My BMW recommended the same, under 80 mph, under 4K RPM for first 1200.

Difficult. Ialways drive under 80 now due to tickets/cops, but at the time it felt ridiculously slow.

 

We don't have that problem on LA freeways. It's not like you can cruise at a fixed speed for any length of time because of the traffic. The speeds in a 10 mile stretch of the 101 are likly to vary between 80 mph and dead stopped..... with no apparent reason (other then TMC).

 

Sooo, what happens if you were carefully following the break-in rules and then you had to make an emergency traffic manuver involving a WOT and DEFINITELY over 4500 rpm or risk getting smushed by a moron in a monster truck???? Because this happened to me....

 

You'll be fine As long as your not constantly doing it!

 

The engine pulls strong and just begs to be run up to the limiter. It is disappointing to cut the throttle so soon. I've had it up to 5k once, but I'm trying to rein in my lead foot. 4.5k will have to be enough for a while...

 

with the turbo its not really that hard to keep the revs low. I would consider the rule more of a guideline. Many people will argue both ways, but I would think the most critical part is to make sure you are not driving the car hard before its warmed up and close to when you are going to turn it off. Giving a good amount of time for the car to cool down without hard driving at then end of your trip is probably the most important part. In the middle of the drive you should be okay, but I still wouldn't push the car super hard.

 

I normally cruise the limit (assuming it's within the speed/rpm range MINI wants), and then drop down about 10 to 15 mph. How often depends on how "old" the engine is--if it's still in diapers I do it very frequently, and actually run on streets as much as possible instead. As the engine builds more miles, I do it about every 5 minutes, and extend the interval until the engine is broken in. And as I mentioned, no cruise control. Just my opinion, of course...

 

I would do it and say bad words... Smushed MINIs are sad to look at.

 

I'd argue lugging the engine runs it just as "hard" as running at higher revs.

 

You are so right--but lugging this engine is pretty hard to do unless you're really not paying attention. On our old Porsche 356, lugging is below 3000 rpm--think about what 3000 would do in any gear on the MCS. (Don't know about the MC, but the OP was asking for his new MCS.)

 

WOT to fuel cutoff out of the dealership driveway.

Drive it hard and dont worry. Seriously.

 

A good tip for that long interstate drive back from the dealer, a good way to vary the speeds, other than backing off every so often, is to pull off and drive through all of the rest stops on the side of the interstate. Lets you slow down to as low as 5 mph if you want, and then run back up to highway speed.

 

This has been long debated... most people knowledgable in the field of engine building say it's BS. In fact, most say to push the car as hard as you can within the first 50 miles to properly seat the rings.

As far as the OBC recording engine RPM, the OBC monitors many things instantaniously, i've seen NO data indicating that anything is recorded. I've seen what the dealer brings up with their "Key Readers" it's basically the VIN, Color, Options, and Delivery Date...

I'm pretty sure the key just has the VIN, and their computers find the rest through a central database. Any dealer that claims they can read how fast you drive, or the max RPM's you've taken your engine too off your key is blowing smoke up your ***... .

I bounce off the rev limiter several times a day in my car, it's been to the track numerous times, oh yea, and my rev limiter is almost 1500 RPM's higher than stock (8250 vs 6800). When I went in to get some wipers the MA asked a few questions about mods, told me what he wanted to do to his car, etc, even showed me the stuff he was pulling up on the PC from my key, it has no information whatsoever about how you drive.

Knowing a bit about the Siemens ECU in our cars, I have no idea where it would even store said information (Considering much of the "Storage" is written to during an ECU flash, leaving almost nothing remaining for any extraneous information).

 

Thanks for that piece of advice. That's exactly what I'll do.


not

 

That's a good option. Plus, it'll give me a chance to work through the gears and get a feel for the clutch, etc. I think I'll do it...maybe not ALL of them though.

 

Or... don't take the interstate? When I broke in my MINI, I used it as an excuse to skip my usual interstate trip (I shuttle between Milwaukee and Chicago a lot) and find some nice local roads.

 

http://www.ntnoa.org/enginebreakin.htm

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

 

thing is, most of your hp is lost past 4500 rpm, just shift with your torque. You will feel the addicted to the torque by the end of the 1200.

 

I see you have an R53, the OP is asking about an R56 though. From my understanding the R56 stores more 'key memory' because of the fob design which MINI switched to (more room for a larger flash chip). I know for example that the new key constantly stores the milage on your MINI. So it wouldn't surprise me if it logs RPM/speed right along with that.

 

Wow Nice post.

Just picked my baby up on tuesday night. Im already up to 200 Mi (40mi commute each way to work) and Im trying like hell to vary speed and engine revs on the highway but is definitely hard. Im going to hoon around NJ/PA on the weekend down the back roads and try to break her in a little more. Its hard not to go ***** out when you have an lsd.

The whalen shift **** definitely helps though! Its like it is saying "Shift me" every time I look at it.

 

The article state not to use synthetic oil when breaking in a car??? What is the point then?? I thought mini uses full synthetic oil, so no matter what there is no way to properly break in the engine?? Now I am confused!?!?

 

I don't know about long term issues but I always drove it hard. Prior to Benny I didn't even know how to drive stick. (My brother learned on Benny too) 12,000+ miles and no probs.

 

We drove back from Arlington about 300 miles yesterday, starting at mile 14 on the odometer of our new MINI.

We made frequent stops, pulling on and off the interstate at many exits, all rest stops, picnic areas, and many small towns, just to slow, stop,and start again. We rode the access roads for spells.

I had considered a more adventurous non-interstate route, but new car at night fears kept us close to I-35. On the interstate, I varied between 50 and 70ish, downshifting gently when possible.

I hope this will do our MINI good. I was tempted to try the hard break in described in other places on this forum, but I really didn't have a place to do it. This week we'll be driving in town, maybe a hill country trip, top down, of course, getting to know our little car.

 

Yeah, I wouldn't go that far. I'd apply that advice to an engine that wasn't designed from the start to use synthetics... in other words, where there's a choice to use one or the other.

But I think the overall approach and rationale for a break-in that gives the engine enough load to properly seat and seal the rings against the cylinder walls is sound. In the first few drives of my new MCS, I gave it plenty of load, both in acceleration and engine braking.

I changed my oil at about 1400 miles, and the engine certainly seems to have "loosened up" nicely, to where it pulls much harder and runs very smooth. I'm sure it would have regardless of break-in philosophy, though. Only extended time will possibly reveal the pros or cons of this approach.

I guess I'll just see what its oil consumption and lifespan are like over the long haul, compared to those engines broken in using the "take it easy" approach.

 

Yeah, that's the thing--how can you compare? I could do the easy way, and you the hard way, but we'd still have a zillion variables to deal with. I've always had good luck with the easy way. It sure was hard to take my 2-mile-on-the-odometer MINI out of the dealer's driveway onto a busy frontage road.

I still think what Quesera did is the way I'm going to do my own cars.

Anyone know how long MINI runs the engines before they're installed? Or do they do anything at all to test them? I've never had a car with only 2 on the odometer!