Why It’s Important

The basics of driving that you learned when obtaining your license are just enough to keep you adequately safe. Acceleration and braking may seem simple, but a closer look at braking has a lot of potential to improve the safety of your driving and extend the life of your brakes. Whether you’re driving around in wet, slick conditions or you commute often in slow traffic, different circumstances on the road will affect your brakes in different ways. The better you understand how to get things right, the safer and stronger those brakes will be, saving you both money and the consequences of an accident.

Good and Bad Habits

Try to exercise an overall sense of finesse and efficiency in how you use the brake pedal. Braking should usually be progressive, meaning that the onset and release of pressure is as smooth and gradual as possible in proportion to your speed. It’s also about knowing when not to apply pressure. For instance, how much speed can you safely reduce just by coasting? You should also slow down just before a corner rather than just during the turn. Avoid cadence braking (pumping the brakes to maintain steering ability) unless you’re losing traction and don’t have ABS. Don’t forget that braking and acceleration should both be done with your right foot.

Technique vs. Attention

Smart braking also comes from your ability to mind your surroundings, read the behaviour of other drivers, and understand the relationship between your vehicle and its environment. How good is your depth perception, and how accurately can you estimate the distance of a stop or angle of a corner? Are you aware of how much traction you have considering weather and the condition of the road? Does the person in front of you seem to be heavy on their brakes? A more astute sense of these variables will enable you to apply your technique as best as you can, maximizing safety and minimizing wear!

Are your brakes in good condition? All of that summer driving could have taken its toll, so an expert checkup might be just what your BMW needs. Give Motorwerkes a call at (403) 768-3169 to schedule an appointment!

A Brief History of Green Engineering at BMW

1 September 2016

A particularly prominent aspect of BMW’s forward-thinking design philosophy these days has been eco-friendly and fuel-efficient engineering. From electric motors to carbon fibre chassis, let’s take a look at a few examples throughout the past 40 years.

Their First Electric

BMW was working on an all-electric design as early as 1969. The result of their efforts was the 1602e, which debuted in Munich at the 1972 Olympic Games. It could recharge upon braking, but was limited by the sheer weight of the battery pack, which was little more than twelve lead-acid batteries packed together under the hood and weighing in at over 700 pounds. BMW was nonetheless determined to continue developing electric vehicle design strategies as eagerly as the improvement of battery technology would allow them to, following up with the LS Electric in 1975.

Oil and the 3 Series

From the OPEC oil embargo in 1973 to the Iranian revolution in 1979, the 70s were racked with political tension in the Middle East that lead to gas shortages and skyrocketing prices. As well as many aspects of the automotive industry, the fuel crisis ended up influencing BMW’s design of the 3 series. By the mid-late 1980s, an “e” at the end of the model number came to mean that you were getting the variant with the most optimized fuel economy. The “e” itself referred to “eta”, a letter in the Greek alphabet often used to signify efficiency. 1985’s 325e offered 28 miles to the gallon, pretty impressive for the time. The 325 would later be subject to continuing electric experimentation with the 325iX from 1987 to 1990 and the BMW Electric from 1992 to 1997.

Recent and Future Efforts

After further experimental models, not to mention the launch of the i3 and i8 in 2013 and 2014, BMW now contains all plug-in hybrid vehicles under the “iPerformance” designation. The recent 740e and 330e, for instance, combine a 2.0 litre turbocharged 4-cylinder gasoline engine with an electric motor and a lithium-ion battery pack. BMW’s development of electric and hybrid cars is as varied and ambitious as ever, exploring lightweight carbon fibre design, eDrive technology, and more. With everything from commuter hatchbacks like the i3 to futuristic concepts like the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics, they’ve come a long way from that sluggish 1602e!

However high-tech your BMW is, taking care of it should always be a top priority. Give Motorwerkes a call at (403) 768-3169 to make sure it’s in the most qualified hands!

Summer and Your Fuel Economy

22 August 2016

As we know, the shifting seasons affect many aspects of our BMWs. You’re probably aware of how difficult it can be to optimize gas mileage during winter. Summer, however, has its own way of affecting fuel economy.

A Few Advantages

One of the upsides that summer offers is how quickly you’ll get to operating temperature. You won’t need to wait after ignition in the middle of July! The gas usage this saves can certainly make a difference. You’ll also be using certain electrical components less than you would in the cold, such as heating and defrosting. This avoids some forms of strain on your BMW’s engine. It’s also important to note that the average winter drive is inefficient and slow due to traffic congestion and more cautious speeds. Even if you do get a chance to pick up the pace, you’ll get higher aerodynamic resistance in cold air than warm air. Both of these factor promote better fuel efficiency during the warmer months.

Cooling and Airflow Issues

Despite these advantages, there are some downsides. Air conditioning is probably the number one factor you should bear in mind, as many of us try to get as much out of our A/C as we can during hot days without giving it much thought. This can be pretty taxing on your engine for prolonged periods of time. Your first impulse may be to drive with the windows down more often, but this will take its toll as well! The last thing you want to do is compromise the sleek aerodynamic character of your BMW with increased drag as the air flows into the vehicle.

What To Do

While it might seem like you’re out of options, you don’t need to worry! It’s all about timing. Open windows won’t bring wind resistance up by a significant factor at the lower speeds of your neighbourhood. But, once you hit the freeway or even speeds a bit lower, it’s wise to go for the A/C instead. Keep the temperature as warm as you can while still maintaining comfort. If your interior has built up heat while parked, it’s better to tough it out the heat and open the windows to aid circulation before blasting the A/C and giving your engine more work. And of course, don’t run your A/C with the windows open!

Have more questions about getting the best performance from your vehicle? Motorwerkes is here to help with all of your BMW questions and concerns. Give us a call at (403) 768-3168 today!