When I picked my car up yesterday the dealer told me he had just received a
call from MINI telling him that there is no need to break the car in.......you can drive
it however you like. He said he wished he had known and been able to tell that to all the people who came before me. I still plan not to go over 4500 rpm for the first 1,250 miles, but I'd still like to know if anyone else has been told the same thing. He also said that changing the oil more frequently than every 10,000 miles is overkill and a waste of time because they use a synthetic oil. Any pertinent thoughts?

 

Was it your auto DEALER that said that????

 

That way if something goes wrong, your dealer can say:

"Hey, you didn't follow the prescribed break-in period"
"Wait, I was told that it didn't matter!!"
"Hahahahahaha prove it!"

 

>>That way if something goes wrong, your dealer can say:
>>
>>"Hey, you didn't follow the prescribed break-in period"
>>"Wait, I was told that it didn't matter!!"
>>"Hahahahahaha prove it!"


I agree. If my dealer told me that, I would produce the owners manual and show where it says there is a break in period how and for how long the car is to be driven during the break in and ask that he put his statement in writing in the owners manual, or give me a copy of the memo from mini indicating the change.


That said, the technician who works on my mini told me the same thing as your dealer. I told him that I was going to follow the procedure to be safe, and also that I thought the computer probably kept track of max rpms during break in (and perhaps after), and that I didn't want to raise a question of my responsibility if there was an engine problem at a later date.

Hope this helps.

Steve

 

Thanks for offering your opinions. I just read another topic posted that refers to the break-in period and has 15 responses. As with you folks, their opinions are mixed. I tend to believe that anything that hasn't been 'proven' to be harmful is most likely fine to do as long as it is done in moderation, rather than excess. So I think I'll gradually push it harder from time to time during the 'break-in period' and trust that everything will go smoothly. I really can't fathom them being able to prove that I didn't follow the manual recommendations at all times and tell me that I have therefore, voided the warranty. Some may see pushing it a little as taking a big risk.....others may see it as taking no risk at all......and from the opinions in the other post, I now see the risk as very minimal to nonexistent. I also really like and
trust the people at the dealership and don't think they would tell me there was no risk if they themselves weren't convinced.

 

In 1998 I had a boxster and I met with a regional technical advisor for Porsche. His recommendation on breaking in an engine was to vary the RPM's quite frequently. Around town this is fairly easy to do but when cruising on the highway he suggested frequent gear changes even at the same speed. He also suggested that after the first couple of hundred miles to occasionally wind the car towards redline for a second or two. The reason was that if you break the car in at steady RPM's always under 4500 what's gonna happen the first time you really wind it out? The engine will be in an RPM range that it has never seen before. One thing is certain, I would definitely let the engine warm up - break in or not - before hitting those higher revs.

I've also spoken to a lot of people about synthetic oil. The consensus seems to be that regular motor oil is preferred for break in because the low friction properties of the synthetic does not allow the parts to wear correctly. After the break in synthetic is better.

 

the break in is nonsense on todays cars if you drive it like you would drive it after breaking it in, not abusing it either before or after the so called break in....if it makes you feel better breaking it in, then do it otherwise you will be a neurotic thinking you didn't break it in right....but you aren't going to hurt the engine driving it above 4500 rpms before 1250 miles....lol! the mini tech who had a reg mini told me he hardly drove it under 4000rpms under 1250 miles....he said the car performs best at 4 to 6K rpms.....the chip technology isn't going to allow much if any abuse at high rpms because of its programming....now if you tamper with the chips aka superchips, that's another story...lol!

 

I did not find staying under 4500 difficult at all. I also shifted on the interstate regularly on the drive home when new (200 miles). Be a little patient. Then drive it like you stole it

 

I think the trick is not to hold it at 4500 for an extended period. Getting it there once in awhile is not really dangerous. As for oil changes, I find it hard to believe that ANY engine is machined so perfectly that there isn't some junk floating around in the oil when it's new. Here, I'd play it safe and change at about 1200 miles, even though the $70 price tag at my local MINI dealer seems a bit high. A local mechanic with some smarts should be able to do it for half that.

 

OK - I'll bite...

>When I picked my car up yesterday the dealer told
>me he had just received a call from MINI telling him
>that there is no need to break the car in.......you
>can drive it however you like.

I agree. I think break in is a bunch of hooey in today's computer automated assembly lines - I'll baby it for maybe 200 miles if I'm lucky then change the oil and never worry about the rest of the break in.

Coming off the Ferrari assembly line their cars are 'shaken down' on the country roads in italy by rather aggressive test drivers and that is literally off the assembly line. They have 'recommended' break-in for owners as well but the factory already drove the snot out of the car and the new owner likely will from owner mile 1.

As far as new tire break in procedures - disengage clutch, turn off dsc/asc+t, engage 1st, apply throttle to 4500, engage clutch, disengage when tire moulding compunds adequately burned off. Just my personal opinion.


>He also said that changing the oil more frequently
>than every 10,000 miles is overkill and a waste of
>time because they use a synthetic oil. Any pertinent
>thoughts?

-dq

 

Hey Herbie..... I waited. I am now at about 1800 and just beginning to ride up over 5 and a half/5 and 3/4s revs.....It's amazing, especially in 2nd and 3rd how fast and how quickly you get "up there" to cop watching speeds! Great fun. And the word I have from CincyMini is the oil is definately good till 10,000. Actually i had a wierd problem out of the box......A nasty tick tick tick some where down in the left hand side of the block. It took CincyBMWMini three days to isolate a bad tensioner pully on the alternator belt. Both of which they changed and now MAXI is purring along!
WE just had our Cincy (OH) area first minimeet 9/8. WE got 18 cars - 9Ss and 9 Coops up to Wright Pat Air Museum. Our next venture is rumoured to be the R & R Museum in Cleveland in November -- stay tuned!
cheers.
sevenderwent@aol.com MAXI Electric Blue/sunrf/heated seats/
David/jacquesmontoya