Temp above 210 in stop and go?

[Rupes]

My temp gauge goes a tick above the 210 mark in stop and go traffic, even on a cold day (40 degrees). Once I start moving at highway speeds it dips back just below the 210 mark. Normal?

[dpgfunk]

mine does that too

[roastbeef]

Mine will stay just below 210. If I'm charging up a mountain, it will go just above 210.
On a hot day, it stays right at 210. I think it's just going to depend on your environment.

[Candide13]

Originally Posted by Rupes

My temp gauge goes a tick above the 210 mark in stop and go traffic, even on a cold day (40 degrees). Once I start moving at highway speeds it dips back just below the 210 mark. Normal?

Completely normal. Count yourself lucky that the gauge actually shows the temperature movement, as most temperature gauges in modern cars purposefully do not show these fluctuations so as to not make the driver nervous..

The temperature reading on a cool track day will go up to 230-240 and stay there.

[tinman831]

I have never seen my car in stop and go traffic heat up past the 210 mark when its that cold out side. Only when its above 100 outside during the summer.

[besiktas]

normal.

just make sure you do your oil changes on time. I realized on track, the age of oil significantly effects temp.

[Rupes]

Originally Posted by besiktas

normal.

just make sure you do your oil changes on time. I realized on track, the age of oil significantly effects temp.

Oil was last changed around 4k miles ago. Will be doing a track event soon. Would you suggest doing an oil change before or after the event?

[dparm]

Originally Posted by Rupes

Oil was last changed around 4k miles ago. Will be doing a track event soon. Would you suggest doing an oil change before or after the event?

After. And you can go well past 4k safely. 7500 should not be a problem even if you occasionally take it to the track.

I wouldn't worry about oil temps until you start seeing closer to 300 F for long periods.

[besiktas]

Originally Posted by Rupes

Oil was last changed around 4k miles ago. Will be doing a track event soon. Would you suggest doing an oil change before or after the event?

4k miles is ok. go to track have your fun, then change the oil around 10k.

I realized that at the track a new 1k old oil vs ~10k oil made about 10F temp.

I change oil every 13k or 1 year, regardless i track or not. I have seen oil reports that showed me 15k miles for our oil is ok. just make sure to have oil close to max mark and carry a spare quart in the trunk.

At track the temp goes 3/4 the way of the gauge, just do a cool down lap, for brakes and engine. maybe leave at idle so it comes back to 210F before you turn off. but if you do a nice cool down lap the temp will come down quickly so you dont have to worry

[grantmax]

On hot days my e46 M3 would do this. It was never a real concern. If it starts pushing the upper limits though (like mine did towards the end), you should get your cooling system checked.

[Edward]

Pretty normal on a hot day in traffic because you're not getting air into the bumper intakes to the oil cooling fins.

During very hard driving you should easily be able to hit 230-240. I spent 4 minutes last week up on Mulholland in the 5700-8300 range and I hit 240 very quickly. Thing is though that it cools off pretty quickly too.