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      05-13-2017, 12:51 PM   #1
backmotor
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Break-in procedure

My car arrived at the port yesterday! (yeah, I know, who cares, besides me!)
I usually break in a newly-rebuilt engine in my race car by taking it to a track (in a trailer) and driving it under load between corners, while not getting too crazy around the corners. I do that in practice at a race, or at a driving event DE at the track, and it has worked well for me.
Now with an actual car that has to be broken in, it would take almost two hours (driving, not trailering) to get to the nearest track (Mid-Ohio) from Toledo, which is all flat. How do you break it in on highways without traffic interference. I try to do pulls under load up to a certain speed, then slow way down and do it again for a bunch of runs, but in traffic, that would not be practical.
Does anyone have a good way to do this effectively in public?
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      05-13-2017, 06:48 PM   #2
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That's what I did - the in traffic double pulls on the way home from St. Louis to Chicago.

Sounds like you know what you are doing in terms of breaking in (at least from my perspective and contrary to everyone who plays by the 4,500 for the first 1,200 miles).

PS - it will be fine no matter what you do - but I believe it will be better if you break it in correctly (http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm)
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      05-15-2017, 01:41 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by backmotor View Post
My car arrived at the port yesterday! (yeah, I know, who cares, besides me!)
I usually break in a newly-rebuilt engine in my race car by taking it to a track (in a trailer) and driving it under load between corners, while not getting too crazy around the corners. I do that in practice at a race, or at a driving event DE at the track, and it has worked well for me.
Now with an actual car that has to be broken in, it would take almost two hours (driving, not trailering) to get to the nearest track (Mid-Ohio) from Toledo, which is all flat. How do you break it in on highways without traffic interference. I try to do pulls under load up to a certain speed, then slow way down and do it again for a bunch of runs, but in traffic, that would not be practical.
Does anyone have a good way to do this effectively in public?
You could try and do your method at 3 oclock in the morning when there is minimal traffic
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      05-15-2017, 02:01 PM   #4
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You could try and do your method at 3 oclock in the morning when there is minimal traffic
And minimal po-po!
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      05-15-2017, 02:56 PM   #5
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Congrats on the car, its always a big day. I would and did follow the BMW break in procedure, its very simple and generally the folks that build the cars know what is best. Avoiding the constant speed is a challenge at times but as long as your varying the RPM you should be fine. I drove mine on several extended highway trips (2 hours or so) and just varied my speed and gears to keep from running the car at a constant RPM for too long. Stayed under 4,500 rpms which is pretty easy to do actually because the car had good torque. Having said all of that BMW does run their cars at the Performance Center without following their own break-in procedure, of course they are selling those cars after a few months without a warranty so take that for what it is. When I did my 2 day M school I think the lowest mileage car was about 800 miles so they may do a shorter break-in.
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      05-15-2017, 08:39 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pruettfan View Post
Congrats on the car, its always a big day. I would and did follow the BMW break in procedure, its very simple and generally the folks that build the cars know what is best. Avoiding the constant speed is a challenge at times but as long as your varying the RPM you should be fine. I drove mine on several extended highway trips (2 hours or so) and just varied my speed and gears to keep from running the car at a constant RPM for too long. Stayed under 4,500 rpms which is pretty easy to do actually because the car had good torque. Having said all of that BMW does run their cars at the Performance Center without following their own break-in procedure, of course they are selling those cars after a few months without a warranty so take that for what it is. When I did my 2 day M school I think the lowest mileage car was about 800 miles so they may do a shorter break-in.
I don't think Performance Center cars qualify for CPO, but I'm pretty sure they come with a warranty.

And let's be real, it is not because of how they were broken in, it is because they have had the sh.. thrashed out of them
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      05-16-2017, 06:42 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by doug_999 View Post
I don't think Performance Center cars qualify for CPO, but I'm pretty sure they come with a warranty.

And let's be real, it is not because of how they were broken in, it is because they have had the sh.. thrashed out of them
Don't believe the cars are titled, so they wouldn't be CPO. They're sold at auction to dealers after the center is done with them (~1 year). So I'd guess they'd be demos?
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      05-16-2017, 09:35 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by calbears View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by doug_999 View Post
I don't think Performance Center cars qualify for CPO, but I'm pretty sure they come with a warranty.

And let's be real, it is not because of how they were broken in, it is because they have had the sh.. thrashed out of them
Don't believe the cars are titled, so they wouldn't be CPO. They're sold at auction to dealers after the center is done with them (~1 year). So I'd guess they'd be demos?
Can still cpo a demo I believe. Just can't CPO a car from the performance center.

Edit:cpo = extended warranty
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      05-16-2017, 12:11 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by doug_999 View Post
PS - it will be fine no matter what you do - but I believe it will be better if you break it in correctly (http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm)
This site gets referenced every time this subject comes up. The old break it in by the book vs drive it like you stole it argument. Forget about subjective views for a moment and contemplate this. The motoman article specifically states that this method does not work on engines with synthetic oil, period. One should also factor in that it's not just the engine that's being broken in, but also the drivetrain. Lastly the manufacturer limits the car and recommends you follow the break-in period as stated in the owners manual. Notice for the break-in they don't specifically mention the engine, but rather moving parts in general.
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      05-16-2017, 04:10 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tag View Post
This site gets referenced every time this subject comes up. The old break it in by the book vs drive it like you stole it argument. Forget about subjective views for a moment and contemplate this. The motoman article specifically states that this method does not work on engines with synthetic oil, period. One should also factor in that it's not just the engine that's being broken in, but also the drivetrain. Lastly the manufacturer limits the car and recommends you follow the break-in period as stated in the owners manual. Notice for the break-in they don't specifically mention the engine, but rather moving parts in general.
He does not say the method does not work with synthetic - he says synthetic makes it very hard to break in properly
"Synthetic oil is so slippery that it actually "arrests" the break in process before the rings can seal completely. I've had a few customers who switched to synthetic oil too soon, and the rings never sealed properly no matter how hard they rode"

and I'm not aware of any limits BMW put on an of my M cars I have had during the first 1,200 miles. (2008 M5, 2011 1M, 2017 M2 - all with manual trans)

and finally, the OP is talking about doing pulls with the engine....
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