Warm up / Start up time?

[agentrnge]

Originally Posted by myzmak

yeah, this is insane. zero need for that.

also, don't let the car warmth clean your windows - get a scraper. otherwise you are just wasting gas.

I'll start the car, get rear defroster on, and then start scraping ice/frost off windows. If it takes a few minutes to scrape, the car warms up a few minutes. I'm not starting it and walking away to let it warm up and clear itself.

I am speaking about cars in general. The M3 lives in the garage and doesnt go outside to play in snow or ice anyway.

[FirstF80InSpace]

I wait until the cold start no longer sounds like a lawnmower. Around 15-20 seconds.

[Tommy L Garage]

Originally Posted by PhatLyfe

Hey, just curious, how long do you wait after turning the car on before going about your business? Is two minutes too short?

Even on the coldest winter day I start and go
I don't let the revs go past 2500

[Tonyfsu21]

Originally Posted by PhatLyfe

Hey, just curious, how long do you wait after turning the car on before going about your business? Is two minutes too short?

5 seconds. This shit is alien technology, no need to warm anything up!

[RoundelM3]

Originally Posted by SD ///M4

Two minutes? Mine, with the MPE, takes maybe 30 seconds, and I've timed it. It's just that it seems like minutes. To my neighbors it must seem like eternity...

My fast idle slows to normal in 30 seconds...takes another minute or so for the wastegates to close and the exhaust to quiet down.

[mfurse]

Originally Posted by agentrnge

I do the same thing. ~4-5 mins before sport, and another few after that before sport+. Basically sport+ only when oil is 100% up to temp. On the shutdown side I usually put it into efficient mode for the last minute or so before parking to let the turbos take it easy. I am 100% we dont need to worry about any of this, but do it anyway.

The irony is that Sport+ uses additional cooling and drops your temps faster than Economy or Sport, cooler oil cools turbos better.

[DML]

Start it, go back inside for approximately 1/2 an hour, return and drive

[SCS55]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

Like everyone else said, no need to wait at all. Simply start the car and drive off. In fact, if you read the owners manual it specifically states that you should not allow the car to sit and "warm up".

Glad to see someone else actually reads the owners manual.

[jmciver]

Originally Posted by mfurse

The irony is that Sport+ uses additional cooling and drops your temps faster than Economy or Sport, cooler oil cools turbos better.

There is no need to wait to use Sport+. The ECU will still allow the engine to warm up to normal operating temp, and then will activate the "extra" engine cooling when the car is ready. All things being equal, my car reaches normal operating temp just as fast in Efficient, Sport or Sport+. In fact, while in Sport+, it is interesting to watch how the ECU controls temperature under different external temperature conditions (I have an Awron gauge to see this).

Like some in this thread have mentioned, I just start the car and go - only taking the few seconds to put my seatbelt on and hit the M1 button on the steering wheel (which turns on Sport+ ). I also drive moderately until oil gets up to normal operating temp (180 deg F) before I start my "spirited" driving - a practice that is still relevant to all modern engines (that is why the oil warmup lights are there from the factory). It usually takes 5-10 min for oil to get up to normal operating temp, depending on the external temperature and how much traffic I have around me right after I drive off (depends on leaving work vs home).

[paliknight]

My cousin that's a Bugatti tech said all modern cars have to be up to operating temp within 30 seconds of turning on due to SAE standards or something. I don't speak cars so I could have fucked up some terms.

[TideMD]

Originally Posted by SD ///M4

My neighbors across the street have a 330i, an X3, and the daughter has a Mini. We have the M4 with MPE, an M3 Competition Pack, and a Z4 M Roadster with a Stromung exhaust. We were discussing how loud my exhaust was one day (he's never complained) and I asked him if any of the other neighbors have said anything. (we're on a short cul-de-sac with only 10 homes, so most of us are pretty tight.)

He said that someone, who he declined to name, said to him "I can't believe they spent $100,000 on those cars and they sound like that!" I corrected him and said that we didn't pay anywhere near "$100,000" for either car. My wife's M3 is Individual San Marino Blue with Individual Polar Blue contrasting stitching.

I also learned that there are other neighbors, down the block and around the corner, on the intersection street, that know all about our "loud" BMWs.

This sounds like my neighborhood. A few BMW owners around us and I've had a couple of them ask why my "car" (they never refer to it as an M4, which makes me wonder if they're facetious or clueless) is unmistakable driving off in the morning, while theirs is no different than the basic Japanese and American mid-level sedans taking off for the morning commute.

I simply give an innocent shoulder shrug and never mention the d-pipe and midpipe swap, plus the BM3 GTS startup rumble.
And if the bitching gets too aggressive, I'm certainly not above re-flashing and putting the cold start back in to play.

[PhatLyfe]

Originally Posted by SCS55

Glad to see someone else actually reads the owners manual.

Sorry, used car, no manual's.. but was able to download the manual on my phone from BMW.

