in the breakin its says to stay under 4500. i am at 375 miles and have been staying under 3000 (just pushed it to 3500 on the way to work). is there a certain way to ramp up the RPMs over time, i cant imagine we are supposed to just start pushing it to 4500 the first couple hundred miles?

 

Actually, it is good to vary the RPM up to the 4500. Just be sensible. You don't want to start a cold engine and run it up to the limit. While I haven't tested it's limits, I have not felt confined at all so far. Going nowhere near 4500 I leave cars wayyy behind at the lights. (okay, maybe 4000 briefly).

 

I'm at 600+ miles and no expert, but shifting between 2000 and 2500 was making me nuts. I've moved into the 3000 range. I'm not leaving cars behind at the light--that's for sure---and it is annoying me at this point. In our area EVERYONE is fast off the line and I'm going to get pushed if I am not careful.

 

I picked up my car yesterday and asked my MA about break-in. His words, exactly, were: "Just drive the car. Don't leave it at a set speed for a long period, so the engine moves throughout the revs, and just drive it. The people who baby the car especially during break-in generally are the ones who have problems later. Just drive it as you normally would but stay of the cruise control."

I asked about 4500 he said, "don't worry about that either. To be honest, at 4500 you're probably not going to do it all that much with normal driving anyways. "

So, while being respectful of the 4500 mark, I am just driving the car. And today I will just drive it some more, and then Sunday more again, and...

 

jmelrose:
"I picked up my car yesterday..."
so there is some CELEBRATION in Celebration! Congrats on the car. This time last week things were pretty dark. Glad it all worked out.

 

Yes... amazing what a few firm but polite emails to MiniUSA execs can accomplish... and my dealership team was great also. The VDC was less than impressive however.

I'll have my impressions and photos up in a seperate thread later this weekend, including the SatNav and everything else. Today (and most of tomorrow) I'm spending some time with my new arrival!

 

Ive never felt the need to go over 4500 rpm's ,its quick enough!I am close to finishing break in so next time I find some open space I'll give it a shot.

 

there aren't enough room or traction to WOT and stay in the legal speed limit~ lol~ here in Toronto at least.

 

i hit just 500 miles and have been getting alittle heavy on the throttle. but still under 4500 RPMs. you guys are saying that this is 100% ok to drive spirited with only 500 miles? shifting sometimes around 4000 and giving it 70% throttle? or is this to much, to hard too fast. im also taking on and off ramps very fast as well as breaking very quickly. i need 175000-200000 miles out of this car. should i take it easier?

 

Just drive like how you drive normally, don't WOT, don't push the engine too far when it's not warmed up(don't idle, drive it.), and don't go over 4500rpm~
I don't usually rip it to 4500rpm, when i have the space, i like to cruise slowly to 4500rpm in 1st and 2nd, it seems like it's better to grind the engine slowly.

 

There are all sorts of theories on how it should be treated. I don't think you need to worry about anything other than what BMW recommends.

 

well im at 775 miles and today i accidentally hit 5000 RPMs for a second under full throttle. to make matters worse i was in sport mode and about 3-4 miles (15 minutes from a cold start) (hope the engine was at least warm.) i HATE breakin. now i feel as if i damaged something. i have also been shifting around 3500-4000 to keep the engine loose. i do need at least 200,000 out of this car as i put 25000 a year on my cars. but i also feel like if i drive it slow under 3000 for 1200 miles the engine wont loosen up during the breakin. could i have done any dameage today? sure it was a short burst of full throttle and it went a hair over 4500 RPMs. but for some reason when i pulled in to park my car it sounded louder than normal.

 

My MA said the same thing as they did in FL: just drive it dude. And don't use cruise control for more than a couple minutes during breakin. I just vary the speed up and down, keep it under 5000 for the most part. It's easy to break in a car. Miles add up the first few weeks, don't they?

 

You're probably imagining it. WOT is good for a couple seconds every once in a while when breaking in the engine and revving up to 5000 RPM for a short time will do absolutely no harm if anything it will help especially at 775 miles. Your engine is like 99.8% broken in already. Most of the break in is going to happen in under 100 miles. At 500 miles get the oil changed to get the metal shavings out and you're set. Although I'd probably get the oil changed again at 2 or 3K miles and then just every 5 - 7K or so. Taking spirited driving into account I'd change the oil a little more often than the 10 gazillion miles that MINI recommends.

 

Here's a fun little thread:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=98408

I'm planning to follow the 6speedonline/Ryephile/Buffdigits breakin procedure (will also give me a chance to properly bed in my brakepads and rotors) and will change my oil for the first time at ~500 miles. Also considering getting a magnetic drain plug. Although it still seems more like a gimmick than solution, it's cheap insurance for the paranoid.

 

I'm still struggling with this break in period-PERIOD! I have started using the SPORT button--all the time-- and I really like the improved performance. I can understand why some folks said it altered the shifting---it feels like the gears connect easier. I'm shifting at 3K rpms and feeling more comfortable, but it is still not totally second nature. I believe in my previous 5 speed, I must have shifted at higher rpms.
WHAT is "WOT"? (I could be missing something very important in this tread.

