2011 X5 35d winter questions

[N52SK]

Hey fellas,

I've got some specific questions that I'd like answered and could not really find searching and asking around. Were considering a 2011 X5 35d with the full load - sport pack, hitch, premium, technology etc. We live in a Canadian climate but garaged most evenings.

1. Wife is a home care nurse so she travels the city giving meds etc. Its about a 15 minute commute to work then 5 minute mini commutes within the community. She will put on over 100km each shift in city conditions and she plans to turn the vehicle off during visits - so 5 minutes of driving followed by 15 minutes of being parked and off. Of course this isn't ideal but but would there be any long term negative effects owning a diesel given this circumstance?

2. Warm up time. Is it noticeably longer warm up time than a gasoline engine? Is my wife always going to be cold when she is working because the engine wont get up to temp and then maintain the temp? If we get the comfort access package i was thinking she could lock the door and let it idle in winter.

3. The odd weekend we are way up north, -30 degree temps and sitting outdoors. Anything to be aware of? Idle the vehicle 1x day for an hr? Should I get an oil pan heater, hard wire in an intelligent charger?

4. Our current E70 3.0 gets about 12L to 13L per 100 blended city/hwy. How much better can we expect? Premium gasoline runs about $0.15/L higher than diesel where Im from. Im wondering if there will be any savings even after higher maintenance costs.

[daytonatrbo]

1) Diesels (typically) don't mind idling. If it were me, I'd use the comfort access to leave the engine running during visits. This will have an impact on your overall economy, but we let our idle quite frequently and it still returns 24+ mpg

2) Diesels are a little more cold blooded and do like a little extra warm up time. Especially when it's very cold. You may notice increased NVH until the engine has reached an acceptable temperature.

3) I would definitely add a pan heater for this situation. There have been a few (anecdotal and unreliable) reports of major engine failures from driving the vehicle with excessively cold oil.


4) We see consumption that roughly equates to 9L/100km, but if you choose to idle the engine throughout the day, that will degrade.

[Lambeau]

My 2011 35d spent much time in far Northern Wisconsin this past winter after being in Florida for the previous 3 years. One morning I woke up at my cabin with the temperature at 31 below zero F (-35C) and it started right up and never had an issue. X5 was sitting outside, NOT in a garage. I add nothing to the fuel but our Wisconsin winter diesel fuel is blended with an anti-gel chemical. There were at least 10 mornings colder than 20 below zero F and I never had an issue. This engine had over 154,000 miles on it then too. Over 170K now.

I wouldn't be concerned with a pan heater. With today's exceptional oils, it's not needed.

[N52SK]

Thanks for the replies!

So during visits while working, if she does choose to turn off vehicle, is it going to be hard on specific diesel engine components turning it off and on all shift vs normal gasoline engine? I've read stuff about DEF fluid tanks freezing and DPF filters clogging due to frequent cold starts.

[robnitro]

It should be fine, I did it a few times in winter with longer stops. 15 minutes is barely enough time to drop much if she had it up to temperature.

An oil pan heater is not needed with 5w and 0w oils. I did hook up a coolant heater but it complained about plausibility of the intake, ambient, and coolant temp sensors.... Duh but the ECU thinks this can't be true that the engine is warm when it has been off for hours. I gave up, but i use it to speed up warm up (2x 12v coolant gps at 20amps each approximately, like my vw tdi had factory)

One key possible issue, the regen for the dpf may be a problem if she doesn't drive it with coolant temp above 75C for more than a while. 35d might need a longer 30 minute drive every other week or so. And make sure the thermostat is working ok... you can access coolant temperature by the hidden menu or using an obd2 app like torque. Stupid bmw without temp gauges!
It should be able to hit at least 75c and stay around 80 or higher when idling. If it's low you get dpf regen issues