A Tire Rack Authorized Installer for BMW and MINI COOPER vehicles exclusively!

Yes, you should only use 91 octane or higher.

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Your BMW/Mini is designed to use 91 octane or higher. Running lower octane in a high compression engine like your BMW/Mini will work, but is rather hard on your engine. Also, your engine will get less fuel efficiency and lower power. It is a fails economy to use lower octane.

When is your car going to be done?

Sadly, I do not know (too many unknowns)! We will call you!
​We are a SMALL shop and have a backlog. If it can not be resolved in the driveway in 15 minutes, plan on getting on the calendar and/or dropping it off. Trust me, in most cases you will greatly prefer someone to look at your car unrushed!  However note that we are trying to get you back on the road as fast as we can!

The oil we use?

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Typically most cars we see should use Motul 5W-40 8100 X-Cess (Note that BMW LL01 is printed on the bottle) or sometimes the Liqui-Moly equivalent. Both have very impressive racing pedigrees and are the best quality oils you can use. Both have BMW LL01 approval.. Either ware going to be a step better than MobileOne or Castroil GTX. Tell us if you spend winters in the attic circle and we can talk about a thinner oil like 0W-30 in your car. Note some MotorSport (M cars) may require thicker oil (10W-60) with equivalent quality.
​Don't worry we will figure that out for you.

​Service specials from Shade Tree Garage

​Non-Dusting Brake Pads
  • Tired of your factory brake pads turning your wheels black? We can replace your pads with Akebono or similar high quality ceramic low-dust brake pads. These pads will not only eliminate the dusting problem but are very quiet as well.
Typically we about charge 1.2 hours ($108) per axle to replace your pads. If rotors are needed (now a days this is becoming the default), we charge 1.5 hours ($135) per axle to replace pads and rotors plus we give you a discounted price on all the parts. Ask for specific numbers for your car.
  • Driveshaft Repair
    Why pay high prices to have your worn out driveshaft replaced when we can repair it and guarantee that it will perform as good as a new shaft?
We are lucky to have a good driveshaft repair / machine shop in the triangle area, Typically we charge between 2.5 hours labor ($225) and 3.5 hours ($315) plus parts and machine shop charges to R&R your driveshaft and have the driveshaft/machine shop replace the u-joints and re-balance your driveshaft. The whole job is normally less than the price of a mail order driveshaft. We are also experimenting with cost effective rebuilds through SSF with core charge. Ask for specific numbers for your car.

Walnut Shell Blasting:
Walnut Shell Blasting. BMW introduced turbo engines in late 2006 in order to provide power and fuel efficiency. Unfortunately this engines have a disposition to build up carbon in the intake ports and clog the passage of air. We are equipped with a blasting machine that removes the built up carbon without damaging your engine.

Walnut Blasting PicturesBeforeAfter
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After

My BMW smokes at idle?

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If you have a smoking BMW V8, at idle mostly. The valve stem seals have likely become hard over time and therefore do not provide the proper seal between the seal and stem. This allows oil to bypass the seals and enter the combustion chamber and smoke out the exhaust.
Due to the GREAT depreciation of those cars, we do not recommend this repair unless you have the engine taken apart already. You can easily put a lot more money in to this repair than the car is worth! Best practice is to walk inside and not go though the drive-through. BMW shame on you!