Make sure your brakes are in good working order, get them checked!
August isn’t just the last full month of summer, it’s also Brake Safety Awareness Month. If you’re planning on taking one last summer vacation before the season is over and before school starts, be sure to have your brakes checked out to keep you and your family safe on the road.
Brake Safety Awareness Month aims to encourage motorists to learn and be aware of the importance of having a safe brake system in their BMW.
We all know brakes wear and tear over time, so it’s important to stop into your independent BMW repair shop and have your brakes routinely checked for maintenance. Your qualified BMW mechanic will check the brake lining wear, fluid level, rotor thickness, condition of the hoses and brake lines, the brake dash and warning lights and perform other checks to correctly diagnose if there is a problem with your brake system.
Common warning signs that your BMW is needing brake service include:
Grinding
Squealing
Hard pedal feel
Pedal hops or vibrates
Soft or low brake pedal feel
BMW pulls to the left or right
If you experience any of these warning signs or you see your brake warning light on, it’s time to head into your local BMW service shop immediately for brake repair.
Is that Satan in your hood causing a fire and smoke? No, you're vehicle is probably overheating.
Is that Satan in your hood causing a fire and smoke? No, you’re vehicle is probably overheating.
Your BMW can tell you all sorts of things from when it needs gas, to when it needs to go into the shop. Being proactive about the latter can help you save mucho de dolares down the road.
Here are some scary signs your car may be telling you…in which case you ought to run to your BMW service shop like you’re being chased by brain-eating zombies in a horror flick.
Tires:
Some hair-raising signs your tires are in trouble and you could be in danger include a tread depth below 1/16th of an inch, the appearance of a tread wear indicator bar, presence of cracks and weathered sidewalls and bulges and blisters on tires. Also, if you notice your BMW is vibrating, this too, can be a sign that you need to replace your tires.
If left unattended, bad tires can lead to poor car handling/steering, which can contribute to serious auto accidents and tire blow outs that can leave you on the side of the road. Also, you may be at risk of hydroplaning on wet days due to tread wear-down and your fuel economy will be lowered.
Seized Engine:
Something’s a-brewing in your BMW when you witness light tapping noises or a knocking sound. This can be a sign of a possible seized engine. This sound should spook you enough to head to your mechanic ASAP and have it tested (that is, if you can drive there). The repair for this problem is dependent on what is causing the seize. If you can have the entire engine replaced with all its components, it can be very costly. Avoid this frightful mess by getting your BMW serviced routinely by a qualified BMW mechanic.
Overheated Engine:
Think your engine is possessed by the Devil? Not likely. Some warning signs of an overheated engine includes a temperature gauge in the “red,” putrid smells of burning oil or metal from the radiator, abnormal power and leaks underneath your car.
To remedy this, have your BMW mechanic check for leaky/clogged/collapsed hoses, loose clamps and for a faulty temperature gauge and water pumps, etc. Frequent overheating can cause serious engine damage, but if caught early it’s not too costly of a repair.
Transmission Problems/Failure:
Transmission problems and possible failure may be lurking around the corner in your BMW with certain evil signs. To avoid digging a grave for your transmission, these signs include refusal to go into gear, strange burning smells, clunking/buzzing/humming sounds, gear slippage, dragging clutch, transmission fluid leak, check engine light appearance, shimmying into gear, vehicle jerking in park or neutral, and delay of response when shifting into gear.
If your transmission starts acting up then you are in for a whirlwind of trouble and possible costly repairs. Keep your BMW up-to-date with its routine maintenance to avoid this, and take it to your local BMW shop immediately.
Broken Timing Belt:
Don’t be shocked to the core when your timing belt breaks in your BMW if you avoid the warning signs. These potentially hazardous signs include a shaking vehicle, a hard start, expelling more exhaust than normal, high-pitched noises and vehicle shut off while driving.
A broken timing belt that sidelines you along the freeway can also cause damage to other engine components, which you definitely don’t want.
Change the timing belt in your BMW at the recommended service interval. When you take your BMW to your local BMW service center, your qualified BMW mechanic will inspect the timing belt to make sure there are no cracks, chips or spots, and look at the teeth of the belt.
The way your BMW sounds and smells, to how it performs on the road can be telltale signs that it needs maintenance…but don’t be alarmed about all things that go bump in the night, because not every bone rattling shake or blood curdling squeal means your BMW is about to go belly-up and you need a new plot in the cemetery. It’s just a best practice to be aware of these things and have your BMW routinely serviced to avoid them.
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