Car Sitting for 6 years HELP

[Cloudlight]

Hey all -

I didn't know where else to put this thread since it kinda don't fit anywhere. The basic gist: I moved out of parents house, left the BMW took diff car, come back 6 years later, and its in the driveway (not in garage where i left it). Small Rust spot by rear window, Clearcoat all messed up, bla bla bla. The real question here is: What do i need to do before i try to start this thing after 6 years in the sun and rain(CA btw)? Get gas out? Replace all spark plugs? Put new fuel in it and pray?

[Yungbimmer]

I would definitely put a little marvel mystery oil inside the cylinders and then turn the engine over by hand before. And yeah probably try to get the old gas out and refill with clean/fresh gas. Also, check the oil and make sure it hasnt turned to sludge. Just check all fluids to be safe.
So new fluids and put some marvel mystery in the cylinders to get things going again. Good luck!

[Yungbimmer]

Where in CA are you located?

[george graves]

Battery will be toast - you can count on that. Plugs will be fine to start. How much gas was left in it? I've started junk yard cars with old gas, and it was fine - but they had only sat for 1-2 years.

[mitchlikesbikes]

my e30 has a pretty convenient plug on the bottom of the tank for draining fuel. pull your coil wire and crank it a few times after you drain the fuel to push all of the old nasty shit out. add new fuel and maybe a stabilizer or some seafoam. i would definitely change the oil too.

[Cloudlight]

Battery will be toast - you can count on that. Plugs will be fine to start. How much gas was left in it? I've started junk yard cars with old gas, and it was fine - but they had only sat for 1-2 years.

I think not a lot of gas at all was left in it - Also it has a cracked oil pan so im sure all the oil was drained out of it as it sat.

[Cloudlight]

I would definitely put a little marvel mystery oil inside the cylinders and then turn the engine over by hand before. And yeah probably try to get the old gas out and refill with clean/fresh gas. Also, check the oil and make sure it hasnt turned to sludge. Just check all fluids to be safe.
So new fluids and put some marvel mystery in the cylinders to get things going again. Good luck!

Okay ill do all this - Sounds like the safest bet - Also yeah there should be no oil in it as it has an oil leak. Im in Sac btw

[vpilarrt]

Look inside the gas tank, there's a good chance its full of rust since there wasn't much gas left in it.

[peterman]

I would pull the coil cable and crank it till oil pressure light goes out before firing her up.

[Panici]

Before starting my '86 325e for the first time (It sat for years before I bought it), I used a mix of ATF and light oil and put it down the sparkplug holes.

I let that mix sit for a few days before pulling the plugs again and rolling the motor over by hand a bunch of times.
Changed the motor oil and filter as well at this point.

I drained the gas out of the tank, and pulled the main fuel line (before the injectors IIRC). I then put in fresh gas and jumpered the fuel pump until I had clean gas at the motor.

If you have rust or particulate at this point, as a stopgap measure, you could put a small inline filter to catch it.

Then after I got the electrical sorted (corroded rear main fuse), I checked for spark.
At the same time, I pulled the fuel pump fuse and rolled the motor over with the starter to build some oil pressure. (And blow out the mixture I had sitting in the cyls)

Also a good idea to make sure there isn't a small animal living in your airbox, and make sure there is a half-decent airfilter in there.


Now assuming the ECU is good, you have air, fuel, and spark. Hopefully the motor should come to life, like mine did!

[jeffnhiscars]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the timing belt. Could snap the moment it fires....or not.

Do you feel lucky ?

[Cloudlight]

Awesome

Thank you all for all the good pointers. I will make sure I do right by my baby and get her running again. Oh yeah I guess I should have mentioned it is a 88 325 is if it matters.