My morning drive is:

.3 miles of neighborhood road, very gingerly, never exceeding 2000 RPM or about 30 MPH or so.
.5 miles of rural 2-lane. Shift peaks limited to 2500 RPM and speeds to 45-50 MPH.
Usually a traffic light stop maximum of 3 min. This morning it was about a minute.
About .5 more miles of rural highway before the on ramp for I-85.

75C is achieved less than a mile up the interstate. All temps are fully stabilized a few min/miles later.

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

That sounds consistent with my experience. Like I said, if I get on the highway it heats up fast but in stop and go driving it can easily be 10 minutes or more until the gauge gets to 75-78C when the outside temps are down below freezing.

__________________
Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

I usually warm the car at idle for 30 sec. or so before starting out. I live in the country so my speed is 45-55 mph from the start. So for me 5 min. is about 4 miles.

__________________

Muleears
'07 E320 Bluetec 133K my DD
'04 Jaguar XJ8 VDP, 34K
'10 Hyundai Accent 60K Grocery Getter
'02 VW Golf soon to be on the road again
'97 E300 Diesel Son's DD
'61 VERY tolerant wife

Hampton Roads, VA USA

Gone but not forgotten:
'67 250S 95K
'86 300SDL
'87 300D Turbo, 364K! R.I.P.
'98 E300 Turbodiesel, 213K
'02 S420, 164K
'01 Prius 138K

I must admit I never let the car just idle after starting. I usually start it and go. I've tested mine out and left it outside when it was below zero out overnight. Gone out the next morning and with the outside temp reading -5F and it fired right up like it was 70 out. Never used the block heater either, ever. Just put it in gear and drove off. It is very sluggish and clackety at that temp though and I don't rev it above 2000-2500 until the temp needle moves off the peg.

__________________
Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

If I didn't have a bad GP, I wouldn'd let it idle at all. I just want it running on all 6 before I take off.

One thing I thought of, and this is just a theory, is that covering the charge cooler might speed warm up because the engine will ingest air that is warmed somewhat by the turbo. I know mine runs up to 15-20 PSI with hardly any demand from the throttle. Over 1 atm should about double the heat available in the intake air.

If you're not demanding the absolute last drop of performance out of your engine in the winter, this may help.

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

I've found that if I leave my climate control on from the night before and let it kick on when the engine reaches 100*F or whatever temp it lets the heat kick on, it takes substantially longer for the car to warm up to operating temp, like an extra five or ten minutes or so. I live about 1.5 miles from my school and if I leave the heat off, it'll get to around 65-70*F in the five minutes it takes to go that 1.5 miles. With the heat kicking on when the engine temp sensor allows it to, it won't make it past the 60*C mark. Try leaving the heat off for a few minutes to allow the engine to build up some heat and see if that makes a difference. Of course, this is with a 617. Your experience may differ.

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Seth

1984 300D 225K
1985 300D Donor body
1985 300D Turbo 165K. Totaled. Donor Engine. It runs!!!
1980 300SD 311K My New Baby.
1979 BMW 633csi 62K+++? Dead odo