Driving a 335i short distances harmful?

I have about a 4 mile commute to work. I sometimes ride my bike but in winter I drive my 335. I live in a moderate climate so the car is not that cold in the morning. My question is will this do any long term damage to the engine. I usually run some errands on the way home and drive longer to warm it up and it gets a good long drive on most weekends. Any precautions to take in the morning like not revving it high? Thanks for the info.

Yes, not revving it high before operating temp is reached is a very good idea.

I highly recommend buying a maintenance battery charger, whether a CTEK or Battery Tender. Hook it up to the posts under your hood. You can leave it hooked up as long as you want, or whenever it won't be used for X amount of hours, and be more regular in the winter, as colder temps makes the battery's capacity go down. It will pay itself off, I can just about guarantee you this.

I cannot answer your question, sorry, who knows though. We know that lots of cold starts is not good, but what can ya do?

Um probably ok. I would take the opportunity to define this as "rough service" and change the oil at 7,500 intervals, myself. But damage? No.

Certainly will not warm up in 4 miles if the isn't more than 10 minutes so a weekend of driving the car for an hour would be useful. Also recommend the CTEK or Deltran Battery Tender when parked at home not driven.
Should not harm the engine and if you are concerned pull an oil sample (Blackstone provides free sample bottles) and send it to Blackstone of lab of your choice to verify nothing is happening. At 7500 miles you should have sufficient total base number (TBN) which is a measure of additives to protect the oil which protects the engine. Other data is also useful like metal wear rates in ppm etc...

Originally Posted by mhw58

I have about a 4 mile commute to work. I sometimes ride my bike but in winter I drive my 335. I live in a moderate climate so the car is not that cold in the morning. My question is will this do any long term damage to the engine. I usually run some errands on the way home and drive longer to warm it up and it gets a good long drive on most weekends. Any precautions to take in the morning like not revving it high? Thanks for the info.

GarySL posted this text from your Service & Warranty Manual:

Battery Care

If your car is driven only for short distances of
less than 10 miles over a prolonged period of
time, without an occasional drive at highway
speeds, the engines charging system will not
maintain the battery. Insufficient use of the vehi-
cle could result in short term starting problems
and in the long term could damage the battery.

I did it for 7 years with my other car, about 7 mile drive. No problems with battery or other things. Oil was changed as the manual says, not more often.

0w oil won't hurt.

3.6 miles commute here so I put 0W30 in it and also spent $23 on an ELM237 to learn how quickly the coolant heats up (coolant temp should be close to engine temp).

IMO use 0W30 if you never track/ drive really hard for long. 0W40 if you'll put the engine under stress and really heat it up.

Once a year before the oil change I put Techron through all our cars. Carbon is more likely to build up in cars that do mainly city mileage; am not sure if that applies more so to short commutes.

Originally Posted by CALWATERBOY

GarySL posted this text from your Service & Warranty Manual:

Battery Care

If your car is driven only for short distances of
less than 10 miles over a prolonged period of
time, without an occasional drive at highway
speeds, the engines charging system will not
maintain the battery. Insufficient use of the vehi-
cle could result in short term starting problems
and in the long term could damage the battery.

Thanks for the info. I'll take the long way home on the twisty roads to charge the battery!

I just had to get my battery replaced. Was no longer holding a charge, only 12,000 miles. Biggest problem is that my commute is a whopping one (1) mile, and try as I might to mix in some longer distance driving when possible it's just not enough to keep the battery charged. So a timely thread, was wondering if there were any recommended battery tenders/chargers. Will check those out and pick one up. Not much I can do about my commute, and I'd rather have an hour to work out than having to drive my car around extra.

I bought a Deltron from Amazon soon after getting my car 33 months ago. I hook it up when I know the car isn't going to be driven for more than a week. Never a problem, although obviously an electrical outlet is needed for the charger. I never had the need for this with any other car, and I can't say I'm happy about it. However, having seen the cost of replacement batteries plus 'registering' (never needed that requirement on any other car either), the charger was a significant bargain.

Also - was your battery replaced under warranty?

Originally Posted by Lufthansa

Also - was your battery replaced under warranty?

Good question. Did they give you grief?

-verts really seem to suffer from this. Maybe more of us have tiny commutes? I bought the CTEK 7002 but the cheaper CTEK or this are fine for trickle charging. Mine can fully charge a flat battery quicker and has a recondition mode that apparently often gets 2->3 years more from dead batteries

Mine battery was replaced under warranty yes, but it said right on the paperwork that the computer is saying "unfavorable driving profile, too many short trips". And I never cycle the top without the engine running, specifically to avoid hitting the battery too hard knowing that I do a lot of short trips.

Originally Posted by MP3_E46

Good question. Did they give you grief?

-verts really seem to suffer from this. Maybe more of us have tiny commutes? I bought the CTEK 7002 but the cheaper CTEK or this are fine for trickle charging. Mine can fully charge a flat battery quicker and has a recondition mode that apparently often gets 2->3 years more from dead batteries

Just ordered the CTEK 7002.

Thanks guys.

Originally Posted by MP3_E46

0w oil won't hurt.

3.6 miles commute here so I put 0W30 in it and also spent $23 on an ELM237 to learn how quickly the coolant heats up (coolant temp should be close to engine temp).

IMO use 0W30 if you never track/ drive really hard for long. 0W40 if you'll put the engine under stress and really heat it up.

Once a year before the oil change I put Techron through all our cars. Carbon is more likely to build up in cars that do mainly city mileage; am not sure if that applies more so to short commutes.

Tell me more about the ELM237. do you have to have a laptop in the car or you can view it from your dash/phone/nav?

