Engine temperature

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by NotEntirelyJack

I always wait for the water temp to come up before I get on it in the Z4

That is better than not having a gauge, but you might be interested to know that BMW on the Z4 (and maybe others) "normalized" the temperature gauge. what does this mean? Well, auto manufacturers got tired of idiots bringing their cars in with complaints when they drove in 110 degree weather in stop and go traffic with the air conditioner full-blast and they saw the temperature gauge was showing hotter than "normal." Of course, running a bit hotter under such conditions is quite normal, but lots of idiots thought the dealer's explanation was so much BS and said if it was operating properly, it should always show the same temperature when warmed-up.

So, how did the manufacturers address this dissatisfaction? They "normalized" or "buffered" the gauges. This means that when the temperature is within a range defined by the manufacturer as "normal," the gauge needle is forced to point straight-up, no matter what the actual temperature is. So once your Z4 temperature get warm enough, the needle will quickly go to straight-up. And it will not leave that position if it gets hotter or colder until the temperature goes out of the normal range, and then the needle will quickly move to the red overheating zone.

So these type of temperature gauges are better than idiot lights, but they no longer are really showing the normal fluctuations in coolant temperature.