znod

Let your conscience quide you. If you decide to take it pretty easy on the car at the outset, then follow BMW's instructions for the most part allowing a some excesses to shine through on occassions. Just don't abuse the car early on; you'll know if you are abusing it. And, keep the old saw in mind: "If you break a car in too slowly, then you'll end up with a slow car." Just don't "overdo the excesses--doing more and more the more the miles.

robg

My personal opinion is that the break-in rules are unnecessary on most modern cars given the improvement in manufacturing. Manufaturers used to suggest changing your oil and filter after the first 3,000 miles to make sure that any contaminants resulting from the break-in period were removed. Now, whether you lease or buy the car, BMW will not pay for an oil change at 3,000 miles. Given how many cars are leased, and that BMW will own the cars after the lease, BMW would have an incentive to pay for a 3,000 mile oil change if there were contaminants to remove.

As far as some theoretical benefit to the engine at very high miles, whether I lease or own I would not keep a modern BMW beyond the warranty so I would never realize the benefit.

I say let it rip! How many times are you going to get to drive you car on roads with no speed limit?

CVTBenhogan

I lease too.

I'd generally follow the manual. If this world needs anything, its a bit more respect for others. That said, you'll enjoy the driving experience more by taking care of the E60 as BMW intended. Or as any thoughtful driver or carfan would.

Just my two cents.


CVT Benhogan

The 550 still thrills with the rpms under 4.5K.

odabo

I spoke to my CA about the break in period and he says that it isn't necessary. That may be true but my mechanical engineering training tells me that it isn't a good thing to overwork a new piece of machinery from the outset. IMHO the break in period is more to do with weeding out manufacturing defects than anything else. From a reliability engineering perspective all equipments follow a bathtub curb. This means that you are likely to see more failure during the begining and the end of an equipment's life while experiencing very few during the usable life period. Now just imagine if you pushed to the limits during the early stages and had a nasty failure that interrupted the car's ability to handle correctly. If this were to occur early and while at a reasonable speed then the outcome will be much better than if it were discovered during some extreme manuver. Its not just the engine that needs to be broken in but the entire vehicle.

I can say all of this now because my car is just beyond the break in period! Never the less you'll get past break in before you realize it.

Have fun!

jet190rs

At the ED Center, ask Bernard about break-in procedure. He'll tell you how to drive over 100mph.

mullman

I second the person that said "let your conscience be your guide".
Moderation and variance is the key.

The absolute WORST thing that could be done to a new engine is get on the autobahn and drive the same speed for long periods of time.

ICEMAN 316

Think i'm just gonna pretty much follow the manual .. maybe once in awhile i'll open it up Thanks everyone for your input.

blinkme_210

Don't forget about that little fuel consumption gauge which swings wildly everytime you want to floor it.... lol, that's what stops me from even going above 2000 RPM in daily traffic. That's one thing that bugs me about the E60, sips fuel just like an eight cylinder engine.

amigo525

I lease and treat her like if she is mine. I dont have the gut to mistreat her!

swajames

There was a letter in a recent issue of one of the car mags that talked about this, specifically the first test run the cars get as soon as they leave the BMW factory which according to the writer didn't seem to bear much resemblance to the break in procedures per the manual. The mag responded by saying that the BMW test drivers were probably just following the internationally accepted INMCD procedure on these inaugural few miles - the "It's Not My Car, Dude..." procedure.

I've also personally seen a whole bunch of brand new cars, many different makes and models, being driven like a bat out of hell coming off transporter ships to go into store at a port, and I can vouch for the fact that whoever had the misfortune to buy those particular cars was certainly not going to be the one to pop the redline cherry so to speak.