Break-In Period Driving Habits

[zrk]

Did you end going through the break in process anyway?

Mostly. Though it didn't really matter.

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[gtshnzr]

Mine had 17 miles on it. Picked it up day after it dropped. But they did let me test drive a new white one 6 weeks before, and I wasn’t gentle with it

 

[baagel]

Mine had 70 miles on it probably why I don't have oil consumption issues on my 2021

 

[DrSupra]

Quick follow up: thinking about using my MT Supra to go to work 60 miles away in each direction. Highway use is unavoidable to get there but what I figure I can do is go -10 speed limit to speed limit and let it engine brake down while never maintaining the same speed...but I imagine the load at highway speeds could be less variable (no idea there but just a guess). Should I be avoiding that type of driving where I'd be stuck in the 2,000 to 4,000 rpm range and speeds of 55-70mph for 15+ minutes even if I can speed up and slow down frequently in that range of speeds?

Probably thinking a bit too much about this after reading responses here.

 

[digicidal]

That's a good point about the YouTube people or generally the group that doesn't follow break in procedure. From reading other threads about the break in it seems like the oil burning and other issues don't really have any real trends...though I suppose the car is relatively new still and there are countless people that have these cars and aren't on these forums...but good to hear that and some other people saying it'll be fine. I'll keep an eye out of course for issues and at least I made my complaint known with the dealership before signing.

Probably the best (and most reasonable regardless IMO) step you can take now would be to pull an oil sample and send it in for analysis. I didn't get to my first couple changes, but it was nice to get back a great report on my third one. At the very least it would alert you to possibly abnormal wear since all the evidence winds up in the oil.

Quick follow up: thinking about using my MT Supra to go to work 60 miles away in each direction. Highway use is unavoidable to get there but what I figure I can do is go -10 speed limit to speed limit and let it engine brake down while never maintaining the same speed...but I imagine the load at highway speeds could be less variable (no idea there but just a guess). Should I be avoiding that type of driving where I'd be stuck in the 2,000 to 4,000 rpm range and speeds of 55-70mph for 15+ minutes even if I can speed up and slow down frequently in that range of speeds?

Probably thinking a bit too much about this after reading responses here.

Definitely are, but I get it... I wouldn't worry but I essentially did the same (break in on commute). Just take it easy during warm up and then shift unnecessarily every 5 minutes or so if you want.

That's what I did on my AT... kept it between 65 and 80 but did pulls and coasts in 5th-8th gears so it was still getting a workout but not going over 5K RPM for first 200 miles or so. Of course, I go in to the office around 1 AM usually... so it's easy to do then.

 

[lordwalker]

Quick follow up: thinking about using my MT Supra to go to work 60 miles away in each direction. Highway use is unavoidable to get there but what I figure I can do is go -10 speed limit to speed limit and let it engine brake down while never maintaining the same speed...but I imagine the load at highway speeds could be less variable (no idea there but just a guess). Should I be avoiding that type of driving where I'd be stuck in the 2,000 to 4,000 rpm range and speeds of 55-70mph for 15+ minutes even if I can speed up and slow down frequently in that range of speeds?

Probably thinking a bit too much about this after reading responses here.

I wouldn't worry about it too much-- just keep it under 4k RPM for 800-1000 miles and should be all good. I didn't exactly baby mine and had quite a bit of freeway driving during break in, just tried not to floor it from down low or do anything too aggressive.

If you take it relatively easy for the first couple hundred miles with attempting some varied driving I think that's all is really necessary. I have a '21, no consumption at all after 13k miles, and these days mostly drive in sport manual (like a hooligan).

 

[DrSupra]

Probably the best (and most reasonable regardless IMO) step you can take now would be to pull an oil sample and send it in for analysis. I didn't get to my first couple changes, but it was nice to get back a great report on my third one. At the very least it would alert you to possibly abnormal wear since all the evidence winds up in the oil.

Thanks! On both points! I see the lab name in the title there. I can probably just go look them up but how much oil is needed and how long did it take for the results to come back? Having some objective evidence like that would be pretty handy in a few different ways.

