[decaf]

does it make any real difference if I warm up my BMW before driving in the morning?

[maticCRO]

Originally Posted by decaf

does it make any real difference if I warm up my BMW before driving in the morning?

Im no engineer so i wont pretend like i know the definitive answer to this, but every time i start the car, every time, i let it idle Until RPMs drop, then drive normally (slowly lets say) for the first 5min or 3-5km,and only when Oil temp gets to ideal, will i consider switching into M1 settings, going over 3000rpm and so on

[maximiliard]

don’t need long idle warm-ups — start the car, wait a few seconds, then drive gently.
The important part is keeping RPM and throttle low until the oil reaches operating temperature, especially on turbo engines.

[maticCRO]

My friend is a mechanical engineer who was excelent on his university,especially in fluid dynamics and thermodynamics, was on Formula student team Croatia, now works 6y for BMW Munchen and has his own smaller team, once told me:
"Never turn off the car that has a TURBOCHAGER Immediately after you have been driving it hard(high rpms, launches and spirited driving) ALWAYS let it cool down for 3-5min and your turbocharher will be forever gratefull
I listen to his advice everytime i drive my cars faster

[Mech Spec]

Originally Posted by maticCRO

My friend is a mechanical engineer who was excelent on his university,especially in fluid dynamics and thermodynamics, was on Formula student team Croatia, now works 6y for BMW Munchen and has his own smaller team, once told me:
"Never turn off the car that has a TURBOCHAGER Immediately after you have been driving it hard(high rpms, launches and spirited driving) ALWAYS let it cool down for 3-5min and your turbocharher will be forever gratefull
I listen to his advice everytime i drive my cars faster

Well, your friend is dead wrong, despite their credentials.

The car has an automated cooling program for the turbo(s) and runs the cooling loop and the radiator fan until the turbocharger has sufficiently cooled after the car is off, no matter how hot you got it.

[Turbanator]

Let your car warm up until the idle RPM drops, and not much longer. It is much healthier for your engine to warm up under load (as in, driving) as opposed to just sitting there for a few minutes like many people do in the winter. It will also heat the cabin up faster anyway if you're using the cabin air heating.

[jefe2000]

The owner’s manual for my M2 (see attached image) recommends to drive off right away, not wait while the engine idles. Notably, I think this recommendation is a nod toward fuel efficiency. Even so, I think BMW wouldn’t recommend it if it were going to damage the engine.

For me, by the time I’ve backed out of the garage and off the driveway (it takes 30 seconds or so), the engine has naturally had time to drop from initial cold start RPMs and settle. So I just drive off and keep the RPMs under 3,000 until the oil is up to running temperature.

[DanG]

Originally Posted by jefe2000

The owner’s manual for my M2 (see attached image) recommends to drive off right away, not wait while the engine idles. Notably, I think this recommendation is a nod toward fuel efficiency. Even so, I think BMW wouldn’t recommend it if it were going to damage the engine.

For me, by the time I’ve backed out of the garage and off the driveway (it takes 30 seconds or so), the engine has naturally had time to drop from initial cold start RPMs and settle. So I just drive off and keep the RPMs under 3,000 until the oil is up to running temperature.

That is the way I have always treated my BMWs.

[Tejas1836]

Originally Posted by maticCRO

My friend is a mechanical engineer who was excelent on his university,especially in fluid dynamics and thermodynamics, was on Formula student team Croatia, now works 6y for BMW Munchen and has his own smaller team, once told me:
"Never turn off the car that has a TURBOCHAGER Immediately after you have been driving it hard(high rpms, launches and spirited driving) ALWAYS let it cool down for 3-5min and your turbocharher will be forever gratefull
I listen to his advice everytime i drive my cars faster

Originally Posted by Mech Spec

Well, your friend is dead wrong, despite their credentials.

The car has an automated cooling program for the turbo(s) and runs the cooling loop and the radiator fan until the turbocharger has sufficiently cooled after the car is off, no matter how hot you got it.

Actually his friend is absolutely correct.
Engine off water cooled correct, oil pressure zero.
Turbos be fast coming down from full boost, even loafing home maybe 50,000 rpm. Do you want your turbos spinning that fast without oil pressure?
Water cooling is there to prevent oil coking.

[Toad]

Originally Posted by Tejas1836

Actually his friend is absolutely correct.

No, this is an old meme from 90's and 00's JDM cars, where you would get that turbo timer thing installed to mitigate this issue. It's outdated and no longer necessary.

[Mech Spec]

Originally Posted by Tejas1836

Actually his friend is absolutely correct.
Engine off water cooled correct, oil pressure zero.
Turbos be fast coming down from full boost, even loafing home maybe 50,000 rpm. Do you want your turbos spinning that fast without oil pressure?
Water cooling is there to prevent oil coking.

You are not correct for any modern BMW, dare I say any modern turbocharged vehicle period.

[pbonsalb]

Originally Posted by Tejas1836

Actually his friend is absolutely correct.
Engine off water cooled correct, oil pressure zero.
Turbos be fast coming down from full boost, even loafing home maybe 50,000 rpm. Do you want your turbos spinning that fast without oil pressure?
Water cooling is there to prevent oil coking.

