I believe the newer computer controled machining produces very tight fitting engines.My break-in took 5 days,95% highway.I did not push it hard at launch,but I ran it up to 6K RPM then back off,ran it at 3K RPM in 5th,for maybe ten minutes at a time,then would down shift to 4th,hold the same speed,mostly 60-65 MPH.Then slow a bit,down shift to 3rd,and run up to 5500-6000 RPM.I never let the car sit and idle,even in the small amount of traffic I was in.I did not go to WOT,but would just increase RPM at a spirited steady rate,as I intended to drive,and still drive the car today,well I do go to WOT at times now4-5k RPM is where my Cooper starts to pull,why would I want the ECU to never see anything above 4500 RPM.And with the first recommended oil change at 10K miles,the engine seems to have been manufactured with little machining grit to show up.I saw the oil come out at the first change,it was clear,and the filter looked like new.

 

If you believe everything that comes out a a manufacturers mouth when they have a reason to cover all the bases (in reference to their warranty)...then that's enough proof for you. I don't buy it...Ive never seen ANY data suggesting that it needs to be done, but plenty that says it doesn't. *shrug*

 

And what proof would that be? C'mon, don't make a claim that it is perfectly OK to do something other than what the manufacturer specifically has a req for. Don't worry, I am sure your car will last until the warranty is up. Me, I am planning on keeping my MINI at least as long as I had my last one.....25 years.

 

There is a multitude of proof in grassroots motorsports mags., internet sites and articles (take them with a grain of salt), but manily I rely on people I know who break in engines for a living. I am friends with 2 engineers on the Buell race team and every engine they build, test, and track is broken in using a cycling method. Ideally you would want to take your car to a dyno to have it cycled, but a track/street cycling works just as well, but with traffic and such should be done where you have plenty of open roads.

I don't know your depth of knowlede when it comes to the internals of engines (you owned an older mini, so I'm assuming that you did some work on it at some point), but there is no logic behind what mini tells you to do, and what the physics of modern engines requires for the rings to seat properly, and an avoidance of glazing. Both of my motorcycles were broken in this way and neiter have ever shed a tear of oil from anywhere.

I guess it comes down to what you believe. I have seen plenty of engines fail that have been broken in by the auto makers specs, and plenty fail when using a cycling method. The difference, from what I've read and seen in person, is that a properly cycled engine has a longer life, and has a better chance of a proper ring seat.

If mini REALLY had a reason why they didn't want their engines to go above 4K, it would come with factory limiting for the first 1250 miles. Something that could be easialy programed in ....but isn't.

 

After college I went into motorsports engineering. I only did it for a couple years till I decided I would rather be a crime fighting superhero , but I got to work with alot of engine builders, and piston, ring and rod manufactures. I ran the Motorcycle dragracing division for a company. The Mini motor is basically a motorcycle engine. What most of them told me was to break it in how your going to drive it. All the road racing motor builders said the same thing, break it in how your going to drive it. In the interview with Mike Cooper, he even implies 200 miles should be good enough on the motors of today. (heres the link: http://www.tv1.de/b2b/cms/_vm300/463...?tv1_storeVS=1 )
Of course the other rule of thumb was not to run synthetic oil till after about 2500 miles, and it seems like more high performance cars are coming with it.

I pick up my MCS next week and I will be taking it somewhat easy for about 200 miles, then I will be seeing what this S thing is all about.
Paul B

 

Nice posts with some good opinions.....but this is not a motorcycle engine. This is an engine that I am sure the manufacturer would like to see pass the 100,000 mile mark. Racing engines of any sort are not something you can compare a road going car engine too. Racing engines are designed to be very short lived. And race engine builders are not in a position to have an engine broke in for the long term gain.


This is going to end up being another thread with no clear right or wrong.....we all have a valid point and our own beliefs. It seems that sndwave is not that interested in the posts.....(only one response so far).

 

Worth waiting 10 min to hear Mike Cooper say that 1000mi break ins were a thing of the past

 

I've asked this before and haven't gotten an answer yet.

What about the super charger after the break in period? Does the engine temperature need to be up to a certain level prior to getting on the boost? Wouldn't want to go through the patience necessary during the break in period just to unexpectedly shorten the life of the super charger later on.

Hunter

 

I don't think so. The first time someone can't get out of the way of an accident because their revs are limited, BMWMINI gets sued big time.

I know this is sort of an old post I'm responding to, but I (as always) feel compelled to point out that the oil in MINIs from the factory (Castrol Syntec) is in fact petroleum oil. You can argue the semantics of whether or not the additives should allow Castrol to call it "synthetic", but it is definitely petroleum-based, there's no debating that.

