Hello all. First off would like to say I am a new member to this forum. We have had a mini in our family before (03 mcs) and I just recently purchased a 2013 midnight black mcs. I am currently in the process of the break in period keeping it under 4500rpms and was wondering if I should wait till I am done with the break in period to install alta cai or does it matter if I put it on now?

I'm sure this is a dumb question, but I don't want to disrupt the break in period

Thanks

 

I honestly would wait. That's just me. Some folks don't even believe in a break in period and feel its better to drive the car hard from day 1. Opinions are going to vary widely.

To me, just seems silly not to wait but I burn thru 1200 miles in no time at all.

 

There is absolutley no harm in doing it now. It will have no effect one way or another.

 

The key thing about any engine's break-in period is that the piston rings need a little time/mileage to bed into the cylinder walls. They're going to do this no matter how you drive the car. Ideally, they should be allowed several full warm-up/cool-down cycles.

While I agree that you shouldn't rev out the engine until the rings are bedded, I do not agree with babying the engine until this is complete. Once the rings are broken in, that's it, you can't change how they bedded into the walls.

What I have always done with new engines, whether it be engines in new cars I bought or engines I've built, is to warm them up kindly and then drive them how you plan to drive the car, but only rev the engine about 2/3rds of the redline rpm you plan to max it at, and only using about 3/4 throttle at most.

Example: on my 2012 MCS, I drove nice until it was warm, then I would run it through the gears under moderate load, but I would shift it at around 4-4500 rpm max. I let it build good boost, let the parts get warm, let the rings get pressure behind them to press into the cylinder walls and cut their beds. I want the rings to wear the walls into much the same fashion as they're going to do for the life of the engine.

The only thing I don't buy is the 1200 mile junk. Most of the initial wear is done in the vehicle assembly, during the first few seconds/minutes after the virgin engine start. The break-In you are doing is the bedding process which does NOT take 1200 miles. I'd say its pretty fully broken in after as little as 5 full heat cycles. Then I drop the oil, replace, and give her hell!

Ask around to people you know. Find out if anyone has ever bought a used car from a grandma that originally owned it, and then drove it hard. I bet they all had problems, even with very low total mileage. It's because the rings were broken in on an engine that they never let breath, never let it get real warm cause they drove like a "grandma"... It was fine for how they always drove it, but it probably never not the best fuel mileage it could have and never saw good cylinder pressure associated with higher throttle application. The rings didn't cut a good enough bed into the cylinder walls, they won't ever make the best seal possible. They probably burn oil excessively and therefore have excessive carbon deposits on the pistons and combustion chambers, and they'll probably have big issues after very few miles of getting beat on.

 

[QUOTE=TonyCheckraise;3689818]The key thing about any engine's break-in period is that the piston rings need a little time/mileage to bed into the cylinder walls. They're going to do this no matter how you drive the car. Ideally, they should be allowed several full warm-up/cool-down cycles.

While I agree that you shouldn't rev out the engine until the rings are bedded, I do not agree with babying the engine until this is complete. Once the rings are broken in, that's it, you can't change how they bedded into the walls.

What I have always done with new engines, whether it be engines in new cars I bought or engines I've built, is to warm them up kindly and then drive them how you plan to drive the car, but only rev the engine about 2/3rds of the redline rpm you plan to max it at, and only using about 3/4 throttle at most.

Example: on my 2012 MCS, I drove nice until it was warm, then I would run it through the gears under moderate load, but I would shift it at around 4-4500 rpm max. I let it build good boost, let the parts get warm, let the rings get pressure behind them to press into the cylinder walls and cut their beds. I want the rings to wear the walls into much the same fashion as they're going to do for the life of the engine.

The only thing I don't buy is the 1200 mile junk. Most of the initial wear is done in the vehicle assembly, during the first few seconds/minutes after the virgin engine start. The break-In you are doing is the bedding process which does NOT take 1200 miles. I'd say its pretty fully broken in after as little as 5 full heat cycles. Then I drop the oil, replace, and give her hell!

Ask around to people you know. Find out if anyone has ever bought a used car from a grandma that originally owned it, and then drove it hard. I bet they all had problems, even with very low total mileage. It's because the rings were broken in on an engine that they never let breath, never let it get real warm cause they drove like a "grandma"... It was fine for how they always drove it, but it probably never not the best fuel mileage it could have and never saw good cylinder pressure associated with higher throttle application. The rings didn't cut a good enough bed into the cylinder walls, they won't ever make the best seal possible. They probably burn oil excessively and therefore have excessive carbon deposits on the pistons and combustion chambers, and they'll probably have big issues after very few miles of getting beat on.[/QUOTE
Is break in exclusive to the engine? What about the rest of the car ( transmission, clutch, brakes, tires, etc.) ?

 

Transmission yes, clutch yes, and for the brakes yes, to avoid glazing the pads. the rest is not so important for break in.

 

Brakes also have a bed-in time period, but generally unless you have some really high performance brake system in place, you don't need to attend to those specifically, just drive.

Tires don't have a break in that I've ever heard of to be honest?

Clutch I would give the same regard as the brakes as they function on very similar principles. Some friction material needs to bed to the flywheel and pressure plate surfaces but this will happen on its own with driving unless you have some really crazy race clutch and the manufacturer suggests a specific break-in procedure.

As far as transmissions... I'm not a trans specialist... but

IMO and from what I have been told, automatics are broken in pretty quicky because they make friction with soft parts touching hard parts and they make so many shifts per day/drive/trip. I've been told to just drive automatics normally for a couple of heat cycles and then they're good to go.

As far as Manual transmissions, the gears are in constant mesh with each other, they are of similar (often identical) metal composition and will take longer to bed to each other. Most gears are shot-peened, and they will take a few hundred miles to really bed-in nicely. The synchronizer cones are usually brass alloy or some other soft metal. In the MINI's the transmission has double-cone synchronizers in all gears, which is great. They, being of soft brass, will wear in quicker, but shouldn't be hard shifted for the first couple hundred miles. Best for them is casual shifts.

Usually, the procedure and rules you follow for breaking in an engine are at the same time breaking in everything else properly.

After the first few hundred miles, everything is definitely good to go. If I wanted to be safe, I'd break in the engine for a couple hundred miles, and then continue to be pretty calm with the gear change intensity and clutch engagement til I got to about 500 or so miles. Then you're good to go. By the time you get comfortable enough with your new baby to really give it the beans, everything will have been well broken-in.

 

I've yet to hear any data proving to me that one way of breaking in an engine is positively better than another especially anything proving any eventual failure was caused by said break in. That being said do what you're comfortable with and most certainly get that intake if you so wish. It definitely won't hurt anything that I could possibly imagine.

 

+1^ +2^^

 

Agreed. In the end, do what you feel comfortable with. After all, it is yours!

 

Thanks for all the input guys! im gonna go ahead and put her in tomorrow or the next day then!

 

Interesting read:

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

 

Just one of many opinions that have personal facts. Just my opinion

 

Run it hard from Day 1 baby. Seat those rings damnit!