Hello everyone.
I have recently purchased a 330i and I'm worried about what the effects of an Upstate New York winter will be on my car's condition.
I will be driving from California to Upstate New York this summer and I'll be spending a year there. There is a 99.999% chance that I won't have covered/enclosed parking available.
I am paranoid that the heavy winters there will damage my beautiful new car, especially since I'll have to keep it parked outside! I am also dreading the thought of driving the car on salted roads.
Am I being unreasonable?
Should I buy one of those total car enclosure covers (covers the bottom and the top) and pretty much mothball it during the heavy snow season?
Or should I say, screw it, they have heavy winters in Germany too after all (although probably not the salted roads, as I understand they use a sand compound), and just drive the car regardless. And if I do what can I do to minimize the damage?
Compounding the problem is that I'll be there for only one winter season, and if I do drive it I'll have to buy some winter tires for it, only to use them for, what, like 3 months (I have the sport pckge).
It'd be nice to be able to have a car during winter, but I want to protect it as much as possible. I also know that mothballing it incorrectly could also cause lots of problems.
The last option is paying double for a place with an enclosed garage, something which would cause a financial strain. And then I'd still have to contend with the road salt issue. Speaking of which, would rust be averted if I would wash the car thouroughly once a week?
I am tempted to leave my just purchased 330i at my parents' house for one year and take an old toyota 4x4 instead..not nearly as fun driving cross country in that!
Anyway, as you can tell I'm obsessing so I'll stop now. Greetings again to all, and I'm looking forward to your responses.
I have recently purchased a 330i and I'm worried about what the effects of an Upstate New York winter will be on my car's condition.
I will be driving from California to Upstate New York this summer and I'll be spending a year there. There is a 99.999% chance that I won't have covered/enclosed parking available.
I am paranoid that the heavy winters there will damage my beautiful new car, especially since I'll have to keep it parked outside! I am also dreading the thought of driving the car on salted roads.
Am I being unreasonable?
Should I buy one of those total car enclosure covers (covers the bottom and the top) and pretty much mothball it during the heavy snow season?
Or should I say, screw it, they have heavy winters in Germany too after all (although probably not the salted roads, as I understand they use a sand compound), and just drive the car regardless. And if I do what can I do to minimize the damage?
Compounding the problem is that I'll be there for only one winter season, and if I do drive it I'll have to buy some winter tires for it, only to use them for, what, like 3 months (I have the sport pckge).
It'd be nice to be able to have a car during winter, but I want to protect it as much as possible. I also know that mothballing it incorrectly could also cause lots of problems.
The last option is paying double for a place with an enclosed garage, something which would cause a financial strain. And then I'd still have to contend with the road salt issue. Speaking of which, would rust be averted if I would wash the car thouroughly once a week?
I am tempted to leave my just purchased 330i at my parents' house for one year and take an old toyota 4x4 instead..not nearly as fun driving cross country in that!
Anyway, as you can tell I'm obsessing so I'll stop now. Greetings again to all, and I'm looking forward to your responses.
![[paranoid]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_paranoid.gif "Paranoid [paranoid]"){kind=icon}
