Here is the answer.

The time is around 19:00 hours on a cold, blustery winter night. The temperature is hovering around -1 and it has been raining, a dangerous stage for icy conditions. Having left the shop with 4 new winter tires installed only that morning, what I encountered next had me kissing all four corners of my contact patch.

Traveling South bound on Windsor’s Huron Church Ave, one of North America’s busiest roads with high truck traffic, I came upon an intersection where the two right lanes of the 3 Southbound lanes were at a stand still, tens of semi trucks lumbering through first gear. With a fresh green displayed, I approach the intersection just below the speed limit, a clear lane lies ahead. With no warning or signal, a flat-bed semi-truck makes a sudden move pulling into my lane from stand-still (trucks are altogether banned from this “fast” lane on Huron Church, I guess he’s a new, careless, or drunk driver).

Hard on the brakes with a tall concrete barrier to the left and a nose-to-tail barrier of trucks to the right, I have nowhere to go. Visions of my seemingly imminent decapitation loom close, the flat bed trailer lying like opened scissors across the road ahead, at approximately the height of my dash. Feathering the brakes I play with the limit of tire adhesion to the road, attempting to burn off velocity as if my life depended on it, because, my life depended on it. As I closed in on the last few feet of remaining asphalt, I was amazed to bring the car to a complete stop. The truck driver who cut off my lane had his truck at a full stop, realizing his trailer did not have enough space to complete the lane change without side swiping the truck in front. Both of us at a stand still, my hood about 2 feet from the sharp metal edge of his trailer, a moment of clarity dawned. I literally owed my life to the tires I had just purchased – because any less traction on that slippery, freezing night would have resulted in my obituary and a very small inheritance debt passed on to my beneficiaries.

It’s not just about snow and ice.

Most people believe in the misnomer that winter tires are needed for snow and ice, but since they live in a part of the Country where there is little precipitation and only cold temperatures, they would not benefit from winter tires. This is a fallacy. The chemistry of winter tires has been perfected to suit the unique driving environment of winter roads. When all-season or summer performance tires start to lose grip, hardening under cold temperatures – winter tires are just coming into their peak operating temperature range, soft and pliable, ready to grip the asphalt. The transition temperature where summer performance tires or all-season tires lose traction and winter tires enter their peak operating window is around 7′ Celsius (44.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

We could break the science of winter tires into two categories: mechanical grip and molecular adhesion.

Mechanical grip refers to the physical mating of the tread to the road surface. The malleability of the rubber compound allows it to “interlock” with the undulations of the road surface (the rough rock/sand/tar or concrete surface). Once again, temperature affects the malleability of the rubber compound, so pliable rubber compounds allow better traction. The tread pattern’s ability to evacuate slush or water is also essential to mating the tread to the road surface. Adding another facet to the tread pattern, winter tires contain thousands of tire “sipes” that act as separate biting edges in the snow. These sipes also add flexibility to the tread surface, which in turn, adds more grip on ice and snow. One interesting technology in particular has negated any need for studded tires (winter tires with small metal spikes screwed into the surface); this technology gains traction at a microscopic level using millions of “bite particles” to spike into the ice or snow.

Toyo, for instance, utilize walnut shells to add traction on ice. Walnut shells are first pulverized into a fine powder and then mixed into the tread compound. At a microscopic scale each individual particle represents a sharp shard of broken shell, ready to act as an ice pick sticking out of the tire. As the tire wears, fresh shards of walnut shell surface, providing additional grip. When you consider that studded tires may have around 10 spikes in contact with the road surface at any given time, while modern winter tires have thousands of individual bite particles in contact at with the road surface at any moment – the advantage of microscopic “bite particle” technology becomes clear. Other manufacturers use different bite particle materials while operating on the same design premise. Lastly, modern winter tires contain “micro cells” or “tubules” that literally suck water off the surface of the ice or snow they’re rolling over to allow better contact between the tread and the surface beneath (consider that as ice or snow is compressed at temperatures near the melting point they release water to the surface, which effectively produces ‘micro-aquaplaning’ and reduces traction).

Secondly, we have molecular adhesion between the rubber and the road surface. At an atomic level, bonding takes place between the road surface and the tire compound as they meet. Depending on the condition of the road surface (dry vs wet), the chemistry of the rubber compound will dictate how much adhesion is available via molecular bonding. For instance, Silica is added to winter tires as it has an affinity to water molecules, and thus offers greater wet traction by bonding to the wet surface.

While these technologies may seem impressive on paper, they are staggering in practice. The traction available from the best winter tires can sometimes mimic the traction available from all-seasons on wet pavement while your driving on snow. I will even admit to driving snow covered logging trails with a 2 wheel drive car wearing Toyo winter tires… and making it out without a tow or a winch.

They say that “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” On snow covered roads, your tires are invariably the weakest link – unless they are quality winter tires. Earlier in the article, we briefly mentioned the relevance of all wheel drive in winter driving. Without question, AWD does offer additional traction for acceleration on slippery surfaces. However, AWD does not increase the tire’s traction with the road surface, it simply makes better use of available traction by distributing power more effectively to the road. Since maximal tire grip is finite, you cannot expect a tire to effectively turn a vehicle and accelerate concurrently without compromise (understeer). Therefore, AWD does not offer a large advantage with additional cornering speed on slippery surfaces, nor can it stop a vehicle faster. The benefit of AWD is limited on slippery surfaces, and ultimately, winter tires will go much further to assist you in winter driving than AWD ever could.

A matter of money.

While most motorists sliding out of control will tell you that winter tires are too expensive for them to justify, I believe in a simple truth that completely contradicts this claim. Winter tires are cheaper than insurance hikes and bodywork. And you can’t put a price on your safety. Most quality winter tires will offer a tread-life of three to four years before replacement is necessary, so divide the purchase cost over three to four years when you budget for them. Since you never drive your winter tires through the summer you can effectively cut down on their wear and this allows you to enjoy both winter traction, and an entertaining, fun-filled summer with a set a performance summer tires.

A common absurdity is the notion that somehow a really talented driver can drive through snow without winter tires. Well yes, it’s true – I have even driven a shopping cart through snow. This does not reflect on driver talent, but rather shows a lack of understanding. It is even possible to drive through snow with summer performance tires, but this simply displays a wonton lack of respect for the physics at play, your personal safety and a gross disregard for others on the road.

The truth is out.

All seasons are like a pair of walking shoes. You can take a nice easy walk in them, and they’ll perform okay. You could run in them, you could hike in them, you could play basket ball or tennis in them, you could golf in them, you could mountain climb in them, but they do not accomplish any of the preceding tasks very well. They are truly a “Jack of all trades, master of none.” By definition, all-season tires are a compromise: why compromise your safety and driving pleasure?

Winter tires offer so much available traction and driving enjoyment that I regularly make it a point to go out and drive after a heavy snowfall, or better yet, in the middle of a snowstorm. The proper equipment can render an inhospitable environment as a playground for your exploration and enjoyment.

Slipin and Slide’in or Drifting and Gliding? The choice is up to you.

Editors Picks:

While there are a multitude of excellent winter tires from various brands including Hakkapeliitta and Pirelli, I will focus in on the tires I have personally found to offer the best performance.

Toyo Observe G-02 Plus

-How do you compliment the tire that saved your life? Superlative deep snow and ice traction at the sacrifice of dry road handling. This tire has marked “tire squirm” but compensates with phenomenal traction when the winter gets rough. Tread wear is average, lasting 3 seasons of spirited driving (conservative driving on dry roads for the most part, so as to preserve them).

Yokohama IG 20 IceGaurds

-Your ‘Best Value’ high quality winter tire. While it may ring in the least expensive of this group, do not dismiss its performance abilities. Worn as the tire choice in Ontario’s winter rally racing, this tire needs no introduction. Excellent snow and good ice traction round out this race-winning tire. Dry handling is compromised, but not as much as many others including the Toyo Observe G-02 Plus. Tire life is slightly better than average in its class.

Bridgestone Blizzak WS60

Bridgestone Blizzak WS60 Tire Bridgestone Blizzak WS60 Tire priced from $68.

-Often acclaimed as the world’s best winter tire, the Blizzak sets the bar high. Now in its third generation, it has been recently redesigned for ever-better drive characteristics and traction; the Blizzak doesn’t disappoint. Probably one of the best all-round winter tires with excellent snow and ice traction, a relatively quiet ride, and better than average dry road handling in its class. You will not regret this purchase. Tire life is better than average, easily lasting 3 years of spirited winter driving (with more conservative driving on dry roads so as to preserve the tread).

For uncompromising dry road traction with high speed capability and performance as well as good grip on snow and ice, I would recommend the following:

Michelin Alpin PA3

Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 Tire Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 Tire priced from $119.

-Enjoyed best on the M3, this tire makes you forget you switched to your winters. Excellent dry road handling and traction with no noticeable tire squirm. When things get slippery, the Michelin keeps up, though snow and ice traction is compromised in exchange for its dry road performance. Tire life is excellent, one of the best in class.

Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25

Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 Tire Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 Tire priced from $105.

