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Your vehicle's tires are in constant contact with the road, and because of that, they have to be replaced at regular intervals. Performing regular inspections of you tires, especially as they age, can help you catch telltale signs that indicate a new set is in your future. Here is what every driver should look for.

Never let the tread fall below 1/16 of an inch. Use the penny test to determine if you have enough tread. If you insert a penny with Lincoln's head down and his entire head is visible, you don't have sufficient tread…

Have you ever heard a hissing or popping sound coming from your vehicle when the engine is on? If you have, you should have your exhaust system checked out because that is one of the signs of an exhaust system leak. When your exhaust system leaks, dangerous fumes can enter the cabin of your vehicle, causing you and your passengers to breathe toxic air. There are a couple of other signs that you should look for as well.

Also pay attention to any vibrations that you feel on your steering wheel, foot pedals, and seat...

Your brake pedal keeps you connected with your brakes, and you need your brakes to stay safe on the road. If your brake pedal is failing, you could end up in a dangerous situation where you do not have access to your brakes like you should. Keep your brake pedal in good condition.

Your brake pedal may need to be replaced if it feels soft or spongy when you push it down. Your brake pedal should be solid, and it should feel firm when you push it down with your foot. If it is starting to feel weird and it…

There is so much going on in your life that you do not always have time for all of the work that you should be completing. You know that you should rotate your tires, but you do not always take the time to have such work completed. Rotating your tires helps them work like they should and allows them to last longer, and you should make that work a priority.

You should have someone rotate your tires so that you can hold on to the set of tires that you own for as long as possible. When you rotate your…

Try to imagine a world where the car muffler had not been invented. It would be a pretty noisy place. A car muffler is a set of tubes and metal chambers. They look simple on the outside, but the technology behind them is quite complex.

The muffler works similar to a fine-tuned musical instrument. The shapes of the chambers and tubes are designed to reflect the sound waves in a way that causes the sound to cancel itself out. Sounds coming from the engine fluctuate at different frequencies and amplitudes. When sound waves of different frequency and...

Driving in the winter can be a messy experience thanks to the dirt, salt, and slush that is all over the roads. You may have a safe surface to drive on thanks to slow plows that are driving around salting, but this can wreak havoc on your line of vision. We here at BMW of Sioux Falls want to make sure that you keep your windshield wiper fluid levels topped off all winter long so you can properly see what you are doing and protect your vehicle's windshield in the process.

When you use your windshield wiper fluid, you…

Winter. This is when the sight of a bag of kitty litter really looks good. Putting that bag of litter into your trunk is a good investment. So many things can go wrong when a car is on a snow-covered surface. When you're stuck with wheels spinning, you might say kitty litter brings the car back to earth. Still, a tire check at BMW of Sioux Falls will increase the chances of staying on the road no matter what road conditions are like.

Weather conditions are so icy, in some places, snow chains are required. 

It is very important to keep your gas tank full in the winter, because if you don't, you will have an excessive amount of air in your tank. Since condensation can occur when air is present, you will end up with condensation happening in your gas tank when it is not full. This condensation is harmless enough for the most part, until however it freezes and causes your fuel lines to freeze up as well. When that happens, this certainly is not harmless, as you will have a BMW vehicle that won't start and also some expensive repairs…

We all know the importance of doing our regularly scheduled oil changes every 5,000-7,500 miles. But what about all the rest of your vehicle's other critical systems that depend on some sort of fluid in order to function properly?

It can be easy to overlook areas of your car, truck, or SUV like the radiator, brakes, power steering, and transmission when you are going over your maintenance schedule. But the reality is that all of these areas depend on the fluid inside them being clean, unburned, and at the appropriate level in order to operate correctly.

 

A lack of knowledge about what dashboard warning lights reveal could end up costing you dearly. It’s far too easy to ignore an illuminating light when your attention is directed to controlling events on the highways and roads. Most vehicles have similar lights, but perhaps in different locations. The most familiar dashboard warning lights include engine warning light, airbag warning light, brake fluid/system warning light, and transmission warning light to name several.

Your warning lights will come on for a reason. Common sense dictates that they require immediate attention if...