# Break-in is going soooo slowly!



## m75 (Apr 16, 2003)

800 more miles to go until 1200. Can any of you 330 owners tell me what I'm in for when I can rev to redline? I've been driving the car hard, but cutting it off at about 4500 - it's killing me!

I also just got my Passport SR-7 installed. Pretty neat unit, I'll have to take some pics when I have an opportunity.


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## rost12 (Dec 22, 2001)

Long road-trip is in order :drive:


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## Guest84 (Dec 21, 2001)

Long road trip is actually the worse thing you can do for a break in, unless you are going to be stopping and starting alot. You don't want to maintain a constant speed for any length of time during break in.


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## mecklaiz (Mar 20, 2003)

I have a 300 mile road trip the day after delivery.

I'm going to take a lot of time getting on and off at every conceiveable place so I can row through the gears and not use any form of cruise control (even if it is my foot)

Z


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## GSR13 (Apr 30, 2002)

Even at 1200 Miles you should not just begin hitting redline. At 1200 miles you can begin to increase revs past 4500RPM's.

Personally, I was 3,000 Miles before I actually hit redline.


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## Guest84 (Dec 21, 2001)

mecklaiz said:


> *I have a 300 mile road trip the day after delivery.
> 
> I'm going to take a lot of time getting on and off at every conceiveable place so I can row through the gears and not use any form of cruise control (even if it is my foot)
> 
> Z *


:thumbup: :thumbup:


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## michelito (Feb 6, 2003)

I know what you mean... I'm at 600km (have to wait until 2000) on my 325 and already in fear of loosing my license once this thing gets going...


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## rost12 (Dec 22, 2001)

Ripsnort said:


> *Long road trip is actually the worse thing you can do for a break in.. *




Constant engine speed is to be avoided - I know that, but constant speed too? That ruins my plans, a bit.


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## beware_phog (Mar 7, 2003)

So what happens if you blow of the break in period. Does the car blow up? Does it not run efficiently? Does it need more maintenance? Does the gas mileage suck? 

I'm picking mine up this weekend.


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## rost12 (Dec 22, 2001)

Your are going to be burning oil for the rest of your car's life, that's minimum. Maximum, I shudder to think :eeps:


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## BB330i (Dec 22, 2001)

> Your are going to be burning oil for the rest of your car's life, that's minimum. Maximum, I shudder to think


Well put.


> 800 more miles to go until 1200. Can any of you 330 owners tell me what I'm in for when I can rev to redline? I've been driving the car hard, but cutting it off at about 4500 - it's killing me!


I am breaking in my second new BMW in 16 months. I feel your pain. As if waiting for build and delivery isn't bad enough. If hind site were 20/20, I could have beaten the snot out of my 330i. I didn't and someone got a great "used" 8000 mile "old" car as a result. My advice, do not yield to temptation. Follow the break-in procedures to the letter and enjoy your new ride you will have plenty of time to flirt with red line soon enough.


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## Dan4tuc58 (Feb 25, 2003)

*speaking of break in..*

I got my car on the 24th of April and as of today i have 650 miles on it. I drove 2 times back and forth from santa barbara to long beach and just drive around on city streets. Usually on down hills i let the engine cruise on its own and on these 130mile per way trips that i took i would speed up to regular flow of traffic speed and then just release the gas and drive for a bit at different rpms....i barely even have to go over the 4k rpm mark.... and i mean i have gone upto the break in speed limit.... for the sake of argument....what happens if on one of these drives i go over that limit? :dunno: or go over the 4500 rpm limit passing or going up a hill? or if i keep the car going faster than 65 and less than 100 the whole way?...i mean i already slow down plenty in intervals being overly cautious for speed traps...:tsk: but how important really is it to pull of the road in order to get those 1k-2k rpms in?


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## beware_phog (Mar 7, 2003)

> Your are going to be burning oil for the rest of your car's life, that's minimum. Maximum, I shudder to think


Why? What causes this?


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## rost12 (Dec 22, 2001)

beware_phog said:


> *Why? What causes this? *


Basically, since the engine is new the rings need to be propely seated. Applying loads to the engine for a short time is good since it creates pressure that causes increased ring pressure against cylinder walls and helps to seat the rings. If loads are heavy and prolonged (increased RPM, full throttle application) the rings will be seated in inproperly, hence no seal, hence leaking/burning oil. The only way to fix this is to is to take the engine apart and replace those rings.

There are various related issues that could crop up as well, but my technical knowledge ends here. Hope this helps.


