Month: November 2022

BMW N20 (Z4) No Start When Warm Fix

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BMW Hard to Start Warm

INTRO:

After two years, no help from the dealer or the Indy shop and countless troubleshooting steps, I have finally solved the bad start issue on my BMW Z4. Hey guys and welcome back to the SimpleCarGuy channel! Today, I will go over all of the steps I took to try and solve this problem over the last 2 years, what I’ve learned in the process and how I accidentally solved it.

Quick Preview:

To put a lot of this into perspective, I got the car with a blown engine and swapped in a newer 30k-mile engine in my garage. Since I didn’t use the same exactly engine as I took out, I had to swap a lot of parts in the engine replacement process from the old engine. As a result, I had a few issues once everything was finished, but nothing I couldn’t solve. Except for this bad starting issue. When the car was cold, it would start no problem. However, after the engine was fully warmed up, there was a chance that it wouldn’t start or hesitate while starting. It didn’t help that the car has auto stop and start option and would turn the engine off at each red light.

From the information I have given you so far, what do you think the solution to this problem is? Leave your comments below and NO cheating! Now would also be the best time to hit that LIKE button to support the channel!

Troubleshooting:

Since I believed the issue had something to do with the engine swap, I started troubleshooting some of the more obvious items. I rechecked and retightened all of the ground wires as well as the power wires going to and from the alternator and starter, checked all of the fuses and everything else I could think of. None of it made a difference. To be clear, I never had ANY codes on the car related to this issue.

With the wiring not being the problem, I got to thinking that it must be something to do with the ignition system. The most obvious item that came to mind and something I definitely touched during the swap was the crankshaft position sensor, this sensor tells the rotational position of the crank to the ECU and when it goes back, shows similar symptoms to what I had. Luckily, these are very cheap on eBay, so I swap it out but the problem remained. Similarly, the camshaft sensors monitor the speed and position of intake and exhaust camshaft. ECU uses this information for ignition and fuel control, but after swapping these out as well, I still had the same starting problem.

At this point, I’ve posted on forums, groups and consulted with a few friends and of course everyone gave a different solutions and mostly blamed different sensors that are known to fail on a BMWs. Since I like tinkering with cars, I got right to it! I’ve swapped out the air intake temperature sensor, cleaned and later swapped the mass air flow sensor, tested the coolant temperature sensor on the engine block, unplugged the O2 sensors to see if that made any difference and even looked into the oil pressure sensor as well as checked the oil pressure when the engine was fully warmed up. All was normal, still no codes or any other indication of something being wrong with the engine.

Just to check some items off my list, I smoke tested the vacuum system on the engine to look for any leaks, replaced the vacuum solenoid and even cleaned the PCV valve in the process. Of course the results were still the same.

Knowing that the wires are all secure, the ignition system is operating as expected, most of the sensors on the engine have been replaced or tested and there were no vacuum leaks on the car lead me to believe that it has something to do with the fuel delivery. I started with a big one and replaced the HPFP as I had a spare one from my old engine. The HPFP is one of the common issues on this engine that can cause very similar symptoms. However, even after replacing the fuel pump, the fuel pressure regulator AND testing the fuel rail pressure, my starting situation didn’t change.

Things I’ve Learned:

All of the items I have mentioned so far have had no effect, but replacing the injectors did make a change, just not to how the car started. What I learned was that there were 2 different injector types on the N20 engine, the EU5 and the EU6. Although practically the same, at full throttle, I would get a lean code pop up once in a while. After replacing the newer EU6 injectors with the EU5 Injectors from the old engine, those codes never re-appeared. The reason I’m mentioning this is in case you are troubleshooting a similar issue and didn’t think to look at the injector version.

Dealer:

So, I definitely learned a lot in the process but after all of this time, the car would still be hard to start when warm. Since I couldn’t figure it out, I decided to take the car to a local Indy shop that specializes in German cars. They spent a couple of days troubleshooting the car and at the end told me that it ‘might’ be the Valvetronic servo motor that needs to be replaced. Looking online, it looked like a possible solution, but before I took the engine apart, I brought it to a BMW dealer to check out as well. They scanned the car, logged some data, reset the adaptations on the DME and sent me home. The issue was back before I even got home. Not wanting to pay $200/hour for further troubleshooting, I left it alone and drove the car as is for a while.

