Heating Oil
 

There is a lot of discussion here on multiple threads about bringing oil up to temp. I've learned a lot about oil in general from just reading on this forum over the last couple months. From my understanding, motor oil needs to be brought up to temp to "boil off" accumulated moisture. From my understanding, moisture can only accumulate when the engine is cool (or cooling down). I would also say that we all pretty much agree that short distant trips are not the best thing for your engine because of this.

So this is somewhat of an example of my X. My daily is a silverado and my X stays home with the wife who does not work, but keeps a busy schedule raising our three kids. It's used for library, park, and grocery store, all with in a few miles from the house. She might take it out say 3-4 times a week. The weekend comes and I wash and check it out. We usually take a "Sunday Drive" and I might put a 100 miles or so on it. Some weekends I don't. I also drive it to work twice a month or so (25 miles RT).

So this is my question and I would like views from all sides; Is it ok to fully warm the entire engine once a week? If not why? If yes then why?

From my point of view I would be on the yes side and this is why. Any time we see dew in morning that is a form of accumulated moisture. If your car is parked in this environment, then I would believe there is some sort moisture being acquired. Or is the engine only accumulating moisture on a cool down? If it did acumulate any moisture (which I believe every engine does at some point) during the short trips, would it not be back to normal after the long drive on the weekends?

Thanks guys. This is an awesome forum and I love my E53!!!

I vote for once a week, or regularly, drive it long enough to fully warm/hot it up...

While fully warm/hot, every time one drives is an admirable goal, in real world of short hops, errands, short trips, it is elusive, imo.

I think you are doing the right thing/best you can in real world use circumstances.

Fwiw, our '01 3.0, with ~94k miles, is driven to not nearly hot with some frequency, and also driven to full hot a few times a month, and then also driven on hard driving all day road trips a couple three times a year.

With that kind of use/abuse on our '01, it still runs better than my Rolex...all anecdotal, but aside from the theory and the term papers on Bob The Oil Guy site, I feel you are doing the right/best you can.
GL, mD

Yes, it doesn't have to be once a week, once a month would do as long as you drive over say 25 miles and put the pedal to the metal a couple of times. Not getting an engine up to operating temp on a regular basis can not only cause harmful condensation it can also build up carbon deposits in the engine. I would add a bottle of Techron to a full tank a couple of times a year and check the oil on a regular basis just to watch for any milky brown color.

Old rule of thumb: Oil takes 20 minutes to reach operating temperature, and drive it for another 20 minutes to boil off moisture and diluted fuel.

2002 X5 3.0 245,700 miles
2004 325i 109,000 miles

Frequently oil changes instead of the 15,000 BMW oil change will also remove much of the condensation that occurs in the engine due to short drive. Also the climate in which you drive your X has a lot to do as to what additional problems that can occur. If you live in a temperate climate such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco you will not experience CCV freezing up. I don't do a lot of short distance driving even though my daughter would like for me to drive her the 4 blocks to school when the weather is nasty outside.

It is important to remember that you don't just have to get it to operating temp (20 minutes or so) but then you have to operate it there while the moisture is boiled off.

My own rule of thumb is 1 hour once per week, 20 minutes to heat up and 40 minutes operating at temp. That isn't science, it is just my swag.

Not everybody has a schedule or use pattern that supports this goal. Fair enough. If you see condensate paste forming under the oil filler cap, drive it more or change the oil more frequently.

It doesn't have to be very cold out to get condensation. Moisture comes from the temperature change as much as from the cold, from the thermal cycling. In Vancouver, same climate as Seattle, I got condensate paste building up on a 318 with commuting 60 km/40 miles per day. That engine didn't produce much waste heat. The X5, on the same commute, didn't form the paste.

Finally, the CCV freezing up is an extreme result of too much moisture, followed by a very cold ambient. Even if you live in a moderate climate, which means the CCV won't freeze, the short trips and moisture buildup is bad for the engine. The damage just shows up as accelerated wear, not as a frozen CCV.

Awesome responses here, thanks!

Ya thanks for all the input guys!

Looks like all will be well. I was a little concerned with our habbits, but not anymore.