Old school thinking. My M5 circulates water after shutdown. No, the turbos are not spinning at 50k while idling before turning the engine off. Nothing to worry about. I drive off without a formal warmup and shut down without a formal cool down. Have been driving turbo cars for almost 40 years and times have changed. All mine are modified. Have not had a turbo failure yet.

[MG20i]

I let the auto-start conditioning warm the engine on workdays. Usually by the time I get in the car the oil temp indicator is just registering white, or if it is still blue, it is at least not at the bottom of the range. I personally do this because my morning commute is less than 5 mins.

If I drove away after only 30 seconds of warm up, it will never get up to operating temp before I shut it off again. I feel that would be horrible for wear over time.

[pbonsalb]

Short distance driving is different. The warm up may help get the engine closer to operating temperature. Coolant may well be there, but these days gauges are buffered so the typical uninformed driver does not worry about fluctuations. You should plug in a scan tool to see what temperature the oil actually reaches. For example, the buffer might make 160F to 260F all read a steady 230F. Probably someone here has tested and knows the range.

I would take the car on a 20 minute drive once a week if the commute is only 5 minutes. The oil needs to be above 212F to burn off water and fuel contaminants and it might take 5 minutes or longer at that temperature to burn off.

Most of my driving is secondary road and highway with very little short distance or city traffic driving so I do not have to worry as much. What I am good about is driving the car gently until the engine has warmed up. It takes me 5 to 8 minutes to get to the highway and even then, you can cruise at 75-80 using less than 2000 rpm so there is no need to work the engine hard before it is hot.

[Portimao Blue M440ix]

Originally Posted by MG20i

I let the auto-start conditioning warm the engine on workdays. Usually by the time I get in the car the oil temp indicator is just registering white, or if it is still blue, it is at least not at the bottom of the range. I personally do this because my morning commute is less than 5 mins.

If I drove away after only 30 seconds of warm up, it will never get up to operating temp before I shut it off again. I feel that would be horrible for wear over time.

On Saturdays when I go to the grocery store its only a few minutes away I just go for a drive around the block or two until the oil comes to operating temperature. The oil warms up surprisingly fast when you drive it.

[MJBO]

Originally Posted by Tejas1836

Actually his friend is absolutely correct.
Engine off water cooled correct, oil pressure zero.
Turbos be fast coming down from full boost, even loafing home maybe 50,000 rpm. Do you want your turbos spinning that fast without oil pressure?
Water cooling is there to prevent oil coking.

You’re talking nonsense.

[Tejas1836]

Ok to all the gentlemen who replied above, you do you, ymmv.

[tracer bullet]

You guys can all be right - it's a good idea to let things cool off, AND depending on your car, it might be done for you.

Sheesh. Can't we all get along?

[JABCAT]

Originally Posted by jefe2000

The owner’s manual for my M2 (see attached image) recommends to drive off right away, not wait while the engine idles. Notably, I think this recommendation is a nod toward fuel efficiency. Even so, I think BMW wouldn’t recommend it if it were going to damage the engine.

For me, by the time I’ve backed out of the garage and off the driveway (it takes 30 seconds or so), the engine has naturally had time to drop from initial cold start RPMs and settle. So I just drive off and keep the RPMs under 3,000 until the oil is up to running temperature.

You read the owner's manual What is wrong with you. Don't you know the only correct info is from my best friend's cousin's dog's groomer who once knew a woman who dated a guy who had a brother that talked to a guy in line at the grocery store that once looked at a BMW while driving by a used car dealership on a Tuesday.

[baron95]

The most important thing is to make sure the engine has reached full normal temperature for several minutes at THE END of the trip. If I need to drive a mile to the gym or the store, I will remote start the car, and or drive longer/harder as needed to make sure oil has full temp for a while before shut down.

Most people worry about the beginning of the trip (when should I start driving, etc?). The focus should be at the end (has the car run enough at temp before shutdown?).



P.S. I can't believe people are still repeating the old wives' tale about idling the car to let the turbos cool before shutdown. Are they deaf? Don't they hear the fan and pump going after shutdown on modern cars? My M2 does it plenty loud. My Jeep does it plenty loud.

[Redd]

Here's proof that you should warm up your car.

Top pic are my rod bearings at 90k kms shortly after I purchased it. The car was in generally rough shape and it was obvious the PO had not taken care of it.

Bottom pic are my rod bearings when they were replaced earlier this May 2026 after 80k kms / 10.years of use. The main difference - I always warmed up 1 min from cold start, at least 15-20 seconds from warm start, and I maintained below 3k rpms until oil temps reached 85C.

So yes, warm up your cars.

[MJBO]

Originally Posted by Redd

Here's proof that you should warm up your car.

Top pic are my rod bearings at 90k kms shortly after I purchased it. The car was in generally rough shape and it was obvious the PO had not taken care of it.

Bottom pic are my rod bearings when they were replaced earlier this May 2026 after 80k kms / 10.years of use. The main difference - I always warmed up 1 min from cold start, at least 15-20 seconds from warm start, and I maintained below 3k rpms until oil temps reached 85C.

So yes, warm up your cars.

Everything in both photos looks shagged.