Running in the Engine

[elitex]

Originally Posted by JOHNBMWM5

Interesting article on this here: From R&T Magazine.......
BMW is quietly rolling out a Customer Care Package, or CCP, for its N63 twin-turbocharged V8 to fix a handful of glitches that have plagued the 4.4L since it was launched in 2008. The CCP is not a recall since it does not address safety-related concerns.
According to Road & Track, the CCP covers a wide range of items, from timing chains prone to failure to leaky fuel lines to faulty vacuum pumps. The CCP even reduces the N63's oil service interval from 15,000 miles to 10,000 miles. Interestingly, that reduction in mileage is the result of customers taking it too easy on the V8 rather than the other way around -- without a proper flogging during the break-in period, the N63 has a tendency to consume more oil.


I have always (once Oil is up to temperature) Pushed the new "M" engines for the first 50 miles or so using lower gears to slow down, this has always resulted in No Oil used., looks like I was right.

Intersting. I broke in my last M5 according to the manual and it was consuming a lot of oil. This time around, I didn't really care. Hit 160 on the autobahn and mountain driving in Austria varying rpm without really hitting the redline. Let's see. I know it's not a scientific test but lets see.

[Spinny02]

Hard break in for me. I have not had to use a single drop, it always stays at max.

[Wills2]

Originally Posted by MCarsFan

I'll add a quart when the oil hits the minimum.. Soon..

No need to add oil until it tells you to, the gauge is just a visual guide and can vary in its measurement.

[MCarsFan]

That's right. I'll top up when it tells me.

[Phatcat]

Originally Posted by elitex

Intersting. I broke in my last M5 according to the manual and it was consuming a lot of oil. This time around, I didn't really care. Hit 160 on the autobahn and mountain driving in Austria varying rpm without really hitting the redline. Let's see. I know it's not a scientific test but lets see.

Always hard break in for me, and I have never had a car that needs topping oil.

Of course I only had say, through 8 cars so far in my life so I can't say 100% thats the way to go, but it has worked for me.

[JOHNBMWM5]

Originally Posted by Phatcat

Always hard break in for me, and I have never had a car that needs topping oil.

Of course I only had say, through 8 cars so far in my life so I can't say 100% thats the way to go, but it has worked for me.

I have had 6 new BMW "M" cars. All hard brake-in, never used a drop of Oil.

[Bönz]

Question for you hard break in guys. I am assuming this means runs to redline and lots of full throttle acceleration. Do you notice a power difference after the 1200 service?

I don't, but I didn't run it hard beforehand so there's no way for me to be sure. I still call BS on the power releasing program.

[JOHNBMWM5]

Originally Posted by Bönz

Question for you hard break in guys. I am assuming this means runs to redline and lots of full throttle acceleration. Do you notice a power difference after the 1200 service?

I don't, but I didn't run it hard beforehand so there's no way for me to be sure. I still call BS on the power releasing program.

My hard run-in is not exceeding 5.5K RPM, so no red lining for me at all, just lower gear slowing down after accelerating in say 2nd/3rd too 5.5K RPM.
Works for me ONLY in the first few miles though.

[Spinny02]

Originally Posted by JOHNBMWM5

My hard run-in is not exceeding 5.5K RPM, so no red lining for me at all, just lower gear slowing down after accelerating in say 2nd/3rd too 5.5K RPM.
Works for me ONLY in the first few miles though.

+1 ( 50miles). I did however cel heck to see here she was limited at speed wise on the autobhuan after about 100-150 miles. Just once.

[M6-Coupe]

Originally Posted by mstmng

on top of that i had a consumption of 1L every 700-1000 miles when i used castrol, soon i have switched to different brand it went to 0L per 5k miles

This is my third F13 in last 4 years. Starting September 2011 I got my first 650i with N63 engine. 20 months later I traded in that car and got the second 650i with N63tu engine. 4 months later I got my M6 (S63tu). In all three I didn't push the car for the first 2000 miles and I always added 1L oil (Mobile SAE) every 1000-1500 miles up to 10k miles on the clock. After that, the oil consumption significantly decreased. Currently I have 18k miles on the clock and between the last two oil changes (one at 12k and another at 17k) I didn't add any oil. In my case for all 3 cars every 5000-6000 miles I have had oil changed at BMW dealership using BMW recommended oil; So my point is, it is not about brand of oil. It's all about oil consumption and looks like once the engine is getting older, the oil consumption reduces.

Originally Posted by Bönz

There is nothing in the BMW tech manual that suggests they use any sort of break-in oil. BMW does strongly recommend following its 1200 mile, variable rpm, variable speed, no kick-down break-in period. You will find that people are just as opinionated on this subject as they are on oil change intervals.

While all journals and bores are machined to exacting tolerances, the bearings and piston rings that fill the "gaps" between all the machined surfaces are under tremendous stresses generated from the physical loads and heat cycling that occur inside an engine. All the mating components on a new engine need time to adjust and "learn" to fit together. This is certainly more important on a high strung engine like the S63Tu than it is on a Honda 4 cylinder.

Giving the engine time to break-in, especially allowing the rings to seat, in theory, reduces future oil consumption and provides for stronger performance and longer life. Note that when discussing engine life, it's always rings and bearings that fail first (disregarding blowing up your engine from too much boost, etc.) I broke in my N63 (650i) and never had oil consumption issues. I did the same with my M5, as recommended by BMW. I'm only at 1500 miles, so it's too soon to tell, but I tend to believe the experienced engineers at BMW over the "drive it like you stole when new crowd". It has always worked for me.

The 1200 mile oil change is intended to flush out all the metallic particles resulting from the reciprocating components wearing in. Keep in mind, that the break-in period applies to the rest of the car as well. The transmission, diff and even the wheel bearings all need a little love when they first meet. The 1200 mile service also includes a diff lube change for the same reason as stated above. I am not sure what the ECU reset is all about. I have read that it unlocks the launch control and more power, but since I didn't use LC during break-in (as directed) I cannot confirm this. Nor do I feel more power since my service.

As far as 1200 miles break-in service, there is no software update or power release. All they do is to change the engine/differential oil. They also unlock the Launch Control. Releasing the more power is just a joke even though I was told by SA that it's true; however I felt increasing the power up to 4-5k miles and I believe it's about the learning curve and giving the engine and drivetrain components time to break-in properly (as you perfectly explained)

[Bönz]

You're right M6. The power increase (albeit small) and reduced oil consumption are BOTH due to break-in.

I never believed the power increase thing about the 1200 mile reset, and I'm still not convinced that they even unlock launch control. I'd like someone to try launch control, pre-service, to see for sure. One of the forum members who doesn't care about following BMW's break-in procedure should try it.

[Phatcat]

Originally Posted by Bönz

You're right M6. The power increase (albeit small) and reduced oil consumption are BOTH due to break-in.

I never believed the power increase thing about the 1200 mile reset, and I'm still not convinced that they even unlock launch control. I'd like someone to try launch control, pre-service, to see for sure. One of the forum members who doesn't care about following BMW's break-in procedure should try it.

Actually I am surprised more people here don't try it, considering (it sounded like) most here leased their M5s.

If I am keeping the car, sure I may baby it, but if it's a lease, why don't people just drive like they stole it? It's not like the dealer will give you a better value because you followed the break-in procedure.

[Bönz]

I lease. Doesn't mean I want to ef up my car. Driving it as recommended for 1200 miles was no big deal. I will have it for three years and I treat it like my own. I do not subscribe to the mentality that just because I don't own something means I disrespect it. When I was young and rented my first apartment, I didn't trash it. I lived there.

[Stash21]

Oil is cheap. If there are engine issues at 80k that will be someone else's problem.

[M6-Coupe]

Originally Posted by Bönz

You're right M6. The power increase (albeit small) and reduced oil consumption are BOTH due to break-in.

I never believed the power increase thing about the 1200 mile reset, and I'm still not convinced that they even unlock launch control. I'd like someone to try launch control, pre-service, to see for sure. One of the forum members who doesn't care about following BMW's break-in procedure should try it.

Actually I did try it before and after break-in service to see if I can activate the LC with no intention to perform LC pre-service. During the 1200, LC is disabled and even the flag doesn't come up. I tried it several times respecting the warm up time and etc...

[dhirm5]

I drove it hard off the lot and since; haven't burned a drop in 15k+ miles.

[Wills2]

Originally Posted by JOHNBMWM5

My hard run-in is not exceeding 5.5K RPM, so no red lining for me at all, just lower gear slowing down after accelerating in say 2nd/3rd too 5.5K RPM.
Works for me ONLY in the first few miles though.

You describe that as a hard break in, I would describe that as a correct break in and not hard at all.

Although I would and did use higher gears 3rd-4th rather than 2nd to load the engine from 1500rpm.

[SteveC]

Oil serves 2 functions......lubrication and cooling (transporting heat away from components)

I would imagine BMW specs one grade of oil for running in, when the engine is limited to 5500 rpm and doesn't generate lots of heat and another for general running where full throttle and max revs will make the oil a lot hotter and therefore thinner.

When companies monitor vehicles to establish oil change parameters, they generally look at wear metals in the oil, rather than at oil break down products, which may be difficult to identify and measure (Oil is a hydrocarbon mixture with molecules typically containing a fixed range of carbon atoms C6 - C12.) I doubt oil actually breaks down i.e the molecular structure changes....rather its contaminants like water, soot, fuel etc that contaminate the oil and create sludge and additives which are consumed that defines the oil's lifetime

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by SteveC

Oil serves 2 functions......lubrication and cooling (transporting heat away from components)

I would imagine BMW specs one grade of oil for running in, when the engine is limited to 5500 rpm and doesn't generate lots of heat

Incorrect .. that is when engine components would generate most heat, when abrasion occurs

[Phatcat]

Originally Posted by M6-Coupe

Actually I did try it before and after break-in service to see if I can activate the LC with no intention to perform LC pre-service. During the 1200, LC is disabled and even the flag doesn't come up. I tried it several times respecting the warm up time and etc...

So you did tried it, I guess LC is indeed locked before the 1200.

As for Bonz, you took it too seriously, trashing apt. and try LC before 1200 are not the same thing.

[M6-Coupe]

Originally Posted by Phatcat

So you did tried it, I guess LC is indeed locked before the 1200.

As for Bonz, you took it too seriously, trashing apt. and try LC before 1200 are not the same thing.

Did you read my post correctly? By trying I meant I tried to activate the LC and as I said it was disabled (before 1200 break-in service ) and even flag didn't come up!

[JOHNBMWM5]

Originally Posted by Wills2

You describe that as a hard break in, I would describe that as a correct break in and not hard at all.

Although I would and did use higher gears 3rd-4th rather than 2nd to load the engine from 1500rpm.

Yes agreed not "hard as such" but using max revs allowed up and down the lower gears "sucking those rings to the bores".