[LBH23]

So I was in the process of buying an M3. Then I was in the process of buying a 340i. During this process one of the issues I had was my commute, which is all of 2.9 miles; most of which is spent under 40 mph with many stoplights. Total drive can take anywhere from 5 mins to 15 mins. Anyway, one of the reasons I shied away from an M3 (other than too expensive for such a short commute) was that I thought it would be bad for a high performance engine to basically never have the chance to warm up. Yes, I can take longer routes, but most days will be spent trying to just get to and from the office as quickly as possible.

Am I crazy? Are these repeated short drives bad for the B58 powerplant - would they have possibly affected the performance of the M3 engine? Is 2.9 miles enough to get a car up to proper operating temp? Would love to hear the thoughts of those way more educated than myself regarding this issue. Thanks in advance.

[Climb Mode]

Crazy- No

Long enough to warm the engine - No

Bad for the engine- No (the engine is built to run)

NEVER getting your engine up to operating temperature- Bad.

Can you find maybe 1 day per week (or two) to drive the car for longer (20-30 mins)? If so, you have nothing to worry about.

[enjoythemusic]

Too short a drive, not good for any gas/diesel car... besides a Tesla-type.

Agree, take her for a long drive weekly.

[torkles]

plenty of people do the same thing, their cars are fine. just treat it like a cold engine, it means no fun on your daily commute. then, on the weekends, or one or two nights during the week, make sure it gets driven up to operating temp for a while, at least 30 minutes but an hour would be better, and when it's warm, really drive it so it gets hot.

[jeffc83]

Originally Posted by torkles

plenty of people do the same thing, their cars are fine. just treat it like a cold engine, it means no fun on your daily commute. then, on the weekends, or one or two nights during the week, make sure it gets driven up to operating temp for a while, at least 30 minutes but an hour would be better, and when it's warm, really drive it so it gets hot.

Sound advice here....

I "was" in his boat at one point and went with a 328i. I would've "maxed out my budget" for the M3 anyway. Of course now I regret it for obvious reasons yet don't 5 days out of the week while driving to and from the office I just couldn't justify it in my case yet every situation is different.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

The once a week long ride to get the oil up to temperature is 100% correct. Only thing left out is that is not really possible you need to go to frequent oil changes to dump the contaminates that are not getting cooked off in the cold oil.

BTW personal opinion & no offence intended. To me there is no such thing as a car that is too expensive for a short commute. A car might be just plain too expensive period, but I have neighbors running Ferrari's & Lamborghini's on 20 minute runs from here to the hi-tech Research Triangle enterprises.

My daughter makes the run in a 6MT Porsche Carrera 4S. I change her oil every three months if she does not make any long runs in the car or a dealer change is not scheduled.

[LBH23]

Thanks guys, all of the responses make sense. Good to know that I can explain to my wife that my one hour drives into the mountains are a necessity!

[jparnes1]

One thing about the B58 you'll notice is that it comes to full operating temp very fast because of the heat management module. Unlike my N54 which can take 20 minutes. I also have a 5 minute commute and on warmer days at least, I'm at temp when I arrive. Now in the colder months, not so much.

[jeffc83]

Originally Posted by jparnes1

One thing about the B58 you'll notice is that it comes to full operating temp very fast because of the heat management module. Unlike my N54 which can take 20 minutes. I also have a 5 minute commute and on warmer days at least, I'm at temp when I arrive. Now in the colder months, not so much.

Good to know though...

[Beek]

With such a short drive you may also run into issues with the Intelligent Alternator Control never properly charging your battery, particularly if your in a cold climate. Better be ready to hook up a charger now and then.

[insanecoder]

A few drives to the mountains isnt going to make up for the daily wear of a cold engine.. it may burn off any water in your oils about it
Alot of the damage / wear to the engine occurs at cold engine, overheated engine, and high rpms.. just keep the rpms down in your short commute

[Billfitz]

As mentioned when the engine doesn't fully warm up oil contamination can occur. That's why you should change oil not just on the basis of miles but also months. It's more of an issue in winter in cold climates, so if you only do one oil change per year do it in the spring, to get rid of the contaminants that built up over the winter. Insufficient charging of the battery is also more of a cold weather problem, so if you're able to put it on a maintenance charger in winter, especially if it's going to sit for more than a couple of days.

[lens]

Originally Posted by LBH23

So I was in the process of buying an M3. Then I was in the process of buying a 340i. During this process one of the issues I had was my commute, which is all of 2.9 miles; most of which is spent under 40 mph with many stoplights. Total drive can take anywhere from 5 mins to 15 mins. Anyway, one of the reasons I shied away from an M3 (other than too expensive for such a short commute) was that I thought it would be bad for a high performance engine to basically never have the chance to warm up. Yes, I can take longer routes, but most days will be spent trying to just get to and from the office as quickly as possible.

Am I crazy? Are these repeated short drives bad for the B58 powerplant - would they have possibly affected the performance of the M3 engine? Is 2.9 miles enough to get a car up to proper operating temp? Would love to hear the thoughts of those way more educated than myself regarding this issue. Thanks in advance.

Normally you should take the longest route possible and at least have the oil temp gauge go to a quarter of the way and you're good.

If you really can't, you can do much shorter oil changes to make sure you're not having contaminated oil circulate around too much. Depending on the temperature, 2.9 miles may or may not be enough. Let's say it's 30C outside, then I think you'll be okay as it's hot asf and the engine will warm fairly quickly. If it's winter and somewhere near 0 or below, then you're really going to have to drive till it's warmed up. It's worst in the winter as the oil takes much longer to heat up and be thin enough to lubricate everything, thick oil+condensation in the oil is a not a good combination, when it heats up, the condensation leaves as well.

[HighlandPete]

2.9 miles looks like the ideal driving profile for the 330e. Plug it in every night, will never need to run the engine on the daily drive.

[desmat]

I was going to write this.

Originally Posted by Beek

With such a short drive you may also run into issues with the Intelligent Alternator Control never properly charging your battery, particularly if your in a cold climate. Better be ready to hook up a charger now and then.

[eluded]

Electric car. No need to worry about warm up.

[Poon Stick]

My father has an M5, and lives 5-7m from his office, hasn't had a single issue.

Except that with the heated seats, steering wheel, radio, fans, etc he needs to put a battery tender on once a month!