Weird asterisk in dash

Hey guys this morning I got up and it was real cold out, and after I started my car and went a little bit I got this dingy sound and a large asterisk symbol on teh dash. What is that??

Ahhh, the first snow flake sighting of the year. It means that it was less than 38 outside, so be warned of possible black ice. N4S

It's that time of year again....

asterisks, snowflakes, whatevers

Asterisk?

I think y'all just got punk'd....

It's a Moose warning.

Great... Now brace yourselves for a few more Angel Eyes posts.

Originally Posted by 3.1L Z

It's a Moose warning.

Wrong...that's the "antler" symbol. Everyone in NH, Maine knows that.

Originally Posted by need4speed

Ah the first snow flake sighting of the year. It means that it was less than 38 outside, so be warned of possible black ice. N4S

I'm wondering if the BMW "asterisk" calculates that the temperature is declining when the symbol appears and chime goes off. Last time that I checked, ice doesn't form at 38 deg. F.

Originally Posted by pointandgo

I'm wondering if the BMW "asterisk" calculates that the temperature is declining when the symbol appears and chime goes off. Last time that I checked, ice doesn't form at 38 deg. F.

My guess is any engineer who works at the FIZ and has been caught on some of the roads in southern Germany and northern Austria has figured out that if he can get the chains on his tires before temps reach 0°C, it's much easier and a lot less wear and tear on the knuckles.

It's a word problem:

It takes Franz 7 minutes per wheel to put the chains on his E92. If the temperature is dropping at 0.12 degrees per minute, at what temperature must Franz begin installing chains to get them on the car before the temperature reaches 0°C?

Originally Posted by Nordic_Kat

My guess is any engineer who works at the FIZ and has been caught on some of the roads in southern Germany and northern Austria has figured out that if he can get the chains on his tires before temps reach 0°C, it's much easier and a lot less wear and tear on the knuckles.

It's a word problem:

It takes Franz 7 minutes per wheel to put the chains on his E92. If the temperature is dropping at 0.12 degrees per minute, at what temperature must Franz begin installing chains to get them on the car before the temperature reaches 0°C?

NK,
Noted, but my take on Munich's programming of the "asterisk" warning is that it will only appear after a "least squares" calculation of temp...after one hour of numbers crunching (temp calcs)...and only after arriving at an R-squared factor of at least .70. I could be wrong.

Originally Posted by pointandgo

I'm wondering if the BMW "asterisk" calculates that the temperature is declining when the symbol appears and chime goes off. Last time that I checked, ice doesn't form at 38 deg. F.

If its below 38F at the sensor, it could be sub-32F nearby with little to no warning. The idea of warning beforehand tends to work a little better than after you've slid into the oncoming lane...

These lights on the dash are so confusing......

Like this one that keeps coming on:

Also a strange clicking that seems to accompany

Originally Posted by laser

These lights on the dash are so confusing......

Like this one that keeps coming on:

Also a strange clicking that seems to accompany

Weird, I have an arrow that comes on too, only it points in the opposite direction. Do you think that whatever's causing this arrow to light up got installed backwards in my car?

Originally Posted by SD Z4MR

Weird, I have an arrow that comes on too, only it points in the opposite direction. Do you think that whatever's causing this arrow to light up got installed backwards in my car?

I get both arrows. They are intermittent; ie sometimes left pointing, sometimes right. There seems to be a slight correlation with which way my wheels are pointed. Is this something that is covered by warranty? Should I have my dealer check it out?

Originally Posted by Nordic_Kat

I get both arrows. They are intermittent; ie sometimes left pointing, sometimes right. There seems to be a slight correlation with which way my wheels are pointed. Is this something that is covered by warranty? Should I have my dealer check it out?

Sometimes mine both come on at the same time! When this happens, there is also a bright red light flashing on the dash.

My dealer says it's normal, but he was laughing so I'm not sure he was serious.

anyone else suffering from orange-y glowing mysterious alphanumeric characters (mostly alpha, irrc) that show up in the rear view mirror. they tend to morph into other alphanumeric characters every time the car changes direction. weird.

Odd. I think I need a DIY guide on figuring out how to fix that Rumbling noise when I push the start button. It's definitely strange.

I always thought that the asterisk lights up on the dash when the AC is on.

Originally Posted by pointandgo

I'm wondering if the BMW "asterisk" calculates that the temperature is declining when the symbol appears and chime goes off. Last time that I checked, ice doesn't form at 38 deg. F.

Ture, but on a bridge, over pass or in a shady area of the road the air temp may be 38, but the road temp can be below 32. Why did BMW chose 38 as their warning point? Who knows, it ranks up there with run flat tires, not ready for prime time hpfp and the euro beek nose (I actually do know this one) as unknowable BMW quirks. N4S

I have the same problem with my lights and they frustrate me. What's worse, when I get angry about it and hit the middle of the steering wheel, it makes a terrible noise. Very loud.

Originally Posted by pointandgo

I'm wondering if the BMW "asterisk" calculates that the temperature is declining when the symbol appears and chime goes off. Last time that I checked, ice doesn't form at 38 deg. F.

Ice doesn't form at a temperature of 38 degrees, but it can certainly form on a road surface that drops below the air temperature.

Posit a situation where it is a 38 degree night, crystal clear, with no wind. The road is radiating IR in all directions. In most directions, there is an object of similar temperature radiating IR back at it. But, we've said it's a clear night. The road is radiating IR towards the clear sky, but is receiving no IR from the (approx) -450 degree section of interstellar space in the opposing direction. The road loses temperature continually, dropping below the freezing point even though the air around it is several degrees above freezing. The effect is especially pronounced on bridges and overpasses. It's also why you first see frost warnings in the fall on clear nights, but not on cloudy ones.

You can do a demonstration with your car's front and rear glass to show the effect. Park the car so that there are branches with leaves above the rear glass, but nothing above the windshield. You will often find that frost or dew will form on the glass exposed to the sky, but not on the glass shaded by the leaves, as they are radiating back at the glass, while the exposed surface has dropped below the dew point / freezing point.

The reverse is the case during the day. The air temperature may be below freezing, but the portion of the road looking at the 10,000 degree ball of fusing hydrogen in the sky is raised significantly above freezing.

FWIW,
George

Every time that asterisk illuminates I get a nasty kink in my Hofmeister.