As a qualified mechanic, I want to advise everyone that idling an engine to (at least above cold temp) IS GOOD for the engine. It is BAD to run an engine when it's cold - At cold temp, the engine components (rings bearings, gudgeon pins, oil seals, gaskets etc - not to mention the oil it's self) are not at their optimal operating temp / size / viscosity etc - as each component warms up, they expand and this create a specific clearance BETWEEN each component (between each moving part) which ,once at full operating temp, reduces wear and tear. Engines are DESOIGNED to run at a specific temp range for optimal reduction of wear and tear and for optimal fuel economy and optimal reduction in pollutants. If the engine is run cold, there is an INCREASE in wear and tear and a DECREASE in engine life and an INCREASE in pollution. And to the point of NOT allowing engines to idle and thus reducing pollution, "stop start" engine systems were introduced to reduce the period of time an engine idles over an entire trip/journey NOT for that ONE time the engine idles at cold start. When this is applied to a volume of traffic it is effective in reducing pollution but it does not apply to an initial warm up period of the engine.
No. Start and when the engine speed stabilises, drive off. (If road conditions permit.) just do not overload it with high engine speeds or heavy loads. Idling an engine for an excessive period (i.e. the time it takes to warm up.) is not good for the engine.
@@michaelmcclain629 this is quite interesting. Since here it goes under -30°C. This is also quite controvercial topic here in Finland. Some (like me) like to idle it for few minutes and then drive off. I usually do that but still will not load the engine too much before it gets to an operational temperature. I think those two choises are both equally good and bad.
@@ivanmaior8637 Yeah imma let my transmission warm up for about 4 to 10 minutes depending on the season. My E23 has made it to 350,000 miles original engine, and trans while doing so.
When its cold in Canada, always let the car warm up a little. Wait for the SAP air pump shutoff and the idle will come down before putting the car in R or D gear. Its better for auto transmission.
Stupid fcking nonsense. Makes sense mechanics ask you to do this lol. Majority of the people don't know that the first 4-5 seconds your top of the engine might not even have oil pressure or lubrication. Driving off straight away would defo do a lot of damage. Trust me, I've owned my previous car for 8 years, car's now 12 years old and never had an issue although before every single drive my car would idle for 1-2 mins.
I always let my engine tick over for at least a few seconds when first starting it. This is to allow the oil pressure to build and the oil to circulate through out the engine. I have never had an issue, when realy cold i will give the engine longer to warm up abit more. This allows the engine to have warm up slower and puts less stress on the head gasket and other gaskets.
I typically wait for the cold start to finish on my N54 335i, before driving off and keep the revs under 2.5k until the engine is warmed up to about 100 degrees C.
Starting a stone cold car and drive straight away is simply not possible about 3 months a year here in the colder areas. -25 outside (and inside the car) and your breath will fog/ice up your windows within 200 meters. If it's not -25, we quite often have freezing rain at -10. That's instant ice on your windows unless you can dump all your heat at it. The defroster does nothing until the coolant temp rises (the fans won't blow any air if set temperature is higher than coolant temp). Sure, a supplemental heater like a Webasto will speed things up a bit, but the 5kW it provides is nowhere enough to stop you from going blind of haze pretty quickly. Using the Webasto as a parking heater helps a bit for the inside temperature, until you start the engine and the coolant flows into the cold engine. Also, even a new AGM battery is having a tough life providing power for the parking heater, electronics, pumps and fans at -25. I think my 460000 km E65 have spent a few weeks just idling because of that stupid winter thing we get every year ;) As for your other tips, I totally agree :)
Yea, i always wanted clarification on this. Its choke (ultra rich fuel mix for petrol cars cold start) and afaik car shouldn't be driven around with choke.
thats fine, thats your cold start. Slightly higher initial revs designed to warm up your cars catalytic converters. Pretty sure the video is talking about letting the car fully warm up (90degree coolant temp and such) before driving off which is a bad idea
Worked for BMW as a Technician for over 8 years in 2006 till 2014 but i have 22 years under my belt, I would never advise anyone specially during the cold to drive your car off straight away!! Warm it up till the rpm has dropped to normal and then drive the car off but reasonably until your car has fully warmed up! If you dont do this u will shred parts in your engine and gearbox compartment! Apart from that thumbs up to the video 👍
Hi, I have a BMW E60 M5 and always like to wait for the cold start to finish, it's roughly 2mins. I was told to let it run through all of its tests before driving off. I've done this for the last 5 years and don't seem to have a problem. Am I doing damage? Thanks
No you are absolutely correct, especially as an M car owner, there are models of high performance cars, supercars and race cars that won’t even let you engage the first gear whether that gear be in a manual or automatic gearbox until the engine has had at least a chance to lubricate the parts with oil!
Waiting for the car to warm up before driving is a good practice. Some newer model will automatically rev up when u start. The point is during when the car is stationary for so many hours or days all the oil from the engine is settled back to the oil sump. So the warming up is to allow the oil pump to serve oil to every part of the engine when u first start so as to prevent wear.
The automatic rev up is so the alternator can geenrate enough power to cover things like auxiliary heater, heated seats etc. It's nothing to do with the engine being readsy to drive.
So let it warm up or not with the automatic transmission n52 128i ? Because the 1st thing you said is not to let your car warm up then you said later let the tranny warm up which would mean the engine would be doing the same?
In the winter i normally let the engine tick over for 5-10 minutes then drive off whilst keeping the revs below 2k (Diesel engine). Once at peak temp its good to go.
Hi Doc, need clarification on two points that appear to contradictory. You said not to allow the car to sit and idle when you start up, to drive right away to protect seals and get oil cycling. Then when you talk about the automatic gearbox you say to wait 5 mins for the fluid to warm up. Since you can't do both, drive right away and wait 5 mins, which is the correct advice? Since I find most of your other videos informative, I wanted to seek clarification before I give it a thumbs up.
