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      01-21-2015, 02:24 PM   #1
richie_s
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How do you warm up your engine?

Some people say 30 sec of idle is necessary, others say more than a minute, and some say to just drive off immediately.

I usually just drive off immediately and keep the revs below 2,000 rpm.

What do you guys think is best?
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      01-21-2015, 11:13 PM   #2
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The manual says to drive off immediately at slow pace; but I stay put for 52 seconds (until the rpm goes down, I can hear the valve closes).
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      01-22-2015, 02:23 AM   #3
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I prefer to be idle until i hear the valves close.
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      01-22-2015, 12:20 PM   #4
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i give it 30 seconds and go

sometimes i take it easy, sometimes i dont
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      01-22-2015, 08:00 PM   #5
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By leaving my garage, driving down the road about a mile, getting on the highway and letting her rip.
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      01-22-2015, 08:11 PM   #6
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I have always started the car and drove off immediately keeping RPMs below 3k till the car is warm. Done this with all my BMWs and have had no issues. Like others have said this is what is recommend in the man as well
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      01-22-2015, 09:20 PM   #7
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I don't know - I let it idle for at least 2-3 minutes on all occasions. I do not like driving the car (especially on cold temps) stressing out a cold block and trans. The seals, gaskets, valves and oils need some time to flow.

This is a practice I've done since driving some old cars or cars with lots of miles because they always felt rough to drive when cold.

Also, I need time for the seat to heat up and the steering wheel to get warm. Takes at least 2 minutes.
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      01-22-2015, 10:12 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by _bdiddyb_ View Post
The manual says to drive off immediately at slow pace; but I stay put for 52 seconds (until the rpm goes down, I can hear the valve closes).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr.F30 View Post
I prefer to be idle until i hear the valves close.
^^^
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      01-23-2015, 10:03 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by richie_s
Some people say 30 sec of idle is necessary, others say more than a minute, and some say to just drive off immediately.

I usually just drive off immediately and keep the revs below 2,000 rpm.

What do you guys think is best?
Depending on exactly how cold it is, it depends. If below 30F, I idle for 1-2 minutes. If above 30F, I start up and drove off. In both cases, I keep it below 2-2.5k RPMs until the oil is warm.
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      01-23-2015, 10:05 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bahasad
I don't know - I let it idle for at least 2-3 minutes on all occasions. I do not like driving the car (especially on cold temps) stressing out a cold block and trans. The seals, gaskets, valves and oils need some time to flow.

This is a practice I've done since driving some old cars or cars with lots of miles because they always felt rough to drive when cold.

Also, I need time for the seat to heat up and the steering wheel to get warm. Takes at least 2 minutes.
+1 on the seals and gaskets. Those are the parts that suffer most in the cold and need time to warm up. I don't think idling for more than a minute or two helps any. I think driving the car as soon as possible after starting helps the most, but then the trick is to drive her nice and slow, like she were a Prius. At least for a few minutes, depending on how cold it is.
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      01-23-2015, 12:08 PM   #11
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I like to use Eco Pro when the engine is really cold. Keeps the RPMs from going high and turbo boost to a minimum.
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      01-23-2015, 12:31 PM   #12
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Eco Pro, then I pull away after however long it takes for me to pick a radio station and look at traffic info to see which highway I should take. Unfortunately my car doesn't have much time to warm up before having to enter the highway as I live right by the entrance.
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      01-24-2015, 04:09 AM   #13
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Neither old nor modern cars are supposed to idle at start up. The increased revs followed by the drop is the automatic choke (increased fuel to air ratio). The quicker you put the car under load, ie driving, the quicker it warms ups up and the quicker the auto choke disengages. Also, the exhaust emissions are at their dirtiest at cold start up so another reason to drive off immediately. This applies for petrol or diesel. Proof of this is if you let the car idle for 10 minutes from stone cold, it'll achieve only a very low engine temp. But using the method I have described, the car will take a fraction of the time to hit the same operating temperature and quickly go on to achieving normal operating temp.

In terms of driving hard, best practise is to let the oil/ water (subject to your model depends on what gauge you get) temperature hit normal, and by then the gearbox and diff oil will be up to working temp too. This will keep the innards safest. If you have an auto, avoid kick down and the 'box and ECU will prevent overrevving anyway, so just drive as normal. For manual 'boxes, I don't think there is any intervention, so refer to the manufacturers guidance for Rev limits.

