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      12-31-2013, 10:44 AM   #1
Dionysus
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Fuel question

Some background before the actual question - during break in period, I initially babied my car (resulted in lots of whine from the transmission or engine), however, after 150 or some miles I started manually selecting gears and revving to 5000, hard acceleration, but avoiding WOT, lots of slowing down with engine breaking for & accelerating from junctions, lights, etc.

My oil was 1/2 way down on display at break in service

Post break in service, I have switched to a more sedate driving style (cruising about 60mph constant speed with odd 2-3 sec WOT over 3-4 hour journeys, no whine on post-break in fluids). Since the break in service I have only driven on motorways (or highways) and have only got caught in stop start traffic a few times. I have not used any oil in the 1300 miles since the break in. Perhaps far to early to draw any conclusions, however, I'm starting to suspect that the oil consumption is related to often the car is driven hard rather than prevented by a 'hard break in'.

Hard-ish break in for me only seems to have resulted in a car which feels very urgent at low revs (more so than the pre-LCI demos I drove, although could be a throttle map change in LCI), but is not particularly fuel efficient at steady speeds (UK actual 34mpg vs BMW 37mpg claimed extra urban). By contrast my 535d was run in gently on motorways (varying speeds between 50 & 70mph, gentle acceleration) and at after break in was managing actual 63mpg vs BMW 56mpg claimed extra urban). Conversely my overall average in the M5 is 32mpg (higher than claimed due to mostly motorway driving).

Could this be fuel related and particular to the S63TU (I've exclusively used Shell V Power Nitro+, so may be down to ethanol content rather than octane rating) - something that didn't affect the 535d? Or is this more likely to be due the break in process I followed?

Apologies to anyone who finds this post tedious, however, I'm interested in all aspects of how to get the best out of this car and not just how fast it is (obviously that is of interest as well ).
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      12-31-2013, 11:56 AM   #2
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lowest fuel consumption i have ever got with m3 and m5 are both 28 uk/imperial mpg

with m3 it was 110-130kmh average speed
wit m5 140-160kmh average speed

getting very close to 800km on 1 tank is UNBELIEVABLE! so i am happy with that!

and my consumption is always higher then whatever bmw stated, no matter if it is 2L diesel or 5L petrol
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      12-31-2013, 12:05 PM   #3
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My God, 37 mpg in an M5

Such a waste of a fine car.
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      12-31-2013, 12:22 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brava09 View Post
My God, 37 mpg in an M5

Such a waste of a fine car.
Best I've achieved is 35.4mpg (or 29.4 US), but that drive was mind numbing

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      12-31-2013, 12:25 PM   #5
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Wow I get upto 15/16 mpg maximum
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      12-31-2013, 01:07 PM   #6
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The _best_ I achieved is 12MPG in the M5 and 9 in the M3 The worst was 23 in the M3 and 28 in the M5 (M5 was pre LCI).

Neil.
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      12-31-2013, 01:09 PM   #7
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I think a harder run-in is better.
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      01-01-2014, 08:02 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dionysus
Quote:
Originally Posted by brava09 View Post
My God, 37 mpg in an M5

Such a waste of a fine car.
Best I've achieved is 35.4mpg (or 29.4 US), but that drive was mind numbing

I was getting single digits in my M3, same now in the RS5.
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      01-01-2014, 08:14 AM   #9
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Firstly "Hard Break-in" is performed in the first 40/50 miles anything after that does NOUT, my hard break-in has resulted in NO Oil use at all in 4300 miles, however hard I drive, my best out of town MPG is 26, I could never better that how I drive as 60 MPH is for side/ A roads for me.
I have experimented with fuels and found ESSO 97 and Sainsburys 97 work best to date.
I am going to try over the next few fills SHELL 95, and see what if any changes , it's worth a go as weather is poor and flat out funs infrequent.
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      01-02-2014, 07:45 PM   #10
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I drove my car 'properly' from the off...no break in as such, but equally no outrageous thrashing either. If there was ever a negative consequence of a hard break in (which is extremely unlikely), it certainly wouldn't manifest itself whilst I (or probably the next couple of subsequent owners) have the car.

