Maintenance

Maintaining your vehicle is one of the most important aspects of trouble-free ownership. But proper maintenance can be a guessing game these days. Manufacturers tell you that you don't need to tune the car; that you can go 15,000 miles between oil changes and that your transmission, cooling and brake systems have "lifetime fluids."

How long does a lifetime last? Manufacturers consider lifetime 7 – 8 years or 80,000 – 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. If you service your vehicle according to the manufacturer guidelines, don't expect to get much more out of your vehicle without major repairs.

At Performing Imports, we recommend servicing your vehicle based on the following questions:

How long do you plan to own your car?
How many miles do you plan to put on it?
Do you own or lease the vehicle?
Was it new or used when you purchased it?
How many miles were on it?

If you purchased a new vehicle and plan to own it no longer than 5 years, driving no more than 70,000 miles, then follow the manufacturer’s suggested service guidelines. If you purchased a used vehicle with 50,000 miles or less, and you plan not to exceed 70,000 miles before you trade or sell it, you should also follow the manufacturer’s suggested service guidelines.

But if you plan to own the vehicle longer than 5 years or to exceed 70,000 miles, you will need to service the vehicle in a different manner -- if you do not want to experience major component failures.

For an estimate of our Extended Life Maintenance plan for your Mercedes or BMW make and model:

Call (770) 641-6202
Email info@performingimports.com

CLICK HERE TO SEE A DEALER'S RECOMMENDED MAINTENANCE

Take a look at the pictures and see what happens to an engine if you only follow the service lights. These pictures are from a 1998 BMW 540i with 78,000 miles. The vehicle was serviced according to the service lights by a BMW dealer using Synthetic Motor Oil.

We recommend our Extended Life Maintenance plan, which suggests oil changes every 3,000 miles using a factory filter and high-quality motor oil. Every 30,000 or 40,000 miles (depending on make and model), we suggest a traditional full service which includes changing all fluids, all filters, cleaning the fuel injectors, removing the carbon from the intake system and valves, and tuning the engine.