I have read some posts on this and some you the folks here on the forum have mentioned that the white lines in the Tach might work as the temp gauge.
I have tried to notice that but mine doesn't move at all.

I remember test driving a 2007 550 where I did see those lines come up after I started the car. But it does not happen in my car.

Are they useful at all? and what could be the reason for mine not doing anything.

Thanks in advance.

 

I have the same question about my 04 545i, sometime the line are high when I start the car, and other times they are low ?, when do those lines represent.

 

I've always felt that it wouldn't be wise to use the variable warning (white lines) on the tachometer as any reliable temperature gauge. Sure, they'll help tell you when the engine is warmed up (and safe to rev higher) but I don't think it's very safe to equate these lines with coolant temperature.

Don't forget that once the lines hit the end of their travel, that doesn't mean the engine is at full operating temperature (or higher.) Also, since the LCI, they've stopped moving so it seems to me as if they may not have even served much of an important purpose. If they did serve a purpose, it's likely that BMW wouldn't have eliminated that functionality...

 

Thanks Rudy for the information. So that is what I saw when I drove the 07. Since mine don't move at all.

 

they were a bit of eye candy that I remember first seeing on the E39 M5. I would think BMW stopped it to cut costs, end of story.

 

The variable tachometer redline on the M cars is not the same as what the non-M, pre-LCI E60 has. On the non-M cars, the white bars were variable but it was simply a warning band that did not stop the driver from exceeding the warning.

On the M-cars, the tachometer has LED's that change from amber to red, indicating not just a warning band but also a variable redline. I've never tested one but I believe that on the M-cars, the variable redline actually included a variable rev-limiter so you could never exceed whatever the redline was currently indicating.

(M guys please correct me if that's not accurate...)

 

Perhaps prudence and a little knowledge of the physics of lubricants is the most important piece of this issue? The US Navy taught me not to attempt to take a T-34 into the air until I had observed (on a gauge) a certain level of temperature in the engine oil and had performed a few other tests (magneto drop etc.). I always figured that my land transportation needed the same consideration...a brief period of idle after start (15 seconds or so), then a slow drive (perhaps 30 mph max) to get the transmission and differential fluids flowing into the crevices. That's what I do now with the E60, and my Toyota Tundra.

My 530xi has the moveable white lines in the tach. On a cold day, at start, they're hanging at 5500. Eventually they get up to 6800. I think they're pretty-much useless (and apparently BMW agrees). I'd like to have a real oil-temperature gauge in my E60. I'd like to have a dipstick too. Not likely that will ever happen again...

 

Correct. The guage has/had nothing to do with the coolant temp. If anything, it was more of a viscosity guage and it varied not only with the engine oil temp but also with the ambient air temp.

 

Pg 65 from the '05 545i Manual:

Tachometer


The white-striped advance warning field,
arrow 1, changes depending on the engine
temperature. The segments disappear in
sequence as the engine warms to its normal
operating temperature. Avoid allowing the
engine speed to rise as far as the orange warning
sector whenever possible.
Engine speeds in the red warning field, arrow 2,
must absolutely be avoided. In this range, the
fuel supply is interrupted to protect the engine.

 

On my M5 cluster the oil temp gauge takes way longer to indicate a rise in temp after the temp dial has reached it's nadir on the cluster (indicating coolant level) meaning as mentioned before : you shouldn't floor it just yet.

The oil temp on the M5 cluster has given me a new perspective on when the engine is really ready to be revved high.