-This performance winter tire will have you questioning the relevance of many other winter tires. Currently on my BMW, these tires have displayed superior dry road handling while not trading off too much compact or deep snow traction. Traction on ice is noticeably less than its purist snow tire-brother, the WS60. However the LM-25 rewards you with dry road handling approaching the levels of a summer performance tire. Best of all, its unique rubber compound with “Long Link Carbon” renders it one of the longest lasting winter tires available in its class. Traction through slush is phenomenal, one of the best slush tires I’ve ever driven. With spirited dry-road driving, the LM-25 will last at least two seasons if not three. While it is slow to wear, the tire is designed to offer optimal snow traction for only the first part of its life, dropping off noticeably once you’ve worn past its tire sipes. No “multi-cell” tubule technology or “bite particle” technology will have some questioning the purchase of this tire. But for those unwilling to compromise on dry-road handling, this may be the tire for you.

Toyo Observe Garit KX

-A great performance winter tire that trades the Observe G-02’s tire squirm for sporty handling on dry roads. Of course, some traction on snow and ice is sacrificed, but considering the high level of tire squirm on the G-02s, this may be the better compromise for a mix of dry and snow covered road conditions. Tire wear is good, but falls behind others in-class such as the Michelin or Bridgestone mentioned above. The Garit KX contains Toyo’s walnut shell “bite particle” technology like its sibling, the Observe G-02 Plus.

For the best selection of wheels and tires, please visit TireRack (Disclaimer: Affiliate Link)

BMW uses a ‘throttle-by-wire’, like a lot of other manufacturers, the gas pedal is no longer mechanically connected to a throttle butterfly. It basically is used as an input device to the engine management software that controls fuel and air settings for the engine. But given the recent spate of problems facing one manufacturer and unintended acceleration it might be good to know what to do if a ghost gets in the machine.

On BMWs with the Engine Start/Stop button, you hit the button repeatedly while underway to shut down the engine (about three times – stop pressing it when the engine shuts down). It was one of the first things I learned to do when I got my BMW.

If you experience unintended acceleration, ‘DO NOT PANIC’, apply the brakes smoothly – but forcefully enough to help scrub speed. Move over to the lane nearest the shoulder as soon as possible. Take the transmission out of gear (into neutral, or ‘N’) when off onto the shoulder. Shut the engine down. Shutting the engine down while on the road can result in difficult steering and less power assist for the brakes. Once the engine is off, turn on the emergency flashers and take a deep breath.

Now call for assistance.

Or you can try to determine if there is something interfering with the accelerator pedal. If so resolve it and continue. One piece of advice, practice shutting your car down while underway in a deserted parking lot. That will help if unintended acceleration happens at an inopportune moment in the real world.

Today, we’re going to show you how to reset your BMW inspection light that shows up on your cluster when you’re bimmer is due for Service Maintenance. One of our friends owns a 325i and he tends to change his oil at different shops who don’t own a BMW reset tool.

Without a doubt, many of you already know this, but for the others that are still new to the BMW world or simply never had to manually reset their light, this might come handy.

BMW Service Indicator Lights Reset

1. Ignition OFF (POS 0)
2. Press and Hold the trip odometer button while turning key to position 1 (ACCESSORY)
3. Keep the button depressed (about 5 secs.) until you see “Oil Service” or “Inspection” with “Reset” or “Re” in the display then let go

*Note: On vehicles with “High” cluster, you will also see the amount of fuel (in liters) remaining until next service

4.   Press the button again and hold for approx. 5 secs. until “Reset” or “Re” flashes

5.   While the display is flashing, briefly press the button again to reset the Service Interval. After the display has shown the new interval you should see “END SIA” for about 2 secs.

*Note that if the “Reset” or “Re” does not flash, then you have not met the minimum consumption level and cannot reset.

This procedure has been tested on the E46 3 Series, but if you have tried this on other models as well, please let us know and we’ll update this article.

Thanks for the tip Zsolt!

The process can be quite obsessive, but truth is that I had tremendous fun seeing the car going through all these stages. Just to give you an example how obsessive this can be, I will just mention the fact that I have been tracking even the vessel that my car was loaded on and every day I would follow its course and ….even looked up weather reports on the sea to determine if there will be any delays. YES, I am that big of a BMW enthusiast.

Now what I haven’t done was to setup a complete obsessive exciting guide that will provide all the resources needed to track your newly ordered BMW. But, another BMW fan and owner comes to my rescue and provides, by far, THE MOST COMPLETE guide I have ever seen and believe me, I have seen quite a few on several BMW forums.

Jeff G. truly is an enthusiast and you will see from his BMW Ordering Guide below; I can only imagine how much time it took to dig out all these resources and then even more, to put them all together for the BMW community.

So, sit back, take notes, bookmark the page, share it with others, print it out, Tweet it, Digg it, whatever you need to do because this article will remain as one of the most important and useful articles ever posted by us. I have no doubt that you will learn a lot from his experience; I know I did, even though I thought I knew it all.

What it takes to start a guide like this

The car was scheduled to be delivered, and awaiting my pick up at the dealer by June 15th, 2009.
I figured out, I wouldn’t be driving my 335i home from the dealer on that date.
The car had been sitting at the “port of exit” in Germany, awaiting shipping for close to 2 weeks.
I decided, after I discovered the delay, to find out where my car was, and when I would eventually get it.
Here’s what I’ve learned about how to do that.

How to track your new BMW through the production and shipping cycles in the modern age of information:
(NOTE: This only works for BMW and Mini Vehicles, This write-up is primarily focused on East Coast delivery options.)

(Below)
Here’s the car I ordered:

(Below)
As outfitted on the “Build Your Own” section of the BMW website, and as stipulated with the features
to my dealer for my order:

Tracking my BMW 335i:
1. First: you’ll need the vehicle “VIN” number from your dealer, or a vehicle production number.
As soon as the dealer officially orders the car through the BMW allocation system, they’ll get the VIN number, and then you
can get the VIN number from the dealer -just ask them.

Here’s my Vin: WBAWC73569E06XXXX

1.2 – What my Vin number means:

WBA WC73 5 6 9 E06XXXX
WBA= BMW AG
WC73= Model code of my 335i
5=Safety restraint identifier, indication of seat belts, duel advanced airbags, rear/side airbags, curtain airbags, ect.
6= check digit determined by vin
9= model year, “9″ code indicates a 2009 manufacture date (see the code in the chart below)
E= Plant code, “Regensburg” Germany (A=Munich)
06XXXX= Sequential production number of my car.

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1.3 – BMW Vin Example:

2. You can then get “rough” update on your cars progress from BMW NA. The production status is listed in the secure member’s area of the BMW website. You’ll need the VIN number to sign up for the members area. This information can be 48 hours (or more) behind the actual status of the car.

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This is the status of my 335i as shown in the BMW NA Member’s Area Website : “Awaiting Transport…”

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And, another view of the status: “Awaiting Transport.. in the timeline view…”

Tracking the car status via phone, BMW North America:
(This information can, as well, be more than 48 hours behind the actual status)
• Call: (1-800) 831-1117
• Say “Vehicle Production Status” when prompted… or at any time after the recording starts
• then,you will be asked for your production number, or last seven digits of your vin number…
• then say – the last seven digits of your VIN. In my case: E06XXXX, (Read as, for example: E, Zero,6,ex,ex,ex,ex.)
Carefully annunciate the Es, Ts and Bs – the system is voice recognition based, and sometimes gets confused with Es
and Ts and Bs.
• then say “yes” when the voice reads it back – if correct… if not correct say “no,” and repeat… (you can get it wrong 3 times,
and then the system kicks you to a live human, if you’re calling during business hours… if not, BMW will give you their
operating hours for the office. Hang up, and try again if they’re closed.)
• then say “partial VIN number,” if not a production number… when asked…
• then, the system will give you the status of you vehicle production within the last 24 hours.

These are the BMW Status Code Description:
0 Order deleted by NA
17 Order not Specified
37 Order is at BMW NA
87 Production Week Assigned
97 Order sent to AG
100 Order deleted by AG
101 Error in data transmitted
102 Special Order (no Prod Week)
105 Order out of Prod. Period
111 Order Accepted at AG
112 Order scheduled for Production
150 Production Started
151 Body Shop Started
152 Paint Shop Started
153 Assembly Started
155 Production Completed
160 Released to Distribution
168 AG Stock
170 Waiting Workshop
172 Planned for Workshop
174 Workshop Entry
176 Workshop Complete
180 Waiting for Export Dispatch
181 Waiting for Domestic Dispatch
182 AG Load No. — Released to Carrier
190 Dispatched ex(port?) BMW AG
191 Returned to BMW AG
193 Arrived at Port of Exit (where my car was stalled)
194 Selected for Shipment
195 Shipped from Port of Exit
196 Shipment Arrival — ATA

3. Once the vehicle is listed as “En Route,” you can begin following the progress in detail by other means. Once on a ship, BMW status on their website will no longer provide a detailed update, but you can still continue to track the vehicle.

3.1 – BMW ships with several cargo lines and carriers, depending on the destination.