A major issue with not warming up your car especially during winter is lubrication. Many tests have been performed with various oils on how fast they flow during the winter. This is the main reason why it is a good idea to warm up your car. It gives time for the oil to do its job and lubricate the parts it needs to lubricate!
Just drive off straight away, even bmw manual tells you too drive off as soon as you start. The oil is going around as soon as the oil light goes out. All that is bollocks from old times, this is why modern oil is 5w40 or even 0w30.
Every TURBO car must work 1:30 min on neutral gear before you go and 1:30 min on neutral gear after you stop! Every turbo engineer recommends that! The Turbo must be in the right conditions!
Letting your engine warm up is absolutely something you should do. Cars run rough when cold because there’s very slight play in the pistons and other engine components, you should always allow the metal to expand to size before driving. It’s very bad to jump in and set off straight away and ends up wearing piston rings because that very slight play in piston movement gives the rings a slight knock against the cylinders
My neighbor never warms up her car, just start and put it in drive and her engine is still fine in over 15 years 🤔 I warm up my car and drive off as soon as the temperature gage moves or sometime let it idle until it’s normal tuning temp and now I have bad valve seals which was just changed in 3 years
It depends on the temperature. If it’s really cold like -20c then of course you should let it warm up for 2-5 mins before you start driving, if you dont have an engine heater. If it’s -5c or warmer then i usually start driving almost right away. But i always no matter if its winter or summer never go past 2500rpm until the coolant is warm. It takes usually atleast 20minutes for my oil temperature to get to operating temperature and then you can rev it. You engine warms up quicker when you actually have a load on it and you are moving rather than idling.
Incorrect, sitting and idling to warm up for extended periods is bad, they are designed to be driven when cold as they warm up quicker than idling. the clearances between rings cylinders bearings etc is all accounted for in engine design and doesnt need to be accounted for while warming the car up
There is some things two mention about your points here, I’ll not comment on all, just a few: the reason some/manycountries don’t want people to stand still while the car is idleing is not because of the oilpressure! It’s because of the pollusion, same with start/stop. The reason they came up with that is exactly the same.
Thing is, if you drive off immediately from cold engine, there's no oil to lubricate the top of the engine so eventually you'll end up with cam wear and also with turbo charged engines it will damage the turbo. I always let it idle for 30 seconds or so. Same on shutdown, if driven straight from high speed, best to let it idle for a minute or so to prevent carbon build up. My car has 247k and I've done most of those miles. A lot of people keep the clutch pedal down at lights in gear or 'ride it' waiting for the lights to go green. Big no no it will wear it out. I always leave it in neutral unless for the briefest of stops. My clutch lasted for 220k on original one and even then it wasn't slipping, it was the DMF that 'went'.
my owner’s manual said after starting the car drive away immediately, don’t sit and idle. I always wondered if I was understanding that right? Someone told me that you should turn off your accessories before you turn your car off. Ac radio
It’s good you said leave the car heat up 5 min before driving.. was shocked you started with “drive right after turning your car on” thing😅 a lot of people don’t also know to let the dashboard clear of lights before turning engine on, very important for fluids to start circulating😊
wait .... you said you need to drive off once you turn the engine on from cold so you dont damage the enigne, then later you said let the car run for 5 min before drive off, let the oil in the gear box go up to tempreture to drive it correctly...... so does that mean we have a chose, ether damage the enigne or damage the gear box, your chose
Great video mate !! Just thought it might also be worth mentioning something you should do before you Stop the car after a journey. That is to let it sit at idle for a minute or two to let the turbo spin down. If you just switch off, the turbo will be spinning at pretty high speed (>20,000 revs) with no lubrication as the engine is off (therefore the oil pump is also off). It can save a lot of bearing wear over the years, and prevent premature failure.
Definitely not two minutes. If the car has been beaten on but not within the last 10 minutes of the journey, drive normally the rest of the way and let the car idle for 20-30 seconds before turning it off to ensure the turbo has been properly cooled off to safe temperatures. If the car has been beaten on within the last 10 minutes of the journey, at least try letting the car coast at higher speeds to cool off the engine bay and a bit of the coolant/oil. Then let the car idle for 40-60 seconds before turning it off - again to ensure the turbo has been cooled off a bit. If the car has been driven normally, just let it idle for about 10-15 seconds to let the turbo reach idle speeds.
completely unnecessary, you only need to let the car sit for 2 to 3 min is if u do a long drive meaning like 2 hours drive and u actually drove does 2 hours at a rev that your turbo was considerable moving but if you where doing a normal driving like from home to work or something like that without rev your car, u can get to your destination and just turn off the car now if u did that same drive but you got to your destination by enjoying the car meaning u rev the car here and there then you should let the car seat in idle for 30 sec than more than enough, thats why they created turbo timer with auto, that people rarely use
All sensible things to check, but most of these checks are once a week checks, not every time you start your car. Literally no one does all this every time they start their car.
If you drive a cold engine right away and don't go easy for a few miles won't the pistons and rings expand at a faster rate than the engine block and cause extra friction?
I was told not to drive the car above 3k rev for several minutes. You’ll feel the car’s tranny warming up. I’ve been doing that for 10 years with no issues.
