Remote starter
 

Anyone have one installed? If so, what brand? I don't think BMW offers it as an option.

You cannot install them. However, one has been developed for Mercedes with their comfort access and hopefully it will migrate over to the BMW.

According to my local auto stereo dealer (Peabody, MA), an aftermarket unit will be available soon. It's just a matter of time. I'll be trading my '02 as soon as one is out, i need this option with our winter here.

I also would love a remote starter, but one problem I foresee is that if anyone does get an appropriate remote starter installed (assuming one becomes available), BMW will be blaming that install for every warranty problem that comes into the dealer, e.g., dead battery? It's the remote starter you installed.

Lazy service people will sometimes resort to this sleaze tactic, but one need only disconnect it to prove it's not a root cause problem. For my local dealer, it was never an issue.

I don't think the warranty risk is so much a flat battery (and yes, you could disconnect the device to disprove that) but rather the use of the device in cold weather. Owners of remote starters tend to let their vehicles idle unattended to warm up, and that is what is most likely to cause problems with the vehicle down the road. If you want to save your engine, start it and then drive off as soon as the idle speed stabilizes. I have seen remote starters used to allow vehicles to idle for 20-30 minutes, and that is a killer. Not sure about Boston, but it is also an offence now in many jurisdictions that have adopted anti-idling laws.

I've got one on my Ford Explorer, but it is set such that it turns the engine off after 5 or 10 minutes (selected by a switch setting). And actually, I've tested it and the Explorer would have a positive charge to the battery when it was idling with the headlights off.

I liked it on the Explorer, as before I retired, I would drive 3/4 mile to the freeway and then everyone would be driving 75 mph. The extra few minutes of an early start before I went out the door gave it a little more time to warm-up before hitting those 75 mph speeds. While I understand the general instructions to just start the vehicle and drive easy until it warms up, in my case that wasn't really practical. And jumping to a 75 mph cruise two minutes after starting just didn't seem to be a great idea.

My 2 better solutions than screwing with the computers in an X5

1) Heated Garage.
2) Move to Florida.

Or, you could be like smart northern people and get CWP, where the heated seats and steering wheel are hot instantly :thumbup:

I can understand and sympathise with the "I don't have much distance before I hit the highway" since I do this too. Except it's about half a mile/1km from my parking lot to the freeway.......and no way has my car warmed up enough to go 100km/h.

However, BMW does not recommend idling the engine for prolonged periods of time. Even when the outside temp falls below 0°C, I would just idle 30-40s (about the time it takes for idle to stablise, as JCL mentioned) and then drive off. You're not really warming anything up by sitting there because the transmission and other drivetrain fluids aren't warmed by idling.

Plus, the newer BMWs all have electric coolant pumps so warm up is significantly faster than in most other cars. On the highway, just keep a "moderate" speed of about 100km/h and revs under 3k for a short distance before resuming normal speeds.

If you're really interested in seeing your coolant temperature, go into the diagnostic menu of the Board Computer, where it will display the actual coolant temp.

• hold the reset button before inserting the key.
• Once you insert the key, you will see something like 0.__. Keep pushing until 19.__
• It will display Lock On. Code: Your code is the sum of the last 5 VIN #. Keep pushing the reset until you get the sum (for instance, 22)
• This should unlock the diagnostic mode. Push until menu 7.__. Wait a couple seconds and it should show 7.0 which is the coolant temp.

0 C?

We saw that here a couple of days ago. I'm talking 0 degrees F. If 0 C or thereabouts was the lowest temperature, I wouldn't even think about a remote starter.