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      02-20-2019, 01:03 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ceramic Rabbit View Post
The thing about not using cruise control is interesting, if I do a big road trip with my new car (which I will have to do to drop my old car off in another state) does that mean I can't just go 75 the whole time?

You are saying I need to switch up the gears or RPM on the highway?
You definitely should drop gears while keeping within the recommended RPM limits (<5,500) and not applying full load/throttle. I'm sure you can find a few exits with an easy re-entry and maybe use any service stations/rest areas as well. There is no reported steadfast rule as to how much time is required between varying engine speed, however, I am pretty sure it means frequently. Put it this way, you cannot vary engine and road speed too much, however, could do too little. Try to find some rural roads which parallel the highway.
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      02-20-2019, 01:25 PM   #24
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Medium load is vital. Accelerating firmly, pulling in gear, and decelerating, up and down the gears..

Get those rings bedded in properly to ensure good compression and minimal blow by in the long term. Cruising is no good for that. Rings need firm combustion pressure to force them into the bore to bed in before they glaze up.

I drive my m2c, on average, more gently now AFTER running in.

During run in I only took it out on "run in" drives. At least 45 minutes for full heat cycle, open roads, wide use of revs (5k is plenty), up to 2/3 throttle, drive it enthusiastically. Load the engine, brisk runs to 100mph.

Then get the oil changed (995 miles for me) and relax.

Now i use it normally, odd school run, traffic jams, town etc.

Last edited by doughboy; 02-20-2019 at 01:34 PM..
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      02-20-2019, 03:07 PM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by doughboy View Post
Medium load is vital. Accelerating firmly, pulling in gear, and decelerating, up and down the gears..

Get those rings bedded in properly to ensure good compression and minimal blow by in the long term. Cruising is no good for that. Rings need firm combustion pressure to force them into the bore to bed in before they glaze up.

I drive my m2c, on average, more gently now AFTER running in.

During run in I only took it out on "run in" drives. At least 45 minutes for full heat cycle, open roads, wide use of revs (5k is plenty), up to 2/3 throttle, drive it enthusiastically. Load the engine, brisk runs to 100mph.

Then get the oil changed (995 miles for me) and relax.

Now i use it normally, odd school run, traffic jams, town etc.
I completely agree with this break-in process. I essentially do this on all my cars. Decelerating down a hill for example after loading the engine as described above up the hill is something I add to the equation. I had my oil changed a bit early as well; about 1090 miles.

My suggestions to the OP are only to assist with the extended highway drive. I personally would not break in my engine this way. If highway driving is a must then varying and loading as much as possible is required.
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      02-20-2019, 03:21 PM   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by doug_999 View Post
There is no unlocking of power at 1,200 mile service.

Reasearch break in - everyone has a belief. You have Porsche on one side, this guy in the middle, https://www.enginelabs.com/news/disp...mance-academy/, to this guy http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm.
Oh and here is one in the middle with some real interesting results.
https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/b...in-myth#page-3

Here are some facts
1 you are new to the car, don't go crazy and kill yourself
2 easy on the brakes for first few hundred miles
3 don't miss your 1,200 mile appt.
4 always make sure engine is at temp before getting on it.

Me? I personally think babying the engine is the worst thing you can do and that the recommendations in the manual are written with lots of help from the BMW legal team (see #1). Oh yea, in all my years on these boards I've never seen a person write "I was hard on my engine in the first 1,200 miles and I regret it" but that's just me

Do you think people who are hard on the engine in the first 1200 miles keep the car for more than three years? My guess is no.
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      02-20-2019, 03:22 PM   #27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ceramic Rabbit View Post
Dang that might be a bit frustrating since my girlfriend will have to be following me in my old car for the whole 4 hour trip, meanwhile I'm gonna be constantly speeding up and slowing down haha
How long have you got between new M2 arriving and having to do the road trip? Could you do some proper M2 running in before hand, say 3 or 400 miles?

Does your GF have a car you could use instead? Folks? Rent a crapper?

Or get the GF to go ahead and you keep driving in circles round her
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      02-20-2019, 03:30 PM   #28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by akkando View Post
Do you think people who are hard on the engine in the first 1200 miles keep the car for more than three years? My guess is no.
Absolutely, I'm not "hard" on the engine - i'm running it in properly. It's a keeper for me this one.

The last two lease cars I had that I just pootled around in and didn't try to run in properly used quite a bit of oil.

My "owned" 330i & 335i which I ran in robustly never drank a drop of oil performed faultlessly for years.
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      02-20-2019, 03:57 PM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by akkando View Post
Do you think people who are hard on the engine in the first 1200 miles keep the car for more than three years? My guess is no.
I personally believe they keep their car longer than the person that breaks it in with the "keep it under 4,000 rpm style of break in"

The reason being, and this is just from being on these boards over the years, especially with the whole N63 stuff - what I noticed is that people who broke their engines in by babying them, seemed to burn a lot of oil with their V8 motors and thus, I think they probably got rid of them quicker. I noticed that those who broke their engines in more aggressively, did not burn oil and seemed to have fewer issues.

