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Originally Posted by bman6074
I don't doubt Bmw engineers know what there doing. But is it more expensive for a technology that makes checking the oil slower? ha ha. It's interesting why some of there models have a temp gauge and some do not. Just curious to know what the thinking is on that. My friends 335xi has a temp gauge why not the m325i being its supposedly the new enthusiast drivers car? I'm not to worried about it just always curious what the thinking is behind the decisions.
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The 335i does not have a water temperature gauge. It has an oil temperature gauge. Which is more useful in a turbo car that can get the oil much hotter. And the oil temp is not electronically managed like the water temp is. Doesn't the M235i have an oil temp readout in the cluster that you can choose to display as well?
Ultimately I will say again what I already said - a water temp gauge in a modern BMW with the electronic thermostat and electric water pump is the next best thing to useless for knowing if the car is going to overheat soon. There are many operating conditions where the computer runs the car on the verge of overheating anyway. It's more efficient that way, squeaks out a bit better fuel economy by not chucking heat energy out the radiator. It's the whole reason that they HAVE the electronic thermostat and electric water pump, so the temperature can be dynamically managed. The gauge would have to be damped to the point of uselessness. It would show normal right up until the point it is in fact overheating, which is exactly the same thing the light does. I do concede that it would be nice to know when the engine is up to operating temp, but realistically just waiting for 10 minutes drive time to hammer the thing is more than sufficient.
As for the dipstick, if you are going to have an electronic oil quantity/quality sensor for the CBS anyway, why bother with a dipstick? It's one more thing to break, and a potential evaporative emissions leak point. Good riddance, I say. And with these engines holding nearly 8 quarts of oil, the exact level is not exactly critical anyway. Drive it until the computer tells you to add a quart, dump it in, and you are good to go.