I start the car after i have breakfast and turn the heater on full blast. Then i brush my teeth and hair. By the time i'm done the car is warm and toasty and i drive off. These 42 degree mornings are brutal☻

 

For me it depends. On most cold mornings, in the garage its 45 or so, I simply let the idle settle 5-10 seconds, back out of the grage, wait another 10 seconds for the door to go down, and drive off. I have 1/2 mile of neighborhood but still keep revs under 3500 pulling out of the neighborhood. If the car sits outside and its well below freezing, I'll give the car maybe 1 minute or so to warm up, usually the time to just start clearing the windows.
Since the LCI models have no temp guage or tach indicator, I can only guess when its fully warm but from the previous BMWs its usually 5 minutes from the house.

 

You're assuming the LCI heating technology is the same as pre-LCI. I dont know if this is true... Given that theyve done away with the rotating teacho indicator, one wonders if theyve canged heating design/elements on the LCI vehicles....

 

I start the engine and let the rpms come down to about 650-700. When it is extra-ordinarily cold, I give it a few extra minutes before I get moving. Always, drive lightly - no revving over 2500-3000 rpms - for the first 10-15 mins in the winter.

Maybe its just me, but what I actually love the most - well, one of the many things I love - about the BMW cars is that they communicate very well, if you know how to listen.

 

How can you tell the oil temps are warm? This is when I wish BMW had an oil temp gauge. I usually open the garage door and start the engine, then go back inside, put my laptop into its case, grab my lunch and whatever else I need for the day, put my coat and shoes on and then go out to the garage and take off.

I used to do all those thing before leaving the house, but didn't really like sitting in the cold car for 3-4min.

I wasn't really mindful of keeping below 2-2.5k rpm tho but I will be conscious of that from now on.

 

My routine is simple. Get in the car, start the engine, buckle the seat belt, turn on seat heater, steering wheel heater, fog lights and off I go. No more than 10 seconds before driving off and normal driving thereafter. For the next couple of miles no engine revving above the floating limit unless really needed. 10 minute warm-up would make me feel like I am back to my 1990 Mercury Sable. Own that POS from 1994 - 1997. KIA.

 

Same here, minus the heaters and fog lights. It's nice to be in Sunny San Diego.

 

42!? My brother moved from here to Denver to LA and loves it over there. He definitely doesn't miss the 4 degree mornings we have here. Luckily, we don't hit the negative single digits very often and never double digit negatives. The scientists keep warning about global warming while I'm saying I can't wait till it gets here!

 

It's been a cold winter here. My primary goal is getting out of the garage as quick as possible to not let the heat out of the garage. (which reminds me what a pain it is that the garage opener is not powered unless the car is on) So, the car is not really cold but even when it is - I am in the feeling its better to drive easy until it warms up. First, the thing idles so low and nothing but the engine is moving - driving slow seems to warm it all up - tires, steering, transmission, etc. Everyone has commented about being home and warming it up. Do those that warm it up before taking off do the same thing if the car is sitting outside all day and you actually have to sit in the cold car while it warms up? Or, is it really about YOU being warm, not the car?

 

I think everyones in agreement then - a few mins to let the fluids circulate, no over-revving for the first 10-15 mins, and easy driving till she feels smooth.... What if you get right on the freeway as someone pointed out? This used to be my situation when I lived down South....quite a bit warmer there but there's not enough time to let the engine warm up in the first place....