• Wallenius&Wilhelmsen (parent company for several ship lines listed below)
• EUKOR - a division of Wallenius Lines
• UECC - another division of Wallenius Lines
• A.P. Möller - yet another division and ship line owned or operated by Wallenius Lines
• Mark 1 Shipping – owned or operated by Wallenius Lines
• K-LINE (Usually BMW West Coast deliveries only, but sometimes ships to NY/NJ as NYK-Line) K-Line is not a W&W company
• ARC - Often operated by, or under the direction of Wallenius Lines

4. Most BMWs are shipped out of the port of Bremerhaven Germany (Known by the faithful as: “Bimmer Heaven”)
Port Location:
Latitude: 53.5715° (decimal)
Longitude: 8.546° (decimal)

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Port: Bremerhaven Germany

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5. Typical BMW Shipping Ports of Call:
Here’s the typical EU to NA ports of call for the weekly car transport vessels run by Wallenius & Wilhelmsen. The destination listed on your ships itinerary will likely be the next port, and not your cars final destination.

East Coast Delivery:
Bremerhaven (port of exit)
Zeebrugge
Southampton
Halifax
New York (actually New Jersey)
Baltimore
Charleston
Brunswick
Galveston

7. Figuring out which ship your car may be on:
• The easiest way is to ask your dealer. He’ll have a detailed day by day track of his allocation shipments. Just call, and they’ll give you the ships name.
• In advance of that, you can get a good idea of your ship’s name by backing up the schedule you were given when you ordered the car, and finding the ships who’s schedule aligns with the approximate final port of entry arrival date.

7.1 – The typical BMW transport schedule:
• Car to be picked up by you at the dealer on “X” date, for example: June 25th
• Subtract 1- 2 days at the dealer to detail the car, and install any remaining dealer options : June 24
• Subtract 2-3 days in transit from the port to the dealer, so: June 22, 23, in transit via truck to the dealer from the VPC (Vehicle Preparation Center.)
Your transport time will vary based on your distance from ports of arrival.
Ground shipping on the East Coast is commonly carried out by: “Bavarian Motor Transport,” in Enclosed Freight Liners
• Subtract another 3 days, the car will typically spend June 19, 20, 21 at the VPC, at the port of entry
• Now look for ships who’s itineraries list your port of arrival on, or close to that date, in this example, the Port of NY/NJ arriving sometime around June 18th.

7.2 – Ship Schedules:
The Shipping schedules are posted as a PDF at the Wallenius Wilhelmsen website, and changes, but look for the Westbound schedule chart.
(Wallenius Wilhelmsen: http://schedule.2wglobal.com/AppSche…countryList.do)
K line also posts their schedules on their website as a PDF, and those are usually West Coast bound ships – but not always

8. Track your car, if shipped by Wallenius Wilhelmsen, using the VIN #:
WBAWC73569E06XXXX
http://www.2wglobal.com/www/wep/index.jsp
• Go to “track and trace” cargo section on the homepage, at the bottom right.
(as displayed June 2009, this function has changed location over the months)
• Enter the VIN in the “Cargo ID” field of the form
• Hit “Track”
• Status will be displayed once Wallenius has taken taken possession of the car and selected it for shipment.
• You will then know the ships name.
• If “no records are available” is displayed, Wallenius Wilhelmsen does not yet have your car in their possession, your car is not being
transported by their fleet, or the tracking system is lagging behind actual status – which is quite common.

NOTE: My car never was displayed on this tracking site although Wallenius Wilhelmsen is listed as the logistics carrier, and agent for my ship, operated by ARC.

9. This is the Ship my 335i was actually on:

SHIP NAME: INTEGRITY
PORT OF DEPARTURE: BREMERHAVEN
DEPARTURE DATE: 06/06/2009
PORT OF DESTINATION: NEW JERSEY/NEW YORK, NY
ARRIVAL DATE AT NEW JERSEY/NEW YORK, NY: 13/06/2009
(RESCHEDULED: 18/06/2009 while in the port of Bremerhaven, RESCHEDULED: at 11:25 am EST June 14th by Port of New Jersey to 6/19/2009, arriving at 12:00)
PREVIOUS SHIP NAME: AKA – M/V OTELLO (Re-named Integrity in 2005 as part of the U.S. Maritime Security Program.)
AVERAGE SPEED: 13.8 Knots
DAYS IN TRANSIT: 12
VOYAGE NUMBER: EB914
IMO NUMBER: 8919934 (International Maritime Organization ship identification number)
MMSI NUMBER: 367063310 (Maritime Mobile Service Identities – This number reflects a U.S Flagged ship.)
CALLSIGN: WDC6925
CAPACITY: 5,870 cars
LENGTH: 190 m
BEAM: 32 m
FLAG: USA. The ship is in service for ARC, (American Roll-on Roll-off Carrier) flagged as American in 2005
YEAR BUILT: 1992
SCHEDULED PORTS OF CALL:
BREMERHAVEN – 06-Jun (Germany)
ANTWERP – 08-Jun (Belgium)
ZEEBRUGGE – 09-Jun (Belgium)
SOUTHAMPTON – 10-Jun (UK)
NEW YORK, NY – 19-Jun (USA, Although shown as NY, the BMW VPC is actually in the port of New Jersey)
CONTINUING ON TO: BALTIMORE, MD, CHARLESTON,SC, BRUNSWICK, GA
CA0001
ITINERARIES HISTORY: Baltimore, and Southampton
WALLENIUSLINES FLEET

PORT OF NEW YORK – NEW JERSEY ARRIVAL DATA:
Terminal: Public Berth – NJ
Berth #: 1419 – INTEGRITY
Cargo : Autos
Estimated Arrival: 6/19/2009 12:00
Estimated Departure : 6/19/2009 20:00
Agent Name: Wallenius Wilhelmsen
Agent Telephone: 973-985-8456
Information Updated As Of: 6/9/2009, 11:25

10. Ship tracking live – status of ship locations and speeds, with ship pictures. Refreshed every 90 seconds:

10.1 – Once you know what ship your car is on, you can follow the ships progress.
http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/
Search by Vessel Name, Port, or Ocean Area.

• Click on the port from the list: BREMERHAVEN
http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/dat…ENT&level0=300

• Another site for Information on your ship:
(tracking requires sign in)
http://www.digital-seas.com/vessel_s…l_archive.html

• Another way of tracking the ship: by name and call sign
http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/

For sailwx, enter the port latitude, and longitude of Bremerhaven, the port BMW usually ships their cars out of.
Latitude: 53.5715° (decimal)
Longitude: 8.546° (decimal)
Port: Bremerhaven
Location: Bremerhaven, Germany

! NOTE: sailwx data usually appears out of date by several days, if not months. As opposed to marinetraffic, which is updated about every two minutes. I have attempted to track ships on sailwx, whose last known location was marked as “August, 2008, when tracking in June of 2009.” The sailwx site however, is the only service that will follow your ship through the open ocean of the Atlantic.

• Ship tracking around the UK seas only, and lots of picture of the ships:
The “Marine Traffic” website often loses the ship when off the coast of England. The ship is shown as “out of range.” There is a blind spot for their tracking in this specific area, but you can follow it in this area of transit via this site when the Marine Traffic site goes blind:
http://www.shipais.com/
(this site can at times fall behind timely tracking – “Integrity” showed a “last signal” that was 48 hours old)

• An excellent and accurate site for ship tracking around the UK:
http://www.ais-live.co.uk/AIS%20Live/aissolent.html

• Port: Bremerhaven Ships Currently in Harbor, live feed of information refreshed every 90 seconds:
http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/def…0&type_color=7

• Ships in port BREMERHAVEN now, and the expected departures and arrivals within the next and last 24 hours:
Select from the list:
BREMERHAVEN, DE for port map, or in port, or departures, or arrivals or ships expected in the next 24 hours:
http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/dat…ENT&level0=300

11. Live webcam of “Automobilexport”in Brevenhaven, “Osthafen/Whendebecken” harbor loading area,
South of “AmNordhafen” Access road:
http://www.blg.de/en/blg-logistics/s…am-automobile/
and
http://www.bremerhaven.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=13609

11.1 – Live from Breverhaven Germany, April 6th, 2009
If you look to the North of the The “Osthafen/Whendebecken” harbor loading area on the aerial map, you’ll see a bridge that runs over the railroad automotive arrival tracks. When you look at the webcam view (below 2 photos), you’ll see the bridge, looking back
towards the loading area to the South. This is updated about every 2 minutes. If you have two windows open on your browser, both the webcam, and the Marine Traffic site will align – telling you what ship you’re seeing in the webcam by virtue of the aerial view of the port on the MarineTraffic.com site.

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Examples from 11, and 11.1 above – Faust and Maersk Wave
(From: http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/)

(Below)
This was a live webcam shot of the two car transporters in port at Bremerhavern that aligned with the above
tracking, the Maersk Wave at left below, and the Faust, marked on the side of the ship as Wallenius Wilhelmsen, below right.
(From: http://www.blg.de/en/blg-logistics/s…am-automobile/)

Tracking my ship, the Integrity:
Many BMWs are loaded onto car carrier ships in the “Automobilexport” port sections in Breverhaven. Look for the
“Osthafen/Whendebecken” harbor loading area, it is a common staging area for BMW’s awaiting export, South of
“AmNordhafen” perimeter road.