Hi quick question about starting the car. You mention not to sit idle waiting for the car to warm up but then you mention afterwards about wait for the car to get warmed up so gear box lubricates etc. could you advise which you do? Especially for Every morning when I start my car
My Audi has no dip stick and the engine has to run for at least two minutes before the electronic oil level gauge will work, so if I am going on a journey and want to check the levels I have to let the engine idle (which I know is good practice)
the engine should be warm up in 3-4 minutes before using the vehicle in this case the engine oil allows to lubricate all the bearings like main journal,crankshaft,con-rod,camshaft and rocker arm,and piston. This will prevent wear and tear and the engine will have a life longer. Let’s say if you doing exercise or work out what you do first? You’re warning up right?otherwise you’ll worn out if you running straight away so is the same with the engine…
I have had my bmw 1 series last 4 years and it's 2014 model, i have been servicing my car by myself last 4 years and so far i have not even a single issue (touch wood). I'm ve4y happy with my car and hopefully it won't trouble me for long time
2:40 at least 2003 BMWs have an indicator light on the dash if any of your bulbs are not properly working whether they are being used or not. Awesome feature but yeah means you don’t have to check your bulbs manually.
I will have you know as a proper BMW driver (Swiss) we take indicator lamps very seriously, it is the Anglos that are the culprits of not using indicators!
Starting your car on a cold morning thats been left over night or for 14hr shift at work is ok to run from start up but just take it easy for 5 minutes. meaning dont be blasting it down the motorway or hard driving within first 5 minutes and try to keep under 2k revs letting your engine to get to operating temperature. then hit fun mode.
anything below 50F or 10C and I will let my car warm up before driving, how long depends on how cold it is. not completely either just enough to get some heat coming out of the vents. unless its snowing or ice then its full warm up. name one race team that doesn't warm up the engine before starting a race?? why because it makes the engine last longer. and yes it is bad for the engine to excessively idle but its also bad to run an engine at operating speed while cold as well
One of the best things you can do for your engine, and protect from a "dry" or "cold" start is using an oil additive like Slick 50. I've used it for 20 years. I always use it in the winter time when it is cold. And it does not completely drain like oil into your oil pan, but leaves a film on engine components so you never have a dry start. Plus you'll get 2-3 mpg better mileage so it pays for itself. Slick 50 has 4 times more lubrication than standard oil, and 3 times over full synthetic. However, using 100% pure synthetic oil for any engine is the best way to go. It seems more expensive but actually is not because it down not lose viscosity from heat like full synthetic engine oil (which is a blend of 10%-40% one hundred percent synthetic blended with 90%-60% mineral oil.)
No 1 is difficult…you can de ice your car yourself and if you drive off immediately the front screen and windows will get foggy immediately which is hazardous and not legal To get around this do you rev the engine revenge cold engine is a big no according to you.. So how do we get around this without causing problems to the car
ok so don't stationary the car but drive off is the proper way to warm up the engine/oil. But the gearbox needs '5 min to warm up and drive off' ??' so what is it?
Thank you for all these informations. As I've just passed my driving test, I just bought as my first car an automatic BMW Series 1, 2006, petrol and all your informations are so helpful. Take Care !
Thanks Dr. Using your piece on battery drain I think that I have finally solved my battery drain on my 2005 X5 is, I sat in the car locked myself in and watched my multifunction screen trying to come on multiple times.
About the break light,if you don't have the 3rd break light on the rear screen and you have two break lights and only one breaking light is working then you are liable in any accident even if is not your fault,that's the reason the police will stop you.And remember most of cars these days have a camera recorder
I generally remove the engine and gearbox, strip them down and check all clearances before refitting them and driving off. My wife left me some time ago.
2:25 or you can apply handbreak... it will also trigger the lights to turn on so you can go and check yourself. You don't need another person for this ;-)
Mate I drive a n man as dive lorry and if it’s been sat all weekend you don’t start it and then Rev it.. your gonna do damage! Same as my Beamer I’m away for 2 weeks at a time and when I start it up I don’t Rev it as the engine will be dry..
The way BMW has the start/stop set up is dangerous. I never use it. It you're trying to merge into traffic from a parking lot for example. The car stumbles before it starts. It's another example of poor feature implementation from BMW.
I have the 2010 X5 35D and really love this beast but....currently the "instrument Cluster" does not wake up upon starting the engine. If I disconnect the cable that connects to the cluster it comes alive. Sometimes the time on the cluster is good, sometimes I have to set the time. Once I have the cluster "active" it works perfectly. It's only after shutting the engine off and ten minutes parked that it fails again. If I start the car up within that first ten minutes of shutting it off the cluster will come alive. Battery is good and I'm thinking it may be the JBE.
Thank you Doctor Dean for amazing videos! I recently bought a 07 530i. N52b. Can you please make a video on 2A19 tank valveation error. I’ve seen a lot of people having this error with no good answers to the problem. Thanks in advance!
The idling thing, depends where you live, driving when cold, is terrible for your car, like redrock1963 said. Cars with coil on plug ignition don't take near as long.
My 'anti-trap' electric window indicator has suddenly come on.. I've tried a reset from another video which suggests holding the window button down for 15 seconds but still the 'anti-trap' warning light keeps coming on.. Any insights as to how I rectify this? It's a BMW 1 series.. 54 plate..
Sorry dude, I'm no mechanic its not that I don't trust you, I just don't believe you, the idling when first starting the car, I always waited for 50 to 60 seconds (yes I understand with new fuel injection cars and better technology on oils), I've had cars for 400,000km and I do all my own servicing. My last BMW F10 535i, I traded that in at 230,000km without a single issue and now my G30 520d nearing 150,000km, the only issue my G30 had was the evaporated but it was a common fault. Edit: I sent Toyota and Ford asking them when the public purchase a new vehicle and they are going through the options packages, are indicators only available as an option?
