5 things I love about my new 2017 BMW X1 xDRIVE28i

Hi, folks! I just got back from Flemington BMW and I bought myself a nice little 2017 BMW X1 xDrive28i (yes, it’s a mouthful, I know) and I am OBSESSED. This car has everything!! It’s big enough to fit everything that I need to bring along with me, including the dog if I want, and it has so many features that make it super luxurious. It’s a big step up from what I used to drive, let me tell you!! And since the tent event is starting this weekend, why not get one for yourself? I highly recommend. Here are my top 10 things that I love about my new car. You will totally love them too!!

1. The key. Sure, this sounds lame and regular, but listen – the key on this vehicle remembers not only how to let me into the car, but it remembers my climate control settings, where my seat was, how loud the radio was…. And more. Yeah. It’s amazing.

2. The iDrive system. I can literally talk to my car!! It’s way easier for me to look at the screen for my navigation and my music and, like, everything else. Cars are getting smarter and I love it!!!! I also have the heads-up display which projects information directly onto my windshield and makes me feel like I am driving a spaceship.

3. The drive. I can go anywhere, in any type of weather, and my BMW will get through it like a champ. Of course, I haven’t had it for very long but it was raining on the way back, and I was like, “this is amazing!”

4. The pure space. There is so much room for activities!! I can put everything I own in this car, probably. There is storage not only in the trunk, but under the seats and with the huge amount of general… space. I don’t know how to say it better. This car is roomy as heck.

5. How it fits my life. I didn’t know this was what I needed, but now that I have it I know it is. With kids and a dog and a lot of stuff and a lot of places to go, this vehicle is literally such a blessing. We can just as easily drive to the mountains in the winter as we could drive to the beach or even just around town. And with all the features, I don’t need to worry about everything working or even how to get there, because the car will just… tell me. Remember how I said it was like a spaceship earlier? I meant it. Get one!!!!

We all know that summer is, like, the ideal road trip time. At least, according to movies and TV, it is… but did you know that fall is also pretty dang awesome for taking road trips? Think about it – changing leaves, blankets in the back seat, stopping in small towns and smelling the smoke from wood stoves and looking at the fall foliage… pretty awesome. So, we’ve put together a list of the essential items that you’ll need in your vehicle for any road trip that you take this season!

This stuff is what you should have in your car at all times as an emergency kit – a good idea is to get a small bag to store these things in and keep it in your trunk or in with your spare tire.

• Flashlight, roadside signal flares or reflective cones/warning signs

• First aid kit.

• Booster cables, vice grips, 3/8ths drive socket set, set of combination wrenches, crescent wrench, multiple tip screwdriver.

• A gallon jug of water.

• Extra washer fluid, oil, transmission oil, brake fluid

• Rags, workshop towels, old blanket.

• Gloves

• Spare belts (alternator, fan and air conditioner belts)

• Candle, warm clothes, heavy blanket (for winter travel)

• Nonperishable food and drinking water

Next are the things you should have for your road trip! Whether you’re taking a simple day trip or a weeklong excursion to visit places you’ve never been (may we suggest taking a trip to visit some National Parks or National Historic Sites?) you should make sure to have at least some of these items with you, because they’ll probably come in handy and probably prove to be lifesavers!

• Blankets and pillows

• Music

• Folding chairs

• Portable table

• Reading material

• Duct tape and WD40

• Camera

• Cash for toll roads

• GPS

• Binoculars

• Wet wipes

• Puzzle books and quiet toys for kids.

• Disposable cameras for the kids.

• Pen, pencil, notepad

• Tissues, toilet tissue, paper towel

• Small bags for garbage

• Maps and directions

• Bird identification book.

Before you go on your trip, make sure that your vehicle is tuned up and ready to handle whatever the trip throws at you. Check your oil and fluids, and if you need a hand or want a professional opinion, come visit us at Flemington BMW! Not only can we help tune up the vehicle you have, but if you’re looking for a new ride that’ll take you anywhere you want to go – well, we can help with that too! Happy trails!

Have you been in the market for a new BMW vehicle? Have you always kind of wanted a BMW but could never really fit buying one into your budget? Now is the time to act! At Flemington BMW, from now until December 31st you can get 1% APR financing on all loaner and executive demo vehicles. That’s kind of a crazy awesome deal. These vehicles, while they might not be brand-spankin’ new, are in amazing condition and are the top of the line when it comes to certified pre-owned BMW’s.

