[boonkgang13k]

Canadian Winter is super cold... not sure if I need to warm up the engine before I drive... any advice?

[clee1982]

Why not just drive low rev for a while probably warms up car quicker anyway

[AP]

Always thought it was bad practice to warm up a car by just letting it idle. Means only the engine is warming up but not necessarily things like transmission. Most wear to co polenta occurring whilst it is cold.

Of course you could take the view that any issues caused by this might only been seen late in the cars life long after you have sold / traded it back in and so not worth worrying about.

I would say though that the engine will warm up quicker once is is doing some work rather than just idling.

Although not a 530e my 540i warms up very quickly and I don't let it idle I simply drive off from cold

[SteveMondragon]

I noticed with the latest November software update that my 530e won’t “warm up on its own” anymore as the car shuts off after 30 seconds of running when it doesn’t detect any weight in the driver’s seat.... at least with my car it does this.

If I put my 50 lb son in the driver’s seat, or a 40 lb kettlebell (in a padded bag) on the seat, then my car will stay on and not turn off on its own.

[MXNSITH]

The manual tells you not to warm up the car and to just drive it as it warms up faster and all parts warm up together.

[SteveinArizona]

remember that you still have the electric motor which doesn't need warming up and the
active grills which will help the ICE to warm up more quickly.