Drive off right away, but warm it up first

 

I have an electronic heater installed (220V), so I preheat the motor 1-2 h before I start up and drive away.

I do even have a heater in the cabin, so it's warm and nice

 

The main reason BMW manual advises to drive off straight away is because of environment protection reasons! I checked that with specialists! Well, on the other hand most of the modern cars don't need that long warming up wait, so driving off after 15-20 sec will not harm your car, but what's important during cold start is that you don't move the gear knob(in steptronic) though the gears too fast!! You should let in each gear for a few secs (by doing this your transmission will live much longer)

 

That sounds like the best of all worlds, especially with diesel in a cold climate.

 

I think thats the best way to protect your motor from cold starts, and it saves fuel the first 10 km, because the motor gets warm quickly.

 

That's why BMW offers standby heatinf for it's cars. I have one.

Skaffa

 

That's why BMW offers standby heatinf for it's cars. I have one.

Skaffa
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Not available for the UK market..

 

I got this morning (-7C) first time alarm "wait, preheating" and Webasto started. After 30sec warning disappeared. I think BMW has taken care of that also how long you should wait before take off.

Skaffa

 

i go with 15-30 sec then drive off. Me too, i like to let the idrive to complete booting!