Integrity’s movements, June 1st through June 6th:
• MarineTraffic, shows Integrity as in port at Bremerhaven Germany, West of auto export “Whendebecken” harbor loading area as of June 1, 2009.
• In port, moored in the “Osthafen/Whendebecken” harbor loading area of Bremerhaven, June 4th, 10:00am EST
• Shown as moved in port at 7:20 pm EST June 4th to a new loading area to the South, now in “Kaiserhafen ll” harbor, Bremerhaven. • Moved out of port as of June 5th.
• Shown docked again back in “Kaiserhafen ll” area at Bremerhaven Germany, June 6th, 7:32am

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June 4th, The Integrity docked to the South of the MV Faust at Bremerhaven

(Below)
June 6th, 7:32am EST Below is the “Kaiserhafen ll” port area at Breverhaven, South of the more common “Osthafen/Whendebecken car loading area shown above. This picture shows the movement (shown as a green line) of car transporter “Integrity” from the Whendebecken location in port to Kaiserhafen ll .
(From: http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/)

• Other live webcams, 6 views of the port at Bremerhaven:
http://www.bean-bremerhaven.de/bean0…ams/start.html

• More webcams:
http://www.seestadt.net/texte_webcam.html

• Collection of webcam port views at Bremerhaven:
http://www.bremerhaven.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=13609

• Webcam views of Southampton Port GB:
http://www.cowesharbourweather.com/webcam.aspx
http://www.bbc.co.uk/hampshire/conte…s_webcam.shtml

• Panning views of Southampton: http://www.cowesharbourweather.com/webcam.aspx

VIDEO: Here’s a video tour of the inside of a typical W&W car transporter, shot with an in car camera:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zuq8C…eature=related

11.2 – The day by day shipping journey of the Integrity, and my 2009, BMW 335i M Coupe:

(Below)
The Integrity, (AKA: M/V OTELLO) in service for ARC (American Roll-on Roll-off Carrier) Bremerhaven Germany
June 6th, 2009, departs Bremerhaven Germany for Antwerp Belgium, the first port of stop of four on it’s way to
the port of New York/New Jersey.

(Below)
June 9th, 2009, 10:09pm UTC, the Integrity is photographed by “RW68″ who lists his location as the port of Bremerhaven, 6/9/09

(Below)
June 9th, approximately 2:45 pm UTC, a photographer named Stan Muller takes three pictures of the Integrity while underway leaving
the port of Antwerp on June 9th, 2009.
My 335i is on this very ship, in the port of Antwerp on June 9th.
(From: http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/…php?lid=921750)

(Below)
June 9th, 5:33am EST, shortly after Stans picture above, the Integrity is tracked leaving the port of Antwerpen and the “Vrasenedok”
transport dock near Brussels – destination; Zeebrugge Belgium.
The ship photos in the pop-up window on MarineTraffic show the Integrity as green, not blue – the ship was repainted blue in 2008.
(From: http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/)

(Below)
June 9th, 1:05pm EST, ( about 5 hours after leaving the port of Antwerp,) the Integrity is now moored in the port of Zeebrugge Belgium,
“Verbindingsdok” port loading area. Zeebrugge port records indicate that the Integrity arrived in port 4:00pm UTC
(From: http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/)

(Below)
June 10th, 2009, Integrity underway at 12.3 kn, now entering the port of Southampton, “GB SAU,” arriving from the port of Zeebrugge Belgium.
(from: http://www.ais-live.co.uk/AIS%20Live/aissolent.html)

Watching the Integrity enter the port of Southampton – live.
(while on a wireless laptop in the lobby of a Westin Hotel in Atlanta Georgia… isn’t technology great)

(Below)
Live Webcam Sequence Capture: June10th – 11:47 UTC (45 minutes after the above mapped position)
Integrity, as it passes in transit between Fawley and Cowes in the UK, entering the port mouth of Southampton:
(from: http://www.cowesharbourweather.com/webcam.aspx)

(Below)
June 10th – Integrity Moored in the port of Southampton

(Below)
June 11th, 6:56am EST, Having left the port of Southampton, the Integrity is underway off the coast of England, South of
Porthleven/Penzance, near the “isles of Scilly” traveling at 17.3kn, – ETA New York is listed as; 9:00 UTC, June 19th.
(From: http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/)

(Below)
June 12th, 9:00am EST, Integrity is tracked via its call-sign, WDC6925, in the Atlantic. Last known position mapped below is 13 hours
and 4 minutes out of date as of this track, located at position N 47°54′, W 010°48′.
(From: http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/)

(Below)
June 13th, 7:53am EST, Last known position reported June 12th 6:00 pm UTC, at N 45°30′, W 016°54′.
Bearing towards the Azores.
(From: http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/)

(Below)
June 15, 5:30am EST, Position N 41°42′, W 037°54′. The integrity has been averaging about 350 miles per day. Estimated speed
at between 14 and 17.5 kn, – or about 15 to 19 miles per hour.
(From: http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/)

(Below)
June 16, 6:30am EST, Last position tracked at 1:30am EST June 16, N 41°18′, W 046°30′.
There were two position updates in the last 23 hours

(Below)
June 18th, 6:50am EST

(Below)
June 19th, 7:00am EST, Integrity enters the Port of New York New Jersey, shown moored at NEAT, (North East Auto Terminal)
port records list arrival time as 6:11am. The Integrity is moored in Berth #: 1419.

NY/NJ AIS Port Traffic:
http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/def…entery=40.6759

(Below)
Final Destination, VPC New Jersey Port, shown below is the Northern NEAT (North East Auto Terminal) dock.

(Below)
BMW VPC, SouthWest Docks,
(From: http://www.panynj.gov/DoingBusinessW…to_marine.html)

VPC New York/New Jersey:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e…02612&t=h&z=19

(Below)
BMW VPC/VDC (Vehicle Distribution Center):
The car will spend up to three days being prepped for the American market, and being repaired to factory specifications
should damage have occurred in transit, in my case, none did.

(Below)
Ground shipping:
East Coast Deliveries are made by Bavarian Motor Transport, in Enclosed Freightliners. This is a BMT truck.

(Below)
Home at last:
The BMW 335i (back left hand bay) moments after arriving home from the dealer.

That’s the entire journey.

Special thanks to GarageJournal for being the first to host this ordering guide and of course, many thanks to Jeff for allowing us to post his “state-of-art” BMW ordering guide.

Before we go ahead and compare some of the maintenance programs offered by other luxury brands, allow me to express my opinion on this. As I have always told my friends, one of the many reasons why I chose a BMW was the Free Maintenance Program which made me more comfortable that all the scheduled maintenance and not only, would be taken care of, without extra charges on my end. With maintenance part of the initial car warranty (Get a FREE, No Obligation, Extended Auto Warranty Quote in Less than a Minute!), all I have to worry about is making the monthly payments.

BMW calls its maintenance plan “BMW Ultimate Service” which goes for the first 4 years of ownership, or the first 50,000 miles.

Now, let’s see who are the contestants this time around: the long-time competitor, Mercedes-Benz, the runner up Audi and the  king of car luxury sales in the U.S, Lexus.

Even thought Mercedes was one of the first to offer a free maintenance plan, back in 2005, they decided to eliminate their free maintenance and offer their customers the option to choose from a variety of prepaid plans.

The decision to remove the free maintenance plan was solely based on cost issues and Mercedes-Benz does not feel that the customers have jumped ship based on this. Their Prepaid Maintenance Plan offers solutions for all the pockets without having the customer think they’re giving up an “arm and a leg” for scheduled maintenance.

Audi gets a little better and while they still don’t offer a full 4 year plan, they do offer the first scheduled maintenance service at 5,000 miles or 12 months, whichever comes first, free of charge. Until 2007, Audi of America offered a  4-year/50,000-mile program, called Audi Advantage, which was established in the late 1980s as a way to restore consumer confidence and jump-start the brand in the United States.

To stay within the Audi/VW Group, Volkswagen provides owners of new, 2009 models with free scheduled maintenance for three years or 36,000 miles, along with regular checkups every 6,000 miles or 90 days.

Lexus is the U.S. leader in luxury car sales but unfortunately for their owners, they do not offer a full free maintenance program. Lexus only provides your first scheduled maintenance service at no charge. The service is performed at 30 days or 1,000 miles, whichever occurs first. Lexus also provides your second scheduled maintenance service at no charge. The service is performed at six months or 5,000 miles, whichever occurs first.  The scheduled maintenance plan is called Lexus Luxury Care and matches several personal budgets or fits your lifestyle.  Terms are available for 2, 3, 4 or 5 years.

We hope this article answers some of the questions you had and in the end, without taking sides or being biased, we would like to show you BMW’s research in determining the average cost of maintaining other vehicles during the first four years of ownership.

The average lease period is two years, but seeking a lower monthly payment, many car buyers are going for three or even four years auto leases. Now, if you’re just like me and would like to have a new car every two years, you might have a problem. Car dealerships, banks or any financial institution will not take back your car, so you’re left with very few options, swap your car lease or traded it for another one.

How does it work really?

The process itself is less complicated than many people assume, with the other party taking over the car and assuming responsibility for the remaining monthly payments. And the most important thing, there are no penalties from your lender and most of the swap car lease companies charge a small fee, $500 being the standard.

Now, what’s the hardest part?

As you might have guessed, the hard part is to find a person that is looking to take over a car lease for a short term. Sure, word of mouth always worked and still works, but it can be lengthy process.

Thankfully, in the past few years, many swap car lease companies have been founded, two of them becoming the leaders in their field: Swapalease.com
and LeaseTrader.com

Continued….