If you’ve ever had a vehicle loaned to you by your dealership while your car’s been being serviced, you’ll know what a service loaner is. That car isn’t driven much and you don’t really have the time to do anything in it because your service is taken care of so efficiently – right? Well, that’s what you’ll get if you choose to purchase a certified pre-owned service loaner vehicle from Flemington BMW! Seriously, these vehicles are a great deal, and even though they’ve been driven a little bit, they’re still top quality. Check out our video about this sales event and then stop into Flemington BMW to check out the vehicles we have on the lot!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WLGgYZEu4M

When you find yourself on the road and feeling frustrated, what do you do? If you don’t know the answer to this question, this blog is for you. Defensive driving is an incredibly important part of being a safe driver, which means not only keeping yourself safe, but keeping other drivers safe! Even if you’re angry or annoyed, or if other drivers on the road are driving aggressively, you should still try to set an example and drive the best you can, no matter what.

Road rage is a serious issue that can escalate into super dangerous driving very quickly, so one of the most important things to do is to make sure that you are calm, collected, and know what you’re doing, even in the event that someone else on the road loses their cool. Here are some tips on how to stay in control of yourself and your vehicle!

1. Be safe! Try to avoid driving aggressively, and pay attention to the road and the other vehicles around you. Make sure there’s space between you and the cars around you. Make sure your doors are locked and everyone is wearing a seatbelt.

2. Pay attention! Always look in your mirrors before going anywhere on the road, and keep checking them as you drive and merge lanes. If there’s another aggressive driver on the road, keep an eye on them and try to avoid getting near them if possible. Also keep an eye out for pedestrians, animals, and anything else that can be near the road.

3. Don’t assume everyone else is driving defensively. You should try to be safe without assuming other people on the road will keep you safe. Be ready for anything to happen!

4. Obey the speed limit! If there’s no other traffic on the road, that is. Make sure you’re not speeding, even when it’s just you on an empty road. You never know what could pop out unexpectedly from a driveway or side road. When there’s other traffic around, i.e. on the highway, you should keep up with the flow of traffic so that you don’t cause an incident, but also make sure you’re not speeding or going too slowly.

5. Don’t drive distracted. If you know that music distracts you while you’re driving, then don’t listen to music when driving. This goes for other distractions like texting, phone calls, and even your passengers. You should never text while driving – it’s not only a distraction, but it is illegal in most US states and is incredibly dangerous. Phone calls should be taken over Bluetooth® if your vehicle has that feature, and your passengers should be courteous to you, the driver. Driving requires your full attention at all times, so staying focused is imperative.

We hope these tips have helped! Driving is important and difficult, but it should also be fun! Stay safe on the roads so that you can enjoy driving for many more years, especially in a vehicle you love.

Fall is pretty much here, and with the changing seasons come changing leaves! What better activity is there to do with your family than take a day trip around to peep the leaves? Not only do you get to spend time with your family, but you can eat cider donuts, look at the leaves, smell the crisp air… and of course, enjoy the ride in your awesome BMW! Here are some of the best spots for leaf peeping in New England.

Vermont! Smuggler’s Notch is my personal favorite place to visit. From the great hiking you can find there, to the twisty road clinging to the side of the mountain, the place is fun regularly, but because of the huge amount of deciduous forest, it really comes to life in the fall. The leaves are spectacular, so you won’t be alone on the road, but there’s nothing better than stepping out of the car and smelling the fall air. You can head up to the Ben and Jerry’s factory in Waterbury as well, and there’ll be leaves galore on the way. Stowe is also a wonderful place with great foliage hikes and other fun adventures for your family!

If you’re looking to get away for a weekend, New Hampshire has some amazing historic towns that light up with the changing seasons. North Conway, at the foot of the White Mountains, is both cute and historic and is a wonderful place to spend a day, sipping a hot drink and looking at the leaves. Franconia Notch State Park is a great place to check out as well – just remember boots and a jacket!

Western Massachusetts has that certain je ne sais quoi that comes with small artsy villages and a rural feel. The leaves are spectacular in September and October, and with no shortage of museums and cute towns to check out, you’ll have not just a day but a whole weekend’s worth of things to do and see and explore. Check out Mass MoCa in North Adams – it’s an amazing contemporary art museum that’s a great juxtaposition between the classic image of leaves in New England and avant-garde pieces of art.

These are just some of the best places to check out the leaves – day trips can be awesome times spent with your family, but of course romantic weekend getaways with your sweetheart are never a bad idea, especially with the cold weather coming in, who doesn’t want to curl up in front of the fireplace of a cute New England inn with the person you love? No matter what your plans are this fall, Flemington BMW has the perfect vehicle to take you where you want to go in style.

