[Dan335i]

Z MAX,Just ask MR. Shelby.

[Sniz]

Originally Posted by Dan335i

Z MAX,Just ask MR. Shelby.

ask Billy Mays, he's probably got something for ya.

[Ilma]

Originally Posted by 5soko335i

Yup, you are correct, it is not necessary since the coolant continues to circulate if necessary. But just for my own piece of mind, i would as you mentioned drive the car like a grandmom the last mile to my house, or (what i should have mentioned) if i drive my car hard before shutting her down, let it idle for a bit, 30sec or so.

One reason i do the following is, usually you want the oil to circulate to get that extra cooling, which is not done when the car is shut off. I guess just a EXTRA safe caution since i have a tuned car.Then again i rarely drive my car right before i shut it down.

Yes I believe the turbo bearings are oil lubricated AND water cooled so after you shut the engine off, the water pump will continue to flow water to the turbos if the temps are high enough.

However, I don't think it continues to flow oil after the engine is shut off. So there is still some question in my mind as to whether the oil could "coke" and choke the bearings if they are hot enough to induce this chemical process.

So yes BMW has built in an automatic cool down loop when the engine is off via the electronic water pump, but I believe the oil pump is still mechanical and would stop circulating oil when the engine is shut down.

Moral of the story is that it certainly can't hurt to let the engine idle for a minute or two immediately after a full throttle run as the turbine housings can get hot enough to glow red.

In normal type driving this is not necessary though.

[Dan335i]

Originally Posted by Sniz

ask Billy Mays, he's probably got something for ya.

LOL!

[Unky]

Originally Posted by absix

Good thread

Yeah, I've found all of this information to be very helpful.

[stressdoc]

Get new upgraded H2O pump, IC plumbing, and software changes with upcoming BMW Perf tune.

[alextremo]

Hi guys - I updated the list in the first post per the feedback I received. Please let me know if I got anything wrong, or if you have other suggestions.

[Tobias1980]

Originally Posted by alextremo

Hi guys - I updated the list in the first post per the feedback I received. Please let me know if I got anything wrong, or if you have other suggestions.

great initiative,

I have one comment:
Engine warm up by idling is not good according to the BMW manual and makes sense as it takes much longer time compared to driving. Easy driving until the engine has reached low end of normal operating temperature is the way to go IMO.

[alextremo]

thanks for the feedback Tobias. No offense, but before I update the post does anyone else have an opinion on this? Seems like not everyone agrees with the BMW manual

Personally, I do both on really cold days. I'll let the car warm up for ~5mins, then won't go over 2500 RPM for the first 4-5miles.

[darkphantom]

sticky this please!

I think it has been mentioned but do not idle your car to warm it up, engine and tranny have to be warmed up simultaneously so driving it below 3k RPMS to warm up is a good idea

[dmurray14]

Good info, thanks. Definitely interested in hearing some commentary on what kind of effect the major tunes will have on engine/turbo longevity as well.

[BayerischeMW]

letting the RPMs drop to normal (6-700 rpm) before driving seems logical. takes about a minute or two depending on the climate.

[OpenFlash]

And if you plan to tune your car, pick your tune wisely

Shiv

[midlife]

Originally Posted by shiv@vishnu

And if you plan to tune your car, pick your tune wisely

Shiv

+100

besides letting the motor oil warm up before WOT, picking the tune is probably the most important thing you can do for yourself and the car.

my 2 cents

[Crisp]

Originally Posted by shiv@vishnu

And if you plan to tune your car, pick your tune wisely

Shiv

LOL!

[therealm3]

Originally Posted by inthemiddle

yea.. but you already took a huge depreciation hit to start with.... so why not keep it a little longer.... hard to stomach maybe ... but really... if you do the math... i'm at like 65K with the car/oem aero kit.. all the mods... sure i could sell some of them..... but in the first 3 years.. i lose like 30k in depreciation... that's 10K a year.... jump into another one you are surely giving that away...

you really think repair bills are gonna be 10K a year after that ?? (or 10k minus depreciation for that year ?)

Seriously. People are only fooling themselves if they think its "cheaper" to buy a new car just to not have to pay for repairs and maintenance.

Just admit it people, you want a new car or like being the guy with the latest and greatest.

As far as the list goes, I would add flushing out the Coolant and Brake Fluid every two years using BMW fluid. Also add Diff and tranny fluid to the 25k interval (here I use RedLine).

[hsleiman]

Originally Posted by stressdoc

Wait for new BMW Performance 330 HP tune (Euro) / ZMP for USA 2010.

Any idea when this is coming?

[gtrokin330]

Maximize life? Get off this forum asap. lol

[carve]

We're lucky to have oil temp gauges in our cars. This makes warm-up minutes irrelevent. First, don't idle to warm up....just take it REALLY easy. I keep it below 2k rpm at first. I take it to mid 2000 and occasionally 3 once the oil temp gauge start to move. I wait until AT LEAST 180 degrees, usually closer to 200, before I really stomp on it.

While the synthetic oil and water circulating after shutdown REDUCES the need for turbo cool down, it doesn't eliminate it. The water pump shuts off when overall temp is down, but the turbos may still be pretty hot. The oil pump stops after shut down, so that oil is in there cooking while the turbos cool. If you're idling, oil continues to circulate through the turbo bearing, shortening cool-down time in the HEART of the turbo and preventing the oil from overheating. If you're driving easy, you can probably just shut down. If you were driving agressive at all (e.g. DS) within a few minutes of stopping, you should let it idle a bit. When I drive really hard, I usually wait for the oil temp to go to ~230...maybe 240, before shut down. In fact, if I'm driving hard and just need to go into the dry cleaners or something for a minute, I leave my engine running but lock the door. What you REALLY want to avoid is coming to a screeching halt and shut the motor off right away. The turbos would still be coasting pretty fast when they lose oil pressure.

Another recommendation: take it easy with the tune. These turbos taper the boost at high rpm STOCK. They just aren't built for high boost levels, and I imagine anything much more then a JB+/SSTT type tune would spin the turbo stratospherically fast and inefficiently. Be especially careful at high-altitude, since they'll be spining faster up there anyway.

The rest of your list sounded really good.

[Mr. 5]

I just picked up the CPO warranty so I'm covered until 100k miles.
It will be 2 years in June and I have 46k miles on the car.
If anyone is really interested in getting the warranty, shop around. I'm not going to tell you guys how much I got it for since I rpomissed not to advertise, but you can negotiate big time! The first dealer that I called gave me a quote of 3300 and the second said 2875.
I called back the first dealer jus to make sure that they weren't quoting me the maintenance too. They weren't. 3300 is what they said it was.

Positive things I've done to lengthen the life:

-I changed the oil at mid intervals
-Changed the plugs at 35k miles
-Aftermarket IC
-DPs
-Oil Catch can
-I just flushed the coolant and powersteering
-Bleed the brakes 2 times a year or after every track event (which ever is more)

Negative things:

-Ran a tune for most of the life of the engine (I don't care what tune one is running. If one is getting more boost out of these turbos, they are decreasing the life of them) Is this going to stop me? Hell no, but I think it's a fact that we all have to consider.

[stressdoc]

If you can lighten the car that reduces wear and tear on everything.

Think about what problem areas you have had with previous cars and adjust your driving/maintenance accordingly.

I have lived with 200k+ bimmers and developed great appreciation for how well built most components are.

A good service dept that you talk to about keeping your car for the long haul can make a big difference.

[Panoz]

I will add just 1 comment that I believe it more important than all the above...

"Let the DAMN-engine to reach its operating temp, before revving the hell out of it"