Swaplease offers a large marketplace with many people browsing their online listings hoping to find the best deal on a car, in our case, a BMW. There is one other catch though, the party interested in taking over your lease are required to go through the credit check process, just like you would start a new lease, where your FICO score needs to be above 700.

The credit application approval process can take up to 24 hours, add then the required time for lease transfer documents, usually 2-4 business days, and within a working week, you will be taking over a car.

My tips and advice

There is no doubt that some great deals can be found on Swapalease

Many “lease sellers” are willing to offer an incentive for anyone that is interested, hoping for the deal to go down faster and smoother. So, if you’re on the buyer’s side, you have an advantage when looking at taking over a car lease.

Some of you might remember that last year I leased my BMW 335i through BMW Financial Services and I took advantage of the European Delivery program offered by BMW. Beside the great savings on the final purchase price and the thrill of driving your own car in Europe, by leasing your BMW through the ED program, the monthly lease payments will be lower when compared to an identical car that was purchased out of the dealers’ lot.

Based on my calculation, if I would have purchased my 335i out of the dealer showroom, it would have cost me $30-$40 per month more than the one I purchased through ED. Anyone that purchases their car this way, due to the lower price for same configuration vehicles, has an advantage over anyone else and can finalize the swap car lease faster.

To swap a car lease it takes just a few steps and it can be quite profitable for you, the “lease seller” that would like a new car every year or so, or to the “lease buyer” who gets the deal of his life without being stuck with a car for three years or more.

To demonstrate this theory, I found a great deal on a 2008 BMW 335xi, 10,000 miles on it, 12, 000 miles per month year allowed and the Cold Weather Package: $485 per month until December 2010. Not bad, right?

So, what’s your next step?

Since we’re all BMW fans here, some of us potential buyers, you might be interested in assuming a car lease rather than purchasing a new BMW. If that is the case, then I would start with filling out a credit application with BMW Financial Services or any other lender and find out if you qualify.

Recently BMW North America have launched a new division, up2drive, that handles new and used car loans, private party car loans and refinancing.

Good luck to everyone looking to swap their car lease or takeover one.

Last week, our article on why should you have run-flat tires on your BMW stirred controversy among the bimmer fans and owners. As promised, I am back with the second part of the article in which we will expose the advantages of having REGULAR tires on your BMW. Together with Randy and Lance, two of our readers, we put together an interesting list of why one shouldn’t get the run-flat tires and the reasoning behind it.

One of the advantages of run-flat tires is the ability to drive 150 miles on them at 50 miles an hour. One might argue how convenient this solution really is especially if you’re out of town on a trip and desperately looking for a repair show. Having a run-flat go bad could cause further problems, especially finding a shop that can handle mounting these tires within 150 miles and having a suitable replacement tire in stock.

With the full-size spares BMW used to offer, getting a flat was a 25-minute pause, after which you could go on with your trip. On top of this, you could drive at full speed, with unlimited mileage and worry about the flat when  you reach the final destination.

Here are some disadvantages of using run-flat tires, cons that turn into pros of using a regular tire:

1. The run-flat tires (RFT) can usually not be repaired in the case of a puncture, so instead of a simple puncture costing $20, you’ve got to replace the whole tire.
2. RFTs can malfunction, defeating their intended purpose to begin with, or be damaged in such a way that getting the typical 150mi@50mph is no longer possible.
3. Run-flats are more expensive to buy, more expensive to install and offer poorer performance.
4. Lifespan is half of that of normal (even with regular monitor of pressures).
5. Costs 50% more than normal tires on average.
6. The ride is more uncomfortable, especially if you have 17″ upwards.
7. Increase the running costs of ownership. Normally a tire lasts you a good average of 50,000 miles (80,000 km).
8. Not all tire shops have RFT
9. Unpleasant ownership as you always have to worry about getting a puncture and always hoping that the warning does not appear.

As an ending statement, Lance and Randy are telling us what customers really want:

1. To be given the option between a run-flat tire or regular
2. Have a more attractive and durable run-flat tire product (longer life span, be able to repair punctures)
3. Replacing your standard run-flats with regular tires should be allowed by the computer system without setting off the barrage of warnings that are currently associated with running non-RFTs on RFT-equipped cars.
4. Including a full-size spare in ALL new cars (RFTs and non-RFTs), so people with RFTs have the option to make the swap in case they are not near home.

In the end, I believe it’s a matter of personal choice, where some people have different expectations than others from their own cars.

If you would like to read more about run-flat vs. regular tires, head over to our previous article, many readers have chimed in and the comments are very detailed.

Thanks for the great article Lance and Randy!

And since we’re on this subject, here are some great offers from Tire Rack:
Dunlop, Rev It Up!
When you purchase a set of four (4) Dunlop Direzza DZ101 tires or Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec tires you may be eligible to receive a $50 mail-in rebate. Offer valid on tires purchased from in-stock inventory between February 18, 2009 and March 31, 2009.

Continental, Free $75 Gift Card!
When you purchase a set of four (4) Continental brand passenger or light truck tires you may be eligible to receive a $75 Visa Gift Card. Offer valid on tires purchased from in-stock inventory between February 2, 2009 and March 23, 2009.

Goodyear, Get Up to a $50 Rebate!
When you purchase a set of four (4) select Goodyear tires you may be eligible to receive up to a $50 mail-in rebate. Offer valid on tires purchased from in-stock inventory between March 1, 2009 and April 4, 2009

The purpose of this article is to show you BMW’s point of view or the reasons behind using run-flat tires on most of their models. So, I will let them tell us the advantages of using them, but I will have an article ready with the cons as well.

The following text was published on babybmw.net, an UK fans forum, in response to a customer’s concern.

Quote:

BMW aims to provide our customers with a premium product that provides ultimate safety with optimum performance and it is always a concern to receive feedback of this nature.

We chose to include Run-flat technology on our vehicles for the following reasons:

• It is dangerous to stop on any road to change a tyre, especially on a motorway or at night.
• There is no need to have to wait for a breakdown service to arrive.
• Safety and security of the driver and passenger(s) is maintained.
• Alloy wheels are difficult to detach from steel hubs.
• On most cars the spare is under the contents of the boot, and uses boot space.
• It can be tricky to line up the wheel bolt holes with the hub screw holes and match the thread.
• The dirty punctured tyre needs to be removed and stored in the boot.
• Another puncture before the punctured tyre is mended means one is stranded.
• A driver can continue for 150 miles at 50mph with a punctured Run-flat tyre.

All of our vehicles that use Run-flat technology have their suspension and braking components set up to accommodate Run-flat tyres. Should you decide to change to non Run-flats, it may alter the driving and handling characteristics of your vehicle. It is for this reason that this modification is not recommended by BMW as a manufacturer.

However, it is possible to have standard tyres fitted. You will additionally need to purchase either a spare wheel with jack and brace set or a mobility kit which can be ordered from the Parts Department of your nearest BMW Approved Dealership.

End quote.

Stay tuned for our reply.

DSC, short for Dynamic Stability Control is a suspension control system which goes beyond the single components of ABS, Cornering Brake Control (CBC) and Automatic Stability Control. It works by monitoring each wheel speed individually along with yaw rate and longitudinal and lateral acceleration through various sensor.

The DSC module also receives information from vehicle speed and engine speed, throttle position, brake pedal position/force and the steering angle sensor. All of this information collected is fed to the DSC control module and process.

Photo Source: eBay

The DSC computer constantly calculates an ideal driving condition that is compared with the current status. If the vehicle oversteers or understeers, the calculated ideal deviates from the measured status, and DSC will intervene within a few milliseconds via the engine management system by either applying brakes at different wheels, cutting fuel, and a few other methods that are too detailed for this short presentation

The DSC system can be deactivated via the center console button.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, DSC stands for Dynamic Stability Control and DTC is Dynamic Traction Control. If the DSC button in your dashboard is pressed once, the DSC system will be deactivated. To deactivate DTC, the button needs to be held for a few seconds longer.

DSC is a great safety feature in any car and it has and will save many cars and their passengers.

Here is the DSC in action:

[swf]http://videos.streetfire.net/vidiac.swf?video=b8f2e701-faa8-40dd-9db9-49213393f24e[/swf]

Need used parts? Try Prussian Motors

But before we go into the pros and cons of the two interior options, I want to let you know that we will not turn this conversation into an ethical one and an animal welfare topic. I completely understand everyone’s point of view, but this article is not about that.

Leather

Advantages

• a higher resale value for your car
• it “breathes” better
• it becomes softer as time goes by
• it’s a clear indication of luxury in a car
• a unique smell, pleasant for many
• more color options and types of leather

Disadvantages

• more expensive
• wears out faster
• the maintenance on it is costly and time consuming
• not the best choice if you own a pet
• it scratches easier
• it cracks faster
• it feels colder in the winter

Leatherette

Advantages:

• cheaper
• almost same look as leather
• wears better and can be kept in perfect shape for many years
• easier to clean and maintain, wiping it down with water it’s enough sometimes
• no need to worry about resale value, only if you’re leasing the car
• pets friendly, not easy to scratch or crack
• BMW’s leatherette is one of the best out there

Disadvantages

• it doesn’t feel as good as leather
• in the heat of summer, it feels somewhat rubbery and sticky
• no resale value
• considered a downgrade by many luxury cars consumers

Anything else that I have missed? What did you order and why?

