Europe German dealership news, parking heating, bigger tires, car lift

[emax]

I had a talk today with my dealership, Krah & Enders, a major BMW and other brands dealer with well a dozen of subsidiaries in south Germany. I think I have chosen a good partner with them. They have answered my questions as good as possible, and even contacted Ineos to get qualified responses.

They seem furthermore to be real car enthusiasts and not just money makers. They are very exited about the arrival of the Grenadier.

Mr. Horn, the CEO, told me, that they will offer a parking heating from start on. They are also working on a lift of the car and bigger tires, and have apparently more ideas in the pipeline.

With an investment of well 77K Euros, I will for the time being not yet opt for these mods, but this is good news as it shows me that they know what Grenadier drivers are after and that they have a serious ambition to support it and to become a prime dealership for it.

My recommendation.


No, I am by no means affiliated with Krah &Enders.

 

[CountyV8]

Hi Max is the parking heater aq fuel burning one or electrical do thy know if its a dealer fit of a factory option?

Jon

 

[emax]

I have no details yet, but will post them here asap.

I am however quite sure that this is a fuel burner. You can hardly heat this car electrically. And as far as I understood, it's a dealership fit, not a factory solution.

 

[Cavaleiro]

In terms of parking heater, this is great news and certainly a solvable challenge. Still wondering why IG doesn't offer. 

Then I count on the company Matzker, my distributor, which also brings enormous off-road experience and already optimizes / completes the Defender. If you read along here guys: Parking heater and tank expansion - gladly already with delivery. ;-)

 

[emax]

Response from Krah & Enders:

• The heating is powered by the fuel of the engine
• It is a dealership retrofit, no word about Ineos

 

[klarie]

Posted it in another thread. Was talking to Mr. Nicolas at K&E during Aufenau event.
K&E are partnering with a company fitting Webasto Parking heaters (both water and air heaters) into the vehicles.
However Kurt from Ineos told me they re consider adding an auxiliary / parking heater into the list of options from factory.

My experience - im my MB GLK 250 I had one factory fitted auxiliary water heater from Webasto. In the beginning this was a nice toy. However as it was operated by main battery - later, after 1.5 years the battery controller switched the heater off to have sufficent power remaining to start the engine. Btw at this time I was travelling a lot - up to 40tkm 24.000 mls a year and the battery should be in a good condition. Disappointing - due to this I was not being able to use the heater properly- At the end the few times before I sold the vehicle were perhaps 100 Euros per use - considering that piece was an option of 1500 euros More than 15 proper uses weren't possible. (This means preheat engine and pax area) drive off some snow from windscreen.

 

[emax]

The Krah&Enders warm water solution is around 4000 € ...

 

[Deepblue]

That’s quite a price. I’ll look out for further after market provider. Guess over time competition should have an impact on prices

 

[emax]

I wouldn't take a warm water solution. That's for sure good for the motor in six out of twelve months a year.

But I want a heater, for me, and not to snuggle the engine.

My solution is: I don't drive the two Km to the bakery to get some rolls on a cold January morning. Another thing is the significant loss of heat through the motor before something arrives inside. I prefer an air based heating which should be available around 2K € including installation.

 

[klarie]

@emax agreed. - however this is some personal topic I am in the forest or close - and sometimes all night long - when going after boars. They re sometimes at 3am /4am
and the water solution - is sufficent to heat up both engine and pax area within 20 minutes. What it needs is the auxiliary battery. So the time to leave - either success - or not - the system starts nearly silent and when I grab my prey and field dressing complete - the car is ready. and I can go off and get an cosy car. So some need it - some not.
But 4 k Euro for a Heater is quite some number. The heater is some 1500 Euros

 

[bemax]

I did mount the russian Planar (now Autoterm)

Autoterm Air /Planar 2D Ural Edition Standheizung 12V, OLED Control P

Diesel Standheizung Autoterm Air /Planar 2D 12V für Camper, Wohnmobil, Expeditionsmobil mit Höhenkit → versandkostenfrei bei tigerexped bestellen!

www.tigerexped.de

 

[ECrider]

I love a webasto or eberspacher - so far my webasto on the D4 has worked, have had experience of the other on boats. Yep need some battery volts for it but 'so far so good' as sir jim wld say. So thats about 5 winters so far for me. Would like some similar system in the IG as once or twice a week i drive very short frequent mileage - approx 1 mile each time about 10 times a day. Not great for a diesel, worse for a complete cold one (engine).

 

[emax]

> approx 1 mile each time about 10 times a day

This is not as bad as it sounds. Cabs have a similar profile, usually more than a mile, but a good dozen times a day.

