Coolant/Oil temperatures .... are these ok?

J

johnsi02

Member
 Glasgow
Hello,
Bit of advice needed. I've just taken delivery of a beautiful 2011 E89 30i sDrive. The old four-pot E85 has been sold after three years of fun ownership.
The new car's a cracker. I'll post some pictures when I get chance.
This is the first in-line six I've had since my old 5 Series 523SE.
I'm based in Glasgow where it's been colder than the North Pole since I picked the car up. It was -11c at home yesterday morning.
The car's running really well but the oil temperature gauge isn't sitting quite where I expected even after a spirited run. I'm wondering if it's my expectation that's the problem here? I sort of expected it to get to the traditional BMW 'vertical' position. See the picture.
I hooked up my little Creator code reader this morning and had a look at the live engine data stream figures. This was immediately after a 25 minute drive including a mix of motorway and urban driving. The outside temperature was a balmy -2.5c.
The oil temperature was 100.7c.
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The coolant was 95.25c.
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Do these seem ok to those in the N52 know?
 

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I've only got the 4 pot 2.0l, but that's about where mine sits (when it eventually gets there :D )
 
I’d say that perfectly normal, you may find the temperature rises slightly in the summer if you are driving spiritedly.
 
=1 above.I have the same car as you and my temps are the same sometimes a little higher in the summer.
 
125c would be fairly warm... As an example my M gets up to 125 on a trackday, but very rarely past 100 on the road....
 
Interesting that in the manual it says:

'Normal operating temperature: the pointer is located in the centre of the temperature display'.

Looks like the people who wrote the manual didn't talk to the people who built the engines :D :D :D

Thanks again for the replies.
 
Anything over 100 is perfect for driving out moisture.
This time of year 7 miles to my works the temp. barely gets above 85.
I need a good run at least once a week to get it above 100.
Never seen it go above 120 on this "hottest year" :roll:
 
That's normally where mine sits (2016 2.0i) if I push it, it'll stay around there on a, constant motorway run it'll sometimes go to just below 120.

Someone here said that it's normal for the temp to go up for greater fuel efficiency.

From my own experience running it on momentum or v-power she seems to run hotter than using Sainsbury's 97 RON
 
I read somewhere the higher octane is a slower burning fuel, so would it run cooler.
Or are we/you just flooring it more?

I think the reason BMW engines seem to have sooty exhaust and burn oil, larger clearance on start to allow it to run ultimately at higher temperatures.
Reason they use electric water pump, better control.

This BMW other than RX7, is the only car i have owned that burns oil.
 
Remember this is oil temp NOT coolant temp. Oil temp does not accurately reflect the true operating temp of the engine, It takes a lot longer to get hot (and can get hotter than the coolant, depending on the coolant system pressure) and longer to cool down than the water in the cooling system.....
 
flybobbie said:
I read somewhere the higher octane is a slower burning fuel, so would it run cooler.
Or are we/you just flooring it more?
Click to expand...

I'd never thought about that, if I use cheaper/lower RON fuel its usually because I've gone out without my wallet and keep an emergency few quid in the glovebox to top up the tank and get me home (had the chip go on a bank card once so carry cash when driving) so I'd be driving like miss daisy until I can fill up properly.

I'd hate to think how bad I'd be with range anxiety on an electric car
 
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