Today, I would like to give you some quick tips on how to negotiate the right lease and a lower monthly payment. Our final article in this car leasing series, will teach you how to negotiate the best price at your dealers, techniques and resources used.

Never put money down (known as “Capitalized Cost Reduction”) is not gospel, just generally good advice. In a lease, BMW Financial Services is actually buying the car for you, you’re just renting your BMW from them.

If you do a Capitalized Cost Reduction(CCR) and let’s say, several days later you will total your car in an accident, all that money from your insurance company goes to BMW Financial Services, so all the down payment you placed on your lease, it’s GONE, you won’t be able to get it back.

You have a few options to reduce your monthly payments. CCR is one of them, but there are others as well:

• The obvious and oldest technique – negotiate a lower purchase price
• Don’t load your cars with all the options available, prioritize and think about the fact that you will give back the car in 2-3 years (well, most of us will)
• Negotiate down the Money Factor, which is your interest.  Even though you’re not actually buying the car you’re negotiating the price BMWFS will pay for it and the interest they will charge. The difference between this purchase price and the (residual x interest) + tax is what determines your monthly payment so you want to do everything you can to get the purchase price and money factor down. Think of a car lease as a regular purchase: negotiate the final price before you talk about payment options.
• Another option with BMW is called Multiple Security Deposits (MSD). If you’re a new buyer you’ll have to pay one security deposits, but under MSD you can make up to seven more. .

The security deposit is your monthly payment rounded up to the next $50 increment so $720 payment requires a $750 security deposit. The point of an MSD is that each additional security deposit cuts the money factor by .00007, so if you do all seven you’ll cut your money factor by .00049, lowering your monthly payment and the total price of the lease. Absolutely worth it.

And NO, the MSD are not lost, you will get your security deposits back at the end of your lease, unless you total your car. The only downside to MSD is that it will not lower your payments as much as CCR, but it is a great way to shave off some dollars from your monthly payment.

Let me add one more thing. Many people say that if you’re planning on keeping the car go ahead and finance it because that’s cheaper. That is not necessarily true. If you get a relatively low money factor and interest rates on a purchase is high it’s usually cheaper to lease the car for three years and buy it at the end of the lease. Your mileage might vary, but it’s worth taking a look at both options.

If the situation is reversed and interest rates are low and money factor high this situation could be reversed. The only way to know for sure is to work the numbers and see how it comes out. You could be saving a few hundred dollars per month in a lease and you can use that money in a savings or CD account, gain interest and use it after three years towards the purchase, if needed.

I hope this guide gave you some more insight and it will help you score a lower payment.

Some BMW use synthetic oils while others organic, but many BMW technicians recommend the synthetic oil due to several benefits: friction reduction – a reduction in engine wear, and it also helps improve fuel economy. Every 15,000 miles, BMW takes care of the service maintenance, but based on your driving habits, the display on your dashboard will announce you if the oil needs to be changed earlier. From my experience, 10,000 miles is the average for many BMWs.

Instructions

1. Park your BMW in a garage or in a place where you have space to maneuver around, outside is fine as well. As safety precautions, if you have a BMW equipped with manual transmission, place the car in gear and engage the parking brake. If you drive an automatic car, make sure the shift lever is placed in the parking position and once again, engage the parking brake. Many mechanics recommend to use wheel chokes to block the tires.
2. You need some tools before you start the oil change process. Make sure you have handy an oil pan, socket and socket wrenches, and a flat head screwdriver.

Oil Change For Six Cylinder Engines

If you have a six cylinder engine, the oil filter housing is located in the front of the engine bay, near the intake manifold. I’m using the N52, N54 and M54 engines as examples. The older engines use a more traditional screw on the cartridge on the right side of the engine block.

With the M54 engine ( E36, E46, E60, E83, E85 series), a 32mm socket will unscrew the filter housing car, but if you have the N52/N54 engine ( E9x, E60, E61, E87, F01 series), then a special adapter is needed.

It is best to unscrew these housing caps first, so that the oil in the housing can drain out. Obviously, you need to open the filler cap and pull up the dipstick (if equipped). This will aid in the speed of the oil draining. After that, the oil pan plug just needs to be removed and the oil drained, this is a 17mm bolt somewhere on the oil pan. It’s pretty hard to miss it and it will be easier to find after some practice.

Oil Change For V8 Engines

The V8 engines are a little different. The M62 (E31, E38, E38, E53 series),  is similar to the six cylinder engine with a filter housing in the engine bay. The N62 (E60, E61,E63, E64, E65, E66 E53 X5 4.8iSA, E70 series), has everything located under the car. The filter housing is right next to the oil pan positioned vertically.

There is a 6mm hex screw at the bottom of the housing cap, so first thing you need to do is to unscrew it to let the oil drain out of the housing. The pan has an 8mm hex plug on it,  release this to drain the oil. The oil filter housing can be released with a 24mm socket and then you can proceed to change the oil filter and o-ring on your oil filler element cap.

The V10 and V112 are built the same way, so everything I have explained should apply.

As a final note, you should always change the o-rings and crush washer that came with your oil filter kit: the crush washer on the pan plug and the o-rings on the filter hosing. There is a large one and a small one.

I hope you enjoyed this mini guide and stay tuned for more.

M54 Drain

M54 Filter

M54 filter housing

N52 Drain

N52 Oil Filter

N54 Drain

N54 Filter

N52/N54 o-rings

N62 Plug and Filter Housing

N62 Filter

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To certify or not to certify? That’s been a popular question among BMW owners the last few years as BMW rolled out it’s certified pre-owned program for used BMW’s. It’s a program popular enough with BMW owners that it’s spread to many other higher end brands such as Lexus and Audi who realized how attractive this may be to those who are new to their brand but don’t want to buy a new car.

For those that don’t know, in BMW terms, the certified pre-owned program is a service you can opt for on any BMW over about 10,000 and under 60,000 miles. However, for a vehicle that is less than 4 years old and has mileage that low then you should hold off as the factory warranty is still more than likely available on the car. As for the warranty itself, it’s good for 2 years or the next 50,000 miles from when it is certified. But I digress, the important thing people need to know is that the items covered by the certification process are:

Continued

• Engine
• Transmission(Auto and Manual)
• Fuel system
• Front and rear suspension
• Brakes and ABS
• Air Conditioning
• The electrical system
• A few other more integral systems are also covered

Aside from the coverage on the major systems of the car, when a car is certified BMW is required to do hundreds of checks on the car to bring it up to spec before it can be considered covered as a CPO warranty.

As part of these checks, BMW does things such as replace engine belts, change the oil and other fluids, change brake pads and rotors, check the fuel system, a change of tires(if the tread is low enough and you have non-spec BMW tires), etc. The inspection essentially works to confirm that the car is as close as can be to a car that just rolled out of the factory.

Based on the work required to bring you car to CPO- spec will determine the price of your certification so, if you’ve owned your car since new and have it certified then the more preventative maintenance you’ve kept up with then likely the cheaper your CPO will be. For example, my certification cost about $1,800 as BMW had to replace the tires on my car as they weren’t BMW spec( don’t put any Pirelli’s on the car before you have it CPO’d!) so the cost was driven up some.

All in all, if you want to cover major parts and a little more piece of mind after your factory warranty expired or you’re nervous about buying a German car due to out-of-warranty maintenance then this may be a good program for you. Personally, I have buyer’s regret with mine but I’m curious to here what those of you who have a CPO’d car or have considered doing so think about the program.

The honor to start this new section goes to Stew, from BMWF1Blog, who will teach us what KERS is and how it works.

Straight from the 2009 F1 technical regulations is this definition of F1 KERS:

A system that is designed to recover kinetic energy from the car during braking, store that energy and make it available to propel the car.

Sounds simple enough.

The full KERS regulations are hugely complicated, but in general, units will be limited to 60Kw and the storage capacity for the device is limited to 400Kj. This means that a driver will be able to call upon an additional 80BHP.

So, what is all this about?

In F1, both a flywheel and an electronic systems will be used so here’s a brief description of both of these systems without getting too technical.

Flywheel

A flywheel is connected by a CVT (continuously variable transmission) to the drivetrain. When moving the CVT to a gear ratio that speeds the flywheel up, energy is stored. On the other side, it you move the CVT to a gear ratio that slows the flywheel down then energy is released. This energy is then at the drivers disposal and used with the touch of a button to produce about a 6 second burst of 80bhp.

Sounds simple and flywheel technology such as this isn’t new, but to develop a system for an F1 car is no simple task. Just try and make a system compact enough to fit into an F1 car with limited space, have it weigh somewhere around 5kg, have it withstand the forces created in an F1 car and then have it provide enough torque to actually prove beneficial to an F1 car. In a nutshell, that’s what teams have been up against.

Electronic

Electrical power generated by braking is stored for later use through a motor situated between the engine and the transmission. Being as the time the charge is held in storage is very short, super-capacitors designed to store a high charge for short periods of time are used rather than heavy batteries. This is the most popular system and the one most F1 teams including BMW Sauber will be using.

KERS has certainly had it’s share of controversy in the past year and as we get closer to the first race of 2009 in March, teams such as Ferrari who want the introduction of KERS delayed a year are getting louder.