Blind spots are a real pain in the patella – seriously! Most vehicles have ‘em and when we’ve got ‘em we hate ‘em. I need to stop saying “‘em” so we’ll stick with the more formal “them” for the duration of this blog. So, when you have these blind spots, it might seem like an almost impossible task to get rid of them, or even just ameliorate the situation you’re in. You know, where you’re driving along and a car comes up to you out of NOWHERE just when you have prepared to merge into the next lane over, and then you end up swerving and looking like a fool and feeling like an incredible danger to those on the road. Situations like that. And that’s why I am here! To guide you through understanding and overcoming your blind spots. The great thing about this is that the process involves almost no emotional soul-searching, so you can do all of this very easily from the comfort of your own home!

Now down to brass tacks. Or, the wire. I am not very good at metaphors. To business! The first thing you can do that will pretty much completely eliminate your blind spots is to get two small convex mirrors for your side mirrors. You can find these pretty much everywhere, and they are cheap, and you just take them and stick them on to your mirrors and there you go! No more blind spots, at least in the back. Some cars have blind spots in the front, and the only remedy for those is to peer around them.

You can also get a wide-view rearview mirror clip on thing, which is reasonably useful, but there are several ways to adjust your mirrors to get rid of blind spots. They seem uncomfortable at first, but they really do work! Here’s how:

1. Adjust the rear-view mirror so that it best covers your view straight out the rear window.

2. Set your side mirrors out fifteen degrees on either side.

3. Lean your head over to the center of the car and adjust the right side mirror so that you can barely see the side of your car from this position.

4. Lean your head over to the left so that it is even with the window and adjust the mirror so that you can barely see the sides of your car from this position.

5. You now have full coverage of everything behind and to the side.

If you don’t want to spend any money at all on small mirrors, this is your best bet!

Good luck on the blind spots. Remember that you should always look in your mirrors and behind you; even if you think you’ve eliminated all your blind spots, you can never be too safe on the road!

I think we can all agree that getting your vehicle’s oil changed regularly is one of the most important things you can do for your vehicle’s health. Seriously! The oil in your vehicle’s engine keeps it running smoothly and keeps it from overheating. Without oil, your engine could seize or overheat and those repairs are WAY more expensive than just getting your oil changed. Do you see where I am going with this? Good. I just wanted to pop in and tell you about getting your oil changed, guide you through the process, and then maybe when you’re done reading this you’ll go out and see if your vehicle is due for one.

So, the general rule of thumb is to change your oil every 3,000 miles. That’s all well and good, but depending on the age of your car and what type of oil is used in the change (along with many other factors), that length of time is super variable. If you drive a very old car, you’re going to want to get your oil changed more frequently than every 3,000 miles – which also evens out to around 6 months. If you have a newer car, that frequency is going to be lower. In addition, synthetic oils reduce the need for oil changes as often.

You should always ask your dealer as well as consult your owner’s manual regarding oil changes. The manual will give you a good baseline for your specific model, but your dealer can assess the current condition of your vehicle and give you a really good estimate for how frequently you should get your oil changed.

In addition to getting your oil changed frequently, you should be checking the oil yourself at least once a month. This is really easy – just pop the hood and pull out the oil dipstick. There should be guidelines on the dipstick itself that tell you where the oil level is at. If it’s low, you can top it off yourself to hold you over until the next oil change – though if the oil level goes down really rapidly no matter how often you top off the tank, you should take your vehicle in to get looked at as this could be indicative of your engine burning oil or a leak in the lines somewhere. If your oil looks really dirty as well, this could be a sign that you need to get your oil changed. Little particles in your oil can cause buildup and make your vehicle run less efficiently.

All in all, talk to your dealer about getting your oil changed – there are definitely some habits you should have about it that a lot of people don’t have, and both your vehicle and your mechanic will thank you for taking good care of your vehicle!

Checking your tire tread is an easy job that doesn’t take long at all, but your vehicle can suffer for it if you don’t check it regularly. If your tires go bald, you’re at a very high risk of accidents due to losing traction on slick surfaces, either icy or wet. It’s a lot easier to check your tread than having to figure out what to do if you start hydroplaning!

There’s a great way to check your tire tread using only a penny – seriously! Put the penny with Lincoln’s head down into your tire tread. If you can see all of Lincoln’s head, you need to replace your tires!

You can also do this with a quarter. If you can see the top of George Washington’s head, you should definitely get your tires checked, if not replaced.

There are a lot of things that contribute to your tire treads wearing down. There’s the classic driving – if you drive your car, your treads will wear down. Another factor is tire air pressure. If your tires have low pressure, they can wear down faster, leading you to need to replace your tires more frequently. Another issue that might be contributing to your tire tread wearing down quickly is your vehicle’s alignment. If your alignment is off, your tires can wear down unevenly, causing you to need to replace them sooner than you might have planned to do so.