If its like the E60 buddy its on the right outerside of the rev counter just above the redline.... it took me a while to work out where it was on the E60 until a mate pointed it out. I would imagine your E90 will be the same 👍
The best way to check all lights together is to turn on the lights and the emergency flashers they are same bulb as brake and turn signal marker bulbs so one works they all do besides the park lamps
Stupid isn't the word to use. Ignorant is. People can be ignorant without being stupid. Stupid is when you KNOW better and do it anyhow. Ignorant is not knowing in the first place.
100% agree on the tyres, it notice other peoples cars within second if they've got a slightly deflated tyre. I don't know how people don't notice this. I rode motorbike long before I was driving cars (still do btw) and you notice it straight away if there's even 1 or 2 psi low in the front or rear. Another reason you eluded to on why to check is.... Money 😅 If they're too soft or too hard it will wear out your tyres quicker and coat you more money.
Sucks for me because we have to take our breaks at work in our cars and it gets down to 10oF and idk how I'm supposed to take a break in freezing temps without starting my car..
Thank you for your knowledge, from now on I rev bomb my car on cold starts and it seems to warm up way faster than before, also I never knew about my brake lights, I now check my blinker fluid as well❤
We dont seat in our cars waiting to warm up here in Canada, we have a remote starter for that reason. By the time I got to the car it was already warm and I can drive away. 😂👍
My bm (320d 2005 163bhp e90) literally shuts down after about a mile of driving (very dangerous) bm people near me don't have a clue what's going on. Something dodgy going on. That's my diagnosis. Yet if I warm it up for 10 mins this problem doesn't arise. Unless it's just coincidence
Hello BMW Doctor! You said that sitting in a car and trying to warm up by letting it idle is wrong. If I try to drive off immediately after starting I get the "engine fault, reduced power" -notification. That isn't normal, is it? If I let it warm up for 50 seconds the notification won't come up. The car is 523i e60 LCI N53b25. Hope you see this!
Do these apply for 328i? I have a 2013 F-30. When starting my car. ? I always wait like 1-2 mins but now I know I should not be doing these right? 🤷♂️
People are comparing Fords to Bmws. If it was a problem to start the engine and drive off, there would be a gauge to monitor the temperature. Which there isn’t, not all cars are the same. We’re talking about bmws here
The amount of time I spent searching for my dipstick when I first got my BMW...I even asked a friend if I was blind and asked him to check. Fuckin brilliant germans and they decided to have an electronic oil sensor that takes a couple minutes to load.
Bro can I bring my car to you x5 4.8is 55 reg. need your help. No ones knows what there talking about need to bring it to a real expert, bmw dealer trying bump me with trial and error fixing attempts
Ay thank you once again i just got my bmw & nobody tell u any of this specially the indicator red line meter that tells if your car is warm enough to rev that engine..
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As a qualified mechanic, I want to advise everyone that idling an engine to (at least above cold temp) IS GOOD for the engine.
It is BAD to run an engine when it's cold - At cold temp, the engine components (rings bearings, gudgeon pins, oil seals, gaskets etc - not to mention the oil it's self) are not at their optimal operating temp / size / viscosity etc - as each component warms up, they expand and this create a specific clearance BETWEEN each component (between each moving part) which ,once at full operating temp, reduces wear and tear.
Engines are DESOIGNED to run at a specific temp range for optimal reduction of wear and tear and for optimal fuel economy and optimal reduction in pollutants.
If the engine is run cold, there is an INCREASE in wear and tear and a DECREASE in engine life and an INCREASE in pollution.
And to the point of NOT allowing engines to idle and thus reducing pollution, "stop start" engine systems were introduced to reduce the period of time an engine idles over an entire trip/journey NOT for that ONE time the engine idles at cold start. When this is applied to a volume of traffic it is effective in reducing pollution but it does not apply to an initial warm up period of the engine.
No. Start and when the engine speed stabilises, drive off. (If road conditions permit.) just do not overload it with high engine speeds or heavy loads. Idling an engine for an excessive period (i.e. the time it takes to warm up.) is not good for the engine.
So what's your advise for people who live in climates where it gets -20C or colder in the winter? Just don't drive your car?
@@michaelmcclain629 this is quite interesting. Since here it goes under -30°C. This is also quite controvercial topic here in Finland. Some (like me) like to idle it for few minutes and then drive off. I usually do that but still will not load the engine too much before it gets to an operational temperature. I think those two choises are both equally good and bad.
Well said mate 👌
True words. Try riding a two-stroke from stone cold. 😛🇬🇧
well if you rev the sh** out of ur engine right after starting it will do more damage than idle for few seconds.
a few seconds is ideal, for sure. followed by driving off at a moderate engine speed is best. leaving your car to warm up for 10+ minutes is not.
@@ivanmaior8637 Yeah imma let my transmission warm up for about 4 to 10 minutes depending on the season. My E23 has made it to 350,000 miles original engine, and trans while doing so.
When its cold in Canada, always let the car warm up a little. Wait for the SAP air pump shutoff and the idle will come down before putting the car in R or D gear. Its better for auto transmission.
Yeah but did he say rev the sh out of it tho? Kid..
Stupid fcking nonsense. Makes sense mechanics ask you to do this lol. Majority of the people don't know that the first 4-5 seconds your top of the engine might not even have oil pressure or lubrication. Driving off straight away would defo do a lot of damage. Trust me, I've owned my previous car for 8 years, car's now 12 years old and never had an issue although before every single drive my car would idle for 1-2 mins.
I always let my engine tick over for at least a few seconds when first starting it. This is to allow the oil pressure to build and the oil to circulate through out the engine. I have never had an issue, when realy cold i will give the engine longer to warm up abit more. This allows the engine to have warm up slower and puts less stress on the head gasket and other gaskets.
yup I wait until it drops down to around 600 rpms from 1000 when starting. Takes maybe 15-30 secs
@@squash661 i redline my car as soon as i start it
@@squash661 I do the same thing and the engines perfect still 20 years and 113000 miles later
@@L39T good for you. But bad for your car.