Much like John's M5, my M6 hasn't used a drop of oil in nearly 5k miles, it goes like stink (and that's in comparison to other very fast cars) and I get approx 17mpg in urban use and a best of 27mpg on a steady (70-80mph) run. I'll never get above 30mpg as I think I'd send myself to sleep trying

The car is always run on either Shell V Power or Tesco 99 - not sure if these do anything or not but it's only £4 a tank extra for the 'good' stuff so I don't think about it too much.
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      01-02-2014, 07:57 PM   #11
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My car is currently sitting at just over 700 miles and I am averaging around 18mpg
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      01-02-2014, 10:23 PM   #12
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Hard Break In

About to pick up my new 2014 M5 CP in a week - would love to hear more about what is a hard break in. A while back, I saw some details on how to properly break in the M5 (revs and engine breaking in first 50 miles). Do people still recommend this and how do I do it?

Thanks everyone!
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      01-03-2014, 03:54 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rainmkr View Post
About to pick up my new 2014 M5 CP in a week - would love to hear more about what is a hard break in. A while back, I saw some details on how to properly break in the M5 (revs and engine breaking in first 50 miles). Do people still recommend this and how do I do it?

Thanks everyone!
I would recommend you first warm the Oils up too full temp then using lower gears work the engine up too 5.5K RPM and allow the gears to slow you down to almost a stop and go again ( you need empty roads for this really) you may have to cover some miles before the road is clear again , so in reality you may only do this 10/15 times or so which should be enough. after all it's the rings we are seating nothing else.. There after drive as normal and still use gears to slow you down going down through the box.
The real IMO thing to remember is run the engine hardish when HOT.
Just my way, others have there ideas.
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Last edited by JOHNBMWM5; 01-03-2014 at 04:01 AM..
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      01-03-2014, 05:47 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johnbmw6 View Post
I would recommend you first warm the Oils up too full temp then using lower gears work the engine up too 5.5K RPM and allow the gears to slow you down to almost a stop and go again ( you need empty roads for this really) you may have to cover some miles before the road is clear again , so in reality you may only do this 10/15 times or so which should be enough. after all it's the rings we are seating nothing else.. There after drive as normal and still use gears to slow you down going down through the box.
The real IMO thing to remember is run the engine hardish when HOT.
Just my way, others have there ideas.
@johnbmw6 would you please elaborate on your hard break-in procedure (for others wanting to do hard break-in & for me out of technical interest), i.e.

(1) How did you select the gears (manually using paddles)?
(2) You mention running the engine 'hardish' when hot, however, how did you accelerate to 5.5K (gently, half throttle, WOT)?
(3) Am I correct in assuming that once your at say 5.5K in 3rd you just lift off the accelerator (traffic permitting) and use the paddles to downshift in each gear once the revs drop to say 1K + back on throttle pedal once down to 1K in 1st gear?
(4) Once at 40-50 miles you stop hard break-in procedure, regardless of what you've achieved (due to traffic, for example, as continuing is futile)?
(5) Once complete drive as normal, slowing down through gearbox - is this in D1?
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      01-03-2014, 05:51 AM   #15
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18 mpg and needs a quart of oil every 4000 miles. Spirited driving once a month maybe. 12k miles so far.
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      01-03-2014, 06:04 AM   #16
Dionysus
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rainmkr View Post
About to pick up my new 2014 M5 CP in a week - would love to hear more about what is a hard break in. A while back, I saw some details on how to properly break in the M5 (revs and engine breaking in first 50 miles). Do people still recommend this and how do I do it?

Thanks everyone!
Has anyone asked BMW AG whether or not hard break-in is recommended, directly or indirectly. What potential long term effect does it have on the engine?

I asked my Sales Manager and he was slightly horrified and said to drive it gently at first (which is what I did for 5-155 miles - no idea how it was driven for first 5 miles). Asked the same question indirectly of the Master Technician and he pretty much said the same, but to vary the engine speeds.

I had zero oil consumption up to 155 miles. My oil consumption started when I drove (once engine warm - I was fully warming up for 1 hr prior to harder driving) manually selecting gears on long stretches of A-road and using half throttle to accelerate to up to 5K (2nd & 3rd), avoiding constant speeds by slowing down through engine braking and downshifting or selecting higher gears for short periods of time.

