vrus

Its not a question of how much time elapses as much as what temp the oil & coolant are at.

The car operates at full power once the coolant temp reaches 80C.. By that time the engine oil temp is at full operating temp also.

You can "get on it" sooner, but the car will be operating in cold start mode until then. Typicall, I would say wait until you see 4 bars on the coolant gauge before you do WOT blasts.. and until the coolant reaches 80C dont engage in any "racing" as the car is not up to full potential.

newton22

I've literally idled my car for 18 hours once. Bad for the motor? Probably. Any apparent issues? Nah.

Just look at the cop cars who idle for extended periods of time, they do fine.

And if you wanted to ask, I idled her for 18 hours in stop and go traffic during hurricane evacuation.

ChicagoX

WOW!

How many galllons would you say you burned during this time? I'm curious to see how long I could hold out if a snow drift ate the car.


ON TOPIC: I don't even budge until the car comes out of fast idle. Spirited driving must wait 2-3 miles or until water temp is 4-5 bars.

0700700

i would generally recommend you to drive it calmly for about 3-5 miles.. do not exceed around 3000rpms... after that youre ok

Anthony 98 GTS

U live in H-town and you are worried about warming it up??

I need to move to your side of town.

0700700

fast idle being the 1200(ish)rpm when you start the engine from cold, before it drops down, right?

ChicagoX

Exactly.

0700700

thanks ChicagoX

Anthony 98 GTS

Damn Euros are going to make me convert Bars???......................

firasq87

The best way to make sure is to read your owners manual... Electronic version preferred because you can search for terms like "warm up" and the answer will be right there

400RWHP

Nice find! An almost 7 year old thread here back from the dead!

fila0220

I remember my uncle and I got into an argument over how warming up the car for too long is not recommended ( according to his Porsche booklet). He literally starts it up and goes. I don't know about that... But me personally, I start it up, wait for that initial rev drop around 15 secs, and go very gently ( about 2000-3000 rpm). I wait till the Oil temps stops blinking in the cluster (around 80c) and then I start to take the car a bit harder. I try to hit at least 5k once a day to clear those pipes. =)

Crissus

I would like to hear a technical explanation as to why it would be bad for a motor to idle it for a longer period?
Even if the oil is fully warmed up and its viscosity dropped significantly over its cold stage, the oil pressure in every mercedes engine i know of, is enough to lubricaty EVERY part of the engine that needs engine oil lubrication.
Also, idling when warmed up gives AFR 14.7 IIRC, so it isnt bad for the exhaust either...

For the question: I do it as the others, start-up, wait 10-20 seconds and then drive it gently for around 7-10km (~5-7miles) before doing any acceleration near WOT or full WOT.

pnoyworx

No need for full warm up. 10-20sec's and drive. Won't hurt your car at all.

James M

I let mine idle for about 1-2 minutes in the garage every morning then drive it slowly for the next 5-6 minutes until my temp gauge says it is at 90 degrees C.
I have seen guys not warm up and simply spank their cars and wonder why they all smoke on start-up and chew through oil. My 2003 E55 is 10 years old with 110 000km on the clock and has never once smoked and never uses a drop of oil. On a morning start-up my car jumps into life and when the oil gets to where it needs to be after about a minute the rpm's drop from around 1200 to around 900, that's when I know it is ready to be driven. I also cool my car down after multiple hard runs by keeping the engine at low rpm's doing 80-100kmph consistently on a long straight for 1-2 minutes before parking it. I have no technical data to back this up, but I have yet to own a car that smokes or uses oil.