[taylor_green]

I'm sure I'm not the only one that struggles to get my engine warmed up, especially on cold days. I know that the car automatically idles higher during a cold start, but is there any way to adjust this permanently? I'd like to have the cold start and regular idle both about 300-400 RPMs higher. Is this something I can do myself without any coding or is this only accessible through the ECU? Also, forgive me if this is considered a ridiculous idea. I just assume 300-400 RPM isn't enough to cause any harm.

[37b]

Why?

[Dippydo]

Idling at 6-700 is perfectly fine. Not sure why you want it higher.

[S4NoMore]

What exactly are you experiencing?

I've actually been impressed by how quickly the car warms up on very cold days, giving me heat within a matter of 2 miles (maybe 3-5 minutes). Those 2 miles are slow and easy, too, and I make a point to never let the car idle for long when cold - I start it, put my coffee in the cup holder, fasten my seatbelt and drive off, granted I'm babying it.

Are you using the gauge in your cluster to judge whether it's "warmed up"? In case you didn't know, that's the oil temperature, and it will take longer for that needle to move.

[Labeef]

Originally Posted by S4NoMore

What exactly are you experiencing?

I've actually been impressed by how quickly the car warms up on very cold days, giving me heat within a matter of 2 miles (maybe 3-5 minutes). Those 2 miles are slow and easy, too, and I make a point to never let the car idle for long when cold - I start it, put my coffee in the cup holder, fasten my seatbelt and drive off, granted I'm babying it.

Are you using the gauge in your cluster to judge whether it's "warmed up"? In case you didn't know, that's the oil temperature, and it will take longer for that needle to move.

+1

Engine oil temp and water temp are two different things and the dash only displays oil. Oil temp takes longer to build and gets hotter than water/engine temp.

[taylor_green]

Sorry for the late reply. S4NoMore , I just feel like on cold days the engine temp and the oil temperature don't warm up as fast as I'm used to on some other cars. Now I know the 4 cylinder is obviously not putting out as much heat as the V8 I was driving before, but it's also significantly smaller (less engine to heat). I also just like the exhaust note that's made during the higher-RPM cold start. I know that by itself is no reason to change the idle. I would just get an aftermarket exhaust but since I'm already over halfway through my lease I'd rather not get into all that. Thanks for the responses everyone.

[hevykevy420]

My $.02 would be not to pursue this. The cooling system on these newer vehicles is pretty complex, I don't think there is anything to be gained here, and I don't think there is an idle stop screw on the carburetors.

[ilovewagons]

Originally Posted by taylor_green

Sorry for the late reply. S4NoMore , I just feel like on cold days the engine temp and the oil temperature don't warm up as fast as I'm used to on some other cars. Now I know the 4 cylinder is obviously not putting out as much heat as the V8 I was driving before, but it's also significantly smaller (less engine to heat). I also just like the exhaust note that's made during the higher-RPM cold start. I know that by itself is no reason to change the idle. I would just get an aftermarket exhaust but since I'm already over halfway through my lease I'd rather not get into all that. Thanks for the responses everyone.

Your turbo 4 is probably putting out way more heat than your previous V8 (unless it was force fed as well). Forced induction generally makes more heat, which is the bane of forced induction. Fortunately BMW engineered a really efficient cooling system to deal with this head. Unfortunately, it's also why your car has various valves and timing changes doing their thing to get the car up to temp as quickly as possible to maximise reliability and engine life.