I did a quick search but didn't see anything right away.

I read someone said to keep her under 4,000 RPM, the Dealer said just to take it easy and not redline for 1,500 miles.

Are there exact rules to follow to ensure the maximum life of the engine?

 

Owner's Manual...

 

Lot's of conjecture here...

There's one school of thought that says follow the manufacturer's instructions. Don't lug the engine, don't exceed 4K rpm, don't redline, change speed... In other words follow the owners manual. This certainly won't hurt the engine, there is another school.

Run it like you stole it from the get go. (once it's warmed up) This school thinks that ring sealing is critical, and that happens in the first few miles. To get good ring sealing you need combustion cylinder pressure, and engine loading. That requires full throttle and revs. The mating and sealing of the rings against the cylinder walls happens within the first few miles. With modern manufacturing and materials, today's engines are far more robust that that old 70's lump.

See http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm more a more in depth read.


Me? run it like I stole it, on every engine I've had for the last 15 or so years. They don't burn oil, and are still running strong. (still have my 1995 BMW M3 that I bought new, it's a beast, along with my 2003 Aprilia V twin sport bike)

You are, of course, free to do as you see fit.

 

I'm going to follow the owner's manual when my '11 MCS comes in in a few weeks. I keep my cars too long to immediately void the warranty and potentially cause thousands (tens of thousands maybe) in damage to a $30k car. I'm sure the dealer has the ability to tap into the cars computer to determine how it has been driven.

 

Thanks Richardsperry, I broke in all my other new cars in the same way, drove them rough from day 1.

I also read in another thread that you shouldn't engage the sport button unless the clutch is depressed. Didn't see anything in the manual about that.

Any thoughts?

Flatlined, where in taiwan is Elmira? I've been to Taipei a few times. We did a road trip down the east coast along a mountain hugging road and saw a mini on it's side. That driver must have been having a blast. Till he flipped her!

 

Ok, maybe I was a little harsh with drive it like you stole it...lol

Matt you are free to do as you like. The dealer can't void your warranty, all they can can do is read maximum revs. As long as you don't moneyshift it, (mechanical over rev, like trying to shift into 5th but engaging 3ed. rev to about 10K rpm...lol) you're going to be fine.

Break in is a recommendation not a requirement like using the correct oil and filter, or actually doing maintenance.

I'm just telling you my experience. From my street cars, my SCCA race cars, my motorcycles, lawn mowers, pretty much anything with a gas engine, loading the rings early in life has been the key to great performance and reliability.


Clutch has nothing to do with the "sport" button. All the button does it affect the power steering feel, and throttle response. I installed the AutoSport module very soon after I took delivery, and have never looked back, or even thought about it.

Evey now and then I turn "sport" off, just to remind myself how horrible the normal throttle mapping is. (it probably has something to do with the EPA drive cycle economy, or emissions), but it's just horrible.

 

Well the Bentley Mulsanne engine is broken in at the factory before being installed. How do they do it you ask.

They run the engine on a stand at MAX RPM for 8 hours straight. No warm up just start it and run it. The turbos get so hot they glow red like metal coming out of a forge.

The Corvet Z06 came off the production line and right out onto a track for testing. They ran the car at high speed on a track for at least 20 minutes.

So there is something to be said about running an engine hard from the start or companies like the above would not do what they do.

 

Same for the flat six Porsche engines, all run to the exhaust manifolds are red hot before they install them in the cars.

 

FLOOR IT!! My girlfriend got a new one a couple weeks ago and I drove it hard for 400 miles to seat the rings then took it on a 1000 mile road trip!

 

Richard, I read the info in your link and found it very interesting. Years ago I heard the idea of "breaking in" with regular as opposed to syn oil. The idea being, the rings would seat more quickly. It was suggested that to start with synthetic might cause the rings to never seat properly.

Yes, this is controversial.

One area that can be taken with little question is the idea of warming the engine before driving it hard.

It would be interesting to hear what a manufacturer would have to say about the issue of driving hard from the very start. I'm not talking about the opinion of a mechanic, since I'm sure you could get ideas you've never heard from some.

So here we have another subject to go along with: What's the best oil to use? What's the best gas? What's the best oil filter? And the list goes on.

In the meantime, I will follow the manufacturer's recommendation as I believe their goal is to have your car give you the satisfaction and reliability that you expect.

Call me "old fashioned". I've be working at it for many years.

