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      09-21-2019, 01:39 PM   #1
jasrboyd
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How accurate is the temperature reading

The temp on the main dash board isn’t accurate causing my ventilated and heated seats to always delay coming on automatically. Can anyone tell me if they’ve noticed the temp reading on the main dash to be inaccurate? Thank you.
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      09-21-2019, 01:44 PM   #2
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My displayed temp (and actually the temp in previous cars) has always been within a degree or two of the local GPS temp on my phone. I'm not sure if BMW has an actual thermometer now, or uses this transmitted reading.
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      09-21-2019, 01:49 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paladin1 View Post
My displayed temp (and actually the temp in previous cars) has always been within a degree or two of the local GPS temp on my phone. I'm not sure if BMW has an actual thermometer now, or uses this transmitted reading.
It must have an actual thermometer because it tends to read way higher than actual temp when I first get in after baking in the lot all day, like 110 when it’s actually 98. It’s thankfully never been anywhere close to 110 here. Once air starts to cool off the sensor and surrounding body it cools down to very close to actual.
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      09-21-2019, 01:52 PM   #4
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The car temp reading accurate, matching iPhone reading +/- a degree, but the weather app is always off by 4-6 degrees.
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      09-21-2019, 01:54 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by maczrool View Post
It must have an actual thermometer because it tends to read way higher than actual temp when I first get in after baking in the lot all day, like 110 when it’s actually 98. It’s thankfully never been anywhere close to 110 here. Once air starts to cool off the sensor and surrounding body it cools down to very close to actual.
That makes sense. Most of my other cars had the sensor somewhere insulated from the engine bay, but did register high for a time in hot weather. Haven't had a lot of experience with this one yet; I would guess it's equivalent accuracy.
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      09-21-2019, 02:08 PM   #6
jasrboyd
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The weather app in my X5 for example reads 85 and the temp on the dash reads 75.
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      09-22-2019, 03:04 PM   #7
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The given ambient temp is based on the location of the thermometer's location. Where I live, the official local temperature is based on the thermometer located at the airport. But that doesn't mean that ambient temps at other locations around the city aren't higher or lower. In fact, the temperature in the heart of the urban core is probably hotter due to the "heat island" of the buildings and streets.

If I have a thermometer on my patio that is facing south and the sun has been blasting the concrete for a couple of hours...and it reads 90° F...if I go stand under the big oak tree in the back yard and take a thermometer with me...more than likely it will not read the same 90°. Does that make the temp taken on the patio wrong? (NO). Or if I walk around to the north side of the house and take the ambient temp from the porch which has also been in the shade all day...the temp will probably not (again) read 90° F, either.

If your car's ambient temp sensor is located underneath the car near a concrete or asphalt parking lot...then it is more than likely to read higher than the temp reading from a thermometer not located that close to the ground and radiant heat.

If it is 90° F outside and you come back to your car that has been parked in the sun after 8 hours of work...do you expect the interior of your car to be 90° F? No...but you've adjusted mentally that the interior has been affected by radiant heat...so give your car's ambient temp sensor the same benefit of the doubt. It, too is likely to be several degrees off from some anonymous local temp reading...it is reading the temp from where it is located.
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      10-22-2023, 08:39 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jasrboyd View Post
The temp on the main dash board isn’t accurate causing my ventilated and heated seats to always delay coming on automatically. Can anyone tell me if they’ve noticed the temp reading on the main dash to be inaccurate? Thank you.
The outside temperature reading in my 2022 X5 can be 15 degrees off even after I have been driving for an hour. Took it to the dealer and they said it was reading within 10 degrees that day, that they could find nothing wrong, and that BMW says being 5-10 degrees off is within their normal accuracy. The accuracy on my non-BMW vehicles now and in the past has been within 5 degrees. It is worthless at this point and turns automatic heating and cooling on at the wrong time. Anyone had a similar experience?
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      10-22-2023, 03:08 PM   #9
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The temp sensor is usually closer to the ground and therefore on days when the sun is beaming and the asphalt is hot, it registers significantly higher than the air temperature.
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      10-22-2023, 03:15 PM   #10
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At least in my old bmws, ambient temperature sensor is hidden in front bumper cover, not expose to any radiant or convection. They have been reasonably accurate representing ambient, which is a lot cooler than cabin in summer.
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      10-22-2023, 07:38 PM   #11
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The outside air temp sensor is behind the front grille, up high in the center.
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      10-22-2023, 08:27 PM   #12
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On mine, it takes a bit of driving for it to reach the outside temp after sitting in my garage, or sitting in the sun for things to reach the ambient...IOW, it's not representative of the outside air temperature immediately especially if the engine has been running, since what's around it that has become heat sinked, but once the vehicle has moved for a bit, it seems to match up with other outside readouts you might see on various signs you pass by. It's not an instant read device. I have noticed it changing with elevation changes, but it takes a fair change to make that occur (averages 3F/1000', give or take local conditions mostly with relative humidity unless there's an inversion or some other oddity to the locale).
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