Winter Storage Question

The last three winters, I've stored my summer-only E36 in either my garage or on my paved driveway for the winter. I lean toward leaving it outside, because my DD takes almost an entire trip to make heat, so having the DD in the unheated garage is a big improvement for comfort.

This year I'll have various third cars on and off for much of the winter, and that leads to a space crunch. So I'm debating storing the BMW off-site for this winter. The problem is that most of the storage places around are gravel lots.

I have what might be the only rust-free on M3 E36 in the province and I'd like to keep it that way. I'm worried about the effects of storage on gravel, in a place that will see freeze-thaw on a daily or weekly basis.

So, should I a)not worry, gravel is fine b) throw a tarp under it to try and minimize water under the car c)have the Krown undercoating (man is that stuff thick) reapplied d) other e) Sell it now and buy an Answer in the spring

Right off the bat, from your "e" choice, I'd say sell it simply because if you are ok selling a car, you're not emotionally attached to it and for a limited-use fun car, in my opinion you should be.

ebonyandivory wrote: Right off the bat, from your "e" choice, I'd say sell it simply because if you are ok selling a car, you're not emotionally attached to it and for a limited-use fun car, in my opinion you should be.

That choice was largely in humour, because I figured I'd get that answer anyway. You're right in that I'm not 100% attached to it, but I finally got it working well this year (except for one annoying clunk) so my attachment is growing. To give some level of how I attach to cars, I've never actually sold a car before.

Search Craigslist for rental garage for winter. Cheap investment. I rent a 2 car garage for less than I'd pay for a storage unit.

In reply to klb67:

I've been looking. We have frequent winter street parking bans here, so space can be hard to find. The only garage space less than $150 a month around here are so far in the boonies I wouldn't be able to get a ride home. Outdoor storage a 5-minute walk from me is $50/month.

Outside is $50. How much is indoor in a typical self store storage box?

In reply to JohnRW1621:

About $200/4 weeks for unheated unless I go really far out of town. Then it drops, but not much.

Why not purchase a temporary building?

$60 at Home Depot

In reply to pinchvalve:

Wow. That's a good deal. Can't find anything under $300 anywhere near me, and they don't even have floors.

I'd have to address some space in my yard, and they don't tend to last in Canadian winters, but I'll look into that option more.

I grabbed a pretty nice one at Tractor Supply to keep the jetski and tractor in over the winter. Cost me $199, and I added some additional bracing to deal with snow loads, and it has held up very well so far.

They only need to last one winter to be worth it. Also look into screwing hard panels to top of the frame over the fabric. I've seen this in snow country and it greatly improves snow sliding off and not destroying the shelter.

I would go with Krown and the tarp/plastic under the car and you will be fine. Krown really works well. Actually I wouldn't bother with teh plastic under the car. It will likely end up holding water on top anyway.

It is leftover salt and warm summer weather that causes rust. A cold non-salty car will not rust during the winter.