Driftit 2078 Report post Posted December 28, 2017 Decided to go for a white xmas. Spent some time in Quebec City and then headed down to Pittsburgh, New Hampshire (Not the Pittsburgh you may know). The cold weather has been hammering the NE coast of the US and Canada. Makes for interesting times on the roads. The little E46 with snow tyres has done well getting us to wherever we wanted to go. But this morning she wouldn't start. Sitting in the cold for two nights looks like it might have frozen some moisture in the fuel lines. Too cold to work on her, so off to a garage she has gone to defrost overnight. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gabe79 410 Report post Posted December 28, 2017 Haha. Welcome to New Hampshire! I’ll be there next week for two weeks. This is where I grew up and I’ve now been away so long I’m kind of dreading the cold. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NZ BMW 368 Report post Posted December 28, 2017 A couple of years ago I was trapped in Buffalo of all places trying to leave the US. The locals informed me it was the coldest winter for many years and everyone had ‘snow rage’ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michael. 2313 Report post Posted December 28, 2017 I hope you change the oil to a 0w-20 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Young Thrash Driver 1020 Report post Posted December 29, 2017 If you spit, does it bounce? Trying to get some perspective of it here 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Driftit 2078 Report post Posted December 30, 2017 One of my coil packs froze to death. And it seems my alternator now sings songs when cold. All pretty normal up that way apparently. Will give the car a birthday tomorrow. Hopefully the car wash defrosts. It's a solid brick as I left it in the boot. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gabe79 410 Report post Posted December 30, 2017 You were in block heater territory with those temps. It’s cruel and unusual punishment to not park indoors in those temps. ? 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Driftit 2078 Report post Posted December 30, 2017 Yeah the local mechanic had a ton of diesel trucks he was trying to get going. Diesel had frozen and turned into this thick gel. It looked like cake icing on the fuel filters. He seemed to think it all started when they stopped cutting so much kerosene into diesel due to emissions. They trucks were well winterized but the fuel let them down. Wonder if you can get a fuel tank warmer. Would need to prime all time so the stuff in the lines wouldn't freeze. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
E30 325i Rag-Top 2957 Report post Posted December 31, 2017 Do what the Russian truckies do and light a fire under the fuel tank before starting up in the morning. Not sure it works so well with petrol though... I hope the cold didn't affect your Christmas Dan. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olaf 3317 Report post Posted January 2, 2018 On 12/30/2017 at 8:31 PM, Driftit said: One of my coil packs froze to death. And it seems my alternator now sings songs when cold. All pretty normal up that way apparently. Will give the car a birthday tomorrow. Hopefully the car wash defrosts. It's a solid brick as I left it in the boot. follow the locals. if nobody else is washing their cars, don't do it. freezes locks, seals, doors closed etc. In those temps you gotta be sure you can get everything warm enough to thoroughly dry. Also see if you can source GummiPfledge from your BMW dealer; it's the rubber conditioner that BMW sell for your door seals. Keeps them flexi, and helps reduce sticking in low temps. great adventures! HTH/ 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Driftit 2078 Report post Posted January 2, 2018 On 12/31/2017 at 3:29 AM, E30 325i Rag-Top said: Do what the Russian truckies do and light a fire under the fuel tank before starting up in the morning. Not sure it works so well with petrol though... I hope the cold didn't affect your Christmas Dan. Was just speaking to the Army guys at work and that is what they had to do in Afghanistan. The locals taught them how. Xmas was awesome though. Quebec City is beautiful. Our first white xmas was a success. Makes such a difference when the houses are warm and built well. And the city is designed with bad/cold weather in mind. 11 hours ago, Olaf said: follow the locals. if nobody else is washing their cars, don't do it. freezes locks, seals, doors closed etc. In those temps you gotta be sure you can get everything warm enough to thoroughly dry. Also see if you can source GummiPfledge from your BMW dealer; it's the rubber conditioner that BMW sell for your door seals. Keeps them flexi, and helps reduce sticking in low temps. great adventures! HTH/ I wish I had seen this before I washed the car. I used an air dryer (like a leaf blower) and the doors were still stuck shut a little. Would have been in trouble if I had not dried it. But I park in a heated car park at work so the car is happy again. Next trip is to Key West hopefully not as cold. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites