Check temperature in cold climates

[Johnny Tijuanas]

Hi all,

I recently bought a 118i 2008 E87 (no iDrive). There is no temperature dial in the dashboard. The thing is that I live in Norway, and its -20C outside as I type. My previous 316i had a temp dial and it was easy to see when the temp was high enough to start driving after warming up for a some minutes. Is there a way to know when the engine (or oil) has reach enough temp in the 118i?.

Thanks in advance

[AmazingJr]

You don't need to let it warm up. Just drive it and it will warm up much faster. Be gentle if you feel the need to.

2010 Alpine White BMW 135i M Sport 6MT w/ Performance Exhaust/JB4

[ChristopherG]

We just had -15 F this last week here in Michigan. No issues at all with driving right away just keep the rpm under 3,000 or so for the first few miles. The oil should be up to temp after about 10 minutes or so.

[Johnny Tijuanas]

Thanks guys! I will certainly keep it in mind. I guess I was just nervous for not seeing any temp readings in this weather conditions. But, with good synthetic oil and prudent driving during the first km, it should be OK. By the way, this weekend I was putting seat covers and the trunk was open during that time (< 20 min). The damn thing froze whilst open! and it didn't lock after that. It did close, just wouldn't lock. So don't leave your trunk open for too long in freezing temps.

[AmazingJr]

Im in Canada, but i park in an underground parking generally, except while im at work. Usually dont have any issues. Maybe some melted ice got into your mechanisms.

2010 Alpine White BMW 135i M Sport 6MT w/ Performance Exhaust/JB4

[MasTech]

Don't need to warm up, but do need to give at least a minute for the oil to lubricate certain parts of the engine.

[evilsaint]

Same issue here in Chicago with the extreme temps that we've had recently (between 6 and -6f, bit lower at times), but you can sort of feel once the engine gets warmed up, even if it isn't completely up to operating temperature. But yeah, echoing the thoughts of everyone else ITT, and having come from a supercharged car with the same sort of temp "issues", basically just don't go WOT for a few minutes of normal driving and you should be set.

[ZIPNBYE]

You have a few option:

Get an oil pan heater and plug it in overnight to warm the oil.

Get a P3 vent gauge, and one of the many readouts is water temp, or get any type of scan-gauge that will plug into your OBD-II port with a water temp readout.

Get the BMW steering wheel that includes the digital readout gauge at the 12-o'clock position; one readout is water temp.