Winter Alert! block heater in your X.

[Penguin]

> Apparently the V8's don't even have the plug in the engine where the block heater is usually installed.

Interesting. Those "plugs" are typically referred to as "Freeze Plugs," but in reality are simply holes that are necessary as part of the casting process. BMW must use some new and novel casting technology for their V-8 blocks.

[vinuneuro]

Check the battery.

[y5choi]

how do you check the battery again? idrive right? well it did crank but it just didn't go the first try as if it wasn't getting the fuel in. but she's going fine now if it happens again, i'll definitely take her in. thanks!

[jlforlife]

yes the iDrive will give you all info.

[X5 Meister]

Came across this recently on another board. It was bought from a BMW dealer in Canada this January and installed on a E46 3 series.

Originally Posted by JCL

BMW doesn't sell or recommend block heaters. The last one they show in a parts catalogue is for 2.4 litre diesel from decades back, IIRC.

This has been discussed quite a few times, so a search will show all the relevant posts. In essence, you can put a heater in yourself, easiest to do it in a coolant hose or a stick-on heater on the oil pan, but they aren't required. If you have trouble starting consider a battery blanket, at least that will give you enough power to spin it over quickly, and with appropriate engine oil it will be fine.

Good luck.

[JCL]

When I think of block heaters, I think of block heaters that are immersion heats mounted in a core plug, heating the coolant. A bolt-on heating element like this isn't very efficient. That one shown even has a large surface area so it will end up heating the air under the hood. Wonder who is making it for them, as it is likely to be much cheaper from the OEM source, instead of from BMW Canada. There are better alternatives.

[X5 Meister]

Don't know how effective, but that is what BMW Canada is selling and evidently making. They call it an engine block heater. The flat side faces the road and the side with all the bumps fits in properly to the block. I've heard that it works pretty good and has an output of something like 300 watts.

[y5choi]

my 4.8 starts up just fine with 94 octane gas, maybe I won't need it. But then again, it only reaches -20 around my neck of the woods, back home in Alberta, oh man -40...(thats Celsius)

[alewifebp]

0 degrees C is hardly cold, and that certainly isn't what I would consider the kind of temperature to necessitate a block heater. We had some -15 degrees C temps not too long ago here in NJ and it started up quickly.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by mgruber

Don't know how effective, but that is what BMW Canada is selling and evidently making. They call it an engine block heater. The flat side faces the road and the side with all the bumps fits in properly to the block. I've heard that it works pretty good and has an output of something like 300 watts.

I looked up the E46Fanatics forum, where the picture was posted originally. There are other articles about it as well. I was interested to see that many posters were interested in installing the block heater because of concern over the crankcase ventilation valve. I do think a block heater helps with cold starts (accelerated engine wear) but I don't see how it can impact the crankcase ventilation valve issues.

I haven't installed a block or oil pan heater because I have never been below -30C with my recent BMWs, and so haven't found it necessary. I do know that my last block heaters (Ford Expedition, Ford Explorer, Volvo) were all in the 1000-1500 watt range. This BMW CA part is reportedly $140, which is two to three times the price of an oil pan pad heater, which would warm the oil directly and thus provide more benefit.

Just my $0.02