One clear voice in favour of KERS for 2009 is Mario Theissen the team principal of BMW Sauber.

But things have changed this winter and it requires that I drive more than usual, including my last trip to Detroit during a huge snowstorm. So now, I am at the point where I need to ask the same very question  myself: “Which snow tires should I buy?”

My research started, obviously, with BMW forums, Google searches and other internet resources. But since I know a lot of BMW owners and have tons of friends that drive bimmers, I figured they would be reliable sources as well.

A good start and resource recommended by many people was the “Tire Rack’s Tire Decision Guide: Find the tire performance category that’s best for your vehicle and the roads you drive on.”

I was once again reminded that there are three options when it comes to snow tires: performance, studdable and studless.

Performance Winter Tires

By choosing the performance winter tires, you’re not sacrificing much when it comes to dynamic handling, but you are trading some snow and ice traction. Not the safest bet in winter tires choices and they are geared more an experienced driver or someone that lives in an area with moderated snow.

The low profile performance winter tires are rated H-speed or V-speed and always need to be installed in sets of four.

My research concluded that the following are some of the most respected and high rated tires:

1. Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D – several options available
2. Bridgestone Blizzak LM-22/LM-25
3. Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2

Studdable Winter and Snow Tires

These type of tires offer the highest safety while driving in heavy snow conditions. The S or T-speed rated studdable tires feature  snow tire tread compounds and studdable tread designs for good snow and ice traction. Studdable tires don’t really work well on ice without studs, and don’t work great on dry or wet surfaces. Once again, these type of tires must be installed in sets of four. Something to keep in mind that I didn’t know myself: studded tires are prohibited in certain states, including some regions in Canada.

The general consensus here is that the Pirelli Winter Carving is the best choice at a reasonable price.

Studdless Ice and Snow Tires

Studdless tires are the most popular choice for most of the BMW owners. These type of tires offer the best in snow traction, but will give up some dry road responsiveness over an H/V rated snow tire to get it and without using winter tire studs. Studdless tires perform much better on ice and much worse on dry or wet surfaces.

Rated Q-speed, these tires must be installed in set of four as well. In this category, the task of choosing three most popular and performant studdless tires, was a little bit more difficult. But based on the number of recommendations that I have received and the research I conducted, here is what I recommend:

1. Blizzak WS-60
2. Michelin X-Ice Xi2
3. Dunlop Graspic DS-2

This concludes my research and recommendation process, but I am sure there are many other tires choices available, so I encourage you to list them below in the comments section and I will edit the article to include them.

Many people who own businesses or are self-employed could greatly benefit from car leasing – tax write-offs primarily- but they are not comfortable with the unfamiliar  language or the entire leasing process.

Image Credit: Howstuffworks.com

It’s a fact that many people leasing new cars are overpaying because they didn’t do their homework first so they couldn’t score the best deal. So, it’s our duty to teach everyone and educate on how to score the best lease deal. But in order to do that, we need to take it step-by-step. 

Our previous article published last week, focused on “How to Lease a Car” process and how to simply calculate car lease payments. Since I received many emails inquiring about car leasing, today we’re moving a step closer to the final lesson which will show you how to negotiate and obtain the best lease payment.

Our article today will get you familiar with the financing terms and details, the leasing vocabulary.

Auto Leasing Guide – Car-Leasing Glossary

Captive Finance Company - This is the finance company that is owned by or affiliated with the manufacturer. BMW Financial Services, Infiniti Financial Services, American Honda Finance, Nissan Motor Credit – these are all examples of different Captive Finance Companies.

MSRP -Short for “Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price” . Basically, it’s the list price of the vehicle as delivered.

Sell price - This is the price you negotiate to pay with the dealer.

Cap Cost Reduction - This is a payment made at the beginning of the lease with the intent to lower all future monthly payments. You are pre-paying a portion of the lease up-front. Remember: If the car is totaled or stolen, you lose this money.

Cap Cost - This is short for Capitalized Cost, a part of how the Depreciated Value of the vehicle is calculated. This amount is just a calculation, and can not generally be negotiated. This is equal to the sell price – Cap Cost Reduction.

Residual value (usually a percentage)- This value is established by the lender. It is sometimes quoted as a percentage, sometimes as a dollar figure. It is generally non-negotiable, as no one you are going to meet at the dealership has the authority to change this number.
Residual Value – This is the MSRP multiplied by the residual percentage.

Depreciated Value – This is the capitalized cost minus the residual value. It is a calculation based on negotiated and quoted numbers.

Money Factor – abbreviated MF. This is the “interest rate” of the automotive leasing world. If you want to judge a MF from a lender against interest rates for a purchase, you can multiply by 2400 to get a rough APR. This is not directly comparable, as the interest on a lease is computed differently than a financed purchase. 

Term - This is the length of the lease, in months. Normal is 12, 24, 36, 39, 48. It can be any number, but anything longer than 48 is usually a really bad idea. Most leases have a sweet spot between 30 and 39 mos (where the monthly payment is lowest).

Principle Payment – this is a term in my lease calculator, but it is one of two parts that make up a lease payment. It is the Depreciated Value from above, divided by the Term from above. This is how much you pay toward the depreciated value of the vehicle each month.

Interest Payment – this is also a term in my lease calculator, and it tells you how much interest you pay on the vehicle each month. It’s really a very different calculation than most people are accustomed to seeing. It is the Capitalized Cost + Residual Value, all multiplied by the Money Factor. –> (CapCost + ResidVal) * MF.

Monthly Payment - This is the Principle Payment plus the Interest Payment added together. Sales tax is done differently on a state by state basis, so I can’t cover that here. In some states, it’s added to the payment each month (and that’s how the below calculator is built), but other states add it to the whole car value.

Lease support – This is money that the manufacturer provides to the leasing company (usually their own) in exchange for better lease terms. It’s an internal transfer to the manufacturer’s captive finance company (BMW Financial Services), you won’t see this on a 3rd party bank lease.

I hope this helps and please stay tuned for our next article on how to score the best lease deal!

As of January 2006, the BMW 5 and 6 Series were listing the Night Vision System as an option in their catalogue. The BMW Night Vision System was initially sold for $2,200, but it wasn’t available on all the 7 Series models for example. 

Many buyers were not and might still not be aware that the Night Vision System can be retrofited in their BMWs. FLIR, used to make commercial nightvision systems for law enforcement, marine, and airborne vehicle, but with their PathfindIR  camera they stepped into the automotive world. This is their first infrared nightvision adaptable for any car, although they have demoed the system on BMW vehicles at the CES this year.  The PathFindIR allows you to see clearly in total darkness, further than with headlamps alone, through light fog, smoke, and dust. Pathfinder uses the same technology currently used by the U.S. Government for night vision.

Many companies in the U.S are working together with FLIR on providing aftermarket BMW retrofitting. Some of the most respectable and known for their quality work are Nav TV Corporation, based out of Boca Raton FL, and Bimmernav from Austin TX. If you’re one of those people that are not tech savvy or good with tools, these companies will install, test and train you on how to use the system. The average price for the BMW Night Vision Thermal Camera Kit is $3,499.

So, if there is no authorized dealer trained by FLIR in your area or  if you have experience with car audio/video installation, FLIR provides some great instructions and videos on how to setup, test and troubleshoot the PathfindIR camera. 

The FLIR camera offered as an option on some of the BMW models, can be retrofitted in earlier BMWs and Range Rovers simply by plugging this camera into the BMW TV Video module. Installation is simple and straight forward an can be controlled via the BMW Navigation computer monitor or via a “on demand” switch.

The camera above gets mounted in a grill, and the AV output hooks into any LCD or the BMW Navigation computer monitor. The threaded slots for easy mounting, standard video output and 12V power all make the PathFindIR an easy to install aftermarket product.

The downloadable files below will give you more detailed instructions and information on the Night Vision System developed by FLIR. 

FLIR Camera User Guide

Application Story BMW

Recently, I have seen many older BMW models with an aftermarket install of the FLIR camera, including an E39 M5 and X5, so it’s doable and I certainly find the Night Vision System being more useful that many other expensive BMW options or packages.

P.S If any of you has a Night Vision System retrofit on your bimmer, please leave a comment telling us your opinion.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Despite the large number of car leases, there are many buyers that are still confused about the whole leasing process, the financial terms lingo and most important, the advantages vs. disadvantages of leasing a car. Money Factors, Residuals, Lease Acquisition fees and Owner Loyalty are all terms that make the leasing paperwork and process a little bit more complicated than a regular financing purchase. 

But this article is geared towards people that don’t want to learn all the ins and out of a car lease and even more important, they are not concerned about squeezing every last dollar. A future article will cover Leasing FAQ and will explain in detail all the terms aforementioned. And the second part of this “How to lease a car” guide will teach you how to negotiate the best lease ever.

So, here we go:

1. Multiply the MSRP by .92 to get the approximate dealer cost.
   
2. Add $1500 to the number calculated in the first step (1).
   
3. Get the Money Factor and Residual from the current month – the dealer can provide you this or you can visit Bimmerfest leasing section
4. Use the money factor plus .0002 or .0003 – the average markup at BMW dealerships
5. If needed, you can calculate the actual APR: Money Factor x 2,400
6. Use $925 for the lease acquisition fee. The acquisition fee can be waved with a .0003 markup in the Money Factor

Note: BMW Financial Services set the acquisition fee to $725, but the dealer is allowed to mark it up as high as $925.