[PhatLyfe]

is that enough time for oil to circulate?

[M 4 FUN]

When the oil is 60 degrees C the rev limiter opens up to 7600 rpm so then i know that the oil is warm enough to start giving it some throttle. Before that i don't load up the Engine and only drive on lower revs.

[lukej]

Originally Posted by GNALUZU

You need to wait precisely 12.375 seconds. Waiting any longer will result in the engine exploding. Not waiting exactly 12.375 seconds will result in the engine exploding!

😜

WOW that’s great information,, Does BMW sell a stop watch?

[Jason60051]

Couple minutes...I have a heated garage so I'm not sure it really needs it.

[PhatLyfe]

Thank you fo the replies and some sarcastic comments. As a new owner and wanted to ensure longevity on my vehicle purchase.

As the colder weather moves it I've noticed at startup the revs light start at 5500 and I wait till it goes to 6500 before I leave my garage.

I just want make sure the oil even though it's thin and has enough time to lubricate the engine before I head out.

For some people this is a lease or a monthly, for me at a dream to have a car like this and now I finally have it & would like to keep it.

So as I say agin thank you for the prompt responses and I do enjoy coming on these forums and reading these comments.

Enjoy you day everyone.

[NickyC]

Originally Posted by FirstF80InSpace

I wait until the cold start no longer sounds like a lawnmower. Around 15-20 seconds.

Yep, that's what I do as well. I've read you shouldn't let these cars idle long at a cold start, and to get moving. Fine with me!

[NickyC]

Originally Posted by PhatLyfe

Thank you fo the replies and some sarcastic comments. As a new owner and wanted to ensure longevity on my vehicle purchase.

As the colder weather moves it I've noticed at startup the revs light start at 5500 and I wait till it goes to 6500 before I leave my garage.

I just want make sure the oil even though it's thin and has enough time to lubricate the engine before I head out.

For some people this is a lease or a monthly, for me at a dream to have a car like this and now I finally have it & would like to keep it.

So as I say agin thank you for the prompt responses and I do enjoy coming on these forums and reading these comments.

Enjoy you day everyone.

Rod bearings are not an issue on this vehicle. It appears that somehow, someway the rod bearing Gods finally smiled on an ///M vehicle and we own it.

[NYG]

Originally Posted by paliknight

My cousin that's a Bugatti tech said all modern cars have to be up to operating temp within 30 seconds of turning on due to SAE standards or something. I don't speak cars so I could have fucked up some terms.

Not possible due to thermal expansion. It's still safe to operate but you should wait a little bit before going hard on the throttle.

[evoix]

Originally Posted by PhatLyfe

I've read up on the rod bearings going due to no enough oil lubrications on quick start and go

Read the same thing. I warm it up for minute in summer and two or three in winter. Hate the way the car shifts when its cold. Transmission lags on gear changes when it is cold out.

[JoeFromPA]

If you are a TL;DR person, here's the short version of what I want to share: 5-15 seconds of idling is fine before driving at anything above 10 degree ambient temps (approximately). More importantly is driving it gently until the oil hits ~160-180 degrees fahrenheit and your trans and diff have had 5-10 minutes of driving on them to warm them up too.

Let's define warm-up:

1. Time before going into gear/driving - I used to do alot of oil analysis before I realized how completely useless it is at almost everything. Anyway, during that process I learned alot about oil flow properties at different oil temps. We use 0w or 5w oils in our engines; at 40-90 degrees fahrenheit, that shit is eveywhere in your engine within ~5 seconds of start-up. At 15-40 degrees ambient, it can take 10-15 seconds. These are broad strokes. I start the car and belt myself or otherwise have 5-15 seconds before drive off to allow time for the oil pump to push oil to all parts of the engine accordingly.

Please remember that if you drove your car yesterday, oil is still coating everything. A cold start doesn't mean an unlubricated start - it simply means the engine is starting on oil from the last drive and you want oil pressure and fresh oil hitting those spots soon. No biggie on a properly functioning engine.

2. DRIVING warm-up: I'll see people spend 2 minutes idling a car and then drive it like it's warmed up. It's not. This is where you go gently if you car about your car. Gentle is subjective, but generally you want to do light to moderate throttle and keep it under 3500 rpms until the OIL hits operating temp. You have an oil temp gauge on your dash; the first hash mark is a good general guide that indicates your ENGINE ain't warmed up till it hits that mark. Further, your diff and trans don't warm up until you are driving for a bit. So idling doesn't do anything for warming up those parts.

...

Hope this helps. There's no magic answer. Plenty of engines can beat on mercilessly cold and operate well for a long time. Just be gentle on your car for the first 5-15 minutes and you'll be doing the best you can.

Last note: It's routinely 40 degrees out right now in my area. My car is taking 8-12 minutes to hit operating temp in this weather. And that's 8-12 minutes of driving.