[mike1110]

Hi Guys,
I just purchased a 530e M Sport (MY2020 with iDrive 7) and I’m truly enjoying it.

However due to the nature of my job,I have to work for 1 month away from home and I will have another month of leave. Thus, I have to leave the car at home.

When I’m away no one will be using the car. Therefore I asked my son to start the car once in every 2 days. Since this car is a plug-in hybrid, it starts in auto e-drive and runs through the high-voltage battery. I will leave it to run through the battery for 5 minutes approximately.

However my question is how do I let the combustion engine run after 5 minutes of using the battery. Can someone explain to me how to make the combustion engine start for 5 minutes or so without moving the car in any way.

The dealer asked me to move the transmission to manual and the engine starts however once I engage park, the combustion engine stops. I have even tried using the sports driving experience, yet the combustion engine doesn’t turn on.

So guys please explain to me in a step by step manner on how to start the combustion engine without moving the car.

Thank you and have a great day.

[rts2101]

Step 1: Open the hood.

Step 2: Press the start button and the engine will start.

[mike1110]

Originally Posted by rts2101

Step 1: Open the hood.

Step 2: Press the start button and the engine will start.

Thanks for the reply.
Is there any other way without opening the hood because it’s quite a long process.

[SteveinArizona]

run down the battery as far as you can...make sure it is at +---+. see if that works.

[AP]

Whilst I don't have a 530e , just a guess , could you put it in sport mode? Will that trigger it to start?

As I say just a guess

[mike1110]

Originally Posted by SteveinArizona

run down the battery as far as you can...make sure it is at +---+. see if that works.

Originally Posted by AP

Whilst I don't have a 530e , just a guess , could you put it in sport mode? Will that trigger it to start?

As I say just a guess

Actually the combustion engine starts when I put the car in manual mode.
However once I put it at park, the combustion engine stops and it returns to the battery. Even if I press the sport button after that, it still remains in the battery.
Is there any way to make it remain in combustion engine without keeping it at manual mode throughout the time I start it for 5 minutes without moving it ?

[rts2101]

Originally Posted by mikelsenraj

Thanks for the reply.
Is there any other way without opening the hood because it’s quite a long process.

Opening the hood is a long process???

What is the purpose of running the engine every two days? Are you concerned about the 12v battery? If so, you should know that as long as the car is plugged in, the High Voltage battery 'tends' the 12v battery.

[mike1110]

Originally Posted by rts2101

Opening the hood is a long process???

What is the purpose of running the engine every two days? Are you concerned about the 12v battery? If so, you should know that as long as the car is plugged in, the High Voltage battery 'tends' the 12v battery.

Oh I didn’t know that.
Actually I just wanted to start the combustion engine because the dealer recommended me to do that as I won’t be using the car every 1 month and I didn’t want my son who will be starting the car to open the hood and all that.

[LogicalApex]

Why are you doing this? Sounds like a pain...

When leaving a car for long periods people tend to worry about the 12V battery dying and causing all sorts of issues. That's a fair concern, but one you can easily mitigate in the 530e. Either plug the car in or make sure the HV battery is fully charged before your leave it and it will make sure the 12V battery is properly maintained. No need to idle the car at all.

You might want to move the car to prevent the tires from developing flat spots, but that's solved by moving it forward or back a short distance to shift where it rests on the tires.

[ted99]

I just completed the one year service on my 2020 530e and I still have 1/2 of the original tank of petrol. That's how little I use the ICE, because most of my use is in-town. My 2014 BMW i3 REX automatically started the range-extender engine, if it had not been run in the past 2 weeks. There is no guidance from BMW whether this is needed for the 530e and I am not going out of my way to run the engine. I am careful, however, to run the engine long enough to bring it fully up to temperature on those occasions when it runs. I think just starting the engine every 2 days will do far more harm than just leaving it alone. You will likely load the exhaust system with acids and have a whole lot of "cold starts". The fuel tank is plastic and pressurized, so the chance of fuel deterioration is not high. My advice: Leave it alone until it can be run long enough to get fully hot.

[Warp Ten]

I am not familiar with the 530e but I do know that for four months in the winter my Corvette Z06 is up on top of my lift with only a battery tender on it and never started. It starts fine in the spring and seems to have no ill effects from sitting that long without running. Similarly (since I have only a two car garage for my three cars), in the summer my 540xi might be up on top of the lift and on a battery tender for several months if the weather if fairly good, and not started during that time. No ill effects from that either as far as I can tell. I deal with the issue of potential tire flat spots by temporarily increasing the tire pressures to about 45psi. What little flat spotting I get will smooth out after a couple of miles of driving. I put a sticky note on the steering wheel to remind me to reset the tire pressures upon awakening. With the 530e it sounds like the big battery takes care of keeping the little battery charged so I guess I don't know what damage might occur for not running the combustion engine for awhile. --Bob

[Qsilver7]

So there’s is nothing in the owners manual for the 530e in regards to long time storage? Thought I’d just ask in case there may be.

