Do you warm up your modern-day BMW before driving off?

[Romanf15]

after a cold start i just wait between 30sec-1min before taking off and in winter I will wait till my steering wheel warms up and also my butt.

[7qwerty]

I guess letting it warm or not doesn't matter. Just keep it on a low a bit for sometime.

[Fritzer]

I let my E90 warm up for about 2-5 minutes. A little bit longer because it's been hitting under 40 degrees Fahrenheit here in San Diego at night. (I know, so cold brrrrrrr)

[PKR]

I wait until the engine comes off high idle before driving, and keep the revs low for the first few miles.

[Gen13 F36]

I just start and drive about 20 sec. That about the time I put my phone on its mount and buckle my seatbelt. And then again 20 sec plenty of time to get the oil circulate.

[gurusan]

On cold starts I suggest locking it in a higher gear and flooring it, helps warm up the turbos and engine faster.

[Al Bundy's Dodge]

Originally Posted by PKR

I wait until the engine comes off high idle before driving, and keep the revs low for the first few miles.

Same here. Let the revs drop, takes maybe 30 seconds. I do that year round.

Then while going light on the throttle I usually shift under 2500 RPMs for a couple miles and then keep it under 3k RPMs until the engine reaches operating temp.

All I know is what I do wont hurt the car, but driving hard after cold start certainly could.

[RoarinRow]

I don't warm it up really, but I do take my time to leave from my spot, e.g. look at the gauges, look around my surroundings, wait for garage door to close, check my rear view mirror, etc. before actually leaving. So with all this, this is pretty much my warm up time.

[rmata]

Warming up the car is a practice that is not current anymore with all fuel injection vehicles. In fact letting the car warm up in idle for the car means that the "normal" functional temperature will take longer to be reached, and the car will have to compensate that by injecting additional fuel into the combustion mixture and we can say that that is "not beneficial".

a few seconds or a minute or 2 is more than enough to make the oil engine moving, after that driving smoothly until it reaches the "normal" operating temperature is the best practice for the sake of the motor

[OUGrad05]

No need to idle for minutes on end. You want oil pumped back to the top of the engine which occurs in the first few seconds of running, then take it easy on the gas until there's temp in the coolant AND in the oil.

[yco]

the duration of warming up depends on the temperatures for me but i believe waiting a little is good for every engine.. in hot summer days a 50-60secs will be enough.. in really cold ukraine winter i do wait 2mins at least.. and in super cold winter days i never turn off the engine when its super hot.. like pushing it for a while before reaching the destination.. i believe its not good also.. driving calmly in last 3-4 mins before i arrive..

if more than 12 hours past i do wait at least rev goes down.. for my current ride i press M button and wait till exhaust flaps open on its own.. then i go.. driving progressively higher revs till oil reaches optimal levels..

Originally Posted by OUGrad05

No need to idle for minutes on end. You want oil pumped back to the top of the engine which occurs in the first few seconds of running, then take it easy on the gas until there's temp in the coolant AND in the oil.

below -10c things are not like that cause viscosity changes also.. thicker oil cant reach every part of the engine %100 for a while.. actually cold start behaviors is affecting a lot for engine's lifespan.. not even talking about turbos..

[OUGrad05]

Originally Posted by yco

the duration of warming up depends on the temperatures for me but i believe waiting a little is good for every engine.. in hot summer days a 50-60secs will be enough.. in really cold ukraine winter i do wait 2mins at least.. and in super cold winter days i never turn off the engine when its super hot.. like pushing it for a while before reaching the destination.. i believe its not good also.. driving calmly in last 3-4 mins before i arrive..

if more than 12 hours past i do wait at least rev goes down.. for my current ride i press M button and wait till exhaust flaps open on its own.. then i go.. driving progressively higher revs till oil reaches optimal levels..



below -10c things are not like that cause viscosity changes also.. thicker oil cant reach every part of the engine %100 for a while.. actually cold start behaviors is affecting a lot for engine's lifespan.. not even talking about turbos..

at -10*C yes you'd need 45 seconds or a minute to get enough oil moved around.

My garage drops to about 50* when its in the teens F* outside, so it has to get pretty darn cold to drop the temp in my garage to the mid 40s. That's only happened once or twice and both times it was below zero F outside

If you're car is constantly in temps that are well below freezing you may need to let it idle for a short period but no need for a 10 minute idle session.

[Efthreeoh]

It's called multi-viscosity oil for a reason...

[korakisa]

I wait few seconds until the engine comes off high idle .Also a little before switch off engine.

[EDWYER]

I wait 15 seconds and drive.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by MJBO

Basically I start and drive away.

I start my car, plug my phone in, put my keys/wallet in their respective places, then drive off. My park is three stories up and by the time I get to the swipe sensor to open the gate cold start has finished.

Accelerate pretty gentily until oil temp is at normal then enjoy a few higher revs.

If the temps were crazy cold like in some places in the world? I’d probably give it more time before setting off, but “cold” here in Melbourne is like 10C (50F), so no need.

You have NFi what cold is. NONE, fuckign zero. Shuddup.

[MJBO]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

You have NFi what cold is. NONE, fuckign zero. Shuddup.

Originally Posted by Alfisti

You have NFi what cold is. NONE, fuckign zero. Shuddup.

Lol, trust me I know that 😂

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by Huz-Z

Its typically quite cold in winter here.

Fucking Canadians .... "quite Cold". It'll hit 3 degrees and be sunny soon and everyone will walk around saying "oh it's a beautiful day".

[taseal]

I don't let it warm up... but that being said, I live in FL and coldest it gets is in the 30s... mostly 70-90f weather.

My corvette shows me an alternative redline until engine warms up. Pretty sure some other BMWs have this. I go by that.

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by taseal

I don't let it warm up... but that being said, I live in FL and coldest it gets is in the 30s... mostly 70-90f weather.

My corvette shows me an alternative redline until engine warms up. Pretty sure some other BMWs have this. I go by that.

It maybe touches 39 degrees for one hour a year in south florida Its been a hot winter this year.

BMW M cars have a variable red line which increases as the engine warms up. However, even the reduced red line its still far too high to rev on a cold engine. I always keep it below 3k rpm until the oil temp needle has come off its resting position.

[taseal]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

It maybe touches 39 degrees for one hour a year in south florida Its been a hot winter this year.

BMW M cars have a variable red line which increases as the engine warms up. However, even the reduced red line its still far too high to rev on a cold engine. I always keep it below 3k rpm until the oil temp needle has come off its resting position.

it sure has been a warm winter...

I wonder if car's shift points change to upshift more when engine is cold?

Also what is the running temp for our cars generally? US cards are 190-210.... I noticed this X5 runs around 230.

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by taseal

it sure has been a warm winter...

I wonder if car's shift points change to upshift more when engine is cold?

Also what is the running temp for our cars generally? US cards are 190-210.... I noticed this X5 runs around 230.

My car is a manual so I control the shift points, but I dont think the autos take engine temp into consideration. As long as you are not in D3/sport+/performance driving modes and accelerate mildly the transmission will likely never shift above 3k rpm.