[tl9015]

With my new car, should I warm up the car before I drive it? If so, for how long?

[Ray]

You must be kidding me...

[ejazbmw]

at least for 20mins....:sla p:

[thealbert]

Depends, if you live in an area with below freezing temps, then it might be good to warm up your car before driving it around. Just to make sure all the fluids are flowing properly to and from the engine. But if you don't live in a below freezing location, just start up your car and drive. Just stay before I'd say around 4.5k RPM for a first few mins before redlining the car to make sure your engine's fully wamred up before you start driving it hard.

[eleven11]

Originally Posted by Ray

You must be kidding me...

[yemski]

if its a cold start i.e its been sitting all night, wait for the rpms to stabilize @ idle RPM, otherwise it is not necessary...excessive idling = increased wear and tear and a waste of gas

wait for oil temps to raise a little before pushing the car as the oil will not be as viscous when cold

[btinl]

I think it's important to warm up the turbos a bit (assuming you have a 335)

[myfirstbimmer]

no, you are not supposed to warm up the car, even in cold winter time, just start and go, and stay below 3000rpm until the car is at normal operating temp....but thats e46 era. For e90s, since no temp guage, about 15mins will do it....

[technik111]

it's not a ferrari man

[drwtsn32]

If the engine doesn't die when you try to drive off, it doesn't need to be warmed up.

[nhhiep]

Read the manual, it clearly states not to warm up the car. Just start and go. But I usually wait for around 1-3 mins for the RPM to idle.

[tl9015]

Mine is the 328i and I am keeping it under 3.5k rpm until I get to 2000kms on odo.

[AndrewAZ]

Does it have warm up lights? Nope.. Then you can redline it off a cold start just fine.

But BMW recommends you keep it below 4-5k RPM for about 10 miles of driving time, never let a car sit and warm up even with high performance cars they always tell you start them up and drive them around to warm them up.

[NaTuReB0Y]

Warming up your car is one of the tips for you NOT to do to save $$$ on your gasoline bill.

[JmanE55]

Originally Posted by tl9015

With my new car, should I warm up the car before I drive it? If so, for how long?

You should sit there for 30 min and warm her up.

[bartman32]

Manual in both the e46 and e90 clearly states NOT to warm it up. Start and go.

[OC Guy]

The engine warms up better under load. The owner's manual even says, drive the car, don't let it idle to warm up. Idling is one of the worst things you can do to an engine for a lot of reasons. Just drive, but don't beat on it until its been running for about 10 minutes - the coolant may be up to temp, but the oil isn't, and the oil will bypass the filter if it's too thick and rpm is too high (over 3k or so). While it isn't instant death for unfiltered oil to go through the engine, it's not exactly the best thing in the world for a plain bearing engine either.

[achien]

One way to tell for sure is watch the idle RPM. If it is at 700 RPM or below during idle, the engine is warm enough to be "pushed".

[DM1]

I think it's just best to wait until it idles, it takes like 40 seconds and you also help to the car so it lubricates better, the oil flows just like blood in your body, it's like waking up and instantly take a run, IMO it's best to wake up and sit for 15 seconds in the bed so all your organs move to the correct position and then stand up and do whatever,... same thing with the car, just give it a moment to wake up, after that, any other start just go......my $0.02

[nusevad]

Originally Posted by ejazbmw

at least for 20mins....:sla p:

Just warm it up for like a minute in the winter then start off slow..you want the engine and tranny to get some movement to create some heat.

As for summer just start driving.

[fizzle]

as long as it takes me to put my seatbelt on in the summer; in the winter i wait for the rpms to stabilize usually around 3 min.

[LEDZEP]

You have already done the most damage by starting it. Just drive. I wouldn't hit high revs until full operating temp.... but no need for a warm up period.