MT Auto Parts Blog | Expert Tips for BMW enthusiasts on BMW Parts, Accessories, Engines and More

Image: BMW 1 Series Window Regulator Lifter for £26.59   The window goes down fine. Coming back up, it moves a few centimetres, stops, and you hear a clicking or grinding sound. Or it goes up but sits at a slight angle. Or it works perfectly on a warm day and refuses to move at all when it is cold. These are the signs of a failing BMW window regulator , the mechanism inside the door that actually moves the glass. On most newer BMW models, the window regulator is a cable-driven system. A small electric motor turns a drum, winding and unwinding cables that are attached to a carrier that the glass clips onto. When any part of this system wears, stretches, or breaks, the symptoms below follow. The Main Symptoms The window moves slowly or unevenly. A regulator that is beginning to wear will often show this first. The glass drops or rises sluggishly, taking noticeably longer than it used to, or moving in a jerky, uneven way rather than a smooth continuous motion. This is the early warn...

Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash Birmingham has one of the largest concentrations of BMW ownership in the UK outside London. It also has some of the sharpest BMW owners when it comes to car parts sourcing, people who have learned, often the hard way, that the lowest price on a listing is not the same thing as the best value, and that a Birmingham BMW breaker and a Birmingham BMW specialist are two very different propositions. If you own a BMW in Birmingham or the wider West Midlands and need parts, this guide covers every realistic sourcing option. What each route gives you, what it does not, and what the best BMW owners in Birmingham are actually doing.  The Sourcing Options — Laid Out Honestly   Source Worth knowing Watch out for BMW dealer Genuine new part, warranty, fitment confirmed Highest price by a significant margin. Often weeks' wait on specialist parts eBay / online marketplace Wide choice, competitive prices No fitment check. Unknown provenance on used part...

  Image: BMW 5 Series (F10) Complete Sunroof SERIES COMPLETE SUNROOF for £141.85 at MT Auto Parts     Water inside the cabin of a BMW is one of those problems that gets worse the longer you ignore it. A damp patch on the headliner becomes a wet footwell. A wet footwell becomes a corroded module. A corroded module becomes an expensive repair that traces back to a blocked drainage tube that could have been cleared for almost nothing. BMW panoramic sunroofs are one of the more common sources of water ingress on UK cars. Not because they are badly made, but because they rely on a drainage system that most owners do not know exists, and therefore never maintain. How the Drainage System Works — and Why It Matters The BMW panoramic sunroof is not a sealed unit. It is designed to let a small amount of water past the glass seals during heavy rain, then channel that water away through four drain tubes, one at each corner of the sunroof frame, that run down through the A and C...

Image: BMW 3 Series Front Bumper Lower Grill Centre for £28.48 at MT Auto Parts   The BMW kidney grille is the most visually distinctive part of the front end: those two joined rectangular frames that have defined how BMWs look for decades. A stone chip, a minor shunt, or a car park knock can crack or scuff the grille, and because it sits right at the centre of the front of the car, it is immediately noticeable. The good news is that the grille is one of the more approachable repair jobs on a BMW. It is not structural, does not need painting to match the body in most cases, and on many models can be replaced with basic tools in under an hour. Here is what is involved. What You Are Actually Replacing Before buying anything, confirm exactly which part is damaged. The grille surround. The frame around the kidney grilles — gloss black, chrome, or body colour depending on specification. On many F-generation BMWs this is integrated into the front bumper. On G-generation models, the gr...