Final Fix:

Knowing everything you know now, have you figured out what the issue was? The solution was purely accidental. If you follow my channel, you may have seen a video where I replaced the starter motor on this car. After I removed the old one and got the new one out of the box, I noticed that they were different in size, color and even OE manufacturer. I was sure I ordered the correct starter as I went by part number that came up for my VIN. The reason these two were different is because the starter that was install on my car was for N20 engines that do NOT have the Auto Start/Stop functionality. Someone in the past, installed a starter that technically fit, but was not made for this version of the car. After installing the correct starter and driving for about a week now, I have had absolutely zero issues! This just shows you that you can try 100 different things, but sometimes the solution is hiding in plain sight. I hope some of the troubleshooting steps I talked about help someone fix their cars that have a similar starting problem. For now, I will continue enjoying my BMW Z4 now that it’s 100% issue free. Thank you so much for watching and I’ll see you in the next one!

BMW N54 Problems to Expect – Reliability Report

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So, you’re looking at a BMW with the N54 engine but you’ve heard that this may not be the most reliable engine in the BMW line up. Hi guys and welcome back to the SimpleCarGuy channel. Today, we will talk about the history, common problems, issues solved over time, how reliable the engine is 15 years later as well as my personal experience.

The reason I’m making this video is because I owned a BMW 335i e92 with the N54 engine for about 4 years from 2013 to 2017 and I wanted to catch myself up and see how the reliability has been since I sold my car! This is also part of a small series where I’m looking into engines I own or have owned and creating reliability reports like this video. BMW N55 video is coming up soon, so subscribe to see it and hit that like button to support the channel!

History/Background:

BMW N54 is one of the best straight six engines every made by BMW for a few very good reasons. Not only was it the first mass produced BMW turbocharged engine, but it also came with a forged crankshaft and connecting rods leaving HUGE tuning potential. Even though the stock engine made 302 HP, it’s not very difficult to get it up to 500hp or even much, much more. So, how can this reward winning engine [show which awards] have issues? Well, while the actual engine has had some amazing innovations and engineering, a lot of the accessories and  auxiliary components are not as well designed. Of course, when looking at a used BMW with the N54 engine, it doesn’t help that a lot of them have been tuned and driven hard! [HUGE tuning potential and people love it, but also abuse it] So, let’s take a look at some common problems you can expect on a BMW N54 engine

Common Issues:

Even though there were 3 different power figures for this engine, mechanically its basically the same engine. I’ll go over the difference between the standard N54B30 and the N54B30TO that was used in the 1 Series M Coupe and Z4 sDrive35is.

N54B30

  1. HPFP

Let’s start with the stand N54B30 engine. The biggest and most common issue that has haunted the BMW N54 engine since the start is the HPFP going bad and preventing the engine from starting, sometimes stuttering, misfiring or running well in general. It was such a big issue that BMW has extended the warranty on these to 10 years and 120,000 miles in the United States. The good part here is that most of the cars have already had the pump replaced with a revised version while under warranty.

  • Water Pump

Another big common problem on the N54 engine is the electric water pump that uses some plastic parts. These fail unexpectedly and usually at the worst time! I’ve had 2 OEM water pumps fail on me when I had the car. I got the yellow triangle saying that the engine is running hot and within 2 minutes a red triangle with a message saying to drive moderately and to shut off the engine as it has overheating. Unlike the HPFP, there is no extended warranty or anything like that and unfortunately, the pump is very difficult to get to. I paid around a $1000 each time it failed in Chicago. The pump is about $400 and labor is at least that much again.

  • Fuel Injectors leaking, Ignition Coils

These engines also suffer from leaky injectors. BMW N54 uses direct injection and these must be very precise for the engine to run correctly. Unfortunately, when they start leaking which  can cause many different problems including hard to start engine once warmed up, rough idle and misfires as well as terrible fuel economy among other issues. Of course, some of these symptoms can be caused by a bad spark plug or coil and I would definitely recommend replacing those before touching the injectors as each injector is about $250.

