Maybe I have missed this somewhere but
this morning was the first day that it's been
below freezing since I brought Mrs. Peel home.
I noticed that when I began backing out of the
garage and the outside temp gauge in the
car began to slowly drop that I suddenly heard
a little "ding" or bell sound. I looked at the
temp and it was flashing at 32 degrees F.
Then it (the flashing) stopped and the temp
gauge continued to drop as
I drove off. (It was in the upper 20's in
Tampa this a.m.)

Is this a feature to let the driver know that
it's freezing or below outside? It's only
"dinged" twice - both times when I started
her up and it was below freezing.

Thanks for any info.!
lhowlett
(Owner of Mrs. Peel)

 

Yes, your thoughts are correct. I noticed this too, and looked it up. Its a "Cold and ice alert" To tell you that the temperature is lingering around where ice begins to form on the roads. Kind of handy if you have a bad habit of taking corners way to fast without regard to the air temperature. (or so i have found anyway)

 

It does it at 37°F.

 

My 528i does it at 37 deg F as well. It's a BMW thing.

 

Thanks everyone!

Now, I know that it's nothing to
worry about. Whew!

 

Yes it's a BMW thing. Scared me the first time when it happened in the fall. I was just driving along and the temp dropped to 37 degrees. MINI made the tone and the temp started flashing - I thought it was having an electrical breakdown until I realized it probably was just warning me about the temp.

 

I still have yet to hear this chime. Has anyone else with the NAV heard the chime? Just trying to figure out if it is a programmable feature, or if it simply isn't available on cars with the NAV.

Thoughts? :???:

 

>>My 528i does it at 37 deg F as well. It's a BMW thing.

Clearly a rare treat for FL owners :smile:

 

It's actually a german autobahn thing. Bridges and overpass roads not touching the ground can begin icing up at around 37 degress F.

 

I don't want to hear the "ding". I hear the ding every time I get in the car. I am tired of the the ding. It is a constant reminder of how far away spring is here in the Great Lakes region. ding.ding.ding.ding.

 

you want to play with my ding aling my ding aling-I think that was a song :smile:

 

LOL! I'm with you. I hear the "ding" in my sleep. Where is spring?!!!


>>I don't want to hear the "ding". I hear the ding every time I get in the car. I am tired of the the ding. It is a constant reminder of how far away spring is here in the Great Lakes region. ding.ding.ding.ding.

 

Funny thing...one day away went the "ding". Should I start to sing? My head is starting to ring. What will this day bring? No, seriously I had wondered about the "ding" and found the info on 37F here on this forum earlier.....well here in Wisc. its been consistantly under 37 for some time.."When will it be Spring?" One day I noted, no more ding...the temp will flash...but no ding.....Im starting to miss the "ding"....wondering if the "ding" goes away if its colder than 37 for a prolonged period...any thoughts???...

 

>>Yes it's a BMW thing. Scared me the first time when it happened in the fall. I was just driving along and the temp dropped to 37 degrees. MINI made the tone and the temp started flashing - I thought it was having an electrical breakdown until I realized it probably was just warning me about the temp.

BMW thing BS!!! I had this feature on my 89 Ford Probe. It would bong and flash when it got to a freezing point. I know this is not a new feature on cars or that "BMW" thought of it.

 

to the person with the NAV system:

we have not heard this ding with our car --- but then again we often don't see the nav come on below 37 anyway. seems some of the systems don't work when the car first starts up below that temp...

curt

 

silkgreen Thanks for your reply and for that thought.

I thought I read other people as saying that they would hear the chime at any point that the temp went below 37F when the car was on. Did I misunderstand? Does it only chime when you first turn the car on?

Also, even though I park Molly in a garage where it is not under 37 when I start her up, when I go to a store and come back out, the NAV will start right up (mine always does - even into the single digits, thus far) and no chime. ???

...Still trying to find out why I get no chime... :???:

 

Actually -- it's neither a BMW thing nor a Ford Probe thing.

A lo-o-o-ong time ago, probably the mid-60's, I can remember listening to Gene Shepherd doing ads for the Rover 2000TC on his late-night radio show out of New York (WNEW AM and FM). One of the features he mentioned was a sensor that detected conditions that could mean icing in the road ahead.

Mark of Pemburnia

 

Another w/ Nav. I haven't heard the ding either. Must be a Nav thing. I guess we'll never hear the ding!

 

A few years ago BMW used to run an advert saying, "You may not be able to see black ice but at least in a BMW you can hear it"
Fantastic idea.