slow to normal temp?

[btheo]

Hey guys, just as the title states, I'm not sure if it's just me being worried or if my M takes it's slow time to reach "normal" temp. On cold days it take 20 min or longer (35-40 degrees) on warmer days (60-70) it may take 10 or 15 min. It's possible that im being overly cautious after reading multiple temp issues for our cars, is this something that should be alarming (open thermo)? Also, on average when do your cars reach the normal/mid mark temp?

[dano670]

I should take less than 5 minutes. It might hurt you gas mileage until your car warms up. I would just replace the thermostat. But make sure to bleed the system after you change it.

[chandlerseattle]

Probably a bad thermostat. Thankfully when these go bad they tend to fail in the stuck open position.

[RatedM3]

Based on the stock water temp gauge, my car will take about 10 minutes of idling until it gets to the "normal" mark. However, with aftermarket gauges for coolant temp in the head and oil temp, 20 minutes of idling is about right before the motor actually fully warms up (w/oil temp on the low side but enough to bring pressure down).

With a brief idle warm up and immediately driving, times reduce by about half.

[Eric98Sedan]

Bad tstat - just replaced mine and problem solved. Car should be fully warm within minutes of driving, even on a cold morning.

[das borgen]

have you replaced your engine bay firewall?

[scoobiedoo2029]

Bad tstat - just replaced mine and problem solved. Car should be fully warm within minutes of driving, even on a cold morning.


i thought my car was slow to warm up n the winter so i did a tstat, didnt change anything. what did however is not driving like grandma when its freezing out. i used to shift at like 2k and put around at like 20mph for a few min because i was freezing and didnt want to move. shifting at 3k and moving a bit quicker heats the car up about twice as fast.


running thick oil might slow down warm up too, dunno but its a thought. i remember starting my e28 with 20w50 in it in sub zero temps, it was like starting a diesel. changing that oil out took forever to drain out too.

[Level8drummer]

I'd replace the thermostat.

Level8Drummer