BMW Repair Portland
MINI Repair Portland

Cooling System Problems, They’re Not Just for Summer. Lack of heat is often a sign that your BMW’s cooling system isn’t functioning properly. This can be the first sign that something is wrong. It isn’t always the gauge going into the red that signals this problem, lack of heat can, too. The heat generated by the engine warms the water and antifreeze mixture that cools the engine. This warm coolant flows into the heater core in the interior and is the source of warmth used for cabin heat. If there isn’t any heat, or the heat is weak, that indicates an issue with the vehicle’s cooling system. Since many MINI Coopers have neither a low coolant warning light nor a coolant gauge, this is often the only way to know that there is a problem with these cars. Be comfortable, and keep your MINI or BMW in safe operating order, call the Friendly Professionals ... read more

We often wonder how we look to others and the outside world, and most of us hope that what we put forward is congruent with how we both act and view ourselves. This is such a story. When searching on the internet for a product or service, one thing that seldom enters one’s mind is how that experience, in the digital domain, matches up with the reality of the physical world. And it never occurred to us at Pacific Motorsports, either, because we consider our outward facing presentation to be the same as how clients are treated under our roof. Yet how do we really know this? This came into focus recently when a new client returned for some additional work on their beautiful 6 Series. Noticing the out-of-state license plates, I asked how he had found Pacific Motorsports and decided to come here.  First of all, as an experienced BMW owner he said he didn’t want to go to the dealer, as he had had enough ... read more

October is Car Care Awareness Month and all of us at Pacific Motorsports are here, as always, to help you care for your beloved MINI or BMW. “Fall Car Care Month in October is the ideal time to give your car some extra attention before harsh winter weather sets in,” said Rich White, Executive Director, Car Care Council. “taking a little time for auto care now can help you avoid the headaches of a costly emergency breakdown later.”  The courtesy inspections we provide our clients during every service visit go a long way towards helping you prevent the kind of scenario Mr. White alluded to. At Pacific Motorsports we spot potential issues before they can become “tow truck” episodes. In an ideal world, we’d prefer to perform preventive maintenance service for you, rather than breakdown repair, as it is less costly and can be done on your schedule. Let us know what we can do for you to help ensure your peace of mind and reduce the chance(s) ... read more

Owning and enjoying vehicles 20 or more years old on a regular basis has its own charms and challenges. Higher mileage due to use is the obvious situation but isn’t necessarily a negative. These are some of the things that one can expect from those that service these cars.  First of all, they’re fun to drive, as you actually drive the car. We fondly refer to them as “analog cars”, as electronic aids and systems are, for the most part, absent. Steering and road feel, for example, are greater than most new cars, too (electric power steering, anyone?). The fun-to-drive factor, in addition to style and personal preference considerations, are the primary reasons we hear from our clientele about why they own and drive the cars they do. As I often say, cars are all about emotion, they don’t make rational sense, so drive what brings you pleasure. These cars present a differe ... read more

We’ve all put things off that, at the moment we made that decision, we knew we’d be better off taking care of it immediately. Procrastination is a fact of life we all engage into some degree, even though we know it often works against us. One of these areas of life is automotive care and maintenance. And if we’ve been turned off by the unprofessional approach of many dealerships and independent repair shops, that only worsens the situation. The first time I heard of this statistic was about 10 years ago, and the number was what seemed at the time to be a staggering $10 billion. The number is now an unbelievable $25 billion in deferred maintenance in the non-commercial US vehicle fleet. That’s a lot of overdue brake jobs, bald tires, and old fluids.  This estimate is based on a survey of more than 100,000 househol ... read more

We were approached by representatives of Flir Systems, makers of cutting-edge infrared camera technologies, to test their new hand-held automotive tool, the TG275. Pacific Motorsports was one of three workshops, and the only independent, in the Portland-area invited to participate in the field testing of this new device. On August 1, 2019, this testing period culminated in an interview session and filming of our technicians providing their feedback and demonstrating some of the uses we’ve found for the camera. The photo you see on the left is of our Service Manager, Matt Erwin, a 19-year BMW Level 1 Master Technician providing his input. We thank Flir for the opportunity to take part in this field testing and wish them much success with this versatile instrument ... read more

With Summer officially here, let’s hope that the increase in ambient temperatures isn’t translated into an increase in your engine temperatures. If you see your coolant gauge climb, please try to do these things BEFORE it gets into the red. Pull over as soon as it is safe and turn the engine off. Call a towing service. Call Pacific Motorsports and notify us that your MINI or BMW has overheated and you’re waiting for a tow truck to bring it to us. That way we can get you on the schedule and be prepared to diagnose and repair your car as soon as possible. In the National Safety Council’s post, “What to Do if Your Car Overheats,” they say, “Your best bet is to get help from a mechanic.”  The reasons for this are obvious, those of us that work on cars for a living see and deal with these issues on a daily basis, so we are the best qualified to effecti ... read more

We received a call recently asking if we did emissions work on older cars, and, of course, we said yes because we do. This new client brought in her car, an immaculate 160,000 mile e46 325iX five-speed that she had custom ordered from BMW in 2002, and told her story. She had had it serviced exclusively at BMW dealers until this visit when it remained unrepaired after multiple attempts.  After we fixed it, took it through our state’s emission test, and presented the certificate to her, the reason why we were successful with the repair here at Pacific Motorsports became clear. At Pacific Motorsports our three factory-trained Master Technicians have been educated on models back to the late 1970s, and have worked on all of them since. This “seasoning” has given our staff the abilities to diagnose and repair a wide range of ... read more

Why MINI Coopers are Popular, an Informal and Unscientific Treatise MINIs, or MINI Coopers, are popular for a number of reasons, and, since we work on many of them, distilling the essence of their popularity to a few common elements may be difficult, but let’s try. When BMW relaunched the brand in 2002, they did so very effectively. The marketing campaign, especially in automotive magazines, was flat out brilliant. The games, stickers, etc. cemented the brand’s reputation as “fun”. It wasn’t marketed as practical, something you needed, but as something you wanted because of its attitude, like a club you wanted to join because of the credibility, it bestowed on you. The first thing they (Frank Stephenson was the actual designer of record) got “right” was the styling, which is undeniably MINI; endearing with just enough “quirk”. It was sized up to meet modern crash protection requi ... read more

We finally closed on our building in October 2004 and needed to establish utility service. Since we were coming from a Pacific Power service area, we needed to open an account with Portland General Electric. As I had renewably sourced power at home since the inception of that program, I asked for it for our new shop, presuming it to be a simple procedure. After all, it is the right thing to do for our environment. The response from the PGE representative at that time was that we couldn’t have it because they didn’t have such a program for small businesses. Was that an acceptable answer? Of course not. Doing the right thing sometimes requires pushing through inconvenience and persevering. I told the representative that even though such a program wasn’t currently available that I still wanted it. “You and I both know you’re going to have a renewable energy program for small businesses one of these days, so why don’t you go to your boss and tell them ... read more