Not even close to being scientific, just stuff I noticed.

Like I said, lots of different theories and beliefs out there.
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      02-20-2019, 04:03 PM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ceramic Rabbit View Post
The thing about not using cruise control is interesting, if I do a big road trip with my new car (which I will have to do to drop my old car off in another state) does that mean I can't just go 75 the whole time?

You are saying I need to switch up the gears or RPM on the highway?
I should have added that to my list of should dos - yes, change the RPM if you can. For my manual cars I drive in 3rd for a while, 4th, 5th, and 6th - for the automatic, I would just change up the gears.

and... no issues with any of my new cars being picked up anywhere from 6 to 16 hours away from my house (since 2008 all of my cars were picked up out of state)...

and... people pick their cars up in Germany and at the PCD here in South Carolina and put them on cruise control and drive all the way home or on the autobahn, and the fact is, these engines are amazing and while there are lots of things you can do to break them in properly (opinions vary here of course), the fact is, they rarely blow up from any of the multitude of ways used to break them in
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      02-20-2019, 05:18 PM   #31
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This topic is always controversial and always on various car or motorcycle forums for a freaking long time.

There are multiple schools of thought on the best ways of breaking in a new motor...hard break in vs soft break in (manufacturer suggested). Just because OEM recommends a certain break in procedure it doesn't necessary mean it's the best way to go or the most sufficient.

Unless there are key factual data points anyone can point to that suggest there are less long term engine issues with the OEM or soft break in vs hard break in approach, all opinions are just anecdotal.

There's also a dependency on how long anyone keeps their cars and if engine issues crop up before or after one gets rid of a car.
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      04-11-2019, 12:22 AM   #32
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Quote:
Originally Posted by doughboy View Post
Medium load is vital. Accelerating firmly, pulling in gear, and decelerating, up and down the gears..

Get those rings bedded in properly to ensure good compression and minimal blow by in the long term. Cruising is no good for that. Rings need firm combustion pressure to force them into the bore to bed in before they glaze up.

I drive my m2c, on average, more gently now AFTER running in.

During run in I only took it out on "run in" drives. At least 45 minutes for full heat cycle, open roads, wide use of revs (5k is plenty), up to 2/3 throttle, drive it enthusiastically. Load the engine, brisk runs to 100mph.

Then get the oil changed (995 miles for me) and relax.

Now i use it normally, odd school run, traffic jams, town etc.
I would buy a 2nd hand car from someone like yourself
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      04-11-2019, 02:01 AM   #33
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Regarding unlocking power at break-in service.
I read somewhere that they do reset the adaptations which makes sense to me. That would mean that although there is no difference in power the difference in power delivery would probably be quite big considering you have just spent 1000+ miles driving at half throttle and keeping it under 5.5k revs.
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      04-11-2019, 03:13 AM   #34
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Quote:
Originally Posted by devo View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlpsRider View Post
That article seems to be aimed at a shop built engine. I think that engines in new cars including BMW go through a preliminary break-in process. I remember helping a friend rebuild a Ford 289 V8. Now that is a totally different type of break-in. That thing was incredibly tight on the first startup.
Agree on the article and a different build process.

I do not believe manufacturers do a factory break-in, preliminary or otherwise.
They do an initial break in. All cars are put on the dyno and revved out to 100 or so miles an hour. If you ever do a BMW factory tour or just watch a video of a factory tour you will see. It's not a full on break in, but it's still a preliminary one.
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      04-11-2019, 06:55 AM   #35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Thescout13 View Post
They do an initial break in. All cars are put on the dunk and revved our to 100 or so miles an hour. If you ever do a BMW factory tour or just watch a video of a factory tour you will see. It's not a full on break in, but it's still a preliminary one.
The factory "engine testing" is not a break in. Additionally, these are not put under full load. The engine and ancillary parts do not "break in" as they do during street driving. Porsche's Andreas Preuninger addresses this topic very well in an interview. "Preliminary" or not, this does not serve a break in. I will always defer to the manual.
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Last edited by devo; 04-11-2019 at 07:04 AM..
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      04-11-2019, 07:06 AM   #36
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Quote:
Originally Posted by devo View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thescout13 View Post
They do an initial break in. All cars are put on the dunk and revved our to 100 or so miles an hour. If you ever do a BMW factory tour or just watch a video of a factory tour you will see. It's not a full on break in, but it's still a preliminary one.
The factory "engine testing" is not a break in. Additionally, these are not put under full load. The engine and ancillary parts do not "break in" as they do during street driving. Porsche's Andreas Preuninger addresses this topic in an interview. "Preliminary" or not, this does not serve a break in. I will always defer to the manual.
I will defer to the manual always as well, but every tour we have been on calls this a "preliminary break in", and then you have the extended break in procedure you are supposed to follow. We can argue about semantics all day, but I'm telling you what they say at the factory and their videos. Also, a P car is not a BMW, so maybe, for a second, open your mind to think that other manufacturers break in their engines differently?
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      04-11-2019, 07:10 AM   #37
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Thescout13 View Post
I will defer to the manual always as well, but every tour we have been on calls this a "preliminary break in", and then you have the extended break in procedure you are supposed to follow. We can argue about semantics all day, but I'm telling you what they say at the factory and their videos. Also, a P car is not a BMW, so maybe, for a second, open your mind to think that other manufacturers break in their engines differently?
Of course, manufacturers may and most do have different processes. I mention AP as his viewpoints are certainly of value. We are arguing semantics... we both follow the manual so a prelim break in or not really doesn't matter.
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      04-30-2019, 11:18 PM   #38
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What's all that's done during the break in service for the M2C? The OG M2 service was only engine oil and differential. Is transmission fluid change included on the M2C as it is on M3/4?
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      05-01-2019, 08:28 AM   #39
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I've had my car for less than a week, from CT to MA like "driving miss daisy" careful careful careful

