[Eric335]

Originally Posted by boostaholic786

Why don't you just keep your foot on the clutch until it cranks all the way....???? I think it says that most probably in the manual, if I'm not mistaken...

Also, this thread is two years old, and that wouldnt help at all? thats how all MTs start?

[David Burnstein]

Hi all - I've (more or less) decided to go with a wolverine oil pan heater for my 2007 328xi, soon to be driven in the frozen white north. Any idea which model oil pan heater I would need? I've tried to get underneath but there's not much clearance and the hard plastic cover is blocking my view. Any help?

I'm also considering the battery and transmission heaters - any ideas on which model of those would be best for my car? I'd really like to know about that.

Lastly - I've heard these come without the prongs on the end of them. Any thoughts on how best to wire them, maybe to a single plug?

thanks

[stormtrooper7]

Originally Posted by David Burnstein

Hi all - I've (more or less) decided to go with a wolverine oil pan heater for my 2007 328xi, soon to be driven in the frozen white north. Any idea which model oil pan heater I would need? I've tried to get underneath but there's not much clearance and the hard plastic cover is blocking my view. Any help?

I'm also considering the battery and transmission heaters - any ideas on which model of those would be best for my car? I'd really like to know about that.

Lastly - I've heard these come without the prongs on the end of them. Any thoughts on how best to wire them, maybe to a single plug?

thanks

I would be in the market for one, or some, of these as well.

What would be the best way to route the cord? I haven't had a chance to look around the vehicle yet because it's been so damn cold here, plus, I only picked it up last week.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

The best block heater is likely a heated garage

[Sniz]

Originally Posted by Eric335

Whoa, i live in Big Sky for Christmas/Summer. Whats your brothers name?

John Sniscak

[klipseracer]

Its only a high of 75* F today

[AbmwX1]

I recently bought a 2012 X1 and relocated from Toronto, Ontario to Northern Ontario. The coldest weather here has been around -40 before the windchill, so it feels really like -47 to -50. Very cold.

My X1 starts up without any effort. No block heater or oil pan heater needed. Even the lighting on the dash and instumental pannel works fine. I park my car outside and I'm really close to the lake, so it's exposed to wind and lake effect weather.

I cannot believe how strong the car is. All other cars (besides BMW's that I see) have to plug in their cars in order to start in the morning.

Now.... I am not sure if my car starts so easily becuase it's new, if it were say an older 3 series of X3, not sure if it would work the same....




Hope this info share helps.....

[CrimsonXV]

Thread revival.

I'm looking into an engine heating solution (block/oil pan heater etc), for the purpose of getting it up to operating temperature sooner so that I can drive my car a bit more aggressively on my daily commute without harming the enginer/turbo. I'm no engineer so I don't really understand thermodynamics, but will this work as I imagine it?

[ajsalida]

Originally Posted by Pimpin325Ci

Thread revival.

I'm looking into an engine heating solution (block/oil pan heater etc), for the purpose of getting it up to operating temperature sooner so that I can drive my car a bit more aggressively on my daily commute without harming the enginer/turbo. I'm no engineer so I don't really understand thermodynamics, but will this work as I imagine it?

I'm not sure you'd need one in KC, even if one were made that works. I looked into what was available for our cars, seems I do every year about this time. Really only things are the glue-on type heating pads. No true block heater that plugs into a pre-designed hole in the block, like my Tacoma has.

The pads work where appropriate but our cars have cast aluminum pans & blocks with ridges and so forth, plus the pad will interfere with cooling in summer. The AT pan is plastic. These pads are mainly for cars with sheet metal type pans with big flat areas. I just never liked those solutions much for our cars. I have spent some time under mine looking for a good place to put one and I can't find it. There are other heaters that sit inside the radiator hose and heat the coolant overnight, or replace a freeze plug, I object to them on the principle of sticking something inside the cooling system being not so great an idea. Really these things are more for folks who live in the arctic or whatever and will accept trade-offs because they simply have no choice it is so friggin' cold.

I think the best thing to do is make sure the oil in the car is a true synthetic appropriate for the temp range, and keep a trickle charger on the battery. You're much more likely to end up with a dead battery on these cars what with the goofy "smart" charging system.

BTW lived in KC area +30 years, born and raised. Not sure you need to worry about block heaters there. Not even sure I do where I live now, up in the high Rockies, no heated garage and the car sits outside all winter. Many sub-zero mornings. Mainly it is the battery I worry about ergo the trickle charger.

[ptpending]

http://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=936244

[ajsalida]

That's interesting had never seen the DEFA. From the install pdf it looks like a variant on the glue-on-pan type, and does not actually penetrate the block through a pre-existing hole. Not clear what it costs either or if it is compatible with US voltage sources, and I don't read Norwegian

Hey give it a try and let us all know! If there were a viable option I would want one, but this one does not look like it fits the bill. The rest of the stuff, interior warm up kit, remote start, battery charger and so forth seems like overkill, I guess some folks might want that though.

[Kowboi]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaTech335coupe

Wow. I don't think I could get out of bed if it was that cold. I was just complaining yesterday because the temps got down to 42 F here! You'd probably be at the beach in that weather lol.

We still wear shorts and flip flops at that temperature. :-)

[Kowboi]

Originally Posted by Wedge1967

You don’t need a block heater, you need to move…

I did buy a home in Arizona, however as a Canadian I can't stay all winter. :-(

[Eat.Sleep.Race]

So how does one actually "Bundle up" enough to bear these conditions? I would think you would freeze to death if outside for more than 10 seconds.

[Ingeniator]

Originally Posted by Eat.Sleep.Race

So how does one actually "Bundle up" enough to bear these conditions? I would think you would freeze to death if outside for more than 10 seconds.

Layers... I don't know what to say. I work outside still occasionally in this type of weather but earlier in my career I was working 12hrs outside. The trick is good long johns boots and gloves. The with a balaclava you just need a couple layers and as long as you stay moving you are more than warm enough. Been outside for 5hrs straight in -49.

[BMWSource]

Originally Posted by epiphone3

I am another guy in cow town. The air temperature was -30 deg C this morning (inanimate objects don't feel wind chill). I agree, terribly cold.

Regarding your question, although it would be nice to have a block heater, the synthetic oil means you don't need one and BMW doesn't even offer one that I am aware of.

I own an E90 323i and am in its 6th winter now. It has seen plenty of starts in the -25 deg C to -35 deg C range and has always started without problems (although it turns over slower and sounds ugly at those temps). I would say don't worry about it.

Your bigger worry will be keeping the fuel tank on the fuller side as the only time the car almost didn't start was when my fuel line was a bit frozen (parked in a heated garage during the day with about a 1/4 tank of fuel remaining and it was -34 that night). Keeping the tank fuller reduces the amount of condensation that can form in there. This is especially important if you ever park in a heated garage.

There is an aftermarket block heater called DEFA for the E90