M140i Running in

[CreedBratton]

I'm getting a lot of mixed information about running in the car

So wondered what you guys think

Some theories:
BMW says you can drive it hard from day 1
BMW says engines are hot tested from the factory and revved to redline anyway to test it
Some say you will make the car lazy if you baby it or keep revs down
Manual says keep it at 4500 revs for the first 2000 km
Most cars are revved and driven full throttle from brand new for test drives anyway

Right now im airing on the middle ground approach, push her hard for bits and pieces here and there, but not extremely hard for long continuous periods

Driving miss daisy for 2K km is a LOOONG wait, so am a bit stuck so what do you guys think?

 

[3V0M-WP]

Do point No 4. I did that with my cars. The cars performed/performing well.

I wouldn't drive any new car hard for the first 2k.

 

[MikeR]

just drive it normal until you feel comfortable driving it..

 

[Fruks]

its been run in 4 u already by the guy who drove it off the truck to the dealer

 

[H|TM@N]

So if I remember correctly you need to vary speeds while running an engine in, and don't rev it past the 4500 rpm mark like the manual says. What you definitely should not do, is take the highway and put the cruise control on 125km/h. You should vary the engine speeds as much as possible. So town driving should do the trick.

 

[graan13]

As Hitman says, keep below 4500rpm but keep the engine speeds variable as much as possible. dont sit at 120 for ever and a day. Especially at those higher speeds - try knock back a gear and take it up to 4500 and drop back down again. I found this the most rewarding way. Did this with a Mk3 2.0 gti from CPT to JHB. That car had a really lovely response and grunt after that, way more than others that had been driven gently or just canned from the word go.

 

[CreedBratton]

[quote='H|]
So if I remember correctly you need to vary speeds while running an engine in, and don't rev it past the 4500 rpm mark like the manual says. What you definitely should not do, is take the highway and put the cruise control on 125km/h. You should vary the engine speeds as much as possible. So town driving should do the trick.
[/quote]

Yeah i know the importance of varied driving and revs, she just revs so quickly to 7K in a split second so you need to be quite quick to ease off the throttle. For a while I am going to stick to the (D)rive mode instead of S because S revs to 7K. So besides the 'test drive(s)' that she had, going to try and break her in a bit more meticulously for the next 2k then, going to be a long wait, oh well i guess will just have to go for a bunch of pointless drives then, no harm :rollsmile:

Tbh my last 3 new cars I pretty much left my tyre marks on the showroom floor and they have all been fine for many years, strong and no oil use or issues.

But this one i want her to be perfect

 

[gavsadler]

Remember it's not only the engine which needs "running-in" or "bedding-in".

Other things like the gearbox, suspension, brakes and other moving bits will also settle down a bit after a few kms.

The same school of thought applies to brakes: when you fit new pads and discs, some people stand on the pedal for the first few trips, others take it easy going through a few heat cycles etc.

Tyres also apparently have a thin film on them which wears off / more grip provided after 500kms give or take.

 

[M135i]

Mixed driving and keep to below 4000rpm...at least for the first 1000km
Its hard, we all know....
And remember allow engine temps to reach required temps before riding too hard

 

[r0ckf1re]

I drove my M135i hard from the moment I left the dealership. I just drove as I felt, didn't follow any methods. Had the car for more than 2 years and had zero issues.

I've done the same with my current X3 and 440i. Have them for a couple of months and so far so good.



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[Taran Rodrigues]

I drove my M135i hard from the moment I left the dealership. I just drove as I felt, didn't follow any methods. Had the car for more than 2 years and had zero issues.

I've done the same with my current X3 and 440i. Have them for a couple of months and so far so good.



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:withStu: I agree here, plus you motorplan for the next 5 years even if something was going to break, it would be replaced under motor plan so whats the point of holding back

 

[Quick///M]

Keep it under 4500 rpm but push it one or twice. Just don't hammer it all over the place in first 2000km

 

[tman]

Steek hom die rooi flaffie!

In all honestly, if BMW says give it the beans from day 1 why not? Car is under motorplan for 5 years or 100 000km, so the worst that can happen is you get a new engine at 40 000km or similar.

 

[444YYY]

Just follow the Manual and you will be fine.

 

[r0ckf1re]

Keep it under 4500 rpm but push it one or twice. Just don't hammer it all over the place in first 2000km

Why though? Doing it once or twice is still doing it.



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[S1NGH 911]

Floor the car (once it reaches operating temperature) from day 1


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[nt33333]

All the best with ur new car. B58 FTW! Follow the manual bud.

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[Fuzz123]

Dont worry, i assure you that they do not only drive slow in the factory while building cars......:tiptoe:


If you see how hard they are driven before you get them you would be shocked!
I have seen quite a few OEM's and those drivers could care less.

Get it to temp and drive how you like.:cartel:

 

[CreedBratton]

One interesting thing about the BMW is that there is no engine temp guage digital or analogue.

So you cant see when the engine is on temp. So now im just following the rule of thumb to at least drive a few min before I would open up at all

 

[adamr]

Ok I've researched this thoroughly. The best method is for the first 100km - 200km go easy. This mainly for your brakes and pads to set in. There after especially in third gear (like up a hill )and once the oil has warmed up (not the engine temp) stretch that engine all the way from bottom to limit. Do some spirited driving with varying rpm ... Important to cool down by doing a casual drive to get everything back to normal temperatures (don't just switch off the car)

Every new car I have had ... if I followed this they never ate oil ever ... And they always performed better.

This was advise I received from a member on one of the international forum. If I recall guy was a NASCAR mech or involved in benching race car engines etc

Edit: then at 2000km do an oil change regardless ...