Lights on the Tacho

[David-H]

Got my ///M Coupe yesterday and noticed on the way home that the tacho had some illuminated orange and red lights at the high end of the scale. Today, whilst fiddling about getting an iPod to work through the Aux input, I saw that the number of orange lights were greater, going down to the 5500 mark. Can someone please give me a clue what these are for? :?

 

[Adamski]

When you start form cold, you're not supposed to rev into the redline. As the oil warms up, you can start revving higher.

Normally I wait until the last lights go out before revving over 2.5k revs....

It's all in the manual :wink:

 

[David-H]

When you start form cold, you're not supposed to rev into the redline. As the oil warms up, you can start revving higher.

Normally I wait until the last lights go out before revving over 2.5k revs....

It's all in the manual :wink:

Thanks for that Adam.

BTW, is there a specific manual for the M? (I have the generic Z4 one)

 

[-Tom-]

There should be extra booklets in the folder which explain about the brakes, exhaust etc, pointing out the differences

The wording in the last pic always makes me laugh

 

[Adamski]

When you start form cold, you're not supposed to rev into the redline. As the oil warms up, you can start revving higher.

Normally I wait until the last lights go out before revving over 2.5k revs....

It's all in the manual :wink:

Thanks for that Adam.

BTW, is there a specific manual for the M? (I have the generic Z4 one)

Yeah as Tom has posted - there's a supplement, with differences between standard Z4, and our variant.

The tacho lights start up with (I think) 5k as the redline. As the oil warms up, the lights go out one at a time as you continue driving, stretching the redline to 8k rpm

There's a lot to take in. I wouldn't use sport mode until you're used to the new/brutal power delivery

 

[Bing]

I find the lights go out very fast - much faster than the oil heats up. Also, I don't believe they act as a limiter on the engine, they're only a visual warning, right ? Normal operating temperature for the oil is 80 to 95 degrees C, so I don't go over 3k revs until it's at least 85 degrees. PVR brain washed me on my first drive I the car, and I actually don't go over 2,000 revs until the engine is at least 75 degrees

 

[pvr]

PVR brain washed me on my first drive I the car, and I actually don't go over 2,000 revs until the engine is at least 75 degrees

Indeed, and how much oil did you have to add to the engine? It makes the difference between an oil user and one that is not ...

 

[Adamski]

Looks like there's a 5.5k rev limiter when stationary. Never knew that :?

 

[pvr]

Looks like there's a 5.5k rev limiter when stationary. Never knew that :?

Not at the weekend Tesco car park meets then?

 

[InductionRoar]

I find the lights go out very fast - much faster than the oil heats up. Also, I don't believe they act as a limiter on the engine, they're only a visual warning, right ? Normal operating temperature for the oil is 80 to 95 degrees C, so I don't go over 3k revs until it's at least 85 degrees. PVR brain washed me on my first drive I the car, and I actually don't go over 2,000 revs until the engine is at least 75 degrees

I find this quite an interesting topic.

I always (once I am on the main road which is a 30 mph) change up at 3,000 RPM until the engine temperature is up to 90 degrees and this is purely from a mechanically sympathetic point of view. I appreciate there are no wrongs or rights but my rationale was that it is more detrimental to an engine to have too few RPMs whilst under load than too many (within reason - I am clearly not advocating high RPMs on a cold engine).

Therefore a second at 3,000 RPM prior to changing up seems less detrimental to me than changing up at 2,000 RPM as the next gear would IMO mean the RPMs are too low whilst under load (our cars aren't exactly lightweights) unless going downhill. The gearbox seems to take an age to warm up and seems to appreciate those few extra revs for a smoother change.

Anyways, this was not to cause any offence or say "my way is right" etc just offering a differing viewpoint. I think realistically the way any of us treat our cars is 100% better than the general public and will not cause any problems at all. :driving:

 

[Adamski]

You've never asked me to you join you at one of your weekend Tesco car park meets pvr? oke: So, no. Haven't been to one 8)

 

[David-H]

Downloaded the Supplementary Owner's Manual for the Z4MR / Z4MC which apparently wasn't included in the sale when Toby bought it from Halliwell Jones in March this year. It does make things a little clearer! :lol:

 

[CornishRob]

I find the lights go out very fast - much faster than the oil heats up. Also, I don't believe they act as a limiter on the engine, they're only a visual warning, right ? Normal operating temperature for the oil is 80 to 95 degrees C, so I don't go over 3k revs until it's at least 85 degrees. PVR brain washed me on my first drive I the car, and I actually don't go over 2,000 revs until the engine is at least 75 degrees

I find this quite an interesting topic.

