Winter Alert! block heater in your X.
 

hey, does anybody know if the E70's come with block heaters? (In Canada, or with the 'cold weather package in the US) It got down close to zero degrees Celsius yesterday and my 07 4.8i would not start the first time, and had to press the ignition button again to get her going. Anyway, the manual does not seem to indicate where the plug is for the block heater. I'd assume that one would definitely need to have one especially in Canada.

with all my X5 i have had, there isnt a block heater. It starts just fine. I live in Calgary and we are in the minus 10 already and my 07 4.8 starts fine. take it to the dealer for checks

none of my previous beemers had block heaters either... don't recall if they offer it as a separate option..... here in NY it gets cold but obviously not as cold as you guys are describing...

quick question on the new X... have you experienced any problem disengaging the park once the vehicle has been parked for a very long time in the freezing cold?? somehow i get the feeling the new electronic/hydralic brake is not as reliable as the old mechanical designs..

should i be concerned???

hmmm... thats interesting. im having no problems with starting my e70 even in the mornings when i head to school. BMW don't seem to have block heaters even as acessories last time i checked. my dads 750 and my sisters 325 have no problems starting up...the only car that have troubles starting in the cold is my mom's 525 buts a 95... she got a block heater installed at a shop and it seems to have no more problems
how cold was it when u couldn't couldnt start it?

well, it did start on the second try but it was not even that cold. it was around 2 or 3 degrees Celsius.

then take it to the dealer. Did you get any warnings?

I suspect BMW must have block heaters available for vehicles they sell to places like Norway and Finland. Ford puts them in the vehicles they sell in Northern States from the factory free of charge.

But I would expect that BMW engines have "freeze plugs" like every other large casting, and that a generic block heater of the appropriate size would fit.

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.

> easiest to do it in a coolant hose or a stick-on heater on the oil pan,

That is the easiest; however, nothing beats a true block heater mounted in a freeze plug for effectiveness.

While you can get a block heater put on a 6 cyl engine, none of the 8 cyl BMW engines have block heaters. I looked into it when I first got my E53 in 2002. Apparently the V8's don't even have the plug in the engine where the block heater is usually installed.

I live in Canada too, and I have never had a problem starting. I have three Bimmers but only a two car garage - so last year the X5 stayed outside even when it went down to -20C.

The V8's have an alternator with higher amps and it certainly helps to kick start the engine. They recommend driving slowly to warm-up the engine rather than letting it idle. I'm surprised your X won't start when it's only 0 degrees out ...gotta' be some other problem...