[Tslbmw]

Ok fellas, I've just passed 300 miles on my new 240 and I'm dying. I've been performing all shifts at or below 4500 RPM; executed no hard braking; and have varied my speeds (no cc) on the limited freeway miles I've put on the car. So, I've gotta ask the same old question, how important is all of this really? And also, if I'm truly "breaking the engine in," shouldn't I take the revs out to the 7k redline on occasion -- maybe not all the time, but at least to "clean it out," as they say

Does anyone have evidence that driving the car hard right off the lot has actually hurt the car/engine in the long run?? I've heard folks say that "modern" engines don't need the traditional break in period that older cars needed; shoot, even the new car sales manager at my dealership said that all this break in crap isn't necessary..... but, I'd love to hear what you guys think on the subject.

Any sound advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[MassNerd]

BMW manual still says to break it in. Opinions out there may vary on whether it matters or not. I hope not, because I bought mine off the lot with 85 miles on it, so you know a few test drivers flogged the thing in it's infancy. I still did take it easy for the first 1000 miles though.

Give yourself something to look forward to. At 500 miles increase your RPM limit to 5500RPM. At 750 miles 6500RPM and all the way to redline at 1000 miles.

[Tslbmw]

I like your gradual RPM increase advice -- That seems to make more sense than just going WOT right at 1000 miles....

Thanks!

[AndDown]

I’d do what the manual says. Good excuse to take a nice weekend trip somewhere; I took mine up to San Francisco and back, put in 900+ miles in one trip; hard part was not trying to keep up with the guys doing 80-90 mph!

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by Tslbmw

So, I've gotta ask the same old question, how important is all of this really?

I'm not sure what passes for hard data on this subject today (other than whatever the manufacturer might have to say about it), but the question I always ask is: how long do you plan to keep the car?

I keep mine indefinitely, so I tend to follow the old(er)-school break-in routine of running ~1,200 miles while varying the RPM and keeping it below 4K RPM. That's 80+ MPH in 4th gear, so I didn't find it much of an issue with this car. With my bikes, it was a real problem.

I picked my car up in Baton Rouge with 144 miles on it, drove it home to Cincinnati, then shortly thereafter up to Detroit to pick up a mounted set of winter tires. After the drive back home from Detroit, I was a ways past the break-in distance. Then I had the limited slip differential installed and spent another 1,200 miles breaking it in. Tough duty!

[morphomeman]

OP, how old are you??
14?

[AndDown]

Originally Posted by morphomeman

OP, how old are you??
14?

Ouch, that hurts.

[Unicorn123]

tsl,

I am with drader on this one, the old school break-in will not let you down and allows the components to settle in on the car. It is tried and true.

For an opposing POV, a very dear friend who has had Corvettes for 55 years (bought his first one while at MIT) and two masters degrees in engineering (Materials Science and Aero******* from MIT tells me that his break-in regimen is to throw caution to the wind and drop the hammer on the car immediately. His logic is that a deliberate and measured break-in causes the engine to not get loose enough to achieve maximum performance later in its life-cycle. Since he regularly drives his Corvettes for 200-300,000 miles with great success, I daresay that there is a small amount of empirical evidence to support his claim, despite the fact that I do not agree with his approach. I should also note that he has blown up a couple of his Corvette's along the way using this highly scientific approach.

Modern materials technology has likely reduced the need for an extensive break-in period in all practicality, but using the old-school approach will bed in the engine properly and as long as you make sure your oil temperature is above 150F when you drop the hammer (very important) your engine should last a long time after the break-in period and give you excellent service.

Good luck with your new car!

[Tslbmw]

Drader - this car is definitely a keeper. With the dwindling number of MTs left on the market, my wife and I would love to hold onto this one (assuming its good to us maintenance wise).

Funny you mention the LSD - that is a strong consideration of mine in the near future.

Thanks for the input!

[Tslbmw]

Originally Posted by morphomeman

OP, how old are you??
14?

Wow - guess I didn't meet your standards w this post. But, thanks so much for your helpful contribution!

[Tslbmw]

Unicorn - thanks for the input! I can't help but agree w your friend in some ways - guess that's why I asked the question. I tend to lean the conservative route, but just wondered if it really mattered in the end.

[aerobod]

When my son was a service writer with GM he typically had one Corvette per year requiring low mileage engine replacement, that he knew was driven hard during the break-in period. He didn’t know of any low mileage engine replacements for owners that had followed the GM break-in requirements.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by Tslbmw

Drader - this car is definitely a keeper.

Yes, I believe it is.