I always (once I am on the main road which is a 30 mph) change up at 3,000 RPM until the engine temperature is up to 90 degrees and this is purely from a mechanically sympathetic point of view. I appreciate there are no wrongs or rights but my rationale was that it is more detrimental to an engine to have too few RPMs whilst under load than too many (within reason - I am clearly not advocating high RPMs on a cold engine).

Therefore a second at 3,000 RPM prior to changing up seems less detrimental to me than changing up at 2,000 RPM as the next gear would IMO mean the RPMs are too low whilst under load (our cars aren't exactly lightweights) unless going downhill. The gearbox seems to take an age to warm up and seems to appreciate those few extra revs for a smoother change.

Anyways, this was not to cause any offence or say "my way is right" etc just offering a differing viewpoint. I think realistically the way any of us treat our cars is 100% better than the general public and will not cause any problems at all. :driving:

Yep I never go above 3k until it's upto 90 degrees, but agree a few more revs should be used if needed rather than to labour the engine in the wrong gear to keep the revs down when cold.

However saying that, the motor is powerful so doubt you will need to rev much over 3k rpm to not labour the engine. I never find it a problem anyway.

Mine doesn't use a drop of oil either!

 

[InductionRoar]

I find the lights go out very fast - much faster than the oil heats up. Also, I don't believe they act as a limiter on the engine, they're only a visual warning, right ? Normal operating temperature for the oil is 80 to 95 degrees C, so I don't go over 3k revs until it's at least 85 degrees. PVR brain washed me on my first drive I the car, and I actually don't go over 2,000 revs until the engine is at least 75 degrees

I find this quite an interesting topic.

I always (once I am on the main road which is a 30 mph) change up at 3,000 RPM until the engine temperature is up to 90 degrees and this is purely from a mechanically sympathetic point of view. I appreciate there are no wrongs or rights but my rationale was that it is more detrimental to an engine to have too few RPMs whilst under load than too many (within reason - I am clearly not advocating high RPMs on a cold engine).

Therefore a second at 3,000 RPM prior to changing up seems less detrimental to me than changing up at 2,000 RPM as the next gear would IMO mean the RPMs are too low whilst under load (our cars aren't exactly lightweights) unless going downhill. The gearbox seems to take an age to warm up and seems to appreciate those few extra revs for a smoother change.

Anyways, this was not to cause any offence or say "my way is right" etc just offering a differing viewpoint. I think realistically the way any of us treat our cars is 100% better than the general public and will not cause any problems at all. :driving:

Yep I never go above 3k until it's upto 90 degrees, but agree a few more revs should be used if needed rather than to labour the engine in the wrong gear to keep the revs down when cold.

However saying that, the motor is powerful so doubt you will need to rev much over 3k rpm to not labour the engine. I never find it a problem anyway.

Mine doesn't use a drop of oil either!

Nice to see we all treat our pride and joys the same When I said about 3,000 RPM I wasn't suggesting that it would labour at that engine speed rather that it may if you changed up at 2,000-2,500 as the revs could be too low in the next gear maybe 1,500 RPM. I always try and be slow and smooth with the gearchange until warm so the revs drop slightly more than usual between gearchanges which could compound the problem (if there was one) particularly if you are going uphill.

No discernible oil usage mind you it is only about 3,500 miles between changes.

 

[Adamski]

To be fair - with a straight 6 engine (perfect primary and secondary balance) - you'd need to be running pretty low rpm to labour the S54 engine

 

[Bing]

The only issue with short shifting at about 2,000 RPM is that you have to change up very soon after the last change. Once you're at 40 you can put it in 5th and just cruz... On a 40mph road, natch

Of course when it's at temperature I drive in a manner calculated to please my ears and my fun centre-linked internal g-sensor :driving:

I've actually found that early in the morning on the way to work the discipline chills me out significantly - I start my day at a nice steady pace every time and I have to concentrate more, because I simply can't get in the car and be rushed from the first second... As a result my journey feels much more enjoyable and I am less stressed. Go figure :idunno:

 

[KevinC]

Where can I download that slim vertical-folding supplement thing? I just poked around the interwebs but couldn't find it. It's different than what we got in the USA.

 

[-Tom-]

Where can I download that slim vertical-folding supplement thing? I just poked around the interwebs but couldn't find it. It's different than what we got in the USA.

If you can't find a download I'll scan it so it is decent quality for you ...

 

[David-H]

Where can I download that slim vertical-folding supplement thing? I just poked around the interwebs but couldn't find it. It's different than what we got in the USA.

http://www.bmwforum.gr/bmwmanuals/Z4_M_CoupeRoadster_E85.pdf