Just got my 2013 Mini Cooper "S" Hardtop two days ago and I LOVE IT!! But ...I had to call the salesman today to find out what a particular button was for, and he advised me to wait until the engine warmed up, and run up the revs, up to and including the red line

I'm old school, which says that you baby the engine until it has at LEAST a thousand miles on it.

The salesman, Stan, said that with the synthetic oil and the engineering of the engine, it will run better if I rev it often during the break-in.

Any opinions on this? I will do as he says (gee ...too bad ....I get to really DRIVE it ) but only if I am absolutely sure that he isn't just saying that so I come back in 20,000 miles to buy a replacement for my burned up engine, which the warranty might not cover ......

 

Double check the owners manual. I have the N14 engine, so not the same as your N18 engine, but I'm pretty sure the owners manual told me to be considerate of the break-in period and to not rev it too high. I could be wrong though as that was months ago and I don't have the manual in front of me

 

limit the rpm to 4000 as the OM says, after the engine is warm, full throttle is ok, just limit the rpm for 1200 miles as the OM says

avoid running at a constant rpm for an extended period of time

 

I was curious about this and looked it up. Your salesman is flat out wrong.

Check out page 100 in the manual:
http://www.miniusa.com/content/dam/m..._all_trims.pdf

There are various break-in procedures mentioned there, but here are the ones for the engine:

Engine and differential
Always obey all official speed limits.

Up to 1,200 miles/2,000 km
Drive at varying engine and road speeds, but do
not exceed the following:
Avoid full-throttle operation and use of the
transmission's kickdown mode.

After driving 1,200 miles/2,000 km
Engine and vehicle speeds can be gradually
increased.

 

Thats it! I knew I remembered reading that Thanks gknorr for killing the false information 13Hardtop_S from his ill informing salesman.

 

thanks for looking that up, i remembered 4k rpm, but after reading i do remember 4.5k now

 

actual old school thinking was either pamper or break it in like you plan to run it.

Either way avoid cruise control

 

A sales person who gives out miss-information!! Like THAT NEVER has happened before!!
My guess...he is hoping you will need to buy an new car in couple of years...like when the one you just bought is BURNING TONS OF OIL due an an improper break-in....
In a perverse kind od way...it might help him out...ever meet a car sales person that stays with one MAKE for very long?! They usually move around..even if they stay under the same corporate umbrella.....
Maybe I'm a cynic....
but sometimes...things just make you say hmmmmm.....

 

I work around salesman everyday. And at least around my area, I'd be more inclined to say they didn't take the time to learn the product. I don't want to go out and say they planned anything in advance, that'd mean they actually had taken the time to learn something! For the most part, in my experience, car salesman are inherently lazy. Thats why they are salesman. Now don't get me wrong, there are saleman that are good, learn their product and care for the customer. But they are far and few between. Heck there are salesman that DO care for their customer, but still don't take the time to learn the little things about their product.

I always, always, always, read my owners manual for things just like this. I'll trust myself before others. And most of the time I second guess myself. And like Zippy said, perhaps I'm a cynic. But then again I do work with these people everyday.

 

13Hardtop_S,
Sorry, but your salesman is an idiot, and following his advise will undermine the purpose of engine break-in: settling of piston rings into an engine's cylinder wall.

Follow your user manual (and what others here already quoted), not the advise of a slimy sales-guy.
The above statement applies to 99% of situations in life.

HTH,
a

 

For some reason I suspect the people that wrote the owners manual know more about the product than your salesman does.

As far as old school goes, I'm very old school and still drive my car with care even after break-in. Having owned many cars, boats and motorcycles since 1952 I have yet to have to even pull the heads off any of my engines. If I had to red line my car to give me the sensation of speed I'd have bought a Mustang instead. To me, the thrill of this little car is it's handling, not it's 0-60.

 

Just to take the devil's avocet position consider this:
(please keep in mind that this is a religious debate. I am not recommending anything, just pointing out the other side of the coin - no need to flame me)

Mini believes 1L / 1000km oil consumption is acceptable and within tolerance. And as a lot of us know (from experience) these do burn a lot of oil. This is the same group that writes that manual. And the same group that calls supercharger oil "lifetime" for those of us with 1st gen cars.

Mini dealers do not rebuild their engines - they are considered disposable

It's more corporately responsible to tell owners to take it easy and add oil as necessary (instead of telling them to blast the hell out of it)



I have an engine rebuilder that has torn down hundreds of current generation engines ('current' being engines built in the last 5 years) across many manufacturers ('domestic' and 'foreign'). He has the technical guys at the design shop and factories' direct phone numbers and deals with them daily to help them resolve the development and design problems. Working with the manufacturer, they have found that even with current gen engines "drive it like you stole it" technique is indeed a valid technique to help seat/seal the engine. Once opening an engine and looking at the pistons they're able to accurately tell how an engine was broken in (by the blow-by).

Also keep in mind that these close tolerance engines are also broken in in the first 1/2 hour (or less) of running.


Once again: I am not recommending anything, just pointing out the other side of the coin - no need to flame me for pointing this out.

