Takes forever to warm up ?
01-04-2011, 04:01 PM
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I have been getting frustrated with my car taking so long to warm up. I start the car in the morning and let it idle for about 5 min and the car is cold IT BLOWS OUT COLD AIR! (Temperature setting is on 72). Even after driving for 10-15 min the car is still cold it starts getting better in about 20 min but by that time my commute is over. What could the problem be?
01-04-2011, 04:08 PM
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My Ride: Stock for now
I have been getting frustrated with my car taking so long to warm up. I start the car in the morning and let it idle for about 5 min and the car is cold IT BLOWS OUT COLD AIR! (Temperature setting is on 72). Even after driving for 10-15 min the car is still cold it starts getting better in about 20 min but by that time my commute is over. What could the problem be?
If I want it to get warm faster I take it all the way up to 90 until it blows warm. 72 is like having the AC on to me. Just saying!
01-04-2011, 04:50 PM
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Yeah, just turn the heater on! It took me six months untill somebody told me on the board how to turn it on. (Thank you BTW.) Just push the middle button and then change the blue bars to red as the previous post suggests.
01-04-2011, 04:51 PM
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My Ride: 2004 530i
01-04-2011, 06:05 PM
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My Ride: 2006 BMW 550i
01-04-2011, 11:55 PM
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My Ride: E61 535d carbon black m-kit panoramaroof with beige nasca interior and wood trim. 172m rims. DimSport Race, SB, SAT
I have a diesel and it is slow to warm up (so I have an auxillary heater which is very quick and remote controlled..) but even that would be reasonably warm after 5-8 mins of driving. I too suspect the problem lies in your idrive customized aircon settings where you can force the central dash mounted vents to blow out cold air no matter how high you set the temperature knob. Make sure the bars in the CLIMATE sub menu for both driver and passenger are set to red, rather than blue
Push the iDrive controller right to access the little bar infront of the drive on the screen, indicated by a red arrow. You can rotate the iDrive controller between 1 and 3 blue bars or 1-3 red bars. Hopefully that will do the trick.
Push the iDrive controller right to access the little bar infront of the drive on the screen, indicated by a red arrow. You can rotate the iDrive controller between 1 and 3 blue bars or 1-3 red bars. Hopefully that will do the trick.
01-05-2011, 01:47 AM
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Those of you having problems with slow warm up times (especially diesel owners) have you checked this thread?
https://5series.net/forums/topic/706...g-temperature/
My own warm up times improved dramatically after fitting new main and EGR thermostats. Values below were taken on an identical route.
Distance----Temp ( C ) before change-------Temp ( C ) after change
1 mile-----------------43------------------------------48
2 miles----------------48------------------------------55
3 miles----------------56------------------------------70
4 miles----------------61------------------------------74
5 miles----------------62------------------------------80
6 miles----------------66------------------------------86
7 miles----------------61------------------------------86
8 miles----------------62------------------------------86
9 miles----------------64------------------------------89
10 miles---------------67------------------------------90
https://5series.net/forums/topic/706...g-temperature/
My own warm up times improved dramatically after fitting new main and EGR thermostats. Values below were taken on an identical route.
Distance----Temp ( C ) before change-------Temp ( C ) after change
1 mile-----------------43------------------------------48
2 miles----------------48------------------------------55
3 miles----------------56------------------------------70
4 miles----------------61------------------------------74
5 miles----------------62------------------------------80
6 miles----------------66------------------------------86
7 miles----------------61------------------------------86
8 miles----------------62------------------------------86
9 miles----------------64------------------------------89
10 miles---------------67------------------------------90
01-05-2011, 04:43 AM
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I posted on this topic on another board and it solved the problem not only for myself by a number of others. It's related to the Fresh/Cold Air Intermix setting, which you can adjust in iDrive to stop your car from bringing in cold outside air and blowing it through your dash vents without you realizing it. NavarroOne was partially on the right track, but it isn't related to having the AC on because even with the AC turned off manually with the dash button you will still get cold air blowing through the dash vents.
My original post is pasted below, followed by a second post after I made the adjustment and tested it myself.
~~~~ Original Post ~~~~
This thread got me thinking about about the 'upper body' settings in iDrive, which in my X3 was called the 'Fresh Air Intermix'. The fresh air intermix overrides the climate control to bring in cold outside air and blows it through the dashboard upper body vents to keep the driver and passenger alert.
It's great in certain conditions, like if you're feeling groggy and want cool air on your face, but in winter you want it turned right off to ensure you're getting full heat coming in from your vents, otherwise it's fighting against your climate control. On the X3 there's a knurled knob at the center vent that controls it... turn it all the way into the red and it shuts off all the cold air intermix. Turn it into the blue and it brings in max cold air. Note, this is not air conditioning or thermostatic control. It essentially overrides the climate settings for the dash vents and brings in cold air directly from outside.
