Why does it take so long for my car to cool down?

[azukko]

It takes almost 5 hours for my engine to cool completely off. Is this normal? My friend had an M3 (I know this is a completely different car, but it is an e36) and told me his car only took about an hour to cool off.

[mattr328i]

b.s. on his car taking an hour to cool off from being at operating temp., 5 hours to completely cool off seems right depending on outside temperature. it gets to around 190ºF i think and when the car is off there is no cooling feature and no flowing air.

[azukko]

b.s. on his car taking an hour to cool off from being at operating temp., 5 hours to completely cool off seems right depending on outside temperature.

That's understandable :rolleyes He does have a tendency to exaggerate.

[meen325]

I'll go to sleep after driving at operating temp, then 7/8 hours later i touch the block and it's still warm...i check my engine every day before and after driving just to be safe rather than sorry.

[Ailiaw]

its an i-6 engine...it can get very hot.

[jasondragster]

yup thats true to 6 cyl engines

[Boondoggie]

It's also a BIG engine, mass wise.... that's a big lump of iron to hold the heat...

[JD2710]

if u open the bonnet it will cool much faster, if u really care about its cooling rate...

[Hard Dog]

Don't use the factory water temp gauge as an accurate measurement of "normal". The gauge registers as "normal" long before the engine is really up to its full operating temp and will still read at its "normal" 12 o'clock position after an hour of being off. I recently installed a VDO oil temp gauge and initially thought it was defective because it didn't begin to register a temp until 15 minutes of driving. The factory water temp gauge would read at the normal 12 o'clock position within a mile of driving or so. The factory temp gauge is more of an idiot light disguised as a gauge. I autocross, so I needed a more accurate temperature reading to show me when my car was fully warmed up before I started bumping the rev limiter. The oil temp gauge would read about 200 degrees when fully warmed up. After 4 consecutive autocross runs it would read about 220 degrees. The factory water temp gauge never varied from its normal 12 o'clock position.

[mattr328i]

Don't use the factory water temp gauge as an accurate measurement of "normal". The gauge registers as "normal" long before the engine is really up to its full operating temp and will still read at its "normal" 12 o'clock position after an hour of being off. I recently installed a VDO oil temp gauge and initially thought it was defective because it didn't begin to register a temp until 15 minutes of driving. The factory water temp gauge would read at the normal 12 o'clock position within a mile of driving or so. The factory temp gauge is more of an idiot light disguised as a gauge. I autocross, so I needed a more accurate temperature reading to show me when my car was fully warmed up before I started bumping the rev limiter. The oil temp gauge would read about 200 degrees when fully warmed up. After 4 consecutive autocross runs it would read about 220 degrees. The factory water temp gauge never varied from its normal 12 o'clock position.

good info but the factory temp is not water, its the coolant temp.

[Razza Nuova]

If I'm doing anything to the car I usually open up the hood to let it cool.