I go to my brothers house for a night cookout, m2 along too, my brother decides to take a joyride... after 20 min the car smelled like brimstone "pure ass" thanks Nick! You've broken the car for me in 10 miles, fck that 1200 mile slow breakin period lol

If you need accelerated breakin just call Nick Newton, Massachusetts he will do it within 20 minutes
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      05-01-2019, 08:30 AM   #40
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Quote:
Originally Posted by doughboy View Post
Medium load is vital. Accelerating firmly, pulling in gear, and decelerating, up and down the gears..

Get those rings bedded in properly to ensure good compression and minimal blow by in the long term. Cruising is no good for that. Rings need firm combustion pressure to force them into the bore to bed in before they glaze up.

I drive my m2c, on average, more gently now AFTER running in.

During run in I only took it out on "run in" drives. At least 45 minutes for full heat cycle, open roads, wide use of revs (5k is plenty), up to 2/3 throttle, drive it enthusiastically. Load the engine, brisk runs to 100mph.

Then get the oil changed (995 miles for me) and relax.

Now i use it normally, odd school run, traffic jams, town etc.
Yep... this is what I do as well! Nicely stated.

I also try to let the engine cool completely to ambient, when possible, before the next full warm up heat cycle drive.
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      05-01-2019, 09:58 AM   #41
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Originally Posted by KevM2 View Post
What's all that's done during the break in service for the M2C? The OG M2 service was only engine oil and differential. Is transmission fluid change included on the M2C as it is on M3/4?
Software config so full performance can be unleashed...before this DME is still in run in mode setting
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      05-01-2019, 10:22 AM   #42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by devo View Post
Agree on the article and a different build process.

I do not believe manufacturers do a factory break-in, preliminary or otherwise.
In Spartanburg, every car is dynoed on a set of rollers, I forget what they are checking for but it only takes a minute or two. After that the car is taken outside, run on a test track, brought back inside and parked with other finish cars awaiting shipping. This was ~20 years ago but doubt they changed the process much.
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      05-01-2019, 10:27 AM   #43
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Quote:
Originally Posted by doug_999 View Post
There is no unlocking of power at 1,200 mile service.

Reasearch break in - everyone has a belief. You have Porsche on one side, this guy in the middle, https://www.enginelabs.com/news/disp...mance-academy/, to this guy http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm.
Oh and here is one in the middle with some real interesting results.
https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/b...in-myth#page-3

Here are some facts
1 you are new to the car, don't go crazy and kill yourself
2 easy on the brakes for first few hundred miles
3 don't miss your 1,200 mile appt.
4 always make sure engine is at temp before getting on it.

Me? I personally think babying the engine is the worst thing you can do and that the recommendations in the manual are written with lots of help from the BMW legal team (see #1). Oh yea, in all my years on these boards I've never seen a person write "I was hard on my engine in the first 1,200 miles and I regret it" but that's just me
Quote:
Originally Posted by doughboy View Post
Medium load is vital. Accelerating firmly, pulling in gear, and decelerating, up and down the gears..

Get those rings bedded in properly to ensure good compression and minimal blow by in the long term. Cruising is no good for that. Rings need firm combustion pressure to force them into the bore to bed in before they glaze up.

I drive my m2c, on average, more gently now AFTER running in.

During run in I only took it out on "run in" drives. At least 45 minutes for full heat cycle, open roads, wide use of revs (5k is plenty), up to 2/3 throttle, drive it enthusiastically. Load the engine, brisk runs to 100mph.

Then get the oil changed (995 miles for me) and relax.

Now i use it normally, odd school run, traffic jams, town etc.

+1

I too, do not "baby" the car and agree w/1-4. In fact, when babying the car early, I have seen higher oil consumption later in the car's life.
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      05-01-2019, 10:32 AM   #44
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Do you think people who are hard on the engine in the first 1200 miles keep the car for more than three years? My guess is no.
I kept my last car to 128K.
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