New car - slowly break it in?

It scares me to think that cars mistreated this way will find their way onto the market some day - and no doubt sound like a bag of spanners long before they are old!

I treated hire cars better than that!
 
I really wouldnt listen to the salesman on this , it doesnt take long to run them & even after I dont 'overuse' it till there is some heat in the engine , even if its covered by warranty I wouldnt want all the heartache of getting it put right
 
Yea, I don't intend on abusing the car, just wanted to know if it is okay to occasionally put your foot down within the first 1000 miles or so.

Anyways, I will take it easy, got a phone call today confirming delivery for the 26th of June...its going to be the longest 2 weeks of my life.

On a different note, I'm taking the 3 series is in for a service on Saturday and I jokingly asked the salesman for an M3 to "test drive" while its being serviced... he agreed!! No chance I am taking it easy with that :D
 
ut745 go for it, you wont need 3rd just stick with 1 and 2 gears 3rds up at 90.

As I said I am steady eddy possibly reason why my mpg is up at 35, gears 2,4 and 6 with 6th even down to 25. and up at 800 miles now. As I and carol mentioned 4.5K is fairly high and I tend not to run above this for too long in my previous. I would every now and again go to red line but not a habit more like to blow cobwebs out.

If it says you do it then you do it. I will not be pushing mine yet now I know, may try sports+ but only up to 4K just to see if I can pull more mpg like I did with the auto.

Now quadracer who track days is dead right about warm up and cool down, because he goes though tyres faster than lord sugar goes through apprentices, so he knows how to ummmm work the engine.

So for most of us who drive within the speed limit and enjoy the odd bit of overtaking and fun round country roads, will not damage the engine, especially as its capable of 155mph and we are way off that performance limiter.

But if you drive in 1st and 2nd all the time going slow and fast accelerating like some demented teenage goon then it will soon let go. my neighbour son in law has a supped up 535 possibly at M5 conditions and he took me out for a spin, 110 was way to much for me down country roads in 3rd and 2nd. yes it was cold and no he did not let it cool down, just waiting for the day it pops, or worst he kills some one.

The turbos may need a bit more consideration but don't be frightened to use it and enjoy it.
 
Just drive it in a reasonable manner - no more than two thirds throttle or two thirds maximum revs and, even when it is run in, always let it warm up before giving it the beans. Full bore driving whilst not up to temperature has the ECU still providing more fuel than optimum so the engine is running rich, at high revs, and that excess fuel doesn't all get burnt so happily dissolves the oil in the cylinder bores around the piston rings! Driving too slowly whilst running in can be just as bad as too fast - bores and piston rings can end up glazed and then the motor starts burning oil etc.

It's not just the engine that needs bedding in - tyres, clutch and brakes also need to bed in and, again, don't need the Miss Daisy treatment but also don't need to be thrashed from cold on day one. They generally only require a few hundred miles to bed down though.

Turbos need a lot of respect - their bearings turn at a ferocious rate of knots at incredibly high temperatures so require the oil to be up to temperature and flowing well before being 'exercised' and also need time to run down/cool down after a sprited run and the oil does a lot of that cooling so take the last bit of the journey in a calm manner and let the engine just idle for 10 secs before switching off.

Finally, the oil will generally not be up to temperature for ten minutes or so - coolant may be up to temperature in under five minutes, but the oil won't be and the engine is designed to work best with the oil at operating temperature.
 
jaz4 said:
quad lol, have you a top speed recorded. Whats the drag data, up past m3?
Click to expand...
I don't have any drag data, we were allowed to do some testing nearby but I'm forbid to say where. I managed 170mph on the sat nav and needed to brake for fear of running out of space.
I may be taking it to Melbourne Drag strip in July so I'll get a printout there.
 
There's a controversial alternative I've seen mentioned on car forums for the brave.

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
 
Simon20VT said:
There's a controversial alternative I've seen mentioned on car forums for the brave.

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
Click to expand...

I've read that before but I may be brave but not stupid :D
 
You so need to do it its the only real way of proving all the good work you have done, mono on mono, your well tuned kit vs clock. all is equal and I would have thought being quite light and the diff you should beat m3's but these are poked above 400 hungry horses but pulling a more heavy car.

would be fun to see a run with the top down p.s take the wind defector out.
 
My car is faster than M3's on the track. There has been a couple of tuned M3's with stiff suspension that have had the edge on me but my Zed gives them a shock too :evil:
 
spot on.

That link says quite a bit of sensible stuff, getting the rings to seal and work under load makes sense and like u quad dump the oil quick to remove debris and potential contamination from burn through.

But I would not do it. Quad seemed to do it right by the remap graph, he was spot on at 340

Just for the record I am a graduate materials scientist, and working as a senior process engineer, so used to pushing things to the max. (within an educated risk)
 
Quadracer said:
Simon20VT said:
There's a controversial alternative I've seen mentioned on car forums for the brave.

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
Click to expand...

I've read that before but I may be brave but not stupid :D
Click to expand...

Hhmmmm... He may have a point, but the engine would have had a bench test in factory at high rpm which would be equivalent to first 20 he is talking about, which kind of invalidates the whole argument.
 
What you have to ask is...will the salesman be there in 18 months and admit to advising you to cane it from day 1 IF something's goes tits up and you have to claim and has been alluded to, the BMW boffins check the ECU and suss it has been redlined from new ?
No, will they f###
 
TitanTim said:
ut745 said:
Hi guys,

In just under 3 weeks I should be getting my new zed. This will be my first brand new car and I keep hearing that for the first 1000 miles you should keep it under a certain amount of revs...i just wanted to know how true that is?

My brother has had many high performance cars from m3s to 911 turbos and he thrashes them from day one and it seems to be fine.

I am assuming in the long run it causes some kind of damage? I dont intend on keeping it for longer thn 2/3 years so will it really matter if I hammer it straight away?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I've always run my cars in, end of the day its how much mechanical sympathy you have for a car. The engines are briefly bench tested along the production line to high revs. For me its the whole car generally, brakes, gearbox etc so I think its good to take it easy for a 1000 miles or so. I think if you thrash any new car from the off you don't deserve to be at the helm :)

Tim.
Click to expand...
+1 :thumbsup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom