Do you let your car warm up?

[i_love_cars]

Letting the car idle especially in the cold is horrible - snap already hit on it with carbon buildup. "Warming up" the engine should involve immediately driving it and keeping the rpms in check. This way all components of the car properly heat up. Another way to think about it is ok, so you let your car idle to warm up (which by the way letting an N54/N55 BMW idle to get the oil gauge up to temp will take like 30 minutes), but let's just say you do let it idle to warm up. At that point, you go to drive and everything else important that's mechanical is still cold as fuck like, let's say your CLUTCH. People who warm up their cars like that and then drive like normal are 100% doing long-term damage to their car, reducing the life expectancy of parts. 

High rpms when the engine is cold is indeed a bad idea. Good way to crack a block. I've seen it happen. The internals of an engine are made of metal and alloys, which contract and expand with cold/heat. Also, in a BMW, oil is used as a cooling mechanism which is why so many of them require 7-8 quarts of the stuff. Same concept as what Porsche does. The oil temperature should be at regular levels before putting undue stress on the engine (high rpms) when it cannot cool effectively. 

Bottom line is, I immediately start driving when I start my car and do not go above 3k rpm until the oil temp is good.

[i_love_cars]

why am i the only one who voted Taylor swift. wtf

[Earl]

^You're not alone

[rampelsauce]

I warm my car up when its cold.  Otherwise, any other time of year, I let my car drop idle (30 sec-1 minute, or however much time it takes me to grab what I've forgotten) and then I'm away. 

My auto tranny doesn't like the cold.  He/she hesitates till it's good and warm.  It could probably use a fluid/filter change.

[B C]

3k is also my imaginary cold rev limit, I could set it to physically do that with ms2 though.

And yes, ive noticed that the n54 takes for freaking ever to get the oil up to temperature. i believe the factory tune limits timing and boost until the oil is up to temp

[michael1972]

Ok. Well i warm mine up so its warm inside. And right now the 335 is in storage. I do start it about every two weeks and let the oil come up to temp and cycle through the motor. I can't see letting it lie doormant untill spring being good either.

[ClassE]

I warm up cars when it's 40 or below. I'd be interested to see data on oil viscosity, internal engine wear, and oil seal longevity on a freezing cold engine that's "given a second to warm up" V.S. 4-5 minutes at idle.

I've always wondered why car manufacturers didn't build in "high idle" switches like in firetrucks as part of a "cold weather package"....

[Jdesign]

I voted: not usually unless icicles are forming on my balls.....

But, I was really torn, because when I do let my car warm up, I listen to T-swift to get amped up for the drive.

Snap, you officially made this one of the hardest voting decisions in my life.

[jockhater2]

All the options were HILARIOUS.

My motorcycle has a cold start. Once the cold start is done then I drive it gently for the first 5 minutes before giving her the beans.

The truck. Well diesels don't run well cold. So it idles for 5-10 minutes and I also drive it gently usually takes 15 minutes of driving before I feel comfortable putting the hammer down. Reaching half temp takes being on the freeway for about 15 minutes after it's already gone through the previous mentions.

The BMW. I just give a few minutes and drive it easy until the engine warms up.

Best way to warm up a engine is under light load driving. I really only do the excessive idling in winter. I'm looking to get a remote start for the truck.

[jockhater2]

ClassE said:

I warm up cars when it's 40 or below. I'd be interested to see data on oil viscosity, internal engine wear, and oil seal longevity on a freezing cold engine that's "given a second to warm up" V.S. 4-5 minutes at idle.

I've always wondered why car manufacturers didn't build in "high idle" switches like in firetrucks as part of a "cold weather package"....

my truck has a high idle option on the dash computer. Not sure when GM started it. But mine is a 2005 and has it. but my friends 2003 doesn't have it.

[jockhater2]

i_love_cars said:

Letting the car idle especially in the cold is horrible - snap already hit on it with carbon buildup. "Warming up" the engine should involve immediately driving it and keeping the rpms in check. This way all components of the car properly heat up. Another way to think about it is ok, so you let your car idle to warm up (which by the way letting an N54/N55 BMW idle to get the oil gauge up to temp will take like 30 minutes), but let's just say you do let it idle to warm up. At that point, you go to drive and everything else important that's mechanical is still cold as fuck like, let's say your CLUTCH. People who warm up their cars like that and then drive like normal are 100% doing long-term damage to their car, reducing the life expectancy of parts. 

High rpms when the engine is cold is indeed a bad idea. Good way to crack a block. I've seen it happen. The internals of an engine are made of metal and alloys, which contract and expand with cold/heat. Also, in a BMW, oil is used as a cooling mechanism which is why so many of them require 7-8 quarts of the stuff. Same concept as what Porsche does. The oil temperature should be at regular levels before putting undue stress on the engine (high rpms) when it cannot cool effectively. 

Bottom line is, I immediately start driving when I start my car and do not go above 3k rpm until the oil temp is good. 

If only more people understood this.

[ClassE]

I also work 1/8 mile from the freeway on-ramp... So without a warmup idle, I'm going from frozen to 75mph cruising in about 30 seconds.

[REKIII]

rampelsauce said:

Blah Blah Blah, I add no relevant info

My auto tranny  blah blah blah

Fixed

[Earl]

I'm in the same boat with frozen to highway

[Bobdudeman1988]

nice thing with the n52/54/55..er..basically any new bmw  is the electric water pump/thermostat . it starts blowing heat very quickly because it keeps the pump off or on very low till the coolant warms up.. and even when its cold the factory tune limits boost to somewhere around 5 psi till oil is 120f

i let mine run for like a minute when its super cold. otherwise i start driving

[rampelsauce]

REKIII said:

Fixed

This hurt my heart.

[i_love_cars]

Bobdudeman1988 said:

nice thing with the n52/54/55..er..basically any new bmw  is the electric water pump/thermostat . it starts blowing heat very quickly because it keeps the pump off or on very low till the coolant warms up.. and even when its cold the factory tune limits boost to somewhere around 5 psi till oil is 120f

i let mine run for like a minute when its super cold. otherwise i start driving

"nice" is relative to context - being there is 0 indication that your water pump is about to fail because it's electronic instead of mechanical. So then you get to be like me and one day pull into work only to have your orange water temp light come on and 2 seconds later go red and piss water all over the ground    

ahah...ha....ahhhhhhh fuck my life.

[Bobdudeman1988]

You could always run a bleed cycle and listen to it once on a while, and i hate the cost, but ive had a mechanical pump fail on a 1.8t vw suddenly without a warning, and it cost the entire valve train when it spat the t belt. Can we complain too much..? Lol

[HipMF]

Remeber too that the oil pump speed is propotional to engine speed. Oil doesn't compress, so the flow volume should be roughly proportional to rpm. My gut feeling is that an engine spinning 4000rpm doesn't require 4x the oil flow of one that's spinning 1000rpm. The pump is likely sized to provide barely adaquate flow at idle so that there's not exsessive losses and heat generated at higher rpms.

[HipMF]

fwiw, my owners manual says NOT to let the car warm up by idling it...