 

WOT = Wide Open Throttle.

and FLAV....you're fine. hitting 5K rpm's will do no harm.just drive the car the way you normally do. I believe you should not baby it, but drive like you normally would....vary rpms and load for the first 500. Take advantage of engine braking when you can...this will also help the rings seat.

For the next 500, increase rpms and load gradually, again using engine braking when you can. I'd stay 2K shy of redline, and limit to 75% of WOT.

By 1000 you should be ready to spend some time at redline and WOT. Give it a good workout.

 

So when I pick mine up and have a 6 hour drive to get back home, I shouldn't use the cruise conrol?

Even with this activated, the engine has to vary rpm due to the changes to the road (and believe me that the drive to West Texas is not a flat one)

lol... now I'm going to feel paranoid when I pick up Edgar...

 

Oh, and another question: Do you guys allow a warm up time before you drive off (aka you get into the car, start it, jam out to a few songs, then go) or just jump in and go (get into the car, hit the start button, go)?

It's been an interesting debate here at work. All the old guys say you need the warm up time, but all young people say that cars now-adays are designed for this get-in-and-go cold start buisness. What are your thoughts?

 

You could use it for a minute or two. Good to make sure it works. However, when breaking in an engine it is good to periodically completely back off the throttle. I've read that this floods the engine with oil because the drop in RPM is quicker than the drop in oil pressure. So, this flushes and cools friction areas. The variations a cruise control would perform are not radical enough.

 

do not warm up the car, just drive off. in fact, it clearly says it in the owners manual "do not warm up the car, just start it and drive!"

 

I agree with the start it and drive off.

but that doesn't mean you should jump in and drive off like crazy.

still give the car time for all fluids to circulate and get to operating temp. before really getting on boost.

 

Surfblue sez:

You haven't hurt that engine one bit. I accidently ran mine up to five grand when I only had a couple hundred miles on it. I've probably done it three or four times so far up to around 800 miles. Just no big thing. I've been to 4500 quite a few times since I hit over 500, now I'm at nearly 800. It's GOOD to run the engine through it's entire range. When I drove it home from the dealer, picking it up with just three or four miles on it, about half freeway, half two lane, I kept moving it from gear to gear plenty and varying the revs and making it leap along at up to ninety mph in sixth gear. I was and still am soooo impressed with the wide full torque range. The thing just comes on so strong without even flooring it. Don't be afraid, let that engine feel pressure when you back off the throttle on downhills etc too. I will say I have not completely FLOORED the GO PEDAL yet....just doing solid smooth acceleration in all gears at different times, even holding it at close to 4500 or so for a moment or two. Don't sweat it, just keep driving. One thing I believe is important is to ALWAYS have the entire drivetrain well warmed up before you start pushing it so that everything "fits" right. That goes for any car or bike.
Anybody notice how much and how long the HEAT comes off that engine when you've done a bunch of backroad driving? Last Saturday I was coming home over some backroads, working the well warmed up engine and gearbox all around the proper breakin recommended rpm range in all the gears, and when I got home and put it away and came back out to the garage THREE HOURS PLUS LATER I was amazed at how warm the hood and (after i opened the hood) the central engine areas still were. And I was amazed at how WARM my formerly cool two plus size car garage was. I decided I'd OPEN THE HOOD after I got home from drives like that. Kinda ****, I'm sure, but I think I'll do it. Can't hurt. LOVE THE CAR!!! When I get out driving in it, I just don't wanna go home! I don't even feel the pain of the pump (Northern California is getting killed on gas prices right now) when I fill it back up. LOVE THE CAR! My only concern is that this little monster MCS is going to KILL MY DRIVER'S LICENSE. It's so darn easy to find yourself thirty over any speed limit. The car does it so easily. I think I'm going to run out of courage before the car runs out of ability in the sweeping two lane turns. I've already found myself at way past double the speed of marked turns (and MORE) and the car just doesn't seem to be working hard at all. Just another day on the road for an 07 MCS, making it look, sound and feel easy. I just don't want to see those "party lights" in my rear views. Oh yeah, I've tried the SPORT BUTTON a few times. WOW! Tightens the steering way up and makes the throttle MUCH MORE RESPONSE VERY QUICKLY. For this reason I'm not using that anymore till I get past 1300 miles or more. Just too easy to rev way up past 4500 if you're not paying real good attention and are ready.
Sometimes I miss the 62 Cooper I sold to make this buy. Then I suddenly I don't.

 

Just finished breaking-in! Gotta say the engine just gets better and better! Just did my first 3000rpm launch with sport and DSC off... LOTS of wheel spin and loads of fun. Still haven't done any WOT yet... Gonna wait til I hit 2500KMs and oil change first... Then I will go out and push it...
The worst thing about this car is... THERES NOT ENOUGH ROAD FOR IT! even if theres enough road... there's the speed limit... and you know I ALWAYS obey it...