Thanks to the others that replied too! I figured it should be okay...very few twisty roads where I live and lots of highways...my choices are either traffic and slower speeds, 45-55 roads with few to no lights, or higher speed highways with little traffic. I have to imagine I'm not the only one with those conditions and it ends up being okay.

 

[digicidal]

Thanks! On both points! I see the lab name in the title there. I can probably just go look them up but how much oil is needed and how long did it take for the results to come back? Having some objective evidence like that would be pretty handy in a few different ways.

They send you everything you need... sample size is about 3 oz. maybe? Forget what it cost because I got a nice hat with my order, but I'm thinking $35 and takes about a week from mailing it to receiving results.

 

[Highhorse]

Hate to have my first post be resurrecting a thread with no post for months but...

I bought a 3.0L premium MT a few weeks ago. I saw the car the day it got to the dealership and came off the truck. It was covered in plastics and I couldn't open the door with the key fob (battery on the fob maybe?). I had a deposit on it and even instructed them not to wash it because I wanted to do the first one myself. Dealer said they had to receive a "code from BMW" before I could actually complete the purchase and before they could finish inspecting it (I got it one complete business day after it arrived). The day I went to get the car it had 48 or 49 miles on it. Of course, I got upset because I have been reading that people in similar situations get vehicles with 3-12 miles on them at most. Dealer insists that the car came that mileage and that the tech would have driven it a few miles at most while prepping it. I was tempted to just not buy it at that point but that seemed silly considering how long I waited and how lucky I got that someone just dropped their reservation on it at the last minute making it available to me.

Everything in me realizes that this is nonsense and lies from the dealer but I want to hear what other people's thoughts on this are and how I can try to make the dealer right this wrong (or if there is some reasonable explanation other than them letting people test drive it or techs getting excited a MT supra came in and going crazy on it). I wouldn't mind this but I'm concerned about break in and if it was being test driven and/or taken for joy rides, that means it almost definitely got a TON of driving outside of the break in parameters....I've been following break in for several hundred miles now but it's bugging me thinking I'm wasting my time if it was beaten on during the most critical period of time for the break in during those first 25-50 miles. For reference, the 50 miles it took me to get to the dealer took me an hour to drive on highways so that's quite a bit of driving if they put 40+ on it.

The dealer F‘d you, so never go back there and let them profit from servicing your vehicle.

Ask another dealer if they can check the engine logging (some vehicles store that info forever as a way to protect the dealer/manufacturer from false warranty claims). If they can, and you find out that the car was flogged early on, before you took possession, then get an attorney. The battle won’t be a short one but you may never forgive yourself if you don’t fight.

By way of background, I am one of the reasons Mercedes placed a second dealership in my town, after they learned from me how the first outfit’s shady practices were ruining the brand locally. I also have reason to believe that GM may have reduced a local dealership’s Vette allotments after my having sued them for my ‘15 Z06 sitting unrepaired on that dealer’s lot for literally years.

At the very least, your concerns and queries may shine a bright light on your own dealership’s shady ways and you’ll help the community.

 

[Highhorse]

Quick follow up: thinking about using my MT Supra to go to work 60 miles away in each direction. Highway use is unavoidable to get there but what I figure I can do is go -10 speed limit to speed limit and let it engine brake down while never maintaining the same speed...but I imagine the load at highway speeds could be less variable (no idea there but just a guess). Should I be avoiding that type of driving where I'd be stuck in the 2,000 to 4,000 rpm range and speeds of 55-70mph for 15+ minutes even if I can speed up and slow down frequently in that range of speeds?

Probably thinking a bit too much about this after reading responses here.

You have the right idea. Keep the speeds and RPM varied while avoiding hard pulls or high RPM. As long as you’re not droning along on cruise control you may not be conducting the best break in ever but you’re not going to trash anything either….imo.

 

[DrSupra]

The dealer F‘d you, so never go back there and let them profit from servicing your vehicle.

Ask another dealer if they can check the engine logging (some vehicles store that info forever as a way to protect the dealer/manufacturer from false warranty claims). If they can, and you find out that the car was flogged early on, before you took possession, then get an attorney. The battle won’t be a short one but you may never forgive yourself if you don’t fight.

