The little white hash marks that sit above the redline start out around 5000 in the morning when I first start the car. A short time later after driving they progressively drop dow to 3 lines above 7000 rpm.

What I don't get is why they always stay there ? If the redline point is 7000 and there is a rev limiter, why do I always have 3 lines above that point? no matter how warm the engine is.

Does everyone have this ?

Also, when I'm driving in sport mode (DS) and hit the accelerator hard, the car WILL go slightly above 7000 rpm in 1st and 2nd gear....is that a bad thing....should I NEVER let it go into the red ?

 

The white lines are not the redline. If you look at just about any tachometer, you'll see a white or yellow marker just before the redline to sort of warn you that you are approaching redline.

On our cars, the white lines are variable to warn you about revving the engine too much before it's warmed up. Rest assured that the white bars do not indicate where the rev limiter kicks in (it always kicks in at redline, no matter where the white bars are.)

Don't worry about going into the red. The rev limiter will kick in at the appropriate time without causing engine damage (although you might want to wait until the white bars stop moving before doing so...)

The fact that the needle goes slightly above 7000 rpm in sport mode is probably a function of the tach not responding quickly enough (or responding too quickly) to the actual engine speed. The needle is still analog and I think the needle just overshoots a small amount because it's moving so quickly in the lower gears. This was a common thing on my E39s as well as on the E60...

 

Thanks Rudy,

That's comforting....and good to know! The car is very new to me and the last thing I want to do is cause any harm to the engine by reving it too much. I just found it weird that the white lines never completely went away....but based on your explanation, it makes a lot of sense.

 

You're not the first one to wonder about those lines:

http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=3507
http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=4798
http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=15392
(and I'm betting there's more...)

 

Just to confirm, mine does the exact same thing, except I'm left with 4 white lines no matter how warmed up the car is.

 

Mine does the same thing. The final four lines never disappear. I see that as the "shift here" zone, so that I don't get that "bog" of the rev limiter kicking in.

 

Revolution counter striped advance warning zone

 

I presume it measures water temperature ? I'm not that mechanically minded, but wouldn't oil temp be a better guide as to whether the engine's warmed up