Hello all,

I will be away on work for 3 months and need to store my 05 MINI S in my attached garage at my house. Was wondering if anyone can suggest the best way(s) to store it for that long of a period without being started? Was contemplating removing the wheels and leaving it up on floor jacks but not sure if it is necessary.

Thanks in advanced!

Buggy

 

Get a trickle charger for your battery. They are cheap and your battery will be in good shape when you get back.

 

I would put it on the jack stands. Buy a battery tender. “Genius” is the one I use; better than a trickle charger. Put drier sheets in places where little four legged creatures might get in and do damage.

 

Mine has been in storage since Sep.

Fresh oil change, inflate the tires to 45psi, put it on battery tender & cover it up.

The car averages 500 miles a year or so and above have been working just fine for years now.

Storing it only for 3 months is no big deal at all.

 

Along with everyone else's suggestion, put some good quality fuel stabilizer in the tank and do it earlier enough that the stabilized fuel makes it into the fuel system. If you live in a wet climate, hang a damp-rid bag in the interior. Absolutely put it on a good quality battery tender.

I store a bunch of vehicles every year over the winter, I run them all on battery tenders with treated fuel in the fuel system. I don't pump up the tires, but I roll them around every couple weeks inside my garages. Not a bad idea if you will have 3 months of untouched storage.

 

All great suggestions though the fuel stabilizer may be overkill for just 90 days storage though it really can't hurt so might as well do it anyway. I have two Mini's and can only drive one at a time and over the winter, one sits nearly the whole time. The biggest thing here is inflating the tires to minimize the potential for "flat spotting" the tires, though if they do flat spot, after about 30 min of driving they tend to go away, at least in my experience they do.

A few suggestions for when you get back and to motoring:

Put a sticky note over the ignition switch to remind you to deflate the tires before you drive off the first time. Driving on tires that are at 45psi typically isn't a great idea, there are worse ideas but this is typically not advisable. The three most important things about tires are 1, tire pressure, 2, tire pressure, 3, tire pressure.

Some people will drain out a quart or so of oil and put a quart back in the top before starting up for the first time. Not sure if that is really needed but again I don't think that it would hurt anything, just a little extra work before you're off to motoring again. I don't do it to my cars and they seem fine and both are at about 128K and I have owned my 2004 since new, the 2005 I got from a friend in 2007.

 

Bought a battery maintainer and adapted all the suggestions.
Started perfect upon return!
Thanks!

 

For 90 days, I would put it on a battery tender, run the fuel level below 1/8 of a tank, put in a little stabilizer and maybe put it on jackstands. If you are not going anywhere, I would start it up every week or so and let it run for a few minutes and forego the battery tender. Honestly, I got pissed off at mine a few times and left it for a month or two without driving it due to repairs I simply wasn't in the mood for. My truck has sat for a year without running and started right up with a fresh battery.

 

I'd just put it on four jack stands, disconnect battery, and cover if you have a cover. I've disconnected my battery and one year three months later connected and it started up right away.

 

I do this every winter. Up on jack stands, fuel stabilizer, battery on charge, under cover till spring.

 

I just park mine in the garage and remove the battery to put it on a trickle charger. In my case it's stored for the winter from November 1st to March/April depending on the weather (so 5 to 6 months). I do literally nothing else and nothing exploded after 10 years of doing that.

 

Been there

90 days- top off the fuel, trickle charger, and cover.
Im up in New England with no garage. I do have the advantage of taking out for a spin and bring everything up to temp when roads are good.
Maybe have friend do this for you?