@@30isurfer the manual says to drive off immediately to warm it up, not let idle. Not sure about redlining though.
I typically wait for the cold start to finish on my N54 335i, before driving off and keep the revs under 2.5k until the engine is warmed up to about 100 degrees C.
My car as 22 yo i ALWAYS let my car warm up for a minute or two, my engine is like new and running better than new cars.
Starting a stone cold car and drive straight away is simply not possible about 3 months a year here in the colder areas. -25 outside (and inside the car) and your breath will fog/ice up your windows within 200 meters. If it's not -25, we quite often have freezing rain at -10. That's instant ice on your windows unless you can dump all your heat at it. The defroster does nothing until the coolant temp rises (the fans won't blow any air if set temperature is higher than coolant temp). Sure, a supplemental heater like a Webasto will speed things up a bit, but the 5kW it provides is nowhere enough to stop you from going blind of haze pretty quickly. Using the Webasto as a parking heater helps a bit for the inside temperature, until you start the engine and the coolant flows into the cold engine. Also, even a new AGM battery is having a tough life providing power for the parking heater, electronics, pumps and fans at -25. I think my 460000 km E65 have spent a few weeks just idling because of that stupid winter thing we get every year ;) As for your other tips, I totally agree :)
If it’s cold like that, it’s not smart to drive at once. Ofcause it’s important to use quality oil but it have to get a bit tempered.
I let it idle until the rpms go down to idle.. There is a small time period with high idle when you first start up.
Yea, i always wanted clarification on this. Its choke (ultra rich fuel mix for petrol cars cold start) and afaik car shouldn't be driven around with choke.
I do this too. But is it the way to do it or should we go straight away while its still higher rpm?
@@sub23DaRkNeSS Same here, always thought it wasn’t right to drive away straight away
@@sub23DaRkNeSS you should wait for the rpm's to drop. It's only a few seconds anyway.
thats fine, thats your cold start. Slightly higher initial revs designed to warm up your cars catalytic converters. Pretty sure the video is talking about letting the car fully warm up (90degree coolant temp and such) before driving off which is a bad idea
You can tell when your engine is still cold. There is a difference in sound and smoothness when it’s still cold
Great content!
It’s because it’s running on a different map.
And the RPM are way higher.. it doesnt feel like its good for the motor.
I feel like start and go on cold is like getting out the car and immediately start running without stretching....
@@unpopularopinionz lol
Worked for BMW as a Technician for over 8 years in 2006 till 2014 but i have 22 years under my belt, I would never advise anyone specially during the cold to drive your car off straight away!! Warm it up till the rpm has dropped to normal and then drive the car off but reasonably until your car has fully warmed up! If you dont do this u will shred parts in your engine and gearbox compartment! Apart from that thumbs up to the video 👍
Hi, I have a BMW E60 M5 and always like to wait for the cold start to finish, it's roughly 2mins. I was told to let it run through all of its tests before driving off. I've done this for the last 5 years and don't seem to have a problem.
Am I doing damage?
Thanks
You are doing the right thing, keep doing it. 2 minutes means propper oil pressure around the big end bearings, and you need that on your m5
No you are absolutely correct, especially as an M car owner, there are models of high performance cars, supercars and race cars that won’t even let you engage the first gear whether that gear be in a manual or automatic gearbox until the engine has had at least a chance to lubricate the parts with oil!
Waiting for the car to warm up before driving is a good practice. Some newer model will automatically rev up when u start. The point is during when the car is stationary for so many hours or days all the oil from the engine is settled back to the oil sump. So the warming up is to allow the oil pump to serve oil to every part of the engine when u first start so as to prevent wear.
The automatic rev up is so the alternator can geenrate enough power to cover things like auxiliary heater, heated seats etc. It's nothing to do with the engine being readsy to drive.
The transmission needs to warm up on cold days. This should be your priority.
So let it warm up or not with the automatic transmission n52 128i ? Because the 1st thing you said is not to let your car warm up then you said later let the tranny warm up which would mean the engine would be doing the same?
I think it is very important to let cold engine run couple minutes before driving and especially if it has automatic gearbox
In the winter i normally let the engine tick over for 5-10 minutes then drive off whilst keeping the revs below 2k (Diesel engine). Once at peak temp its good to go.
Hi Doc, need clarification on two points that appear to contradictory. You said not to allow the car to sit and idle when you start up, to drive right away to protect seals and get oil cycling. Then when you talk about the automatic gearbox you say to wait 5 mins for the fluid to warm up. Since you can't do both, drive right away and wait 5 mins, which is the correct advice? Since I find most of your other videos informative, I wanted to seek clarification before I give it a thumbs up.
@@mikesw87 and it takes eternity in Winter for oil to warm up, even up to half hour...
Don't forget to get a spare sump plug in case your neighbours don't like you
I run the rpm from 700to 2000 repeatedly for 4 min to warm up so no idle no gearbox running cold
@@J4Z666 or... get spare neighbours.
A car is fine to sit and idle lol unless you have a dodgy thermostat but it would need to be sitting a good 20minutes or more to do damage
A major issue with not warming up your car especially during winter is lubrication. Many tests have been performed with various oils on how fast they flow during the winter. This is the main reason why it is a good idea to warm up your car. It gives time for the oil to do its job and lubricate the parts it needs to lubricate!
Just drive off straight away, even bmw manual tells you too drive off as soon as you start. The oil is going around as soon as the oil light goes out. All that is bollocks from old times, this is why modern oil is 5w40 or even 0w30.
