How long do I warm up a 95 740i before driving away?

["Stephen Robinson" <stever@xxxxxxxxx>]

I've been wondering about this...I get in my car in the morning and don't
even give it more than a couple of seconds or so to warm up before driving
off.  Am I doing any damage to my engine?  Does it REALLY need to warm up
for 30 seconds or so?  I even do this with my 88 911 alot.  What's the
deal?  You're collective wisdom has helped my out immeasurably in the past.

(WOB)  Lastly, I've had a problem with noisy fans on the face vents for 4
months now and was told it could take hours and hours to replace the
stepper motors for the center face vents, and that it could be very
expensive...in labor.  I finally took the car in to Excluservice in
Rockville, Md and was quite nervous about a large repair bill - they had
the car for 2 days and were preparing me for the worst (they could have
really taken advantage of me - I was desperate to have this annoying noise
fixed and was willing to pay alot to have it done if necessary).  I ended
up getting out of there far below the estimate of $400 or more they
initially gave me (around $320 plus 10% off for the BMWCCA discount) -
these guys are great.  I wouldn't trade up to a Mercedes (alright - I admit
it, I was looking at a used S600 Coupe the other day... WOW are they
expensive! - even used)  as I couldn't find a great repair place that only
does Mercedes that's not a dealer  (I hate the dealers - they usually have
an attitude and cost a lot more).
Happy in Silver Spring and wondering about how long I need to warm up my
740i before driving off...
Steve Robinson
1995 740i
1988 911

------------------------------