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## Guest84 (Dec 21, 2001)

rost12 said:


> *Basically, since the engine is new the rings need to be propely seated. Applying loads to the engine for a short time is good since it creates pressure that causes increased ring pressure against cylinder walls and helps to seat the rings. If loads are heavy and prolonged (increased RPM, full throttle application) the rings will be seated in inproperly, hence no seal, hence leaking/burning oil. The only way to fix this is to is to take the engine apart and replace those rings.
> 
> There are various related issues that could crop up as well, but my technical knowledge ends here. Hope this helps. *


Very well described! I work with an engineer that had a white board and a marker when he described this to me...he actually filled the white board up with diagrams explaining the proper break-in procedure for an engine. You just did the readers digest version of it and made it much simpler to understand  :thumbup:


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## rost12 (Dec 22, 2001)

*Re: speaking of break in..*



Dan4tuc58 said:


> *and i mean i have gone upto the break in speed limit.... for the sake of argument....what happens if on one of these drives i go over that limit? :dunno: or go over the 4500 rpm limit passing or going up a hill?*


If only for a short period of time, nothing should happen. Your car is not going to blow up because of this, that for sure 

But to be safe - try to avoid going over the imposed limits. And note that when you pass 1200 mls mark, you are supposed to start gradually increasing the rpms/speed.


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## rost12 (Dec 22, 2001)

Thanks, Ripsnort. I've been reading up on this stuff since I'm going to be suffering through a break-in myself soon :bawling:


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## germancarja (May 7, 2003)

> Basically, since the engine is new the rings need to be propely seated. Applying loads to the engine for a short time is good since it creates pressure that causes increased ring pressure against cylinder walls and helps to seat the rings. If loads are heavy and prolonged (increased RPM, full throttle application) the rings will be seated in inproperly, hence no seal, hence leaking/burning oil. The only way to fix this is to is to take the engine apart and replace those rings.


and this is why the car comes with a 3 year warranty...incase such a thing actually happens.

I wish I had a break in period


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## rwg (May 10, 2002)

rost12 said:


> *Your are going to be burning oil for the rest of your car's life, that's minimum. Maximum, I shudder to think :eeps:  *


Umm - BULL!

It is possible that these things could happen. But only possible. The only real damage that is "likely" to occur is increased wear. Wear that you won't be noticeable until much later in the engine's life.

A few thoughts - some theories say the appropriate way to break in a car is to drive it in the manner you would drive it every day. While it's not necessarily a good example, a lot of U.S. car manufacturers have a break in period of five or six hundred miles.

So I admit to being stupid - I believed my salesman (for the '01 E46) when he told me that the new motors didn't have a break in period. I was very excited about getting my car and was perfectly willing to believe they were magic. I read the part of the manual that discussed break in periods eventually - at about 1800 miles. In hindsight, it was foolish, but oh well. I drove that car the way it was meant to be driven starting at day 1. I hit the red line frequently, accelerated quickly, and probably violated the beak in speed requirements (maybe not - I lived in the city). That car burned 1 quart of oil in the first 5k miles and not one drop after until I traded it on the M 30k miles later (including use at several driving schools).

I will never violate another break in period again (regardless of what the sales staff says). It was foolish not to investigate what is an obviously outrageous claim. Nonetheless, a statement that say violating the break in period will by definition cause problems is basically as foolish as my belief that the car didn't require a break in period. It might reduce long term life. It might even cause the car to burn oil forever (not that you can tell - a lot of BMW engines burn oil their entire life no matter how they were broken in - and a lot don't). It might cause catastrophic failure. It also might do absolutely nothing.


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## rost12 (Dec 22, 2001)

germancarja said:


> *and this is why the car comes with a 3 year warranty...incase such a thing actually happens. *




Warranty is for stuff that breakes because of part's/manufacturer's fault. Not following manufacturer's guidelines in breaking-in the engine is customer's fault.

Ethically, anyhow.


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## beware_phog (Mar 7, 2003)

> Why do the manufactures publish break-in guidelines?


Legal reasons.

For the same reason the manual has so many obviously idiotic suggestions like "Don't press the memory button on your seat when moving the car because seat movement could result in a loss of control".....etc.

Why do some people feel SO for the break-in period because that is what BMW tells you to do and then go completely against what BMW tells you to do when it comes to oil changes? Do we pick and choose what we follow because that is what makes us comfortable?


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## blackhawk77 (Mar 16, 2003)

rost12 said:


> *:irate: :throw: *


:irate: :throw: :violent:

:flipoff::asshole:


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## blackhawk77 (Mar 16, 2003)

beware_phog said:


> *
> 
> Why do some people feel SO for the break-in period because that is what BMW tells you to do and then go completely against what BMW tells you to do when it comes to oil changes? Do we pick and choose what we follow because that is what makes us comfortable? *


Yes.


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