Every TURBO car must work 1:30 min on neutral gear before you go and 1:30 min on neutral gear after you stop! Every turbo engineer recommends that! The Turbo must be in the right conditions!
Letting your engine warm up is absolutely something you should do. Cars run rough when cold because there’s very slight play in the pistons and other engine components, you should always allow the metal to expand to size before driving. It’s very bad to jump in and set off straight away and ends up wearing piston rings because that very slight play in piston movement gives the rings a slight knock against the cylinders
My neighbor never warms up her car, just start and put it in drive and her engine is still fine in over 15 years 🤔 I warm up my car and drive off as soon as the temperature gage moves or sometime let it idle until it’s normal tuning temp and now I have bad valve seals which was just changed in 3 years
It depends on the temperature. If it’s really cold like -20c then of course you should let it warm up for 2-5 mins before you start driving, if you dont have an engine heater. If it’s -5c or warmer then i usually start driving almost right away. But i always no matter if its winter or summer never go past 2500rpm until the coolant is warm. It takes usually atleast 20minutes for my oil temperature to get to operating temperature and then you can rev it.
You engine warms up quicker when you actually have a load on it and you are moving rather than idling.
Incorrect, sitting and idling to warm up for extended periods is bad, they are designed to be driven when cold as they warm up quicker than idling. the clearances between rings cylinders bearings etc is all accounted for in engine design and doesnt need to be accounted for while warming the car up
have to idle here when its -20c to -40 or more as you got ice in the inside and out
There is some things two mention about your points here, I’ll not comment on all, just a few: the reason some/manycountries don’t want people to stand still while the car is idleing is not because of the oilpressure! It’s because of the pollusion, same with start/stop. The reason they came up with that is exactly the same.
Thing is, if you drive off immediately from cold engine, there's no oil to lubricate the top of the engine so eventually you'll end up with cam wear and also with turbo charged engines it will damage the turbo. I always let it idle for 30 seconds or so. Same on shutdown, if driven straight from high speed, best to let it idle for a minute or so to prevent carbon build up.
My car has 247k and I've done most of those miles. A lot of people keep the clutch pedal down at lights in gear or 'ride it' waiting for the lights to go green. Big no no it will wear it out. I always leave it in neutral unless for the briefest of stops. My clutch lasted for 220k on original one and even then it wasn't slipping, it was the DMF that 'went'.
my owner’s manual said after starting the car drive away immediately, don’t sit and idle. I always wondered if I was understanding that right? Someone told me that you should turn off your accessories before you turn your car off. Ac radio
It’s good you said leave the car heat up 5 min before driving.. was shocked you started with “drive right after turning your car on” thing😅 a lot of people don’t also know to let the dashboard clear of lights before turning engine on, very important for fluids to start circulating😊
Lol video obviously made by someone who lives where it doesn't get -20C or colder in the winter.
wait .... you said you need to drive off once you turn the engine on from cold so you dont damage the enigne, then later you said let the car run for 5 min before drive off, let the oil in the gear box go up to tempreture to drive it correctly...... so does that mean we have a chose, ether damage the enigne or damage the gear box, your chose
In one part you said don't let the car warm up. In another you basically said let the car warm up lol
Yes, I notice that and was going to comment...
Who got the time to check all of this before Driving off
Great video mate !! Just thought it might also be worth mentioning something you should do before you Stop the car after a journey. That is to let it sit at idle for a minute or two to let the turbo spin down. If you just switch off, the turbo will be spinning at pretty high speed (>20,000 revs) with no lubrication as the engine is off (therefore the oil pump is also off). It can save a lot of bearing wear over the years, and prevent premature failure.
Thank you for this
Definitely not two minutes.
If the car has been beaten on but not within the last 10 minutes of the journey, drive normally the rest of the way and let the car idle for 20-30 seconds before turning it off to ensure the turbo has been properly cooled off to safe temperatures.
If the car has been beaten on within the last 10 minutes of the journey, at least try letting the car coast at higher speeds to cool off the engine bay and a bit of the coolant/oil. Then let the car idle for 40-60 seconds before turning it off - again to ensure the turbo has been cooled off a bit.
If the car has been driven normally, just let it idle for about 10-15 seconds to let the turbo reach idle speeds.
completely unnecessary, you only need to let the car sit for 2 to 3 min is if u do a long drive meaning like 2 hours drive and u actually drove does 2 hours at a rev that your turbo was considerable moving but if you where doing a normal driving like from home to work or something like that without rev your car, u can get to your destination and just turn off the car now if u did that same drive but you got to your destination by enjoying the car meaning u rev the car here and there then you should let the car seat in idle for 30 sec than more than enough, thats why they created turbo timer with auto, that people rarely use
All sensible things to check, but most of these checks are once a week checks, not every time you start your car. Literally no one does all this every time they start their car.
If you drive a cold engine right away and don't go easy for a few miles won't the pistons and rings expand at a faster rate than the engine block and cause extra friction?
I was told not to drive the car above 3k rev for several minutes. You’ll feel the car’s tranny warming up. I’ve been doing that for 10 years with no issues.
@@m1sawajapan It's best to keep the car under 30mph. That way you are still on your way and the engine warms faster than just idling.
Hi quick question about starting the car. You mention not to sit idle waiting for the car to warm up but then you mention afterwards about wait for the car to get warmed up so gear box lubricates etc. could you advise which you do? Especially for Every morning when I start my car
My Audi has no dip stick and the engine has to run for at least two minutes before the electronic oil level gauge will work, so if I am going on a journey and want to check the levels I have to let the engine idle (which I know is good practice)
the engine should be warm up in 3-4 minutes before using the vehicle in this case the engine oil allows to lubricate all the bearings like main journal,crankshaft,con-rod,camshaft and rocker arm,and piston.
