Letting Engine Warm Up at Start
 

Does anyone else let the engine warm up for a few minutes before driving even when it's warm out? Maybe it's an old school way of thinking but the RPMs on my tach start at about 1,100 and then go down to normal idle RPM after a few minutes so I always wait before driving off.

Waiting until the secondary air is off is sufficient. However, it's not necessary from what I understand

What I've read - as long as you don't high rev it right away, it's fine to drive off within 30 seconds. Don't believe it takes a few minutes for idle revs to go down for me.

Just enough time to have the AC get cold then i drive off.
If im mad, then i just get in and floor it :p

While it may be better for your engine, it has a negative impact on emissions and the environment. Therefore BMW has determined that it is worth trading marginal engine life improvement for you against the environmental benefit for society....

I always wait until the idle drops. Then I drive easy for a few minutes. Everyone forgets that other fluids need to get up to temperature too.


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What does OP mean by "a few minutes"??
My idle drops down after 5-10 secs. If car has been driven up to 3 hrs earlier it still has a lot of heat in it (depending on your climate obviously).

Anyway most of the time I don't even wait for the idle to drop. Just put it in gear and go. I rarely get over 2k rpms anyway with ALL THIS TORQUE!

I always wait until the AC kicks in then away I go :D

It's worse for the engine to let it idle and warm up than to just start driving. Keep the revs under about 4k RPM until the engine hits its operating temp and you'll be fine. If you're driving it, it gets up to temperature quicker than if you just have it sit idling. Also just because your engine is warmer doesn't mean any other driveline components are up to temp.

The "old school" way of thinking is, unfortunately, horribly wrong for modern cars.

Oh do tell.

You can warm up the engine AND still take it a bit easy once driving to allow ATF to come up to temp (recognizing the warm engine will in fact transfer heat to the atf).

But 'horribly wrong'? :stickpoke

(Lots of stuff from BMW and others that focus on the environmental impact, not what is best for the engine itself.)

fair enough I may have engaged in some hyperbole there. But it is still rather unnecessary.

:thumbup:

I read a similar thread about someone's neighbor with a very loud Harley who SWORE he needed to let it warm up a good 15 mins before every ride. Two very different opinions!

We all have that a-hole Harley neighbor. Those are often worse than them ricer kids.

On topic: I do let the engine warm up, especially in winter. Side benefit is warm seats.

I'm willing to wager a few of us ARE that a-hole Harley(or other) neighbor!

Yup!
This thread should be about temp#'s not my neighbor splashes in they pool.
@4 minutes 135*F,@9 minutes 184*F driving 40 mph.Mine won't hit 190 till I'm @55 mph.

The engine is going to warm up whether you do it at idle, or with a moderate load on it

The first has the longest duration warm up cycle, so the most engine wear.

The second has a shorter duration warm up cycle, so less wear.

Drive away, moderately, as soon as the windscreen is defogged, or whatever else takes a few moments. Don't rev it up high until the oil is to temperature, which takes longer than the coolant.

Or don't, and just accept more rapid wear.

What does your owners manual say? All my BMW manuals have always said to start engine, then drive away...not recomending long idle. Examples from my e53 & e38 are shown below.

BMW also designed an engine warmup cycle in conjunction with the no idling recommendation.

Surprised no one had mentioned this yet, but never understood the logic of letting your engine warm up at idle, what about the gearbox and diff?? They will still be cold and you'll only accelerate the wear on those components if you the think the engine is good to rag.

This. I'm not concerned about engine temperature but more throwing the transmission into drive when engine RPMs are still slightly high at start. I grew up in Chicago--I just remember always having to let the cars warm up when cold--maybe I'm scarred for life ha.