  • Turbochargers/wastegate rattle – people upgrade them for more power

Next issue that’s common on many BMW engines including the N54 is the wastegate rattle. Early on, this isn’t a huge issue as it mostly just makes a rattling noise on start up, it gets worse and worse over time. Eventually, the wastegate flapper starts leaking boost and causing performance issues. If not taken care of at this stage, the ECU will try to compensate for the lack of boost potentially overheating and destroying the turbocharger and maybe even the engine if metal gets into the intake. In addition to the wastegate rattle issue, turbo seals can fail and cause smoke out of the exhaust. These issues are more common on tuned or hard driven cars. Small piece of advice here is to not punch it hard until the engine is fully warmed up and to let the engine idle for a little while after driving hard before shutting off the car. [explain why let it idle][Aftermarket upgrades are very popular.]

  • Leaks become more common once getting closer to 100k

If you have watched my BMW N20 engine video [link it], this will sound very familiar. There are a few oil leaks to watch out for and the most common one is the valve cover oil leak. Usually, the plastic valve cover will crack and start leaking. Sometimes the gasket goes bad as well and the entire cover should be replaced. It’s important to get this done quickly as it would be leaking on the exhaust manifold, turbos and the O2 sensors. The oil filter housing gasket is also prone to leaking and should be replaced ASAP as it will leak oil onto the serpentine belt and can cause all kinds of problems. Oil pan leaks are less common, but possible.

  • Chargepipe

The next common issue on these engines is the chargepipe that cracks over time. BMW used a plastic pipe between the intercooler and the intake manifold which runs under boost a lot of times and of course becomes brittle and eventually fails. I’ve had this fail on my N55 [n55] engine as it uses the same design and replaced it with an aftermarket one that works much better. This is an easy and inexpensive fix to a common problem.

  • Minor items:

There are of course many other little issues with these engines that you may need to take care of over time, such as the starters going bad out of no where [link N20 video] or VANOS solenoids causing loss of power, engine hesitation, rough idle and decreased fuel economy. I have actually made a video on how to test and clean these if you’re interested and they are a decently simple DIY. Carbon build up is another issue that shows up on many lists, but that’s common on most direct injected engine and not BMW or this engine specific.

N54B30TO

As I mentioned earlier, N54B30TO was the more powerful version of the N54 engine making 335HP, but this was achieved mostly by adding a performance power kit tune and some supporting cooling hardware. [list: upgraded fan, radiator hoses, secondary radiator, oil cooler]. So, the engine itself was the same but with just a little more boost. This also means that all problems we have discussed so far are also present on this version of the engine as well.

Best and Worst Years:

Now 15 years after it has been released and after so many problems, should you even be looking at buying one? Luckily, this engine has had somewhat of a cult following lately and is becoming sought after in the tuner’s world. This also means that most people are trying to preserve it and maintain it properly. Additionally, issues like the HPFP and injectors have been resolved from the dealer and mostly done under warranty. Most other issues have been figured out in the aftermarket world with the upgraded turbochargers to get rid of the wastergate rattle and metal chargepipes to prevent boost leaks. One word of advice, avoid getting an already tuned engine if you plan on dailying your ride. [notes on why not]

Personal Experience:

A quick note on my personal experience with the engine. Over the period of 4 years and about 55,000 miles, I had to replace the spark plugs, ignition coils and 2 water pumps and nothing else. In every video I’ve made about the BMW engines I’ve owned, people tell me I just got lucky and that may be true, but it doesn’t hurt to properly take care of these engines as well.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, remember that this is an aging BMW motor that was packed with top-of-the-line technology and most likely driven hard by the last owners, so be ready to spend a little bit of money on maintaining it properly. It’s a wonderful, powerful and still one of the more reliable engines made by BMW with lots of aftermarket support and capability to produce tremendous power! Check out my BMW N20 and N63 engine reliability reports and stay tunes for the N55 video as well. Thank you so much for watching and I’ll see you in the next one!