This will prevent wear and tear and the engine will have a life longer.
Let’s say if you doing exercise or work out what you do first?
You’re warning up right?otherwise you’ll worn out if you running straight away so is the same with the engine…
Removing brake lightbulbs is not common at all. I’m sure some do it but I’ve never come across it in 36 years of driving.
I have had my bmw 1 series last 4 years and it's 2014 model, i have been servicing my car by myself last 4 years and so far i have not even a single issue (touch wood). I'm ve4y happy with my car and hopefully it won't trouble me for long time
2:40 at least 2003 BMWs have an indicator light on the dash if any of your bulbs are not properly working whether they are being used or not. Awesome feature but yeah means you don’t have to check your bulbs manually.
Most transmissions don’t get to tell sitting there it’s better to just drive lightly not sitting for 5 minutes
I will have you know as a proper BMW driver (Swiss) we take indicator lamps very seriously, it is the Anglos that are the culprits of not using indicators!
Starting your car on a cold morning thats been left over night or for 14hr shift at work is ok to run from start up but just take it easy for 5 minutes. meaning dont be blasting it down the motorway or hard driving within first 5 minutes and try to keep under 2k revs letting your engine to get to operating temperature. then hit fun mode.
anything below 50F or 10C and I will let my car warm up before driving, how long depends on how cold it is. not completely either just enough to get some heat coming out of the vents. unless its snowing or ice then its full warm up. name one race team that doesn't warm up the engine before starting a race?? why because it makes the engine last longer. and yes it is bad for the engine to excessively idle but its also bad to run an engine at operating speed while cold as well
MAN your car is idling , just saying :)
One of the best things you can do for your engine, and protect from a "dry" or "cold" start is using an oil additive like Slick 50. I've used it for 20 years. I always use it in the winter time when it is cold. And it does not completely drain like oil into your oil pan, but leaves a film on engine components so you never have a dry start. Plus you'll get 2-3 mpg better mileage so it pays for itself. Slick 50 has 4 times more lubrication than standard oil, and 3 times over full synthetic. However, using 100% pure synthetic oil for any engine is the best way to go. It seems more expensive but actually is not because it down not lose viscosity from heat like full synthetic engine oil (which is a blend of 10%-40% one hundred percent synthetic blended with 90%-60% mineral oil.)
Don't start the car and immediately drive off.
At the very least, wait for the cold start to finish, i.e. when the car reaches around 800 rpm.
Good video
But don't call people stupid, stupid.
Are you smart?
Keep it to yourself ,don't share your knowledge, if you want to disrespect them.
Mine electronically checks all lights including brakes. Don’t they all?
The kids around me wouldn't dare let my tyres down, the neighbours cars maybe, mine never.
You would think BMW cars would warn you about these things besides the cold start.
They do
Every morning in the winter I start up my BMW and put the pedal the medal floor it and drive off. It's very good for your car
No 1 is difficult…you can de ice your car yourself and if you drive off immediately the front screen and windows will get foggy immediately which is hazardous and not legal
To get around this do you rev the engine revenge cold engine is a big no according to you..
So how do we get around this without causing problems to the car
Why is the bottom of your front bumper so scratched
I don't just start and go in the morning IL wait til the idle goes down to normal like 20 seconds lol
"If you dont know how to locate your brake fluid reservoir a simple trick is to open your bonnet and check..." Laughed so much.
ok so don't stationary the car but drive off is the proper way to warm up the engine/oil. But the gearbox needs '5 min to warm up and drive off' ??' so what is it?
Thank you for all these informations. As I've just passed my driving test, I just bought as my first car an automatic BMW Series 1, 2006, petrol and all your informations are so helpful. Take Care !
A pothole caused a bubble in a 3 day old tyre, was only a landsail, but still
Thanks Dr. Using your piece on battery drain I think that I have finally solved my battery drain on my 2005 X5 is, I sat in the car locked myself in and watched my multifunction screen trying to come on multiple times.
About the break light,if you don't have the 3rd break light on the rear screen and you have two break lights and only one breaking light is working then you are liable in any accident even if is not your fault,that's the reason the police will stop you.And remember most of cars these days have a camera recorder
I start my engine and wait 30-45 seconds until the revs come down before driving off, is this wrong?
Yeah I do a 36 point check every time I drive me car ! Time I have done the checks the wife gets impatient and books a taxi
I generally remove the engine and gearbox, strip them down and check all clearances before refitting them and driving off. My wife left me some time ago.
Now I feel stupid.
2:25 or you can apply handbreak... it will also trigger the lights to turn on so you can go and check yourself. You don't need another person for this ;-)
I normally let the revs drop that normal takes 30 seconds then leave for work
Scotty Kilmer in disguise? The title is EXACTLY like a Scotty Kilmer video title.
Mate I drive a n man as dive lorry and if it’s been sat all weekend you don’t start it and then Rev it.. your gonna do damage! Same as my Beamer I’m away for 2 weeks at a time and when I start it up I don’t Rev it as the engine will be dry..
The way BMW has the start/stop set up is dangerous. I never use it. It you're trying to merge into traffic from a parking lot for example. The car stumbles before it starts. It's another example of poor feature implementation from BMW.
Informative, I m a Ford focus owner but a huge fan of your work, I start, let my car run for a minute or two and start driving.
Thanks for making me less stupid after watching this video!
I have the 2010 X5 35D and really love this beast but....currently the "instrument Cluster" does not wake up upon starting the engine. If I disconnect the cable that connects to the cluster it comes alive. Sometimes the time on the cluster is good, sometimes I have to set the time. Once I have the cluster "active" it works perfectly. It's only after shutting the engine off and ten minutes parked that it fails again. If I start the car up within that first ten minutes of shutting it off the cluster will come alive. Battery is good and I'm thinking it may be the JBE.