Thankfully the dealer is about 50 miles from me (ironically the distance they may have driven the car before I got it)...if i had a good experience i would have maybe made the trip for service since I appreciated that the sales person called me when the car became available and I'd have otherwise been waiting a lot longer...buuuut that's definitely not going to happen now. I'll call the dealers closest to me and see if the data logging is something they can look into. I made sure the detailer put the exacy mileage it had on the registration and other documents so no one can claim I was the one that beat on the car if there's ever a question about those miles for any reason. With that said, would I be able to go after them legally if just had a deposit on the car and hadn't purchased it yet?

 

[MrNobody]

Hate to have my first post be resurrecting a thread with no post for months but...

I bought a 3.0L premium MT a few weeks ago. I saw the car the day it got to the dealership and came off the truck. It was covered in plastics and I couldn't open the door with the key fob (battery on the fob maybe?). I had a deposit on it and even instructed them not to wash it because I wanted to do the first one myself. Dealer said they had to receive a "code from BMW" before I could actually complete the purchase and before they could finish inspecting it (I got it one complete business day after it arrived). The day I went to get the car it had 48 or 49 miles on it. Of course, I got upset because I have been reading that people in similar situations get vehicles with 3-12 miles on them at most. Dealer insists that the car came that mileage and that the tech would have driven it a few miles at most while prepping it. I was tempted to just not buy it at that point but that seemed silly considering how long I waited and how lucky I got that someone just dropped their reservation on it at the last minute making it available to me.

Everything in me realizes that this is nonsense and lies from the dealer but I want to hear what other people's thoughts on this are and how I can try to make the dealer right this wrong (or if there is some reasonable explanation other than them letting people test drive it or techs getting excited a MT supra came in and going crazy on it). I wouldn't mind this but I'm concerned about break in and if it was being test driven and/or taken for joy rides, that means it almost definitely got a TON of driving outside of the break in parameters....I've been following break in for several hundred miles now but it's bugging me thinking I'm wasting my time if it was beaten on during the most critical period of time for the break in during those first 25-50 miles. For reference, the 50 miles it took me to get to the dealer took me an hour to drive on highways so that's quite a bit of driving if they put 40+ on it.

Bought mine last year brand new and it had 170 miles on it.... now granted I would have liked to see a lot less. But it is what it is. I've bought cars with 3 miles on them and they ended up having issues with them the very next day. I've also had cars like this that had a couple hundred miles on it no issues. I would say chalk it up to a thorough pdi.

 

[FLtrackdays]

That's a good point about the YouTube people or generally the group that doesn't follow break in procedure. From reading other threads about the break in it seems like the oil burning and other issues don't really have any real trends...though I suppose the car is relatively new still and there are countless people that have these cars and aren't on these forums...but good to hear that and some other people saying it'll be fine. I'll keep an eye out of course for issues and at least I made my complaint known with the dealership before signing.

Agree with @zrk . Every engine is factory tested for a set amount of hours... I did my 1st track day at about 300 miles on the car. No particular number I was looking for. Just happened to be the 1st track day I was available, pads on and car ready. I’ve only got 3000k miles on her now, mostly track miles. Still drives like a dream

I think my “brand new” Supra had about 50 miles on her… Shipped from MD to FL.

Mine had 70 miles on it probably why I don't have oil consumption issues on my 2021

I’m starting to worry. No oil consumption on mine, yet. Despite every other non grocery getter I’ve owned would use some oil between oil changes.

 

[Rocksandblues]

Bought on a Wednesday was at the track that weekend
Broke in at 6500 rpm for 2 days

almost 20k track miles going into third full season this spring

 

[AJRMKV]

Things I’ve learned in this thread:

- The break in process is there for a reason

- The break in process is bullshit

Break in strategies to optimize oil consumption and longevity of the engine:

- Baby the car for 1200 miles and keep it under 4500 rpm

also

- Break in the car a 1/4 mile at a time, and drive home from the track like you stole it

Great read

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