I thought this feature was missing in my e60, because there was no intermix knob nor mention of it in owner's manual, but this thread prompted me to look in my manual more closely and, sure enough, there it was (but disguised). They refer to it as the "Upper body region temperature adjustment" but it appears to be the same as the cold air intermix in my X3. Either way, you should check this adjustment to make sure it is set suitably for winter operation.
If you go into Climate-Vent Settings in iDrive you will see the three areas that can be controlled on the driver side (windshield/upper body/feet) and two on the passenger side. The big horizontal bars (3 on the driver's side, 2 on the passenger's) are the fan settings for each region, allowing you to control the flow of air so you can blow more air onto your upper body, for example. MORE important than that is the vertical + - control immediately to the right of the driver upper body setting. THIS is the Intermix control (but the manual doesn't refer to it that way). If you select this control you can dial it up or down to provide either maximum heat mix or maximum outside cold fresh air mix. You want to make sure it's set to the maximum + (4 red bars) setting, otherwise you are bringing in cold outside air and blowing it through the dash vents without realizing it, therefore overriding the heat that the climate control is trying to deliver. That's why so many people complain about not getting hot air through the dash vents. Heat is still going to the feet, but when you're getting cool air on your face and upper body, that's all you feel.
I just checked mine (have never looked at it before) and it was it was set on the second coldest intermix setting, so I just dialed it up to where it should be for the winter. I suggest everybody do the same.
~~~~ Follow Up Post ~~~~
EUREKA!!!
I just tested my car in -11 degree weather after making the adjustment I mentioned above, and it's a world of difference. I now have hot air BLASTING out of my dash vents compared to before when it was cold and gradually warming to luke warm after 15 minutes.
Make sure you dial the Intermix setting to four red bars (full heat) to eliminate all traces of cold outside air from being routed through your dash vents.
My original post is pasted below, followed by a second post after I made the adjustment and tested it myself.
~~~~ Original Post ~~~~
This thread got me thinking about about the 'upper body' settings in iDrive, which in my X3 was called the 'Fresh Air Intermix'. The fresh air intermix overrides the climate control to bring in cold outside air and blows it through the dashboard upper body vents to keep the driver and passenger alert.
It's great in certain conditions, like if you're feeling groggy and want cool air on your face, but in winter you want it turned right off to ensure you're getting full heat coming in from your vents, otherwise it's fighting against your climate control. On the X3 there's a knurled knob at the center vent that controls it... turn it all the way into the red and it shuts off all the cold air intermix. Turn it into the blue and it brings in max cold air. Note, this is not air conditioning or thermostatic control. It essentially overrides the climate settings for the dash vents and brings in cold air directly from outside.
I thought this feature was missing in my e60, because there was no intermix knob nor mention of it in owner's manual, but this thread prompted me to look in my manual more closely and, sure enough, there it was (but disguised). They refer to it as the "Upper body region temperature adjustment" but it appears to be the same as the cold air intermix in my X3. Either way, you should check this adjustment to make sure it is set suitably for winter operation.
If you go into Climate-Vent Settings in iDrive you will see the three areas that can be controlled on the driver side (windshield/upper body/feet) and two on the passenger side. The big horizontal bars (3 on the driver's side, 2 on the passenger's) are the fan settings for each region, allowing you to control the flow of air so you can blow more air onto your upper body, for example. MORE important than that is the vertical + - control immediately to the right of the driver upper body setting. THIS is the Intermix control (but the manual doesn't refer to it that way). If you select this control you can dial it up or down to provide either maximum heat mix or maximum outside cold fresh air mix. You want to make sure it's set to the maximum + (4 red bars) setting, otherwise you are bringing in cold outside air and blowing it through the dash vents without realizing it, therefore overriding the heat that the climate control is trying to deliver. That's why so many people complain about not getting hot air through the dash vents. Heat is still going to the feet, but when you're getting cool air on your face and upper body, that's all you feel.
I just checked mine (have never looked at it before) and it was it was set on the second coldest intermix setting, so I just dialed it up to where it should be for the winter. I suggest everybody do the same.
~~~~ Follow Up Post ~~~~
EUREKA!!!
I just tested my car in -11 degree weather after making the adjustment I mentioned above, and it's a world of difference. I now have hot air BLASTING out of my dash vents compared to before when it was cold and gradually warming to luke warm after 15 minutes.
Make sure you dial the Intermix setting to four red bars (full heat) to eliminate all traces of cold outside air from being routed through your dash vents.