Thank you Doctor Dean for amazing videos! I recently bought a 07 530i. N52b. Can you please make a video on 2A19 tank valveation error. I’ve seen a lot of people having this error with no good answers to the problem. Thanks in advance!
The idling thing, depends where you live, driving when cold, is terrible for your car, like redrock1963 said. Cars with coil on plug ignition don't take near as long.
My 'anti-trap' electric window indicator has suddenly come on.. I've tried a reset from another video which suggests holding the window button down for 15 seconds but still the 'anti-trap' warning light keeps coming on.. Any insights as to how I rectify this? It's a BMW 1 series.. 54 plate..
he says dont let you car warm up then says let it warm up for the gearbox im confused
Sorry dude, I'm no mechanic its not that I don't trust you, I just don't believe you, the idling when first starting the car, I always waited for 50 to 60 seconds (yes I understand with new fuel injection cars and better technology on oils), I've had cars for 400,000km and I do all my own servicing. My last BMW F10 535i, I traded that in at 230,000km without a single issue and now my G30 520d nearing 150,000km, the only issue my G30 had was the evaporated but it was a common fault.
Edit: I sent Toyota and Ford asking them when the public purchase a new vehicle and they are going through the options packages, are indicators only available as an option?
Hi Doc...why Is there no temperature gauge on my E90 320D, why did they decide to not have one any more?
If its like the E60 buddy its on the right outerside of the rev counter just above the redline.... it took me a while to work out where it was on the E60 until a mate pointed it out. I would imagine your E90 will be the same 👍
The best way to check all lights together is to turn on the lights and the emergency flashers they are same bulb as brake and turn signal marker bulbs so one works they all do besides the park lamps
Not in the EU. Brake lights and indicator lights are different. In the USA however they are the same.
Stupid isn't the word to use. Ignorant is. People can be ignorant without being stupid. Stupid is when you KNOW better and do it anyhow. Ignorant is not knowing in the first place.
100% agree on the tyres, it notice other peoples cars within second if they've got a slightly deflated tyre. I don't know how people don't notice this. I rode motorbike long before I was driving cars (still do btw) and you notice it straight away if there's even 1 or 2 psi low in the front or rear.
Another reason you eluded to on why to check is.... Money 😅 If they're too soft or too hard it will wear out your tyres quicker and coat you more money.
I always run a space heater under the hood for 10-20 minutes before starting
Sucks for me because we have to take our breaks at work in our cars and it gets down to 10oF and idk how I'm supposed to take a break in freezing temps without starting my car..
Thank you for your knowledge, from now on I rev bomb my car on cold starts and it seems to warm up way faster than before, also I never knew about my brake lights, I now check my blinker fluid as well❤
been looking at your vids for years ,,,you have saved me monys ,love my bmas ,brillll vids top man
Yea -40 to -70 in the winter. My car going to idle to warm up. RPM runs high while the choke is going.
I wait about 15seconds before driving off, surely that cant do any damage ?
It takes up to 30sec in Winter for oil to circle the system around properly, reach pressure, so no youre doing your car good
I was expecting to hear something that I never heard before. This is basically common sense aimed at brand new drivers.
When I start my car I wait a minute until the revs drop to about 750rpm Then I drive the car but, cruise until operating temp is right.
letting the engine idling for a minimum of 2 min is a good habit on those early mornign to work cold starts
The most important thing to check is your brake lights? What!? Wouldn’t it be engine oil level?
As a bmw tech I would not move a single inch without it warm
How would you define warm?
We dont seat in our cars waiting to warm up here in Canada, we have a remote starter for that reason. By the time I got to the car it was already warm and I can drive away. 😂👍
My bm (320d 2005 163bhp e90) literally shuts down after about a mile of driving (very dangerous) bm people near me don't have a clue what's going on. Something dodgy going on. That's my diagnosis. Yet if I warm it up for 10 mins this problem doesn't arise. Unless it's just coincidence
Hello BMW Doctor! You said that sitting in a car and trying to warm up by letting it idle is wrong. If I try to drive off immediately after starting I get the "engine fault, reduced power" -notification. That isn't normal, is it? If I let it warm up for 50 seconds the notification won't come up. The car is 523i e60 LCI N53b25. Hope you see this!
i thought that once u start the engine u need to wait until the rotation go bellow 1000 rotation per minute. in order to drive away.
Do these apply for 328i? I have a 2013 F-30. When starting my car. ? I always wait like 1-2 mins but now I know I should not be doing these right? 🤷♂️
I have this BMW 116i 2008 i set the time and date but after i stop the car the time and date is off again .
People are comparing Fords to Bmws. If it was a problem to start the engine and drive off, there would be a gauge to monitor the temperature. Which there isn’t, not all cars are the same. We’re talking about bmws here
Don't forget to check your Oil Dipstick before a long Journey!
Navisworker all the e6* M guys will smile at this comment
No dipstick on 535xi drive just the computer telling u ur oil level lmao
The amount of time I spent searching for my dipstick when I first got my BMW...I even asked a friend if I was blind and asked him to check.
Fuckin brilliant germans and they decided to have an electronic oil sensor that takes a couple minutes to load.
Hilarious
Bro can I bring my car to you x5 4.8is 55 reg. need your help. No ones knows what there talking about need to bring it to a real expert, bmw dealer trying bump me with trial and error fixing attempts
So the engine isn't moving when it's at idle.......?
Ay thank you once again i just got my bmw & nobody tell u any of this specially the indicator red line meter that tells if your car is warm enough to rev that engine..