RICHMOND GERMAN AUTO REPAIR

Your car has a handful of major fluids to keep its various hydraulic systems in check. The six essential fluids in all gas-powered vehicles are engine oil, transmission fluid, brake fluid, power steering fluid, coolant/antifreeze, and windshield wiper fluid. When these fluids run low or get dark or dirty, the systems associated with the aging fluid will display signs of trouble. This is why you should always prioritize fluid maintenance as a key part of vehicle maintenance.   Fluid Maintenance We highly urge that you check your fluids often. The most common fluid service that you have to get on time is the famous oil change. The other liquids don't need to be swapped out or topped off as often. There are two types of fluid services: fluid change and fluid flush. The average driver may use these terms reciprocally when they talk to their mechanic. However, there is a difference between the two types of services.    A fluid change is exactly what it sounds like. I ... read more

Your tire tread on your Mini, Audi, BMW, or Mercedes Benz is very telling on how your wheels are holding up. If you notice that your tires are worn in unusual spots such as the center, edges, or inner or outer portions, you should have them professionally inspected and fixed promptly. By examining your tires regularly, you can detect problems before they become severe. To help you better understand your tires' condition, here is a quick guide on the five most common types of wear patterns.   PATCHY Patchy wear usually means that your wheels may be out of balance. To avoid having this problem, stay on top of your regular tire rotations. Getting proper maintenance can prevent the wear from worsening in the future. As soon as you catch the patchiness of your tires, please come to Bimmer Rescue for a consultation.   CENTER If your tires look too faded in the center, your wheels may be too inflated. Overfilling your tires is a huge no-no because it will make your tires w ... read more

Your BMW's alignment ensures your wheels and tires operate correctly. When your bimmer is aligned perfectly, the suspension components are adjusted to ensure everything lines up correctly. A wheel alignment can reduce tire wear, improve your BMW's performance, and allow you better handling. Many external factors like potholes and curbs can unexpectedly impact your alignment, which is why it is best to recognize the signs of misalignment early on. Here are the signs that your BMW is due for a wheel alignment:   Vehicle Pulling to Left or Right Your vehicle pulling in one direction is the most obvious sign that you need a wheel alignment. If you're driving along a flat and straight road, your vehicle should continue to go straight. It is not safe to continue operating your BMW if it veers left or right.    Uneven Tire Wear If your front and back tires have irregular wear, you probably have a misalignment. Tire wear that's only in the center, only on t ... read more

Your mechanic checks your car's cabin air filters each time you take your vehicle in for an oil change. Sometimes, a professional mechanic might even recommend that you have it changed, an idea which you, like most divers, put off for "later". Maybe it's because you don't know how vital a cabin air filter is to your car's heating and ventilation system, or you just don't know how dirty it is! All the same, this service can make a significant difference in your car's overall performance.   What is a Cabin Air Filter Anyway?   Modern cars are equipped with cabin air filters designed to keep harmful pollutants such as dust and pollen from the air inside your vehicle. They filter and clean up the air as it moves across your vehicle's heating and ventilation system. With time, these substances will eventually accumulate within the cabin air filters reducing their efficiency. You might then begin to notice strange and unple ... read more

Photo by Artiom Vallat on Unsplash   Welcome to the blog for May! We’re chatting about the things as mechanics and BMW owners we wish other drivers had told us before buying our own first BMW.   Do you remember the first Bimmer you owned? If you’ve never owned one before, it can be hard to relate. They are gorgeous cars and will likely fill you with pride. But like all makes and models, BMWs have their issues. It’s best to deal with those issues upfront so that nothing comes between you and your love of your car. Here’s our advice:   BMW’s are great cars, not perfect cars. As excellent as they are, they need maintenance and support to thrive. You can trust your Bimmer to come through for you, bu ... read more