 

Then any Geo, 100hp honda/nissan/toyota 70hp honda/nissan/toyota etc. would be crashing all the time. I've never had to accelerate to avoid an accident. And Im sure that the mini accelerates better than many many cars out there prior to 4k. The point is....if it were really that big of a deal, Mini would either break in their cars on a bench for 1200mi, or limit the performance of the car until it was "safe" to drive it over said rpm.

 

One of my biggest concerns is voiding the warranty. The kinds of info that can be stored in an ECU are disturbing. See this thread on the Elise Talk forums, it has a printout of the ECU report, complete with items like the number of launches ("Standing Starts")! Look at the Maximum RPMs entries: They've got detailed info for five (in the example, who knows how many are stored?) instances where the revs were high, including the RPM, the water and oil temperatures at the time, and the engine's age, and the duration of the incident! Yipes!


http://www.elisetalk.com/forums/show...t=ecu+printout

I haven't found anything similar to this for MINIs, but it's clear that the technology is available. I would hate to be denied service (or even a level of service, such as a loaner car, etc.) because the ECU tattled on me violating the break-in instructions.

Anybody got an example MINI ECU printout? Enquiring minds want to know.

_Dave_

 

I don't know what the ECU records,but I do know that mine has been read,and nothing has ever been said about my more spirited break-in.I have had thousands of dollars of warrenty work done,nothing with the engine,and it purrs like new,pulls the same as when new,and in 45K miles,I have had to add less than 1 quart of oil,which I check all the time.Well I did have to add 1/2 a quart when the dip stick blew,because the breather tubes frooze at -47F.
Most of my warrenty work is extreme cold weather related .
They should test the cars here,although some times I feel like they are using me to test it out

 

Interesting thread---- Just ran across it while I was looking for another topic that I lost the URL to. Decided to put my 2 cents worth in. I had read the Power News Magazine 'break in secrets' article before taking delivery of my 2005 MINI. I decided that the article made sense and since they showed some empirical data (which I assumed was legitimate) to back up their claims , I decided to break in JB by their method. I trailered it home from the dealer (125 miles) so I could put in dino oil for break in. It had 8 miles on the odo. After changing the oil, I drove to the interstate (3 miles) ,which warmed up the engine.and initiated the procedure. I accelerated hard up through the gears without flooring it completely to 5th gear then decelerated hard back down and left the interstate at the next exit. Crossed to the on ramp and repeated the procedure. I did this for about 15 miles down (the exits are fairly close together in this area) and 15 miles back. I ran this oil for 340 miles then replaced it with fresh dino oil. Why 340 miles? I don't know. 120 miles seemed too soon and by the time I got around to it 340 had gone under the wheels. At 1438 miles I changed back to the 'synthetic' oil that MINI uses. This I plan to change at 7500 miles (probably with Mobile 1). I can't tell you what the consequences are since I only have 2550 miles on it but I can tell you one thing, It was a heck of a lot of fun to do. Time will tell. Ya make yur choices and ya pay the piper.

 

I did my 1250 under 6000 rpm as recommended then went on a road trip from Washington to Vegas to really break the car in. Drove hard and fast. Averaged 92 mph for 1200 miles on the trip down. At times in Utah, Cali I was doing 110mph plus from quite awhile. So far no probs with the car.

 

So after reading through the ENTIRE Tritec website I found this page: http://www.tritecmotors.com.br/engli...boratories.htm

Near the bottom it says this:

And then below that it has a list of engine 'tests', one being a "20 minute- Hot Test". I sent them an e-mail asking about what kind of testing each engine went through, if each got the 20 min 'hot test' etc. etc. I also asked on the off chance that they would answer it, what break in procedures they recommended

I just sent the e-mail today, so I'm expecting a response w/in a couple of weeks.

For those by the book (a.k.a. manual) drivers out there.

Page 92 states: "Up to 1,250 miles" is required for proper break in. Assuming the engineers at Mini know more than us there are some other rules I'm hoping you're following as well :

Pg. 93: The manufacturer of your MINI recommends that you do not use
mobile devices, e.g. cellular phones, inside the vehicle without directly connecting them to an outside antenna.

Pg. 25: Children might be able to lock the doors from the inside. Always take the vehicle keys with you so that the vehicle can be opened again from the outside at any time.

Pg. 41: Always hold the steering wheel by the rim with the hands at the 9 and 3 o'clock positions to keep any chance of injury to hands or arms to an absolute minimum, should the airbag be deployed. No one and nothing is to come between the airbags and the seat occupant. (read; no food, or drink )

Pg. 51: Do not let the engine warm up with the vehicle at a standstill. Move off immediately at a moderate engine speed.

Pg. 81: Do not place any glass containers in the beverage holders, as this
increases the risk of injury in the event of an accident.

Pg 92: Comply with the local speed limits.

I'm sure that you "by the book" drivers would never think to break any of these rules laid forth by the mini engineers.