BMW N63 Problems to Expect – Reliability Report

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Hey guys and welcome back to the SimpleCarGuy channel. BMW N63 is a twin turbo V8 engine that has been powering fast BMWs for over a decade and today we will talk about the common issues, technical updates, best and worst years to buy and my 4-year experience with the engine.

History

The BMW N63 replaced the naturally aspirated N62 V8 engine and had many improvements over the years. It was also the first hot-V layout, first direct injected and first turbocharged V8 engine from BMW.

This engine begun production in 2008 and is still being used in many BMW vehicles. Of course, over the years there were 3 technical updates creating 4 different versions of the engine, adding more horsepower and torque, improving reliability and making a better engine overall. There are lots of forum posts and groups discussing different issues on different version of the engine and it can be a little difficult to keep up. I have sorted through most of this information over the 4 years I had this engine in my BMW 550i and organized it in this video. I will explain the difference between each version and what was updated as well as what BMW models the specific version of the engine was used in. Let’s get to it!

BMW N63

The original N63 engine was first used in the E71 X6 and produced 402 HP and 443lb ft of torque and later used in the 550i, 750i, X5 and X6 between 2008 and 2013 with the exception of the 650i where it was used from 2012 to 2017.

Common Issues:

If you have heard horror stories about the N63 engine, it was probably about this version of the engine, but there are a few common issues across the entire run. To start with, most of these engines will burn some oil. This original version will do so excessively and it’s important to make sure you never run low. In addition to burning oil, the timing chain is a weak point on these and becomes an issue at higher mileage. As soon as you can hear any chain rattle, it should be replaced as soon as possible. Another common failure on this engine was the HPFP and injectors which caused the engine to stutter, lose power and run very rough in most cases. On top of these, there were also issues with mass air flow sensors, vacuum pump, low pressure fuel sensor, turbo seals and crankcase ventilation lines.

Obviously, that is a huge list of common problems on these original BMW N63 engines, but luckily BMW took ownership of the problem and issued a voluntary recall called the Customer Care Package where they revised the service internal from 15,000 to 10,000 miles and fixed or replaced any issues related to the timing chain, fuel system, battery, vacuum pump, crankcase vent lines and more! This helped many owners at the time and prevented many unhappy owners in the future. If you are looking at a BMW with this engine [show cars again], check that this service has been performed or the items have been serviced individually. This is a must.

BMW N63TU

Clearly that was a lot and BMW realized that they had some major issues they needed to fix here and that’s what they did. In 2012, they have redesigned most of the engine in the Technical Update 1. The new engine was now known as the N63TU and it got an updated timing chain, forged rods and crank, new pistons, turbos, injectors and HPFP. On top of that, they changed the VANOS system to the one used on the N55 engine and updated the crankcase ventilation on a new valve cover among many other things. Not only did all of these changes make a huge difference in reliability, it also added 42 more HP and 37 lb ft of torque. This engine was used in the same range of cars as the previous version. [list on the screen]

Common Issues:

That’s a lot of changes, but did any of this help? Actually, YES! The BMW N63tu is a much more reliable engine, but being a typical BMW, it still has its common issues. Oil consumption is typical if thinner oils are used or not changed as often and it can burn a quart of oil between changes, but if you see some smoke out of the tail pipes, it could be much worse as it could be an indicator that the valve seals need to be replaced. My friend had this happen at 35k miles, but the dealer covered it completely. As per BMW, the engine has to be pulled out of the car to do this job and it can get very, very expensive if out of warranty. Of course, there are other minor issues that can creep up on this engine, but nothing too excessive. I’ve seen reports of leaking   here and there but nothing engine destructive. A much better and more reliable engine.