And ditto...the high voltage battery does take care of the smaller 12 volt battery...you can see mention of it in the info below:

[LogicalApex]

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

So there’s is nothing in the owners manual for the 530e in regards to long time storage? Thought I’d just ask in case there may be.

Yes, it is as I already noted. To make sure the HV battery is charged or the car is on the charger as it will maintain the 12V battery. It doesn't mention anything else due to the system being designed for low use of the ICE system. The pressurized fuel tank should keep gas usable for at least a year so you're only left worrying yourself about tires developing flat spots (which can be countered).

Honestly, storing the 530e for long periods is a breeze compared to an ICE car as you don't need to deal with trickle chargers and etc.

But here is the word directly from the BMW Manual. Note there is nothing here asking you to run the ICE engine.

[ted99]

I have two friends with Tesla M-3 who went away for 6 months earlier this year. One charged the battery to 80% and the other charged to 100%. Both left their keys with me to put them on our condo's common area charger if they needed a charge during that 6 months. Neither car went below 25% charge over that period with no charging. So the BMW guidance is 3 mos, but that is conservative, compared to their Tesla experience.

[Xbhp]

Firstly congratulations. You seem to have got 12kwh and not 9.2kwh as you had anticipated earlier.

Here’s what I do to warm up engine when battery power is low and when I know I will be using ICE on my way. In Auto e-drive, I put on sports mode->D or R gear-> Press accelerator n ICE will start and I will put trans back in N for a minute and then start driving.

As soon as you put transmission in P, it would switch off ICE Or Electric.

I would say no need to switch on engine every 2 days if you’re away. I would say even if you do not start ICE for 3 months, you would be fine.

[5Pilot]

I would say that starting the engine every 2 days seems excessive. For what you’re talking about, every two weeks seems more reasonable. The thing is, for maximum benefit, you really want to get the temperature up to full normal operating temp, for thirty minutes or so, to drive all the moisture out of the crankcase and oil.

For the 530e, you should be able to force engine operation using Battery Control mode. If you go into iDrive and set the minimum battery power for Battery Control mode to something high, like 100%, I think the engine will start right away when you place it into that mode, as long as the battery isn’t fully charged.

[paquet]

Everything that 5Pilot ^^^ said

Leave it off for 2 months - it'll be fine.
About the only thing to care about is the occasional flat spotting on the tires (that'll go away with the first drive)

[LogicalApex]

Originally Posted by 5Pilot

I would say that starting the engine every 2 days seems excessive. For what you’re talking about, every two weeks seems more reasonable. The thing is, for maximum benefit, you really want to get the temperature up to full normal operating temp, for thirty minutes or so, to drive all the moisture out of the crankcase and oil.

For the 530e, you should be able to force engine operation using Battery Control mode. If you go into iDrive and set the minimum battery power for Battery Control mode to something high, like 100%, I think the engine will start right away when you place it into that mode, as long as the battery isn’t fully charged.

I still say this is entirely unnecessary and does nothing useful...

Battery Control mode won't work for this though. At least in my MY2020 530e turning on Battery Control Mode will work to charge the battery if the car is being driven, but if the car isn't being driven (including stopping at lights and etc) it will still turn off the ICE engine and stop charging the battery.

I still say, just plug the car in and leave it alone!

[scandal37]

Just leave it parked and plugged in. Don't bother with starting the petrol engine, etc.

We left our 520i parked for 6 months with a full tank of fuel and upon return it started right up with absolutely zero issues apart from some flat spotting which went away after driving.

[CnSky]

You can make the engine come on when parked in neutral by stamping on the accelerator but car must be unplugged. Cant remember if the engine stays running seem to remember it does.

[Abuzaiedmd]

In cold days what i do to warm up the engine is to start the ICE by pressing the accelerating pedal on P and just keeping the driver door open, the ICE will keep running until you close the door or pressing braking pedal. Yes it sounds stupid, but this is the only way that i know to warm up the engine! Fortunately, it's not too cold in my country so i can hold out the open door!
In the battery saving mode the ICE won't force start if the shifter in P position even if the battery charged drained.

[LogicalApex]

Originally Posted by Abuzaiedmd

In cold days what i do to warm up the engine is to start the ICE by pressing the accelerating pedal on P and just keeping the driver door open, the ICE will keep running until you close the door or pressing braking pedal. Yes it sounds stupid, but this is the only way that i know to warm up the engine! Fortunately, it's not too cold in my country so i can hold out the open door!
In the battery saving mode the ICE won't force start if the shifter in P position even if the battery charged drained.

Why do you need to warm the engine? BMW doesn’t suggest idling to warm their engines. The G30 has active shutters so it will heat the engine very quickly while driving.