[flyin54]

I have a 335i with 230,000 miles on it. It's been in storage in a garage for the past 6 months and I need some advice

I am going to start it up next week, now I know some precautions of spraying oil fog in the cylinder walls, adding a bit of oil in the filter oil hole, and removing the fuel injector wire plugs to prime the engine for a bit

Now what I want to know as I want to baby this motor is I didn't add any fuel stabilizer to the gas, would you take the time to siphon the gas out ( It's a 1/4 of a tank) or should I just add a bit of 94octane in it? I just don't want bad gas to damage anything

Now I am also draining the oil while the car is cold, just worried about having a leaking injector that could of mixed with the oil over storage as I have recently just bought and had parked the car, would you do the same?

Please let me know any insight as I really want to baby this N54 and not have any component wear or damage on starting it up after the winter storage

[Tyc0]

If the gas you put it in it before storage was something like super clear with no ethanol then it shouldn't have gone bad, but if you didn't then I don't see any harm in trying to start it after priming the engine.

[flyin54]

Originally Posted by Tyc0

If the gas you put it in it before storage was something like super clear with no ethanol then it shouldn't have gone bad, but if you didn't then I don't see any harm in trying to start it after priming the engine.

I put 91 octane from Petro Canada which does contain up to 10% ethanol content

[feuer]

I would just start it.

[Chapperss]

6 months is nothing - I wouldn`t even bother priming the engine - If you do, then that will be easily enough engine wise IMO. These are stout engines - it`s just all teh stuff bolted to them that goes wrong.

According to google Ethanol starts to go bad at 3 months. But at only 10% maybe it would be alright. I`d try and start it, then take a soft drive to the station and top it up.

Will let others wade in on that one as i`m of the 'it either starts or it doesn`t' club.

[flyin54]

Originally Posted by Chapperss

6 months is nothing - I wouldn`t even bother priming the engine - If you do, then that will be easily enough engine wise IMO. These are stout engines - it`s just all teh stuff bolted to them that goes wrong.

According to google Ethanol starts to go bad at 3 months. But at only 10% maybe it would be alright. I`d try and start it, then take a soft drive to the station and top it up.

Will let others wade in on that one as i`m of the 'it either starts or it doesn`t' club.

That sounds great, I will just top up the tank with 94 octane to even out the rating, I did the math

Still going to change out the oil before starting as I never diagnosed the injectors and wouldn't like to see the engine start with fuel in the pan.

The car also had a light misfire before storage so wouldn't hurt to add some fogging oil in while I do the plugs

[Emilime75]

I don't think you'd have any problems just starting it, but I think I'd do the same as you. Changing the oil is never a bad thing and priming the engine only takes a few minutes to do. Your fuel should be fine, 6 months isn't all that long.

[stewbets]

FYI, leaking injectors won't continuously leak while in storage. They will leak until the fuel pressure bleeds off, which is more like a matter of hours. I wouldn't be overly concerned about changing the oil right off the bat, at least not for reasons of fuel dilution.

[gster109]

Originally Posted by flyin54

That sounds great, I will just top up the tank with 94 octane to even out the rating, I did the math

Still going to change out the oil before starting as I never diagnosed the injectors and wouldn't like to see the engine start with fuel in the pan.

The car also had a light misfire before storage so wouldn't hurt to add some fogging oil in while I do the plugs

Are you changing your plugs & motor oil prior to starting the engine?

Isn't it best to change motor oil after the car's been driven ?

[gster109]

Originally Posted by Emilime75

I don't think you'd have any problems just starting it, but I think I'd do the same as you. Changing the oil is never a bad thing and priming the engine only takes a few minutes to do. Your fuel should be fine, 6 months isn't all that long.

Does priming the engine just entail unplugging the coils and starting the motor?

[Emilime75]

It would be better to either disconnect the injectors or pull the fuel pump fuse.

[flyin54]

Originally Posted by gster109

Are you changing your plugs & motor oil prior to starting the engine?

Isn't it best to change motor oil after the car's been driven ?

I'm going to change out the plugs as the car did have a misfire, also changing the oil twice as the oil pan gasket leaked over the winter so going to drain what oil I can out of the pan while it's cold and top up 6 quarts while also adding some in the oil filter passage.

Reason for this is I really can't know how much oil did leak and don't want to over fill/under fill

Originally Posted by Emilime75

It would be better to either disconnect the injectors or pull the fuel pump fuse.

I'm going to be disconnecting my injector sensors as that's the BMW protocol from the Bentley manual. 10 seconds prime time, 20 seconds to let the starter motor cool down, repeat additional two time.

[gster109]

Originally Posted by flyin54

I'm going to change out the plugs as the car did have a misfire, also changing the oil twice as the oil pan gasket leaked over the winter so going to drain what oil I can out of the pan while it's cold and top up 6 quarts while also adding some in the oil filter passage.

Reason for this is I really can't know how much oil did leak and don't want to over fill/under fill



I'm going to be disconnecting my injector sensors as that's the BMW protocol from the Bentley manual. 10 seconds prime time, 20 seconds to let the starter motor cool down, repeat additional two time.

Thanks. Do you know where I could get my hands on that Bentley manual ?

[gster109]

Originally Posted by Emilime75

It would be better to either disconnect the injectors or pull the fuel pump fuse.

Do you think both will accomplish the same goal or what is superior ?

[flyin54]

Originally Posted by gster109

Do you think both will accomplish the same goal or what is superior ?

Superior would be to remove the injector sensors, pulling the fuse I heard might not cause any issues but it might set off some codes on the dash

You will have to buy the Bentley manual, I believe Rockauto has it in stock for the E90 model

[Emilime75]

End result is basically the same, only difference being that if pulling the fuse, the engine might fire for a moment if there is any residual fuel pressure in the system. Not likely on a car that has sat for 6 months, but possible if you're doing this for a different reason than the OP.

[Vivek.]

I wish all owners were as concerned and meticulous as you are, but it'll be just fine. Go ahead and change the oil/plugs, fog the cylinders since you seem set on doing that but realistically it would be perfectly alright if you didn't.

Our fuel here is up to 10% ethanol and I've let cars sit for 6+ months with no issues. Hell, I don't think my dad's gone thru more than a tank of gas since 2019 in his M3 and it hasn't had any issues beyond the battery dying.

[C.Pop]

I've had a tank of E60 sit for 1-1/2 years and it was fine. 6 months with gasoline is nothing.

[gster109]

How'd the first start turn out OP?

[flyin54]

Originally Posted by gster109

How'd the first start turn out OP?

Didn't start it up quite yet, still ordering some parts for the car and the weather isn't the greatest

Since are cars don't have oil dipsticks I am thinking of just getting a 7 quart measure jug, then measuring the oil that drains out. When reusing i'll get a paint stainer on a funnel if the oil seems OK and top up the exact amount needed. As I need the car to be turned on for only a couple seconds to move it up in the garage back at home, this will save me about 6.5 quarts of oil for the couple seconds that I have to move the car. Just because I will be changing the oil pan gasket and inspect the rod bearings right after

[flyin54]

I heard in the Bentley manual that the oil sensor can still measure the oil while the engine is off and cold but only give a reading if the oil would be below the minimum level, is this true?

[Dave92N54]

Originally Posted by flyin54

I heard in the Bentley manual that the oil sensor can still measure the oil while the engine is off and cold but only give a reading if the oil would be below the minimum level, is this true?

I do not know if it is dead accurate but my idrive will say "oil level sufficient to start engine" if you try to check with it off. I did test once during an oil change and it did say "Oil level not sufficient to start engine" or something of that matter