BMW N63TU2

Next update came in 2016 and the biggest change this time was switching to twin-scroll turbochargers giving the engine a wider powerband. Other changes were mostly there to support the turbo upgrade and to optimize the engine. The stock power levels remained the same and so did the reliability. This engine was used in the 750i as well as the M550i between 2016 and 2020. [list on the screen]

Common Issues:

Luckily these changes have made the N63TU2 engine even more reliable with not many common problems. The oil consumption has been reduced and if you change your oil every 7000 miles, you shouldn’t have these issues. A couple problems I’ve seen come up from time to time were leaky coolant lines as well as issues with intercoolers which were covered by a service bulletin from BMW. Overall, a very solid engine.

BMW N63TU3

The last version of the BMW n63 engine is the N63TU3 which is once again used in the top-of-the-line versions of each series. There is a lower powered version making 456hp and 479lb ft that’s used in the regular X5 and X7. This engine received a new ignition system and improved thermal shielding for the crankcase and cylinder head and even forged rods from the S63 engine. The valve stems have been updated as well. The more powerful version of the N63TU3 is used in the M versions of the 5, 7 and 8 series as well as X5, X6 and X7 SUVs. [but not actual M5, M7, M8 etc] It includes all of the updates already mentioned as well as larger turbochargers, different ignition system, rebalanced crankshaft with new main bearing shells, piston skirt coating and electric arc wire sprayed cylinder walls. All of these upgrades result in massive power gains making 523 HP and 553lb ft of torque and it’s not even an S63 motor.

Common Issues:

There isn’t too much information on these engines as far as reliability just yet as they are still fairly new, but since the valve stems have been upgraded among many other things, the engines seem to no longer burn oil even with hard driving. Overall, the N63TU3 is the most reliable and most powerful N63 engine with a decade of improvements and upgrades.

Best and Worst Years:

So, what are the best and worst years to buy a BMW with the N63 engine? In my opinion, unless you are willing to deal with the issues or they have already been completely taken care of, I would skip the original N63 engine cars and go for 2014 or newer models to be safe. [put list of years when switched]. Of course, if you got the cash, the latest N63TU3 is a beast and makes for a very fun driving car with no reliability issues but will cost a pretty penny. [Driving X6M] I think that N63TU and N63TU2 are a bargain at the moment with decent reliability and power figures and that’s the ones I would go for.

Personal Experience:

As I mentioned earlier, I owned a 2014 BMW 550i for over 4 years, so I had the N63TU engine and I have to say, it was VERY reliable for ME. In all of that time, all I have had to do was change the ignition coils and spark plugs around 60k miles and of course changed the oil every 5k miles! This is very important to keep these running smoothly.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, this engine gets a bad rap based on the early years, but many issues have been fixed on the second iteration of the engine and further perfected over the years. I wouldn’t hesitate to own another N63 powered BMW as long as it’s 2014 or newer and has been taken care of properly over the years. A healthy BMW N63 provides a very powerful, fun, sporty and torque-y driving experience that’s hard to get anywhere else. Check out my BMW N20 reliability report video and stay tuned for the BMW N55 video coming soon. Thanks for watching, leave your thoughts, suggestions and comments down below and I’ll see you in the next one.

BMW N20 Problems to Expect – Reliability Report

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Hey guys and welcome back to the SimpleCarGuy channel. So, you are looking at a BMW with the N20 engine and want to know how reliable it is? Well, you found the right video as today we will be talking about the common issues, best and worst years to buy, what to do if you already have this engine in your car and my experience after 2 years with this car.

History:

We’ll start with a little background and history as I think it’s important to understand before we talk about the common issues and problems. I swear this will only take a minute! The BMW N20 engine was designed to replace the N52 and N53 6 cylinder naturally aspirated engines that were among the most reliable engines produced by BMW and used in most ‘common’ BMWs. Even though the N20 engine is a 4 cylinder, it produced similar power figures and powered equivalent models. Of course, this means the engine has been turbocharged, direct injected and used other top of the line technology for 2011 to achieve this performance.