 

and i can say i didnt actually drive it terribly hard but a lot a lot of varying RPM's. once in a while up to 6k or so a few 6th gear uphill pulls to 80 or 90. its seems to be running amazing so i cant complain.

 

+1 on letting it warm up. MINI (owner's manual) states that the best way to warm it up is drive off immediately. I suspect they push this method because it boosts overall fuel mileage and keeps their numbers up. I personally let it idle for a couple minutes to get blood circulating through the veins and a little heat accumulation before driving off.

One thing I would add to the break-in is to change the oil around 2K miles. I'm not touching the synthetic vice dino oil during this period - there's reams of (confilicting) info on the subject. Just change it (and the filter) around 2K. My '11 S oil has started to look like "toasted honey" at 1500 miles, which is my cue to put in fresh (as new mechanical wear results in finings floating around, etc.), which I plan to do now at 2200 miles.

On that note, if the dealer is handy and you want to change the oil yourself, get the BMW oil and your filter from the dealership. These items are pretty competitive with the auto part shop prices and you don't have to step through the confusion of the list of recommended oils and european specs, etc.

 

That's how I plan on breaking it in. Never had issues before doing it this way either.
A friend talked to VW shop owner who lives next door, and he says the same thing too. And that the ones broken in hard seem to be slightly stronger.

 

I've been starting her up and then driving conservative till I get to the main road which is about 3 mins from my house. Did the same with my SVTF and she still runs strong 8 years now.

As for the Syn Oil, I swapped my Mustang to Mobil 1 Syn after the second oil change at 7,000 miles. 1st oil chg was at 1,500 and she still fires up perfectly at 19 years old...

 

Break it in the way you will be driving it everyday. Otherwise you have to break it in twice. This was told to me by a cousin who builds engines.

 

I am with richardsperry on this one. I have read motoman and basically agree with him. In 1965, Hot Rod magazine published an article on break-in that was very similar to what motoman suggests.

I was a Honda motorcycle mechanic, engine builder and racer in the 60's and I have broken every new bike and car in the same way since, whether it was for the track or street.

When I took delivery I admit I did not take it to the red line until I was out of the parking lot though. But 3 miles away, I began my break-in procedure.

From the outset, I start my MINI and drive away immediately.

 

The '11s come with this 3 year no cost maintenance plan for oil changes, I have no problem changing my own oil but if someone is going to do it and pay for it for me... yea why the hell not. My question is, the salesperson told me the oil gets changed every 10k miles, what are the chances they'll comply if I bring them an engine with 2k miles and ask for an oil change?

 

It depends on your dealer. Normally, you will get a free oil+filter change once a year (around your purchase anniversary) or when your OBC (On Board Computer) says so. There's not much chance you'll get it done at 2,000 miles.

 

Even if the don't do it, wouldn't it be better to just fork over the $20-30 bucks to get it changed or do it yourself than to have the "filing" flying around in your crankcase for the extra 8,000 miles?

I debated with this myself also. I'm going to call the service guy tell him I want it changed when I get to 2,000 and if he says no, its not a big deal to me... I'll probably just do it myself.

 

A dealer will most likely charge $60 - $80. Do it yourself.

 

Haha yea of course, just curious, but back on topic, good to know its not necessary to baby it out if the gate

 

Baby the freaking Prius, not the Mini .

 

10K miles? More like 18K miles before Mini will spring for an oil change. Eh, no..

I changed mine (oil and filter) at 1600 miles, and again at 7500, and the dealer did it at 1 year and 11k miles. It's going to be due in 2K miles so Mini will get to do it again.

 

I'll probably pay out of pocket to get a couple extra oil changes in the beginning too. Thats probably when it'll help the most to do extra oil cahnges.

 

With my last MINI I asked my dealer the same thing about changing the oil when I wanted and they told me that the warranty only covers when the OBC recomends it. So that means about once a year. If I wanted to pay for a "premature oil change" they would be happy to do it....$110! So, I asked about topping it off, and they told me that I should always check the oil level at every fuel fill up, and if I wanted to stop in they would gladly top it off for free. To which I replied, " I don't fill up anywhere near here 'cause I live in another town. Can I just have some oil to keep in the boot to top it off myself?" They said, "Of course you can." and gave it to me. I promptly drove home and changed it myself with their oil for free. The OBC never came on to recomend the oil change untill over 19,000 miles.