It has a lot going for it in so many ways (not for everyone, of course), and I expect it to stand the test of time - which few do, whether they be BMWs, or otherwise.

We shall see, but as an older owner who has owned many very capable BMWs, I fully expect this model to prove its worth over the years.

[XutvJet]

Brand new, stone cold engines are run very hard at the factory. Full throttle, redline, etc. What is hard on a new motor is the shrink/swell of the run cycles in the first few hundred miles. The most important thing to do on a brand new motor within the first 500 to 1000 miles is to vary the rpms and load. It's completely fine to get on it a few times and take it to redline, etc. but you should limit it. Don't be too hard and don't be too soft. The breakin period just isn't about the motor. It's also about the brakes, trans, diff, and just getting use to the power delivery of the car itself.

I noticed a pretty remarkable difference in power once I got 5k miles into the motor. It was pretty tight from the factory. My M235 needed an oil top off at 4000 miles (nearly 1qt). After that addition, it's never needed any additional oil in 3.5 years and 36k miles.

[RossG1028]

Guys: I've broken in brand-new engines on a 1989 Kawasaki EX500, 1990 Kawasaki Ninja 600R and a 1992 Honda CBR600F2. It's the same no matter what the engine. I drive a 2017 BMW 230i, but, we got it as an Executive car, with 6000 miles on it, so, unfortunately, I did not break-in that particular motor.

When a NEW engine comes out of the factory, if it's looked at under the microscope, the parts will all look like the "Andes Mountains", with lots of "jagged edges", etc.. So, by gently driving the car for the first 500 miles, going up thru the gears and down thru the gears, you are applying the final machining process to the motor. The better you break it in the better it will be able to handle the load, under WOT. With the actual film of oil that separates the parts from one another being only about 1/1000th of an inch thick, the smoother you can make those parts the better - as they will be able to handle a higher load, thus giving you better performance after the suggested 1000 mile break-in period.

I routinely out-performed bigger (750cc) bikes in roll-on throttle situations, with my 600's. Maybe it was the gearing, maybe not, but, my bikes all ran hard, and always delivered. I've seen studies from Porsche, where a properly broken in Cayman was 7-8 mph faster through the speed traps on a circuit versus a Cayman that wasn't broken in "by the book". Ideally, one should change the oil at 500 miles, to get rid of any metal shavings, and then change it again at 1000 miles. After that, it's extremely important to apply WOT as much as possible, to properly seat the rings, etc.

I hope this makes sense to everyone!

THX

Ross

[XutvJet]

I changed my oil at 5k miles on my new M235 and had it tested. Granted they're not looking for larger metals debris as most of it is trapped in the filter, but the metals concentrations in the oil were relatively low. The oil was well within spec as well.

[USA-RET]

FWIW, I've heard everything from follow the manual to run the car @ 70MPH on the highway for a couple hundred mile trip to "seat" everything.

I asked our dealer when we bought our 2015. He said just drive it.

Personally, I'd follow the manual. Doing otherwise make cause issues later like excessive oil usage during operation (guys w/ other brands of cars have said their car uses a qt. of oil every 500 miles - whether this is due to improper break-in or not..I don't know).

Better to treat your car IAW manufacturer recommendations than someone who has no vested interest in your car.

[MarcoZandrini]

Go with what the BMW engineers have written. Except change the oil and filter at 1200 miles. Send a sample to Blackstone labs for testing. I recommend LiquiMoly 5w30 Tech 4200 oil as it has the American Petroleum Institute rating of SN. The “S” means spark or gasoline engines, and the “N” is needed for turbo’d engines. Buy it on Amazon. Get the filter from the dealer.

[Tslbmw]

HAMMER TIME!!!!

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by Tslbmw

HAMMER TIME!!!!

Hammer it, beat on it, find out what it will take. And if it won't take what you dish out, find something that will!!!

[Tslbmw]

Man, I love the wail of the exhaust note above 6000 rpm - intoxicating!

This car is an absolute beast and it'll certainly take me some time to tame it; but what a fun learning process it'll be.

[MerlinMc]

Originally Posted by MarcoZandrini

Go with what the BMW engineers have written. Except change the oil and filter at 1200 miles. Send a sample to Blackstone labs for testing. I recommend LiquiMoly 5w30 Tech 4200 oil as it has the American Petroleum Institute rating of SN. The “S” means spark or gasoline engines, and the “N” is needed for turbo’d engines. Buy it on Amazon. Get the filter from the dealer.

Just changed the oil & filter on my 2020 M240i with mileage just under 1,300. Not sending any to Blackstone though that's a good idea.