There were a few different version of the BMW N20 engine manufactured from 2011 to 2017 and used in many different vehicles. Europe and other countries have the optional lower power 180hp version in their 320i, 420i, 520i and other ‘something’20 cars, but in North America we only had the 240hp version and that’s the version I will concentrate on in this video since the biggest difference is actually tunning and support components and not the engine itself. So, it mostly applies to both. North America got this engine in the Z4 (point to it), X1, X3 and X4 SUVs, 3, 4 and 5 series and even in the sDrive40e X5 where it was mated to the hybrid electrical motor. So, clearly it was used across most of the BMW range. [Show which cars it was in on the screen like I had the list in the emergency kit video]

Common Issues:

Alright, so what are the common issues then? The worst common issue on the BMW N20 engine has to be the timing chain issues that have been discussed at length. To summarize, BMW has used brittle plastics for the timing chain guides which break or crack after a certain period of time causing the timing chain to get loose and eventually skip timing, eventually destroying the engine. Hopefully it never gets that far and you notice the chain rattle way before that and get the chain replaced. In some cases, the chain tensioner is the culprit behind the loose chain and since it’s very easy to change, it can be a good first step before taking the engine apart.

The second big issue on the N20 engine is the rod bearing failure. This one is even more serious, but luckily not as common as the chain guide issue. If you start hearing a slapping type noise like this, you might be looking for a new engine. While the rod bearings are not impossible to replace, unfortunately, the crankshaft gets damaged in the process as well and to fix the journals on the crankshaft, the entire engine has to be taken apart. If there is any hint of rod bearings going bad on your engine, it’s time to replace those NOW.

With the scary items out of the way, let’s talk about some of the common issues that you can probably DIY or get done without spending a fortune. Just like with the N52 and N53 engines, the valve cover is plastic and has a tendency to crack and/or leak oil. This wouldn’t be a huge problem, but it usually leaks all over the exhaust and O2 sensors, which can be damaged in the process… not to mention the smell of burning oil.

Similarly, the oil filter gasket issue has been carried over from the older engines and can leak. Luckily this one is very easy and inexpensive to replace, but if it’s not replaced, it will leak all over the serpentine belt which can cause some serious engine damage.

We are getting closer to the end of the list, but there are a few more items to mention. As we know this is a turbocharged engine and as such it has a wastegate. Unfortunately, the design of it allows the wastegate flapper to get loose overtime and start making a noise. This wastegate rattle isn’t a huge problem at first as it just makes an annoying noise, especially when you start the car, but the looser it gets the more of an issue it can be as it won’t hold boost and degrade performance of the engine.

This engine is also direct injected as mentioned earlier and produces low emissions, which is great but it also means that carbon build up isn’t uncommon. The injectors themselves are also pretty high tech and can fail causing drive train malfunction messages and stuttering of the engine while driving. Check out this video on how to replace the injectors on this engine in the top right corner or the description.

The last item I want to talk about on the N20 engine is the high-pressure fuel pump. These were a huge problem on the N54 engines, but luckily not as huge of a problem here. They still do fail on these engines but at least they are not as expensive and can easily be replaced in half an hour. I’ve done it on this engine and here is how.

As these engines are becoming older and older, it’s also a good idea to check the coolant hoses for cracks, make sure the chargepipe is not cracked and inspect the vacuum lines for any leaks. The most expensive part of fixing BMWs is the labor, so maybe it’s good to tackle some of the easier projects yourself and learn more about your car in the process.

Best and Worst Years:

So, what issues got fixed over the years and what are the best years to buy then? [put this on the screen] In most cases, that doesn’t really matter, but with this engine there is a big difference. The only N20 engines I would recommend would be the ones build in 2015 and later as they have fixed most of the issues discussed here on those models. They improved the timing chain guides, changed the injectors to EU6 from EU5 and improved the overall reliability. If you are considering a BMW with the N20 engine between 2011 and 2014, I would make sure that all of the issues we discussed have been taken care and the maintenance has been on time, but especially the timing chain replacement.

Longevity:

What can you do?

Now, it may sound bad on the surface and I’ll admit it’s not the best engine in the world, but these engines are in thousands of vehicles and a lot of them have no issues at all or the issues have already been fixed. So, as with most BMWs, if you take care of them properly and do some extra maintenance they will last much longer. A few examples of that would be to check your oil every other fill up and change your oil every 5k miles and not every 10k miles as recommended by BMW. This will help with preventing rod bearing failure. Also, check for oil leaks and take care of those fast before they cause more damage and a lot more expensive repairs in the future. Lastly, if the timing chain has not been replaced on your early N20 engine, get it done before it’s too late!

