Anyone notice how fast the cars heat up in the winter?

With past cars you'd have to wait until the temp gauge moved from its "cold" position all the way over to the left before you could hope to get any heat out of the vents. It seems that with BMWs though that I'm getting warm air from the vents within just minutes of starting the car, even before the gauge has moved. I don't know if they divert some warm air somehow or what, but its always nice. Same goes for the seat heaters. My but starts getting warm a long time before it did in my G35.

One thing is that you have an oil temp guage and the heating system uses the coolant to heat the interior of the car, the coolant will get warm much quicker then the oil, but yes it does heat up fast, most likely because it is a turbo car and gernerates a lot of heat at any time including getting up to temp!

The seat heaters are the quickest of any car I have had.

The modern BMWs use an electric coolant pump which allows the vehicle's coolant to circulate and warm up quicker than a conventional pump.

In vehicles equipped with EfficientDynamics, there are also active aerodynamics, where the slats inside the grille remain shut to allow the engine to warm up quickly, and only open when additional air is needed to cool the motor. This improves aerodynamics and reduces fuel consumption.

Uh uh guys, here's why the heater output occurs more quickly than previously: Newer cylinder head coolant passageways combined with thermostats which allow coolant flow throughout the head (until it's warmed up to the proper temperature), and pumps which are arranged to pump that quickly warming coolant to the heater core are the reason.
In years past the coolant would circulate through the 'cold' engine (block and cylinder head) and take much longer to warm up. Then the t'stat would open and the freezing cold coolant in the radiator would slug the block and the whole process would have to start over. Some thermostats today are controlled by-are you ready for this- the ECU! No longer do they just sit there dumbly expanding and contracting based on the coolant temperature. Now the ECU can precisely control the metering to help prevent overheating, etc.

I would agree, my E46 seat heaters where fast also, BMW seat heaters are very quick compared to my Lexus or Volvo, which is nice on a cold day!

Originally Posted by BerkleyBMW

The seat heaters are the quickest of any car I have had.

+1

Also nice read from DSXMachina
I was also wondering why my car heats up so quickly in the winter
My FX takes forever to warm up anything

Originally Posted by AzNMpower32

The modern BMWs use an electric coolant pump which allows the vehicle's coolant to circulate and warm up quicker than a conventional pump.

In vehicles equipped with EfficientDynamics, there are also active aerodynamics, where the slats inside the grille remain shut to allow the engine to warm up quickly, and only open when additional air is needed to cool the motor. This improves aerodynamics and reduces fuel consumption.

My 1999 528 provides cabin heat quicker than any car I ever had before. Also retains engine heat when parked longer than anything lese I ever had.

Yeah, +1 for seat heaters in Southern California - even sunny 45 degree weather I appreciate it!

My 2006 330xi had fantastic quick heat on cold mornings untill the outside temp went below about 25 degrees. The fan speed increases but blows ice cold air for about 15 minutes or more. As soon as outside temp gets above 25 degrees I can hear the electric pump run and heat is there within 1-2 minutes. any ideas what could be wrong?

Marc