Oil temps when its -10 outside

[JohnnyG_TO]

This is the first winter in my 2011 135i so I have no baseline but my car is struggling to reach even 90 degrees on the oil temp gauge. As well, the engine seems barely warm after a nearly 1 hour drive home. I can grab the upper rad hose and hold onto it no problem at all...certainly not what I'd consider hot. Its been cold lately (-10-15 range) but this doesn't seem like it would be normal??

[brocklanders27b]

Mines very similar. From When I've owned it (October till now) I've barely seen the needle move at all. It was odd to me too, but I guess its common.

[MightyMouseTech]

Unless you are driving at highway speeds, it will never completely warm up.

Driving from Ottawa to Montreal, the car will not be warmed up until nearly half way there.

[JohnnyG_TO]

Interesting. Over the course of the Winter, I have noticed times when the climate system (set to Auto) would start blowing colder air...to the point where my feet would get cold. I had chalked it up to the design of the system. But then last week, I was on a 20 minute hwy drive home and at first, the interior started to warm up normally, but then went cold and stayed there...even putting the temp control to max heat just blew cool air and it was "only" -10 outside. On that trip, the oil temp gauge never moved at all. At that point, I started to suspect a bigger issue.

The car is still under warranty for a couple more weeks so I guess I'll take it in and see what they say/find.

[Cavpilot2k]

The car actually has a pretty decent stock cooling system, especially if yours has the oil cooler (my understanding is that some of the earlier non M-sport models did not have a standalone OC).

Even in our (comparatively to yours) warm single-digits, it takes me 10-12 minutes before the needle even moves.

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by JohnnyG_TO

Interesting. Over the course of the Winter, I have noticed times when the climate system (set to Auto) would start blowing colder air...to the point where my feet would get cold. I had chalked it up to the design of the system. But then last week, I was on a 20 minute hwy drive home and at first, the interior started to warm up normally, but then went cold and stayed there...even putting the temp control to max heat just blew cool air and it was "only" -10 outside. On that trip, the oil temp gauge never moved at all. At that point, I started to suspect a bigger issue.

The car is still under warranty for a couple more weeks so I guess I'll take it in and see what they say/find.

Ya, that does not sound right at all.

I get heat quite quickly, and it stays there, regardless of the outside temp.

Drove home from curling last night and it was -25 or so. Car took about 5 mins of driving before I had heat, as expected, luckily our heated seats get warm FAST. Was a 20 min drive home, including highway (120 km/hr) and the oil temp needle never moved.

[binnkim]

Originally Posted by JohnnyG_TO

Interesting. Over the course of the Winter, I have noticed times when the climate system (set to Auto) would start blowing colder air...to the point where my feet would get cold. I had chalked it up to the design of the system. But then last week, I was on a 20 minute hwy drive home and at first, the interior started to warm up normally, but then went cold and stayed there...even putting the temp control to max heat just blew cool air and it was "only" -10 outside. On that trip, the oil temp gauge never moved at all. At that point, I started to suspect a bigger issue.

The car is still under warranty for a couple more weeks so I guess I'll take it in and see what they say/find.

I am not sure for N55 but for N54 that's a very typical symptom of electric water pump/thermostat failure.

[JohnnyG_TO]

Come to think of it, I did have the coolant warning come up ONCE about a week ago. To the dealership I go! 3 weeks left on warranty and assuming there's a problem in the cooling system, I'll push for plugs too since low operating temp can mess them up

[mike.dunn17]

Sounds like your water jump is starting to go.

[WPG D33Z]

If you don't already get an oil pan heater, it will get up to temp much faster. I live in Winnipeg and it does wonders trust me! Plus protects your engine from damage caused by cold starts. They cost around $100 and are easy to install yourself.

[WPG D33Z]

Originally Posted by mike.dunn17

Sounds like your water jump is starting to go.

If it's the pump you will be able to read a code but won't necesarily have lights on the dash. I just replaced the pump in my wife's N52 X3.

[anglocanadian]

I am old enough to remember performance cars having a full set of gauges and you could buy a thing called a radiator blind fron Canadian Tire which was ajusted manually to regulate temperature !
I was actually to cheap to buy one and used a piece of cardboard to blank off half the radiator during winter mounths.
How lucky we are that technology has come so far

[JohnnyG_TO]

We will see what the dealer finds...appt on the 18th. They said they'll do the VANOS recall too, which was a surprise to me as I've received no notification at all, nothing listed on "My BMW" and others were saying the recall would only apply if you had problems. I ain't complaining!