Personal Experience:

As for my personal experience, I bought this BMW Z4 with a bad engine, but looking at its history, it was maintained by the dealer as per the book. You can follow my early videos on this car where I go through the process of replacing the timing chain, HPFP, injectors, fixing the wastegate rattle and eventually tearing apart the broken engine to reveal the damage done by a spun rod bearing. However, ever since I installed a 2015 engine in this car, it has been running like a dream for the last 2 years.

Conclusion:

All in all, this is not a bad engine, especially after the improvements done for 2015 and newer models and the other issues are only becoming common on engines with very high mileage. A lot of it also has to do with how the engine was taken care, driven and of course some luck on how it was built that day at the factory. With any luck, a well taken care of BMW N20 engine should be reliable and also inexpensive to maintain while providing a smooth, enjoyable and sporty drive. Stay tuned for the reliability video on the N55 and N63 engines in the near future, thank you so much for watching and I’ll see you in the next one!

7 Must Have Items for your Car Emergency Kit & Winter!

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SimpleCarGuy here and today I will go over the must have items to keep in your vehicles for emergencies at all times, what to add in the winter and when going on a road trip. Of course, this will heavily depend on the type of car you own or where you live, so adjust accordingly.

MUST HAVES:

We will start with the must haves. I think that every car should have jumper cables or a portable battery jump starter. Dead battery is probably the number one cause of engines not starting and even leaving a light on in the car overnight may prevent your car from starting in the morning and that’s why this is number 1 for me. I like the cables, because there is no additional maintenance, but you will need another car for these to work, so not ideal. With the portable battery, you will have to check every 6 months or so and make sure it’s still fully charged and maybe recharge it if needed. Luckily most now have an indicator LED for a quick check. Another advantage to these tiny portable devices is the size and extra functionality. The biggest benefit for me is that in case your phone dies or you need to recharge another device, you have a powerful battery bank ready to go. For this reason, I carry a little breakout USB cable that supports most of the devices I could think off. The very minimum here is to have a cable to charge your phone.

The second most common way to get stuck is with a flat tire, so you will need something for that. If you have run flat tires, you probably don’t have to worry about any of these, but in all other cases, I would recommend carrying an air compressor or even a manual tire pump. I’ve cracked a rim before on the terrible roads of Chicago and this came in very, very useful in getting me home safely. You can also throw in a tire pressure gauge if your pump doesn’t have it and a tire patch kit if you hit a nail or a screw. A pair of plyers can come in handy to pull out said nail or screw. I wouldn’t recommend a fix-a-flat or that liquid tire patch stuff as it makes a mess and doesn’t work most of the time.

If you drive BMWs like me, you know not to leave the house without a good BMW scanner! These can save your butt and get you home safe. Modern cars can go into a limp-home mode for almost any reason and a lot of times all that is needed is clearing of codes to get you back on the road. Check out my video on how to pick a scanner for more info, but I recommend keeping a vehicle specific scanner or one that will be able to scan each module on the car and show live data for each of those modules as well.

Fluids

Staying on the theme of BMWs, I also like to keep a quart of oil and some coolant in the trunk of the car. A lot of older BMWs burn a quart of oil every few thousand miles and when you get that indicator to add more, you already have it in your trunk. Having fluids ready to go is a good idea no matter where you live and if you live in a hot climate, you can’t go wrong with having some concentrated coolant as well.

Another important fluid to keep in your car is water, not only can you drink it if needed, you can add it to your coolant concentrate in emergency when adding to the radiator and even use it for washing off bird droppings from your pristine paint before the sun bakes those on destroying your clear coat! Many, many uses, obviously.