Originally Posted by spicytofu

Tell me more about the ELM237. do you have to have a laptop in the car or you can view it from your dash/phone/nav?

Any Android device is easiest. I hooked my aging Nexus One up in no time at all. Torque is a decent free app which can pull code; it worked well so I paid $5 for the full version.

Maybe there is an iPhone app.. very few technical people I know these days has an iPhone so I didn't research. In theory any Bluetooth device can work and there is likely PC software available.

You can get an ELM 237 device for less money but this one works first time for virtually everyone. Unbelievable bargain for what we get.

Attached is a random screen capture from the web.

Very timely thread. I just had my battery replaced for the third time within one year (one was the original battery). Since I only drive 4.5 miles each way it may explain the rough starts.

Originally Posted by bocabimmer

Very timely thread. I just had my battery replaced for the third time within one year (one was the original battery). Since I only drive 4.5 miles each way it may explain the rough starts.

That sounds very unusual to replace 3 batteries in a year. Have you had the car checked for anything drawing on the battery? Also have your alternator output checked. Your battery either has something drawing on it or it's not being charged properly when driving, or both.

Originally Posted by beden1

That sounds very unusual to replace 3 batteries in a year. Have you had the car checked for anything drawing on the battery?

That's probably not a bad idea. Upon reading my own post back, I realized that should have read two batteries... either way its still a lot.

Originally Posted by SteVTEC

I just had to get my battery replaced. Was no longer holding a charge, only 12,000 miles. Biggest problem is that my commute is a whopping one (1) mile, and try as I might to mix in some longer distance driving when possible it's just not enough to keep the battery charged. So a timely thread, was wondering if there were any recommended battery tenders/chargers. Will check those out and pick one up. Not much I can do about my commute, and I'd rather have an hour to work out than having to drive my car around extra.

Originally Posted by MP3_E46

Good question. Did they give you grief?

-verts really seem to suffer from this. Maybe more of us have tiny commutes? I bought the CTEK 7002 but the cheaper CTEK or this are fine for trickle charging. Mine can fully charge a flat battery quicker and has a recondition mode that apparently often gets 2->3 years more from dead batteries

Originally Posted by SteVTEC

Mine battery was replaced under warranty yes, but it said right on the paperwork that the computer is saying "unfavorable driving profile, too many short trips". And I never cycle the top without the engine running, specifically to avoid hitting the battery too hard knowing that I do a lot of short trips.

Yes, this seems to be epidemic among us low mileage cabrio owners. Mine was 3 years old, 23,000 miles and replaced under warranty the beginning of November. Also had he "unfavorable driver behavior" codes.

Yes, also now a proud owner of a CTEK unit.

Even in Winter, my 335i is cranking out cabin heat in 1 mile so the engine is warmed up pretty good by 4 miles. The only thing not warmed up in the engine would be the oil. It won't get hot enough to boil off water or other contaminants so I would go with the "rough service" shortened oil change interval.

Originally Posted by SteVTEC

Just ordered the CTEK 7002.

Thanks guys.

Now you need to figure out if you have an AGM battery or not. Someone said the white ones (like mine) are regular and AGM are black - I have not verified that.

When/ if you recondition it's best to totally disconnect the battery are reconditioning pushes the voltage very high and could damage/ shorten the life of other components.

For regular charging use the crocodile clips to the posts on the bonnet. Battery is in the back on the right - needs about three trim pieces removing to access. OEM batteries range from 70->90Ah; any will charge in a day with the 7 Amps from a CTEK 7002.

Originally Posted by jburke4689

Even in Winter, my 335i is cranking out cabin heat in 1 mile so the engine is warmed up pretty good by 4 miles. The only thing not warmed up in the engine would be the oil. It won't get hot enough to boil off water or other contaminants so I would go with the "rough service" shortened oil change interval.

My oil temp in the morning is going up to about 180 and I take a longer route home and it gets to about 200. At what temp will it boil off water and contaminants? Thanks.

Originally Posted by spicytofu

Tell me more about the ELM237. do you have to have a laptop in the car or you can view it from your dash/phone/nav?

I have a Kiwi Plex connected via bluetooth to my Android phone running Torque. Tons of engine data, pull codes and customize screens. I have a screen set up with coolant temp and GPS speed.

I've moved the Kiwi to my mom's Volvo to pull a code and the internet to interpret it and buy the part.

The Kiwi Plex costs quite a bit more, but it is made by tech geeks and built in the U.S.. I thought it worth the extra coin.

Originally Posted by MP3_E46

Now you need to figure out if you have an AGM battery or not. Someone said the white ones (like mine) are regular and AGM are black - I have not verified that.

When/ if you recondition it's best to totally disconnect the battery are reconditioning pushes the voltage very high and could damage/ shorten the life of other components.

For regular charging use the crocodile clips to the posts on the bonnet. Battery is in the back on the right - needs about three trim pieces removing to access. OEM batteries range from 70->90Ah; any will charge in a day with the 7 Amps from a CTEK 7002.

Just wanted to follow up here.

Had my SA look at the part number and it wasn't an AGM that they put in. He said he's only ever seen the part number suffix that indicates an AGM type battery on cars like the 650i maybe? So it's a regular type battery they put in our E9x's. Cold out so still using snowflake/AGM mode but will switch to regular mode when it warms up.

I can tell the difference between a fully charged and a weaker battery by the servo motor to pop the trunk. It's noticeably faster and higher pitched after fully charging the battery! It's slower and lower pitched when the battery is lower. I should dig out my old multimeter and put it across the jumpstart hookups in the engine bay so I have something a little bit more scientific.