[bluesmachine]

I've got about 400 miles on my new X3 - Alpine White with Chestnut and Siena wood with most options.

I live only 4 or 5 minutes from my job. Certainly the commute to work is a straight shot where I leave my house, drive the 3 miles and then park.

After work I do sometimes drive here or there for a swim / bike ride, etc.. but sometimes it is straight home as well.

Does that sort of short driving 'hurt' the car? The engine never truly warms up at all.

I guess I could drive more, but with a 7:25am start time at work, time is precious...

[Nahoa]

Starting off -- I really don't know anything about the situation. If it were my car, though, I'd be thinking about looking for occasional longer drive opportunities on the weekends or evenings. My thinking is that it would get the engine oil up to temp and ensure that it was distributed throughout the engine and would give the battery a chance to charge. I imagine it drains little in that short commute, but just sitting over time it might need some support. Maybe even a charger in the Winter or peak Summer heat if your longer drives are infrequent. I expect your mpg is going to be pretty bad -- then again, you shouldn't be burning much. You sound like a great candidate for a true electric car for commuting!

[Le Chef]

Why not bike to work?

[Itchywasabi]

BMW sells this model too. Intended for short commute.

[bluesmachine]

I have actually biked to work. i do triathlons and usually train in the early morning 5 am --> 6:30 or so and I sometimes have to carry school stuff - papers, projects in the car, etc.

And I do usually drive more after work so adding some trips here and there is a good option to charge up that battery.

Good stuff and thank you.

[Beyu]

I'm also curious if it's that bad to drive short distances and if there's any damage to the car other than just not being able to fully charge the battery. I live about 5-10 minutes away from my school and the reason why I drive instead of walk is because there's a very steep mile long hill that I have to go up and living in WA it's most likely raining. I never had battery problems on any of my previous cars but then again I never gave it much thought since they were leased.

[sfax]

Originally Posted by Itchywasabi

BMW sells this model too. Intended for short commute.

Where did you get this picture?!

[Bustofa]

Originally Posted by Itchywasabi

BMW sells this model too. Intended for short commute.

No, no, no. That's for a short commuter not a short commute.

[caz681]

The primary risk of frequent short drives is to your exhaust system. One of the byproducts of the cumbustion process is water, and some of that water will condense to liquid form in the exhaust system for a short period of time after the car is started and before the system gets hot enough to prevent condensation. Once the system reaches this operating temperature, the existing condensate in the exhaust pipes will be evaporated and the pipes dried out. If this process is not allowed to complete on a regular basis, that water sitting in the exhaust system for extended periods of time can cause the exhaust pipes to rust and require premature replacement.

If you haven't had a problem with this previously, and you've been doing this for years with another vehicle, then there's a good chance you won't experience it with the X3. However, vehicles warm up at different rates, so it's possible that a difference of a minute could make a big difference here.

The only other thing I can think of is potential impact on the break-in period. This is speculation on my part, but I expect that the break-in period assumes that the car reaches operating temperature for much of that time. If you're burning up break-in miles without reaching operating temperature, to be cautious, you might want to extend your break-in period.

[skier219]

Originally Posted by caz681

The primary risk of frequent short drives is to your exhaust system.

+1