Calculate the car lease payment as follows :

Continued

The BMW of your choice has an MSRP of $50,000, Residual 60%,  Money Factor .00225 .

1.  $50,000 X .92 = $46,000 . — The is the dealer’s approximate cost.
2.  $46,000 + $1,500 = $47,500  — The cost of the car.
3.  Money Factor .00225 — Money Buy rate .00225 x 2,400=5.4% APR
4.  .00225 + .0002 = .00245 – The Money Factor with the usual dealership markup
5.  Your money factor Cap cost $47,500 + $925 = $48,425 – We added the lease acquisition fee to the car’s price

So now we have the final price of our and we want a lease for 3 years, 15k miles limit and the residual is 60% or .6

NOTE : If you lease for less miles you adjust the residual: add 2% to Residual for 12k mi/yr and 3% for 10k mi/yr on all terms

1. Calculate Residual – $50,000 X .6 = $30,000
2. Monthly depreciation – $48,425 – $30,000 divided by 36 = $511.80
3. Monthly interest – ($48,425 + $30,000) X (Money Factor of .00245) = $192.14
4. Monthly lease payment – $511.80 + $192.14 = $703.94 plus TAX
5. If sales tax is 10% total payment is $774.24

Note: Some States requires you to pay the sales tax on the car’s sales price rather than the calculated Monthly Lease Payment, as  a result, a higher lease payment will occur.

Drive off amount will vary based on the State you live in, but here are the number than need to be added added together:

• First month payment $774.24
• Doc Fee – variable based on State maximum $50-$500
• Title and Registration – an average of $100
• Security Deposit - one months payment rounded to the highest nearest $50 increment – not applicable to existing BMW customers

Please keep in mind that the lease payment amount can be lowered if you get into a negotiation game with your dealership and also, in these tough financial times, the dealers are more inclined to offer you the best deal, but the purpose of this article was to simply offer you an easy breakdown of a lease cost.

The alternative is to use one of the existing lease calculators to obtain an approximate monthly lease payment.

The “new generation” engines will be the main focus of my engine technical articles. For two reasons; these are the engines I am personally most well versed in and spend the most time working on, secondly; they have the newest innovations which includes all of the aforementioned ones. The N52 (now the N52K, it has received its first update) is the new 2.5L or 3.0L 6cyl engine found on all 1, 3 and 5 series, as well as the X3, and X5.

For terminology purposes all current production 3 series will be referred to as chassis code E9x. For the new 3 there are 4 different designations to better describe which body style. Working at BMW, we refer to all cars by their chassis designation. E9x is a term for the 3 in general.
More specifically the E90 is the sedan, the E91 is the touring (5 door/hatchback), the E92 is the coupe, and the E93is the hardtop convertible. Similarly the 5 and 6 are known as E6x vehicles. The E60 is the 5 series sedan, the E61 the touring. The E63 is a 6 coupe and the E64 is a 6 convertible.
And since we’ve gone this far I might as well tell you the previous generation 7er is the E65, the E66 is the Li (long wheelbase). E70, the new X5 (the previous was the E53). E71 is an X6. E83 is an X3. E85 is a Z4 roadster, and E86 a Z4 coupe. I’m sure that’s more than enough for now.

Back to the engines.
As I stated we have the N52 for the current 6 cylinder. The N62 is the current V8 (also has received first update, now the N62TU), sized from 3.6L all the way to 4.8L. Mechanically both the N52 and N62 engines are tremendously more weight efficient than their predecessors, mainly through the use of materials and construction.
In particular the N52 uses a magnesium aluminum alloy crankcase with an aluminum cylinder head and oil pan. The valve cover is magnesium. These are extremely light weight materials. I could go one about boring construction techniques but basically everything is as light as possible.
Continued

For example the camshafts are constructed from a hydroforming process. The cams are not cast. A hollow steel tube is used and each cam lobe is like a ring that can slide onto the shaft. Each lobe is placed in proper position and the assembly place in a die. The steel tube is then pressurized with water at around 4000 bar (~58,000 psi). The bar expands and the lobes are now a press fit onto the tube. These cams are exceptionally light weight and strong.

There are 3 other major changes. An electric water pump is used to reduce parasitic loses by not being belt driven. This is also a much more precise way of controlling/monitoring engine temperatures more efficiently. Secondly, Valvetronic. This is a system that allows for variable lift on the intake valves. Third, a vacuum pump is needed due to the Valvetronic system as it reduces manifold vacuum. The pump is used for the brake booster for example. Then N62 V8 includes all of the previously mentioned technologies.

Finally there are 3 other new generation engines to be noted. The N54, the N63, and the N73. The N54 is the bi-turbo inline 6 that powers the 135i, 335i and 535i. The N63 is the new bi-turbo V8 introduced in the X6 and will be powering various upcoming models like the new 7s and 5s, 6s,and X5s. finally the N73 is the current V12 in the E66 760Li.
The N73 is similar to the N52 and N62 except the fuel system is direct injection. The engine uses Valvetronic and is naturally aspirated. The N54 and N63 are both parallel bi-turbo engines with direct injection. They do not use Valvetronic. It is redundant due to the naturally more efficient charged air intake. They also do not incorporate DISA valves in their intake manifolds. The DISA valves operate the variable intake runner length. Again due to the charged air intake the system is not needed.
The one special thing about the N63 is its architecture. It’s a totally radical new design based on the “efficient dynamics” principle that BMW has now incorporated into its development process. The strange thing about the engine is that the exhaust manifolds, turbines, compressors and catalytic converters are packaged in the “V” area between the cylinder heads where normally an intake manifold would be. Conversely there are two intake manifolds, one for each bank, located where the exhaust manifolds would normally be. Basically the intake and exhaust ports have flipped. It’s a very ingenious design for many reasons.

Coming up we will take a look at the systems individually in separate articles, and have a little more engine/vehicle specific information. Until next time…

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The “New Generation” engines incorporate the most cutting edge of these innovations. This article will basically cover BMW’s 6 cylinder engines, touch a little on their V8’s, and we’ll have a poke at a V12.

First let’s get a little techno speak. BMW uses 4 different letters in their engine identification codes.

1. M – for standard production engines
2. S – for Motorsport engines
3.  N – for “New Generation” engines (all the current engines in use are now N designated. It has become the production code letter)
4. P – for prototype engines (have never seen, heard, or read of one. Surely they are well guarded).

The second character or first number designates the engine type.

• 2 – V6
• 3 – inline 6
• 4 – inline 4
• 5 – inline 6
• 6 – V8
• 7 – V12
• 8 – V10

The 3rd digit specifies the engine technology. There is no real key to go along with this one.
The inline 6 cylinder engine has undergone constant optimization starting with the M20 6 cylinder . This engine was produced from 1976 – 1994 and found in E21, E30, E28, and E34 vehicles.

M20

The M20 used only 2 valves per cylinder with a timing belt for the single camshaft and adjustable valves. Old school! The M30 , was the first “big 6” and was produced from 1968 – 1994 for E12, E28, E34, E24, E23 and E32 cars.

Continued

M30

Still only a 2 valve per cylinder and an adjustable valvetrain, but upgraded to a timing chain. Timing chains are now used on all BMW engines. They are much more accurate and reliable than belts. There is also no maintenance interval for chains like there is for changing a belt every 60,000 miles or the catastrophic consequences with this common failure.

The first technical innovations came with the arrival of the M50 in 1989. Production ran until 1995 and came installed in E34’s and E36’s. These included 4 valves per cylinder, dual overhead cam valvetrain, direct stationary ignition (RZV) or coil-on-plug, and fully sequential fuel injection. Still modest technology compared to today’s standards. A technically upgraded (M50TU) version came in 1993.

This saw the introduction of VANOS. The VANOS system was initially only used on the intake cam to provide a variable duration of valve timing to improve engine efficiency and power delivery . The “TU” variant also featured cylinder selective knock control, HFM (hot film meter) air mass sensing, and secondary ignition monitoring .

The M52 followed in 1996. This was developed to comply with OBD regulations at that time. What we now know as OBDII. Mechanically similar to the M50, the M52 basically introduced a new engine control system to comply with the regulations. A slight horsepower increase and a large increase in torque were beneficial side effects of the new management system. In 1999 the M52 received a technical update. The M52TU introduced most of the technology and laid the basic building blocks for the venerable M54.

The M54 came out the following year in 2000 and production continued until 2006, powering E46, Z3, Z4, E39, E60, X3, and X5 automobiles. The major mechanical change (in North America anyway) was from the M52TU’s iron crankcase to all aluminum crankcase and cylinder head. Technical innovations included an electronic throttle (throttle cables were completely eliminated from the M54 onward), variable intake runner length (this will be referred to as DISA), Double VANOS (now intake and exhaust), and new emissions control devices that included “near engine” catalytic converters, and secondary air injection.

M54 cutaway

Then “new generation” engines will be the main focus of my engine technical articles. For 2 reasons; these are the engines I am personally most well versed in and spend the most time working on, secondly; they have the newest innovations which includes all of the aforementioned ones. 

But since I don’t want to overload you with too much information at once, I’ll stop here but tune in this week when I will talk about the latest, exciting BMW engines.

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