At the other end of the drive, especially an enthusiastic one, idling the engine is actually good practice (this rule only applies only really applies for turbo/ supercharged engines). So my rule is, that for every mile driven, I let the car idle before I switch it off (ie, 100 miles driven, 100 seconds cool down) This protects the turbos from overheating ("heat soak").

Both methods will help ensure excellent longevity from mechanical components and help prevent expensive trips to the stealers later in the car's life.
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      01-24-2015, 12:09 PM   #14
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Eco Pro start, no idle, about a mile or two keeping the revs low.
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      01-26-2015, 09:19 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by smithe90 View Post
Eco Pro, then I pull away after however long it takes for me to pick a radio station and look at traffic info to see which highway I should take. Unfortunately my car doesn't have much time to warm up before having to enter the highway as I live right by the entrance.
Same situation for me.

I just start my car and wait for the revs to drop under 1k. Once it's been at under 1k for about 30 seconds, I just drive off but take it easy (under 2.5k) until the temp needle starts moving.
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      01-27-2015, 11:03 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DTP1980 View Post
...
At the other end of the drive, especially an enthusiastic one, idling the engine is actually good practice (this rule only applies only really applies for turbo/ supercharged engines). So my rule is, that for every mile driven, I let the car idle before I switch it off (ie, 100 miles driven, 100 seconds cool down) This protects the turbos from overheating ("heat soak").
Considering that the electric water pump will operate after shutdown to prevent heat soak, you might want to reconsider this practice...
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      01-27-2015, 12:37 PM   #17
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I drive off and keep the revs low before the oil gauge moves off 160F, and I shut off the car after driving without an extended idle (It takes me some time to park anyway since my garage is narrow, and the water pump stays on after the car is shut off)
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      01-27-2015, 04:23 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by floydarogers View Post
Considering that the electric water pump will operate after shutdown to prevent heat soak, you might want to reconsider this practice...
Turbos are oil cooled, not water cooled. If the oil pump stays on, then fine and understood, but I'd like firm confirmation of that. Common practice for turbo'd cars to idle on cool down when driven hard - this is why Turbo Timers were invented, so you could leave the car to switch itself off. these tend to be seen on hot Japanese drift cars, as an example
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      01-27-2015, 06:45 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DTP1980 View Post
Turbos are oil cooled, not water cooled.
You're wrong: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...69&hg=11&fg=35
clearly shows the coolant lines attached to the (N55) turbo.

Now, you're right about the M57 turbo, but wrong for the vast majority of folks reading this thread.
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      01-27-2015, 11:14 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KGB_123_99 View Post
I like to use Eco Pro when the engine is really cold. Keeps the RPMs from going high and turbo boost to a minimum.
You know, I was thinking about that today. I hate hearing the turbo whise when I'm driving with a cold engine because I feel like I'm overworking the turbos with very little oil to lubricate it. How should I prevent that? Is it bad for the turbos? It happens with average throttle input

Last edited by richie_s; 01-27-2015 at 11:22 PM..
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      01-28-2015, 02:33 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by floydarogers View Post
You're wrong: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...69&hg=11&fg=35
clearly shows the coolant lines attached to the (N55) turbo.

Now, you're right about the M57 turbo, but wrong for the vast majority of folks reading this thread.
This is very interesting and I'm happy to stand corrected. The link doesn't make it clear whether that's water or oil feeds, but it certainly seems too big for oil. In particular, my protection of turbo comments relate (made unclearly) about the bearings. They MUST be being fed by oil to lubricate and cool. What info is available on that? I can't believe they are ceramic besrings which require, as I understand it, less 'care'.
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      01-28-2015, 09:51 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DTP1980 View Post
This is very interesting and I'm happy to stand corrected. The link doesn't make it clear whether that's water or oil feeds, but it certainly seems too big for oil. In particular, my protection of turbo comments relate (made unclearly) about the bearings. They MUST be being fed by oil to lubricate and cool. What info is available on that? I can't believe they are ceramic besrings which require, as I understand it, less 'care'.
Actually, I was surprised that the N47/N57 weren't "upgraded" with electric water pumps - my M57 and your N47 both rely on oil cooling for the turbo(s), as opposed to water cooling on the gas (petrol) engines (N54, N55, N20). All of them have oil to lubricate them, and in the case of the diesel engines, cool them. My guess that the operating regime is different enough that oil is all that's needed, and all the diesel engines have oil coolers (actually water-to-oil heat exchangers).

In any case synthetic oil is one of the reasons BMWs have few turbo bearing failures.
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