 

+1

I'm, with you. I did not baby mine during break in. I did not red line it or hold any rpms . This is not my first new vehicle and I have always done oil changes @ 5K with full synthetic oil and I use black stone labs to tell when the oil needs changed , not a guess from the onboard computer. And guess what , my new clubman has 4K miles and has not used any oil, still full. My wifes 2011 was a loaner and has 29K and uses no oil, I assume the loaner was not babied either.

 

I go with this guy - http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

 

Interesting...
I always wondered how race car engines were broke in (no driving 1200 mi there)

My sales person said "drive it like you stole it"...

As for MINI knowing what is right...well take that with a grain of salt. Remember the 26,000 miles between oil changes that they tried to force on us. Running the engine easy has as much to do with liability on warranty as anything, more than likely. That way if anything goes wrong they can blame you for not following the manual and they don't have to repair it if something goes wrong. In the old days they didn't have the manufacturing ability they do today and you don't have the imperfections that need to be worn away before driving the car hard.

But, no matter what, it doesn't hurt to change the oil after 500 - 1000 mile. Who knows what was left behind that is waiting to wreck things on you.

 

Race car engines get torn down and rebuilt after each race..

Race car engines have special start up procedures. Such as pre-heating oil before the engine is started EACH time.. before a race.. Then a careful pre-lube run with an electric oil pump.

They are also balanced and blueprinted engines, not mass produced in some factory.

 

i agree ... but i did limit the rpm to the OM 4500 til 1200 miles, but lots of full throttle followed by coasting back down

after 1200, i gradually increased max rpms for the next 500 miles

i did an oil/filter change between 1200-1300 miles and again at about 2500 miles

my engine burns no oil between changes

scott

 

Does MINI/BMW, or any other manufacturer, know what best for your car? Yes they do, but they also know what's best for the bottom line of the financials too. They want to get the car car out of warranty. PERIOD!.

What's best for the engine, especially a turbo engine, is to get the rings to seat as quickly as possible.

I've used the Mototune break in on everything I've owned in the last 20 years. My supercharged 1995 M3, the Mini, The Audi, the Ford F150, the wife's Kia AWD Turbo Sportage, my bikes... None of them burn any oil... I still own the M3...

You are of course free to do as you like. Me? I'll continue to drive it like I stole it...

 

i belive hard break in is the best method, it makes sure that the rings are going to sit in the proper place

doesnt neccisarilly mean beat the hell outa it, but create large pressure and vacumes on the rings and never sit at the same RPM

 

That is EXACTLY what mine said as I was finishing up at the dealer ;-)

 

I was wondering how long it was going to take before this popped up in this thread...

This all depends on how you define "race car engines". I have lots of friends that race non-professionally whose cars are not street legal and therefore they have to break in the engines on the dynos. These engines are not rebuilt after every race or even at the end of every season. They do see significantly less miles than a street car motor though. Typically they'll spend a few hours on the dyno doing some gentle pulls and then come back a day later and start the tuning. But certainly nowhere near 1000 miles of street miles.

My STI and the JCW Mini were both purchased new and both followed factory break in procedures. None of them burn oil either. Ok Ok you caught me. The mini will burn about 1/2 qt in 7k miles.

The bottom line is I think you can pretty much break in your engine however you feel comfortable. Do some reading... make a decision... and stick with it. And screw everyone else who tells you you're ruining your engine by following break in procedure "x".

 

Thanks. I am still unsure, but these comments are reassuring. It basically tells me that this insanely muscular little "4" is tough, and will run well and for a long time regardless of how you break it in. When driving it I feel torn between babying it, as I have always done with new cars ....and unleashing it as I plan to drive it (only occasionally when roads are clear, of course )

I am an engineer (electronics) by profession and my logical side tells me to split the difference of all the advice I have been given, namely,At least for the first 4 or 5000 miles, don't redline it in every gear, at every stoplight, but don't bog it down with exclusively low revs either.

 

there was a really really good article about break in on novus technic but that site is down now.

i think the bottom line was, despite how good manufacturing techniques are, there are still gonna be imperfections in the construction - microscopic areas that aren't as smooth as certain areas that will create tiny hot spots until they are worn in, and really that the first 10 miles are the most important part of the break in (for engines that aren't broken in from the factory, a la porsche).

also, it's not just the engine you're breaking in - everything else, brakes, rotors, transmission, drivetrain, differentials, etc are all being broken in too - something many people overlook when considering how to break in a new car.

..
for me personally, i baby it for the first 10 miles, then a liiittle bit more until 50, from 50-500 i really start varying the revs (staying under 4500), 500-1500 give it a WOT to 4.5-5k every time the car is at full operating temp, and after that, do whatever I want. The first ten miles are key though.

 

I'll give my .02....

Drive it like you stole it!

I have done this with all of my cars and none of them have had problems with eating oil nor have they had engine issues. I have 110K on my 06 MINI and it still pulls strong.

 

When I bought it it had 113 miles on it, presumably from test drives. So I have a feeling the first 100 miles were "driven like they stole it". I hope it didn't hurt it.

Thanks, da flake. That's reassuring.