[Legion5]

Originally Posted by asifali14

Sorry to bring up an old thread but would you say just driving the car in "D" mode during the break in period would be advisable? That way you don't really pass up the 5500 RPM threshold.

Let me know your thoughts.

As stated on the first page, keeping your car at low RPM will reduce engine power and engine life, this has been backed up unanimously by the best experts in auto racing. Racing an engine is the most serious test for an engine break in procedure where 1 horsepower or 1 lb/ft or an ounce of extra reliability can win or lose a race. All racing teams do the opposite of what BMW suggests. The BMW recommended procedure is designed to reduce risk, and minimize effort. It is an abysmally horrible thing to do to a car if you actually want it to perform because you can break in your car with less risk, longer life and increased power, all while driving it like you stole it.


Please see this post for clarification:

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showpos...4&postcount=19

Originally Posted by FASTTOYS

I was told by BMW that the first fluids put in the M3 had special blend to help with break in and not to run the car at high RPM or high speeds and follow BREAK IN. I was also told the most important service is to have the fluids changed at the 1200 miles service. The fluids used in our cars during this time will protect the engine for only a short time and running the engine past 5k RPM would shorten the life of the Oil which could cause harm to vital engine and differential components...

This thread is always a gold mine for good laughs whenever a dealer decides to make a statement on something.

Once again, I called up a friend from racing, one of the foremost experts in the world on engines, and got a good laugh about this.

- It is extremely unlikely (read: BS) that BMW uses a special break in oil for it's cars. Even if they did, it would be ridiculous to conclude that it would be designed for a specific break in procedure, that would actually be a terrible way to design oil.
- The most important service is to have the fluids changed at 1200 miles, but this is also at a minimum. Meaning the suggestion for how to break in the car is a horrible idea.
- Most engine oil during break in should be changed at 1200 miles or possibly less. BMW didn't design a special oil that only lasts 1200 miles. While gunning the car will mean you have to change the oil earlier, gunning the car and changing the oil early and often during the first few miles accomplishes the same thing of not damaging the engine, without being a terrible break in procedure that reduces life and power.

Let’s think about BMW who has pushed the Oil service intervals even on a M cars to 10 to 15k per year depending how it’s driven. I remember in the old days when BMW did not pay for service and they recommended oil service every 6k miles. I would think something is different with the main fluids or important for the Diff & Engine fluids to be changed for BMW to mandate a change when they could save money and push it out to your first 15k service.

Changing the fluids at 1200 miles (preferably much less) is an absolute necessity to break in any high performance engine. The fact they do what's necessary to do doesn't imply anything.

Again the proper break in procedure that is expensive and requires a lot of effort is to change your oil multiple times in 1200 mile period while gunning your engine in controlled instances (see linked thread above after red text).

The cheap, and lazy break in procedure is what BMW suggests, and it's a terrible way to break in an engine. The only goals of BMW's break in procedure are to minimize risk and effort, it's not good for the car, it's just doing the minimum not to damage it. It's actually seriously ridiculous to go out of your way to adhere to the recommended procedure. Compared to the ideal procedure you will reduce power and life, and the best possible result is that you will avoid catastrophic damage to your car which most people do a good job of doing no matter what, and by spending all that effort you will actually negate the whole point of the BMW procedure which is for is to be lazy, meaning trying to go out of your way adhere to BMW's procedure is a prime example of wasting your time. If you're going to go out of your way use the procedure that racing teams use, those actually have a benefit. Otherwise just vaguely stick to the BMW way of doing it without much thought to it and pat yourself on the back when the engine doesn't blow.