A way to keep your tires’ wear even is to have your mechanic rotate your tires every time you go into the shop for an oil change or any other maintenance. You should also have your mechanic check your tires’ PSI and re-inflate them if they’re a little low on air pressure.

We hope these tips have helped you – remember, it’s better safe than sorry! Checking your tires’ tread is very easy and quick and can save you a lot of hassle in the end.

I know, I know, having to stop at the gas station to fill up is always an inconvenience. That’s why I got a new 2017 BMW 3 Series 328d xDrive from Flemington BMW. I get 30 MPG in the city, which means less time spent at the pump filling up. But sometimes it gets reeeeally tedious to look down, see I’m low on gas and then have to stop in the middle of my drive to where I need to go to stop at the gas station, fill up, and then go on my way. So, one time I took a chance it and didn’t stop. Big mistake. Biiiiig mistake.

I was headed to my mom’s house, which is a good hour and a half away, and I was already running late. I knew I was kind of low on gas, but I had faith in my new car’s fuel efficiency and so decided to skip stopping to fill up on the way in favor of getting there at least a little faster and avoiding some of my mother’s wrath. But as I was driving, my car let me know that I needed to fill up by making that helpful beep and I, of course, ignored it. I could go for like three hundred more miles, right? Wrong.

About thirty minutes away from my mom’s house, my car just kind of… stopped. I managed to pull over, but there was nothing to be done. I was out of gas, and now I was really going to be late. No avoiding that one when you’re stopped on the side of the highway with an empty tank and no help in sight. Luckily I had my phone and could call my brother, who was already at Mom’s, to pick up a couple gallons of gas and bring them to me. I felt foolish but it was the only thing I could do! So, about 45 minutes later, my brother showed up, we put the gas in my car, and I made it to the nearest gas station to fill up. My brother came too, mostly to laugh at me. I did make it to Mom’s, but I was two hours late. Thank goodness she also decided that this was funny, because I don’t think I could take mom-anger after my adventure by the side of the road.

My advice for you is to never let your car get so low on gas that this happens. Even if your vehicle is crazy fuel-efficient like mine is, you’ll still have to fill it up every now and again – your car can’t run on air alone! I think another good tip is to always make sure your cell phone is charged when you set out on a longer trip (or any trip, really) in case you need to call for help. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t had my phone available to call my brother.

Anyway, now I always make sure I never get below a quarter tank of gas, especially in the winter, and I haven’t had an adventure like that one since. I hope my story and advice help you too, and if you’re in the market for a new car that gets great gas mileage, check out Flemington BMW and they’ll help you find the perfect car.

If you drive a BMW from us, you probably want to know the best type of fuel to be putting into your vehicle. We get it, it’s important. The right fuel can keep your engine going for years to come, and keep it going efficiently to boot. So, here’s a little primer on the types of gasoline you might see at the pump, and exactly what those numbers mean.

The difference between fuel types is actually pretty scientific. The numbers on the pumps actually indicate the octane levels of the gasoline, which can make a difference in the performance of your engine. What do we mean by octane? Here comes the science – the oil used in gasoline production is a “hydrocarbon fuel,” so the individual molecules hold both carbon and hydrogen atoms. Different types of fuels have different numbers of hydrocarbons, one of which is isooctane (what we just shorten to “octane”). This molecule is resistant to spontaneous explosion, which makes it more efficient in your engine. A higher level of octane won’t help your MPG – that’s something you can only change by careful driving – but it will help your engine’s performance when driving.

The way your engine works, for those of you who might not be familiar, is that the gasoline is injected into the cylinders of your engine, compressed, and then the gas is ignited by the spark plugs. So, you can see why the ignition resistance provided by the octane is so important! If the octane level is lower, there’s a higher chance that the gasoline will ignite before it’s supposed to, which creates a “knock” in your engine. That sound means that you should probably be using a higher octane fuel in your engine.

A caveat, however: not all engines are created equal. Some engines, like those in some models of BMW, are made for a higher level of performance and therefore require a higher octane fuel. Some engines don’t need this higher octane, and to get it at the pump would be a waste of your money. However, if you do have a high-performance engine, purchasing the higher octane – or premium, if you prefer – fuel will allow your vehicle to perform at its highest level. Racecar drivers usually use fuel with an octane level of 100 or higher for ultimate performance on the racetrack.

You might not be racing in Formula One, but BMWs are designed for a higher level of performance. Knowing what type of fuel to put into your tank is just one step to knowing how to reach your vehicle’s fullest potential.