Admittedly I did a couple of 3/4-ish throttle opening bursts for 3-4 seconds and once briefly (fraction of a second) revved the engine to 6K by selecting the wrong gear. My overall economy during the break-in period was around the 25-26mpg mark, so clearly not driving as hard as some (or not encountering as much traffic or low speed stop/start conditions).

Last edited by Dionysus; 01-03-2014 at 08:28 AM..
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      01-03-2014, 06:09 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by s4awd View Post
18 mpg and needs a quart of oil every 4000 miles. Spirited driving once a month maybe. 12k miles so far.
That is quite interesting, what MY is yours, and does your normal driving involve stop start traffic, short trips (say not allowing engine to warm). Does spirited driving equate to sustained hard-ish driving or short bursts?

Last edited by Dionysus; 01-03-2014 at 08:27 AM..
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      01-03-2014, 06:22 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Palmnuts View Post
I drove my car 'properly' from the off...no break in as such, but equally no outrageous thrashing either.
I'm assuming now it's run in, you do the occasional WOT (not particularly easy in the UK)? Lets face it, we can 'ride the torque' as it's pretty fast in D1/efficient engine settings, but then it never feels like a performance car.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Palmnuts View Post
The car is always run on either Shell V Power or Tesco 99 - not sure if these do anything or not but it's only £4 a tank extra for the 'good' stuff so I don't think about it too much.
I mentioned Shell V Power due to it ethanol content - I may try BP for a while before they also add ethanol, just as a comparison. Personal preference, but I've always avoided supermarket fuels (at least for last 16 years or so) due to previous lack of detergents, etc. My first tank would have been Sainsbury's as that's what's next to the dealership (they would not let me take the car with minimal fuel to nearby Shell - probably due to all the driveline errors).
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      01-03-2014, 06:31 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mstmng View Post
and my consumption is always higher then whatever bmw stated, no matter if it is 2L diesel or 5L petrol
I can usually exceed the BMW stated economy (diesel or petrol), the exceptions have been M5 & a new E46 318i M Sport (didn't keep that car past 5000 miles).
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      01-03-2014, 06:35 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Neil McRae View Post
I think a harder run-in is better.
Neil - what is your oil consumption like? Did you run in your pre-LCI & LCI the same and has there been any noticeable difference in oil consumption (trying to assess if BMW have made any improvements for LCI)?

PS how do I quote multiple posts in one reply - is it a manual process?
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      01-03-2014, 06:59 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dionysus View Post
@johnbmw6 would you please elaborate on your hard break-in procedure (for others wanting to do hard break-in & for me out of technical interest), i.e.

(1) How did you select the gears (manually using paddles)?
(2) You mention running the engine 'hardish' when hot, however, how did you accelerate to 5.5K (gently, half throttle, WOT)?
(3) Am I correct in assuming that once your at say 5.5K in 3rd you just lift off the accelerator (traffic permitting) and use the paddles to downshift in each gear once the revs drop to say 1K + back on throttle pedal once down to 1K in 1st gear?
(4) Once at 40-50 miles you stop hard break-in procedure, regardless of what you've achieved (due to traffic, for example, as continuing is futile)?
(5) Once complete drive as normal, slowing down through gearbox - is this in D1?
Right collected the Car Sunday morning @ 7:30AM, drove to the nearest Duel carriageway (4 miles) till the Oil temp was HOT, then got into 3rd gear and booted it too 5.5RPM, then allowed the 3rd gear to slow me down, repeated this on the same stretch of road till I had covered 40/50 miles, then driving home use the paddles in sport mode normal driving but dropping the gears to slow down I did not really need the brakes much at all, by then I had done 80/90 miles.
Next drive (whenever) started up drove keeping revs down too 2K till all was HOT, then driving normally too 5K ish and used the gears to slow down.
I drive using the gears to slow down ALL the time.
As long as the Revs don't go over 5.5K on down shifts all is good IMO.
Job done.
I always get the car Oils Hot before using the power.
PS) My normal settings for driving are: Sport+ Engine : Sport Suspension : Sport Steering, after those 40/50 miles on collection.
Comfort in town.
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      01-03-2014, 07:15 AM   #22
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Thanks John.

From what you say above, I mistimed the hard break-in rather than drove the car wrong. I'm going to try driving a bit harder to see what that does to fuel consumption. Planning on mid-cycle oil change perhaps at 5000 miles (car currently tracking 17000 miles to next scheduled oil change).
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