BMW DIY advice, and the occasional critique of the company
The numbers are in and BMW’s sales in the U.S. continued to climb in May. Sales were up 17.3 percent May to May, with 29,602 units sold. For the first five months of 2014, sales are up 12.2 percent. The overall trend is the same, but some things have changed since I wrote about BMW’s […]
This weekend I replaced the High Intensity Discharge (HID, also known as Xenon) headlight bulbs in my 2002 M5. My old bulbs still worked, but my amazing wife had bought me replacement bulbs reputed to be the best on the market. She purchased them from TheRetroFitSource, a great resource for auto lighting needs. The bulbs […]
This weekend I gave my 1999 M3 a thorough checkup. The car is running great but it also turned 15 years old this month. In performing the inspection I was greatly aided by these excellent videos from Bavarian Autosport. An important area I wanted to focus on was the suspension bushings. Bushings connect the suspension […]
BMW sales numbers are out and the company had a big month in March. For BMW brand vehicles month to month sales were up 18.6 percent and YTD sales up 11.5 percent. Mini sales are reported together with BMW in the United States and they were down almost 40 percent as that brand awaits new […]
I’ve enjoyed my 1999 BMW E36 M3 for more than 10 years. When the car was introduced back in 1995, it sparked criticism from some BMW enthusiasts. The E36 M3 wasn’t as raw as its E30 predecessor, a truly iconic car. The version sold in North America also did not have the more exotic and […]
When I bought my E39 M5 in 2011, one of the nice mods it came with was an integrated iPod player. It was a clean looking installation with the connector coming through the center console. I’m no hard core audiophile, but I quickly got used to not messing with CDs and having my entire music […]
With the holidays now behind us, I had a chance this weekend to install a really fun Christmas gift. My wife gave me the Shark Injector performance software for my 2002 BMW E39 M5. (OK, there was some coaching). The software was created by Jim Conforti, a well known and respected name who has been […]
2103 was a busy year for my Chrisparente.com site. According to WordPress JetPack statistics, as of this morning it has received 63,469 views. The site has also achieved a global Alexa ranking of 265,477, and a U.S. ranking of 65,990. Each year since 2008 my traffic has grown, and I send a big thank you […]
Nothing is official yet for the North American market, but a lot of information has been released about the new BMW M3/M4. In case you haven’t been keeping up with BMW nomenclature, the venerable BMW 3-Series now refers only to sedans, while the two-door coupes are now considered 4-Series. So for the first time there […]
The onboard computers in modern BMWs contain a wealth of information. Much of this information can be accessed by the owner, yet BMW doesn’t include such information in owner’s manuals or any other documentation. The story I wrote about the BMW hidden menu options in my 2002 E39 M5 has become one of the most […]
Car and Driver is out with their Ten Best Car list for 2014. For the 23rd straight year, the BMW 3-Series (and now 4-Series, the new designation for the coupes) made the cut. You can bet someone in the Communications department is breathing a big sigh of relief – you don’t want to be the […]
Starting soon new BMW owners will start to receive more frequent oil and filter changes as part of the new car “free maintenance” program. According to the Service Information Bulletin 00 01 13, BMW now approves oil changes every 10K miles or 12 months, rather than the previous 15K miles or 24 months on cars […]