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For that are upset about the lack of coolant temp and oil temp gauges. Coolant temp gauges in all late model cars are basically idiot gauges. That's it. They're either telling you the motor is stone cold, somewhere around operating temp, or overheating. Just because an engine is warm doesn't mean the oil is warm though. There's quite a lag with oil warm up and it's very important that oil be up to temp before romping on it. This is where an oil gauge would be nice. However, since we don't have one, something like a BT scanner and Torque App allows you to gauge how long it takes the M235 to warm up. So here you go:
1) On a cold start (ie the car has sat for over 2 hours or longer) on a 35 degree day, it takes about 5 minutes of driving to get the coolant up to temp and at least 10 minutes to get the oil up to temp. If you're doing a lot coasting, it will take longer.
2) On a hot start and in those temps, it's a matter of a few minutes for full warm up.
3) In temps 20 to 30 degrees and a cold start, add 5 minutes to those numbers in bullet 1. In sub 20 degree temps, you really should avoid romping on it all together.
4) On a cold start in 60 degree weather, warm up times are about 20% quicker.
Adjust your warm up times from there depending on the type of start and ambient temp.
Those with 6mts, these trannies take quite some time to get the fluid up to temp. Don't rush the shifts in the first 10 minutes of driving a cold start. From what I'm seeing, the fluid used in the tranny is made for hard driving, thus it takes some time to get up to temp.
I can't weight in on the ZF 8AT, but my guess is the tranny ecu neuters torque (ie torque managment) until ATF fluid is up to temp. Lots of late model autos do this. Driving a cold automatic hard is very very bad.
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