The engines never get cold. All in all, it's the temperature integral that counts. And for cabs, that's high enough to get a million kilometers in a cab's lifetime. They are written off (in Germany) within five years, but many of them are in service for more than 10 years and then have almost a million kilometers under their belt. First engine, first transmission.

The reason is that they never get cold, so the oil absorbs very little water. Of course, with only one mile per lap, it's a bit different. But the crucial thing is at night, when the car is at a standstill. That's not the case with cabs, which run two shifts, each lasting 12 hours.

So the "10 times a day" is not bad. But the first trip should be longer to get the engine up to operating temperature at least once a day. If that's not possible, a water heater makes sense.

But the rest of the day is then harmless.

 

[emax]

I did mount the russian Planar (now Autoterm)

Autoterm Air /Planar 2D Ural Edition Standheizung 12V, OLED Control P

Diesel Standheizung Autoterm Air /Planar 2D 12V für Camper, Wohnmobil, Expeditionsmobil mit Höhenkit → versandkostenfrei bei tigerexped bestellen!

www.tigerexped.de

That's way cheaper than the Webasto and Eberspächer devices.

- How long do you have it now?
- How often do you use it?
- Have there been any problems or faults?

 

[ECrider]

Tks emax. Yes my problem is that the first trip from cold is about 500yards so the engine never warms up. I will have to lool after the G better as this cannot be good for any engine, but then I guess idling not great for a diesel eother

 

[emax]

I guess idling not great for a diesel eother

That's true.

 

[klarie]

From that process, - for that short distance I d either take a walk or bike.. However is there a particular reason why to use a car for that short distance?
- Don't understand the background. Of course there could be a bunch of reasons to take a car..

@ECrider any chance to use an electric heater - wall plugged like in the Nordics /Scandinavia ?
That would help and perhaps a cheaper alternative - if this is possible and can be operated inside a car port or even closed garage (no toxic emissions inside)
Anyway - even if cooling water is heated up - oil temperature is still lower. The engine is always partially heated and most certainly not at optimal operating temperature.

 

[bemax]

That's way cheaper than the Webasto and Eberspächer devices.

- How long do you have it now?
- How often do you use it?
- Have there been any problems or faults?

II bought it five years ago and built it in by myself. In the winter I use it some days a week. This weekend I drove 800 km Autobahn with the Defender and switched the heater on for some hours as the original heating systems of the Defender is more or less a joke.
Two years ago I fitted a second battery to be fearless using the heating in remoter areas while hunting at night.
It is a well known system which works fine. You find a lot reports on it in the internet. There are special kits for VW T4 and T5 as well as Defender and stand alone systems

 

[ECrider]

Good question Klarie. I hunt/shoot twice a week sept thru to 1 feb. less so rest of the year but have no choice other than use a truck. There is no alternative unfortunately.

I lived in Quebec for 14 mos so remeber plugging in the chevvy everynight. for some reason forgot about those. however not sure will work here for me due to driveway setup - will definitely give it some more thoyght though

 

[klarie]

@ECrider quite a short distance to the hunting area. I wish I had that. I need an half an hours ride (22mls) to the area where I am permitted to hunt. In Germany we have a claim (revier) system - leased by the farmers and government ground owners - for some ten years. range is 3 sqkm / approx 1.15 sqmls
Sufficient to heat up engine. But our regulations have hunting times depending on species - some like wild boar are permitted all year while others are only permitted during Sep-Jan like Red Deer - so there is always some reason to go. I seriously consider a combined solution of wall plugged heater and fuelpowered heater.
Pro - convenient. perhaps a luxury.

Con: Do I really need it? - I do not drive very short distance, (min 20mls) most winters in our area are very moderate. -1 C - 3C rarely freezing temperatures all day a few days in January -12C if at all .

Last time we had temperatures below -10C (-18C) was in 2010 -2012 so every 10 years we get some really cold winters. In other areas where some of my relatives live (Saxony / North East Bavaria - close to Czech border they get regular temperatures of below -20C and 10 inch plus snow.
But not here close to Frankfurt / Main. So is it really something that I "need" or something I want for convenience? -


My current LR Disco sport has heated front window, heated steering wheel, and all seats heated. And real quick. That was the reason I skipped the parking heater option.
Got the features because I ve got school and kindergarten in close distance. The most important topic for me is to have clear vision.
The heater is needed not to get fogged windows in the morning and avoid the risk of accident.

I didn't read of a heated windscreen on IG , if it is it equipped with this .. it would lower the need for a parking heater in my area. However if the windscreen is classic then it would count for a park heater.