Tools/ Tool kit

This next part really depends on you and how handy you are, but you should have some kind of tool kit. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean you should have a mechanics tool set in there, but a few items like gloves and a good flash light would definitely help with changing a tire. In case you hit your bumper on something and it starts to hang, but it’s not bad enough to call a tow truck, I would also recommend having some duct tape, zip ties, super clue, a lighter and a good knife.

If you are worried or if you live more in the country, where help is less accessible, you should add a high visibility vest, some road flares or glow sticks and a basic tool kit for quick repairs on those dimly lit country highways.

Clothing/Protection/Personal Care:

That about covers everything to do with the car, so let’s talk about some personal items as well. It’s always a good idea to have some toilet paper or a pack of baby wipes and tissues as well as a pack of cleaning clothes. Some people choose to add a change of clothes as well, but I think a waterproof poncho, a blanket and an umbrella is all you really need.

The last few items here may be the most important, so it’s a good idea to include these as well. To start with, a small first aid kit can help you and many others in many different situations. Anything from a scuff while changing a tire to a burn or cut. I’d recommend building your own if you are into this stuff, but one of these very basic kits is a good start. The second safety item to have is a fire extinguisher. I have these small cans I keep in the car, but it can be any fire extinguisher that works for cars. If you have an electric car, make sure to get a bigger unit and one that works on batteries

Another item that can come in useful is a glass breaker and maybe even a belt cutter. Most of the time they come as a combo unit, but I like this pen glass breaker. As unlikely as it is, if you drive into water, it’s almost impossible to open the door, so one of these can save your life.

The last advice here is to have good insurance that includes roadside assistance and a couple tow truck company business cards that you trust.

I know it sounds like a lot to keep in your car, but a lot of these items come in different kits and can easily be organized in the trunk of a car. As an example, my ‘survival kit’ that someone gifted to me has a lot of the items mentioned here and if I can fit all of this stuff in my Z4 without too much trouble, so it shouldn’t be a problem for any other cars either. Here is what it would look like in the back of a small SUV.

FOR WINTER USE:

Winter brings some extra challenges in certain parts of the country, so there are a few extra items you should add to the kit to carry with you daily. Obviously, you’ll need an ice scrapper and a brush to get rid of the snow, a small collapsible shovel if you get snowed in while parked somewhere and some traction aids. A small box of kitty litter, old floor mats or even some cardboard will get your out of slipper situation.

As a precaution I also like to add a warm blanket or thermal blanket and some winter clothes and a disposable hand warmer that may come useful if you have to wait for a tow and the car won’t start or run, better have it and not use than need it and not have it as the saying goes.

If you have AWD:

Of course, if your car is all wheel drive and you feel helpful, I’d suggest throwing in some two straps and clevises (d clamps) to help pull people out. When I had my BMW 550 with all-wheel drive, all I had on top of the already mentioned items.. was my phone. I have never gotten stuck in that car other than trying to get out of my driveway with over a foot of compacted frozen snow.

If you DON’T/Rear Wheel Drive:

Now, if you are crazy enough to drive a rear wheel drive car in winter, what you should have is.. a set of really good all-season tires at the very least and ideally top-quality winter tires to help with traction and control. A tow strap and a hook are always a good idea so that the guy with AWD can pull you out, if needed!

OPTIONAL IF YOU’RE PARENOID or LONG TRIP:

So, we have talked about a lot of different items and we haven’t gone overboard yet.. but if you are slightly paranoid or going on a long trip into the mountains in winter, you can definitely add a few more items. Here is what I’ve seen people recommend!

Add a proper tool kit that includes a small socket set, screw driver with interchangeable bits, adjustable wrench, some DW40, parts that commonly go wrong on your car like ignition coils and good working gloves.

Traction aids can also be upgraded to Max Traxx or cheapo Amazon versions of that as well as snow chains for those tough terrains.

CONCLUSION:

That’s about all I have for your guys today. I know some of this may be over the top and not needed on most daily drives, but tow trucks aren’t always ready to help and cars do break down in the worse time. I’ve had to help a friend out before during a small blizzard as all emergency units and tow services were helping other people and the wait time was at least half a day. On that note, let me know what else you keep in your car in the comments down below and I’ll see you guys in the next one!