335 warm up and operating temperature

[540sean]

I just got my 335 coupe and it seems like it takes along time to heat up, between 5-10 minutes of driving before coming up from the lowest point (120F). After about 30 minutes of driving it gets to about 220 and stays.
It almost seems as though the thermostat is stuck open but the heat does get warm quickly, well before the temp gauge moves.
Have others experienced the same? It has been in the 40s here so not that cold.

[mikey]

Maybe the oil temperature does not rise as quickly as the water temperature? I have never had a car with oil temp gauge intead of a water temperature guage before. With 5-50 oil (or whatever it is) the performance of the oil should not be affected by the time it takes to warm up, however, I don't push the engine till it warms up for other reasons.

[540sean]

My bad, I failed to realize that it was an oil temperature gauge. It does make since because oil normally does take longer to heat up.

[raceyBMW]

Newbie here, picking up my 335i coupe in 2 weeks (ordered in November).

As far as the heater working before the car is warmed up, I remember seeing somewhere that the new BMW 3's have an electric pre-heater. So no more waiting until the car is warmed up.

[Mark335i]

I just got my 335 coupe and it seems like it takes along time to heat up, between 5-10 minutes of driving before coming up from the lowest point (120F). After about 30 minutes of driving it gets to about 220 and stays.
It almost seems as though the thermostat is stuck open but the heat does get warm quickly, well before the temp gauge moves.
Have others experienced the same? It has been in the 40s here so not that cold.
This is normal. It also takes a while to heat up 7 quarts of oil. You will also note that it stays warm longer after shutdown than most cars.

[mikey]

Oil floats on water. Oil is lighter (has lower density?). Denser materials exhange heat more quickly and less dense materials act as insulators?

Is it true then, that oil heats slower and looses heat slower than water? Maybe it is the relative volume of oil vs water involved, especially given that the thermostat blocks circulation of water from radiator until needed to cool the engine.

Maybe it has to do with the molecular make up of oil vs water and there is a chemist/engineer on the board that can explain that to us. Water freezes at a higher temperature and boils at a lower temperature than oil. Water must exchange thermal energy more efficiently than oil or we would use something besides water in the cooling system.

[jmonier]

As far as the heater working before the car is warmed up, I remember seeing somewhere that the new BMW 3's have an electric pre-heater.

Not exactly. It has an electric water pump which doesn't run until the coolant is warmed up. Thus warm up is faster.