Welcome to the April blog for Bimmer Rescue! We hope you are healthy and doing well this far into 2021! With spring in bloom, vaccines rolling out steadily, and stimulus checks out again, folks who may have missed out on a break for March may be looking for road trips they can take.  But given that COVID-19 is still an issue despite these factors, some people may prefer being close to the shelter of home when they need it. The Richmond-Times Dispatch had plenty of ideas for great getaways close to home. Looking over their many suggestions, we boiled these down to five of our favorites day-trip destinations in the Richmond area: Shenandoah Caverns - currently open for visitors, the caverns are beautiful, formed millions of years ago in ribbon formations that most visitors liken to bacon strips. The surrounding site is a thriving tourist community of shops and Americana. The site hosts weddings and events, but most of their special events have been canceled until ... read more

Welcome to your March blog! And how about a welcome for the coming of Spring, which begins at the equinox on March 20th? A March Spring is the time of  ‘out with the old, in with the new’ all over the Northern Hemisphere. Do you and your family have any annual spring cleaning rituals? At Bimmer Rescue, we want to challenge you to extend that house clean-up to your BMW. It’s a gorgeous, luxurious machine, and even if you have used your BMW less this year, it deserves a little TLC. We recommend the following course of clean-up: A complete clean. A full car wash and wax, with a vacuuming of the car’s cabin and engine. Detailing. A full wipe down with a powerful cleaner to remove any potential COVID-19 germs as well as anything else festering. Anything that doesn’t have an organized spot in the car should be removed. Minor dents and scratches. If your BMW has been knocked around a bit-- people opening ... read more

Every day, with each drive you take, your BMW is showing you love. Its elegance makes you look sharp and professional. Its accuracy gives you mastery of the road. And its reliability keeps you on top of your game. Why not show some of that love back to your BMW when you can? With the arrival of February and Valentine's Day, we want to suggest five steps you can take to show love back to your BMW in 2021. Protect the body, inside and out. Wash it on the outside, and spray down the interior on the inside. This kind of attention not only keeps these surfaces free of contaminants and bad things but also causes you to be more cautious with your BMW in your everyday commute. Employ a sunscreen. Protect that body further from sun damage by remembering to use a sunscreen device to block out the sun when your BMW parks for hours in the harsh sun.  Take it easy on the engine. Allow yourself extra time when you settle into the car to start the engine and let it run. Allowing the engi ... read more

BMW cars are well known for being stylish and sophisticated luxury vehicles. And while there connection to Bavaria is well known, there are some overlooked but interesting facts to be had about BMW and their cars. Here’s our top five fun facts about BMW, that most people don’t know! BMW hoists the flag of Bavaria in America - BMWs have a number of features that reference their point of origin, Bavaria. The checkerboards of the BMW logo are the same lozenge-style accents on the flag of Bavaria.  Among the trademarks of a BMW design is the kidney-shaped front grill and their 4-cylinder engine. In fact, this seems implausible, but it’s true: the headquarters for BMW are shaped like a 4-cylinder engine that is their internal trademark. The Treaty of Versailles is why they make cars - BMW originally began as an airplane manufacturer, all the way back in 1916 during World War 1. But when the war ended, German companies were no longer allowed to make weapons of war, s ... read more

Welcome to December! It’s a time for holiday plans, for making merry, and for seeing out a very awful year and welcoming a new one. 2020 gave us pandemic, political polarization, job loss and homelessness, illness and death, a contested election, and gave back very little in return! 2021 currently has many of the same worries for us as 2020 did. We’re still in the midst of pandemic, until a vaccine materializes and even the poorest among us has it. Until that moment, we’re still in danger from COVID19. And the economy looks like we’re headed for a recession unless something changes soon. When we plan for 2021, we need to plan for the things we know we can count on. You can’t count on a big graduation ceremony if you’re a student. You can’t count on your wedding happening if it’s a big one with a lot of guests and suppliers. We have to do what we can to downsize if we want to survive. But we’re human beings. We owe it to ourselves ... read more