Second break-in phase (1,200 - 3,100)

[fun2drv]

I'm taking my car for the 1200 mile service on Monday and I'm curious about what others have done about the "1,200 to 3,100 miles" second phase of break-in. Anyone still taking things easy until the car reaches the recommended 3,100 miles? Talk about torture!


"Between 2,000 and 5,000 km (1,200 and 3,100 miles), engine RPM can be slowly increased but speed should not exceed 220 kph (137 mph) for a longer period of time."

[NorCal f80]

I haven't taken it easy from day one, and I'll continue to do so. I know someone on here that tuned his car the day after purchase along with dyno runs.

[BuLoOoSki]

I think that's an overkill, 1200mile break-in is more than enough imho

[zackf80m]

My car had downpipes at 300 miles- dynoed at 600 miles. What's break-in again?

[NorCal f80]

Originally Posted by Zacke92m

My car had downpipes at 300 miles- dynoed at 600 miles. What's break-in again?

Do our engines REALLY have 1-20 miles (whatever it says when delivery is taken) on the motor when we get the car ----- do they do some sort of break-in at the factory?

[rubber_ducky]

Originally Posted by 0-100 nga real quick

Do our engines REALLY have 1-20 miles (whatever it says when delivery is taken) on the motor when we get the car ----- do they do some sort of break-in at the factory?

They don't do a break-in at the factory. Though there isn't a shortage of people who think that a break-in is entirely unnecessary.

[Nex]

Originally Posted by rubber_ducky

They don't do a break-in at the factory. Though there isn't a shortage of people who think that a break-in is entirely unnecessary.

From the factory tour at the Welt, I know that they rev the engine to redline for a few minutes at the end of the assembly line for a final test just before it gets loaded on to the trucks for delivery.

[MaynardZed]

4 track events since new and mine has 3300 miles. Break in period is needed more for rest of the drivetrain rather than the engine itself.

[dkhm3]

Originally Posted by MaynardZed

4 track events since new and mine has 3300 miles. Break in period is needed more for rest of the drivetrain rather than the engine itself.

that actually makes a lot of sense. never thought about the entire drive train. thanks.

[OrangeD1sco]

Originally Posted by Nex

From the factory tour at the Welt, I know that they rev the engine to redline for a few minutes at the end of the assembly line for a final test just before it gets loaded on to the trucks for delivery.

Indeed - and they slap it on a dyno to check the power as well.

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by fun2drv

I'm taking my car for the 1200 mile service on Monday and I'm curious about what others have done about the "1,200 to 3,100 miles" second phase of break-in. Anyone still taking things easy until the car reaches the recommended 3,100 miles? Talk about torture!

"Between 2,000 and 5,000 km (1,200 and 3,100 miles), engine RPM can be slowly increased but speed should not exceed 220 kph (137 mph) for a longer period of time."

Last sentence in the break-in section reads: "Use the maximum speed of 155mph/250kh/h only briefly, e.g., when passing.". That doesn't sound too unreasonable or onerous, as I can't think of a situation when I would be able to run at the 155 mph speed limiter in the US continuously, even on track.

Basically, I read the above as "use the car as intended, redlining as needed, but don't go oval racing at sustained redline speeds until north of 3.1K miles". I can easily live with that.

And yes, I have followed BMW factory break-in instructions till 1.2K miles, as much as possible. On a few occasions I had to go WOT to get out of trouble, but otherwise have kept it below 5.5K RPMs.

a

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by Nex

From the factory tour at the Welt, I know that they rev the engine to redline for a few minutes at the end of the assembly line for a final test just before it gets loaded on to the trucks for delivery.

From my factory tour last month, BMW absolutely does NOT rev engines to redline during post production inspection.
They do put the cars on a dyno, and run to 100 km/h though all the gears, keep it there for some tests (tranny/engine diagnostics, emission, etc), accelerate to 170 km/h (break-in recommended max), then stop and finish the tests (lights, horn, OBC checks, etc). The whole process takes about 1.5 minutes from start to end.

Nothing performance oriented, pure post production QC.

a