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Coolant temp gauge replaced with oil temp
- Thread starter MR_Y
- Start date
MR_Y
Well-known member
Sheldon13 said:
Regarding coolant temperature, Niccol Louw from Car Mag did a podcast with 702 a few months back.
Cars with coolant temp gauge have "hysteresis" built into the guage.
This means that short-term erratic fluctuations are ignored (needle stays fixed), but only sustained/long-term swings are shown.
Hysteresis can be a dynamic lag between an input and an output that disappears if the input is varied more slowly
yush1 said:
That is the oil temp gauge (look at the little oil tin can picture in the gauge).
My point is that everyday people care more about coolant temp, rather than oil temp.
Older (non M) BMWs have coolant gauges, not oil temp gauges.
You cannot rely on oil temp to tell you how hot your coolant is.
In a diesel car, I appreciate that an oil temp gauge has some value, given that you need the oil temp to be at optimum temp before you can start using the performance. For everyday petrol cars, this is not a real issue (unless, you have an M Car).
graan13
Active member
S1NGH 911 said:MR_Y said:
It takes less than a minute to view the coolant temp via the hidden obc menu
How exactly is that done? had a look at some youtube vids but not found one that is very good at the explanation? Would love to know as I feel that a coolant temp gauge or even just a degree display would be very useful - even if it meant just pressing the stalk for the obc like looking at fuel consumption or outside temp.
Howzit guys.
Just to add my 2c (take it or leave it)
I read somewhere a while ago that the oil temp is more accurate than using water temp to check the temp of the engine itself. Not sure if it still is nowadays but back a few years, as engine oil was only circulated in the block and not through coolers and junk, that was a more accurate reading.
Coolant can vary in temperature between the block, thermostat, and radiator, oil cannot.
Correct me if im wrong but oil temp makes more sense to me.
Just to add my 2c (take it or leave it)
I read somewhere a while ago that the oil temp is more accurate than using water temp to check the temp of the engine itself. Not sure if it still is nowadays but back a few years, as engine oil was only circulated in the block and not through coolers and junk, that was a more accurate reading.
Coolant can vary in temperature between the block, thermostat, and radiator, oil cannot.
Correct me if im wrong but oil temp makes more sense to me.
MR_Y
Well-known member
I dropped Nicol Louw (Car Mag technical editor) a Tweet and was surprised that he responded so quickly.
His response:
"Hi both temperatures are important and actually give you the same answer. I prefer oil as it is closer to the moving components and better informs about warm-up time. 90 degree for coolant and below 120 for oil generally."
He also confirmed that both readings are positively correlated, so they move in tandem.
His response:
"Hi both temperatures are important and actually give you the same answer. I prefer oil as it is closer to the moving components and better informs about warm-up time. 90 degree for coolant and below 120 for oil generally."
He also confirmed that both readings are positively correlated, so they move in tandem.
