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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > BMW E90/E92/E93 3-series General Forums > General E90 Sedan / E91 Wagon / E92 Coupe / E93 Cabrio > User Manual says not to wait for the car to warm up, and to start driving right away



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      01-08-2013, 09:21 AM   #1
R3D
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Question User Manual says not to wait for the car to warm up, and to start driving right away

Lately, it's been freezing out. I prefer to start my car up for 5-10 minutes so the car is warm, the seat is heated, and the windows are defrosted.

If you look at the user manual, it says to start driving right away.

I've always heard that it's good to let your car warm up a bit before driving when it's very cold out.

What are your thoughts?
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      01-08-2013, 09:24 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by R3D View Post
Lately, it's been freezing out. I prefer to start my car up for 5-10 minutes so the car is warm, the seat is heated, and the windows are defrosted.

If you look at the user manual, it says to start driving right away.

I've always heard that it's good to let your car warm up a bit before driving when it's very cold out.

What are your thoughts?
I do exactly what the manual says... They say it's better to let the engine and tranny warm up at the same time by just driving off, then to sit there and just let the engine warm up alone. I wait at least 1 minute until my rpms drop a little and then leave.
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      01-08-2013, 09:34 AM   #3
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I never wait. I go 2 seconds after I start the car, but I have a garage so the windows are never frozen.
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      01-08-2013, 09:35 AM   #4
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Who you going to believe, the "someone" who said to wait, or the Manufacturer who spent millions engineering the car? Just saying....
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      01-08-2013, 09:36 AM   #5
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I wait about a minute or two, then drive the car at super low rpms until the engine warms up. As far as driving the car "hard" I wait for oil temps to go up.
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      01-08-2013, 09:36 AM   #6
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I never really let the car warm up. I just get in and go.
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      01-08-2013, 10:12 AM   #7
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I tend to wait. Old school habits will die hard I guess.
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      01-08-2013, 10:13 AM   #8
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I wait until the fast idle settles back to normal with the car in neutral and clutch out, then drive off and keep it under 4K RPMs until the oil temp gauge comes off the peg - this last part particularly in colder weather.
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      01-08-2013, 10:14 AM   #9
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i wait till the rpm drops to 700ish about 25 seconds then i go. its bad for the car to sit and warm up. this has been discussed before.
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      01-08-2013, 10:25 AM   #10
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I like to wait until the secondary air pump kicks off and idle settles. Generally takes only a minute which is about how long it takes for me to pick a song/station, put on gloves, and get situated anyway. I won't drive it hard until oil temperature is at least 200.
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      01-08-2013, 10:44 AM   #11
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I let idle drop but i keep drivinh or let engine get to operating temps before shutting it back down to avoid lifter tick.

You can tell if youre at operating temp if you can check your oil level.
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      01-08-2013, 10:45 AM   #12
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You only need to wait maybe a minute for the oil to start circulating and covering all components, that is all the waiting I do.
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      01-08-2013, 10:48 AM   #13
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When it's below 30 out I tend to start the car and wait 10-15 seconds. I then don't drive it hard for a few minutes until I can at least feel the seat heater through my pants and the warmer air starts flowing through the vents (I don't have an oil temp gauge :/).
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      01-08-2013, 10:56 AM   #14
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My 328xi definitely drives different for a few minutes when taking off directly from a cold morning start. I read that in the manual also ("don't warm up") and it kind of creeped me out from a pure physics perspective - after sitting in freezing temps all night, GRAVITY will pull oil to the pan, and TEMPERATURE will cause oil to thicken (to a point). I just don't see how cold thick oil in the pan can do the same job as warm juicy oil being pumped all over the place... but who am I to argue?

My new routine: Start. Buckle. Gas.
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      01-08-2013, 11:01 AM   #15
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5-10 minutes to sit and warm up is terribly wasteful. Car warms up slower which means more pollution and engine wear due to rich mixture and slower catalyst warm-up. Getting zero mpg BTW during that time. Even on brutally cold (not Canada cold though) days my heater is cranking out heat after less than 2 miles. I wouldn't do any spirited driving until the car is warmed up but normal driving is fine, even advantageous.

By the way, in Germany where our cars are engineered, it is illegal to idle longer than 20 seconds. I found this out when an angry German educated me by knocking on my window while I was waiting to pick up an army buddy at an airfield. No ticket but most Germans take their laws pretty seriously.

The fact that we can't get a "remote start" option and the F30 has the auto shutoff engine supports this as well.
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      01-08-2013, 11:05 AM   #16
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I usually wait until the engine idle stabilizes and then go... so < 1 minute. I usually drive pretty conservatively until the oil temp comes off of 160.
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      01-08-2013, 11:12 AM   #17
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Seems dangerous to drive off immediately on a 20 degree day.
So you're saying our cars are "advanced enough" to just be primed to go at a moment's notice? Wouldn't that be the equivalent of just drop kicking someone out of a sound sleep?
Doesn't the engine need oil to run with best results?
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      01-08-2013, 11:26 AM   #18
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Warm weather - I start and go once RPMS drop. Cold weather - may have to sit for 10 mins to defrost the windows.
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      01-08-2013, 11:34 AM   #19
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Just drive easy first few mins!!
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      01-08-2013, 11:50 AM   #20
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i drive away quickly, but it only takes about a minute for the idle to drop.
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      01-08-2013, 12:06 PM   #21
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The way that my CA instructed me was that in our Canadian winters its harder on the battery than it is the engine on those frighteningly cold days. Thats why at my home dealer they install battery tenders as part of their PDI process. He said that with the synthetic oil there is always a layer of lubrication for the super cold days and it's been engineered to remain liquid even at -40 (Celsius or Fahrenheit), which is why our cars don't support engine block heaters anymore.

Thus, as long as your battery is charged, and in our harsh, cold, Canadian winters this means plugging in the tender every night, then you'll be fine.
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      01-08-2013, 12:13 PM   #22
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I usually have it parked in the garage, so I let it run for 3o seconds or so for the rpm's to drop. The other night, I left it outside overnight and when I started it, I let it run for 10 minutes. When I came back, it said that my oil was bellow minimum.. Drove to a car shop to get some oil and the oil level went back to half.. Weird.
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