Wpg550

Those of you in FL and CA can probably tune out at this point... once you stop laughing at the absurdity of the climates where some of us live!

Ok, so a job change has me moving to a location where there is only outdoor parking, and our winter temperatures range in the -20c to -30c temps for a good chunk of the season. To date, I've been fortunate enought to work where I can park in an enclosed and heated parking lot year-round. I know that BMW doesn't make any OEM block heaters or the like (although there is the Aux heater available in Europe), so I'm hoping to hear from someone who has had to park in similar cold temps to see if there are any special preparations I need to make or problems I should expect.

I had a short chat with my local dealer, and they indicated I should be ok -- although on all new vehicles they supply them with the BMW trickle charger mounted inside the engine bay (so you can plug into the block heater plug-ins around town) to keep the battery fully charged. I could have one of these mounted on my car as well, but wanted to check in with other people's experiences before I pulled the trigger.

Any experiences, suggestions would be appreciated!

luigi524td

My 1986 524TD came equipped with a built in block and fuel filter heater. Maybe one of the diesel models offer a block heater that could be modified for your car? Of course it would not be necessary (or recommended) to heat the gasoline ... but if you did the result would probably be a very warm passenger compartment too!

j0nblayz

i used to park my car outside at the train stop, we get -30 and below sometimes in calgary, never had a issue with any of my previous bmw's (e46 330ci, e46 m3, e39 530i, e53 x5 4.4i..), this is my first year with my e60 so i can't comment on the e60 but prob should be better then my previous ones. However bmw doesn't recommend block heaters on any of their cars, and i believe them, i never had any startup issues. May start up little rough but should be ok. Hopefully you got the cold package, seat warmer and heated steering is a life saver, lol.

romansg

Also located in Calgary, driving a 2007 premium sport 550i, have had some rough starts on below 30C days but the only concerns I've ever had involved tire pressure warnings (on days when the temp shifts from near zero or better to below 30)and on one occasion my I drive screen took about 4 minutes to light up (I think we were pretty cold that day, about -37C. It's never let me down but things get a littl stiff. Can't say enough about heated seats and steering.

dxb_8788

-30c here it's +11 in my city and I had flu for a month

copello

I always Parked my e60 520d outside when travelling during skiing season by -20c -30c at 2000m above sea level: never had any starting issue neither with my 2006e60 or my 2009e60. The only noticeable and apparently normal fact is that thé idrive screen is far less bright while the car gently warms up (5 min or so). And then all back to normal!
Good luck with thé sinter season.

ron_cb550

I'd say I'm quite experienced with parking my car outdoors.. I do it every day, even in our dreaded subzero winters.

To date, I haven't had any problems, barring my slight issue with all the squeaking/creaking on those really cold mornings, but like everything else, metal and plastic are susceptible to "the freeze" so I dont lose sleep over it... oh, and frozen-shut windows & anti-trap warnings (due to the high power drain of the window motor desperately trying to pull that sucker down) are somewhat inconvenient as well, but I'll live..

and as was mentioned, seat-warmers are a must!!

Masterspy

I parked my car at work all day in sub zero temperature with no problem. My car gets a break at overnight tuck in the garage.

Gilgorm

My 28 535i sits outside all the time and has never seen the inside of a garage. Clear the ice and snow well from all the windows. On those bad ice days, keep an old credit card to slide along the weather stripping to open the doors. Carefully slide an ice scraper under the wiper blades if they are iced down. Start the car and drive away. No need to warm it up. The iDrive screen may take up to a minute to even come on and as stated up to five minutes to fully light up.
Enjoy the drive. Hope you have dedicated winter tires. The battery tender is a good idea but I've never needed one as you indicated.

lummer535i

I would add to remember not to use your power windows at the Tim Horton's drive thru. The windows can freeze and you'll mess up the regulator. Your will have to open the door or run inside.

It gets pretty breezy driving on the highway with the window stuck in the down position.