Winter Driving - To Cover the Grill or Not to Cover the Grill

FormerRotor · 01-04-2013, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vreimann

You are a very lucky guy with the nice weather.

Don't patronize him...keep up the bragging PR! A least WE got a white Christmas!! I'm not jealous!!!

...so when can we come visit?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vreimann

Thanks TDI, Love the time you have spent getting all this together.

You data at -5F is exactly the type of stuff I have been curious about. I should try and take some time and put together some logs for temperatures below this but lately we have been getting some pretty normal temps only down to -5F and the motivation level is low in winter.

Seriously. Thanks for the data, TDI!

ihbase · 01-05-2013, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vreimann

Mike, you would be surprised how many 2wd gas or diesel vehicles are where I live and we see -30 and it's nothing special. When it's -40 then we complain about it.
The mean temperature last month was -18 with lows down to -32.

The 335d does start easily without problems with overnight temps of -31 and this was sitting for 4 days. currently the only issue I plan on addressing is the battery blanket and maybe an oil pan heater.

The covers seems to be a non issue.

That it starts that well is very impressive. I grew on a ranch and wintered in those temps but I have since moved out west and become soft. We ran pan heaters on everything back in the day and blankets on the equipment that had to start each morning. Its seems to me that any kind of a heater would be a very good idea if you plan on keeping that car around for a while. Not much room in there for anything though. And the underbody shield doesn't exactly make room for a pan heater. Lower radiator hose in-line? Frost plug? Either of those would bring up engine and trans oil temp as well.

-Mike

Puerto Rican 335d · 01-07-2013, 08:44 AM

yessir!

335dFan · 01-07-2013, 08:51 AM

In my old '86 Jetta diesel I had a block heater that I used when it got real cold. And it worked great for its intended purpose. There was even a pre-drilled plug for that. Guess our D doesn't have such a feature.

Vreimann · 01-10-2013, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ihbase

That it starts that well is very impressive. I grew on a ranch and wintered in those temps but I have since moved out west and become soft. We ran pan heaters on everything back in the day and blankets on the equipment that had to start each morning. Its seems to me that any kind of a heater would be a very good idea if you plan on keeping that car around for a while. Not much room in there for anything though. And the underbody shield doesn't exactly make room for a pan heater. Lower radiator hose in-line? Frost plug? Either of those would bring up engine and trans oil temp as well.

-Mike

I would love to move west and become soft. I have noticed very little room in the engine bay for stuff but I was crossing my fingers I could find a way to get some heat to the oil pan which is safe enough to not start a fire.

Vreimann · 01-31-2013, 07:19 AM

So it has been a little on the colder side this winter getting down to -35C overnight and daytime highs of around -26C.

I have the top grill portion fully covered as best as I can. What I have been logging for highway/city driving is that even with the top grill covered, once below -27C, the coolant will not get to its normal setpoint temperature.

Still amazed how easy the car starts and warms up.

TDIwyse · 02-01-2013, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vreimann

So it has been a little on the colder side this winter getting down to -35C overnight and daytime highs of around -26C.

I have the top grill portion fully covered as best as I can. What I have been logging for highway/city driving is that even with the top grill covered, once below -27C, the coolant will not get to its normal setpoint temperature.

Still amazed how easy the car starts and warms up.

-10 F (-23 C) on the drive to work this am. With top/bottom covered it didn't get up to temp either. I'm glad it has the electric heater.

One interesting thing I've noted on multiple trips this winter is if the outside temp is below 7-8F, the EGR utilization goes to 0. Did this for 4 hours of driving on Christmas day (temps ranged from -4 to +2 F), even though the coolant was up to temp most of the time. Also, when in this mode the car reads a few psi of boost under light loads which is different than when warmer. Just found that interesting . . .

Vreimann · 02-01-2013, 06:42 PM

TDI,

It could be that with cool enough intake temperatures under light to moderate loading, that NOx is very low so the EGR is not required.

01-07-2013, 08:44 AM	#25
Puerto Rican 335d Brigadier General 236 Rep 3,488 Posts Drives: Montego Blue 335d Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Puerto Rico(Dominican Republic 03/2017) iTrader: (0)	yessir! __________________ RENNtech Flash(Lenny Wu)/WAGNER IC Enkei Rajin 18"/Execuhitch Hitch/Koni FSD Soft Ride Bike Rack/Brava Synthetic Motor Oil(Made in Puerto Rico)/Meth(in the works)/CBU done w Andrew EGR Race Pipe (whoa! what an animal it is now)
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01-07-2013, 08:51 AM	#26
335dFan Jumping Jack Flash 330 Rep 1,692 Posts Drives: 2021 X3 M40i Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: California (east of Sacramento) iTrader: (0) Garage List 2021 BMW X3 M40i [0.00] 2017 Toyota Prius [0.00]	Cold Weather Starts In my old '86 Jetta diesel I had a block heater that I used when it got real cold. And it worked great for its intended purpose. There was even a pre-drilled plug for that. Guess our D doesn't have such a feature. __________________ 2021 X3 M40i: M Sport Differential, Adaptive M Suspension. Previous BMWs: 1971 BMW 2002, 1973 BMW R75/5, and 2011 BMW 335d Previous Other Vehicles: '67 Cougar, '70 911e, '86 Jetta Diesel, '05 and '12 Foresters, et al.
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01-31-2013, 07:19 AM	#28
Vreimann Private First Class 12 Rep 199 Posts Drives: N/A Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: N/A iTrader: (0)	So it has been a little on the colder side this winter getting down to -35C overnight and daytime highs of around -26C. I have the top grill portion fully covered as best as I can. What I have been logging for highway/city driving is that even with the top grill covered, once below -27C, the coolant will not get to its normal setpoint temperature. Still amazed how easy the car starts and warms up. __________________ 2011 335D
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02-01-2013, 06:42 PM	#30
Vreimann Private First Class 12 Rep 199 Posts Drives: N/A Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: N/A iTrader: (0)	TDI, It could be that with cool enough intake temperatures under light to moderate loading, that NOx is very low so the EGR is not required. __________________ 2011 335D
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