r/askcarguys•
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Any tips for refreshing a car that's been sitting?

General Advice

I have a 1997 BMW 318i (e36) convertible which I bought in early 2021, and unfortunately due to life being life, it's been sitting neglected for the last few years. The last time it saw regular (weekend) driving was 2022, when it first got put into storage due to a move.

Long story short, it's basically been sitting since late 2022. In January of 2025, I drove the car ~65 miles to its current location without issue. At the time we just put a can of seafoam in with a few gallons of gas, checked/topped off oil and coolant, and put in a fresh battery. She got home just fine, but then sat again until now.

One item that's a concern of mine as well is the fuel system. The car has not had a functional fuel level sensor under my ownership(never an issue for me), and I believe has some EVAP issues (has had intermittent issues with accepting more than ~1 gallon of fuel at a time while filling). A few friends have advised doing another patch (like seafoam) to get the car running and just burning through the fuel, but I'm wary of following that advice. The power train is an m44 with a 4-speed auto that I intend to swap down the line (love the chassis, hate the power), so could I get away with this, or am I going to need to pull my seats and drain the tank?

Posted Jun 3, 2026, 11:38 PM UTC

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