Mr.Bavarian

Just say for example, driving on the highway/cruising using the Sports mode, I like to keep the car around about 3000 RPM at the respective speed.
i.e. at 66km/h, I will be in 3rd Gear (around about 3000RPM). Whereas if I was in Automode at the same speed, RPM is about 2000 (4th Gear).

So are there any negatives for prolonged driving/crusing at over 3000 RPM?

jprovence

BMW says the safe continues operation is 6500rpm.

Brit_in_NJ

I don't think may of us would be running around at 6500rpm continuously without having problems.

525iEnjoy

Only MPG is the Negative

Krozi

Keep in mind, in the days before 6 and 7 speed overdrive cars, 2000rpm was impossible on the highway unless your going 50.

In the old days, you where cruising at 3.5k rpm if not more. Always driving these cars at low RPM isn't good for the engine. They are made for the highway and high RPM's.
No worries

swajames

These cars are engineered to drive at very high speed (and reasonably high RPM) for a prolonged period. Other than reduced MPG and the obvious point that there will be a little extra wear and tear on the mechanicals compared to driving at lower RPM, I don't think there's too much increased risk. BMW builds plenty of engineering headroom into the car, the engine could safely be run at a higher RPM than the current redline allows.

jsal

Sorry guys, I am confused by this one. In the old days, when cars where geared such that they ran at higher RPMs, engines lasting 100k where the norm instead of going 200k. Granted, engine technology has increased dramatically from those days but I tend to also believe that gearing to run the engine slower, adds to the overall life expectancy of it.

A lot of new cars these days are geared to be running in the low to mid 2k range for V-8's under normal freeway speeds due to the overdrive features. Granted, idling an engine for long periods of time is not good, but running on the freeway at 2.5k versus 3.5k for the same distance, it seems running at 3.5k is going to cause more engine wear....obviously it is running faster. I don't see where running at a slower engine RPM is going to cause more long term damage.

I believe these engines are made to run at high RPM's on the autobahn and do so with good overall life expectancy, but I am confused about the benefit of running down the freeway in a higher gear.

swajames

I think the main benefit of running at a slightly higher RPM on the highway is just to increase engine responsiveness in the event you needed to accelerate quickly. Granted, you can kickdown or you can manually downshift, but neither gives the immediate response that you have when the engine is already running at the sweet spot in the powerband. Reductions in RPM aside, there's also the added benefit of the much nicer engine note, the car really sings when its getting into the upper reaches of the powerband and that's something you can't quite enjoy when the engine is running at 2000 RPM! The one other benefit, as counter-intuitive as it may seem, is that I believe that the car does benefit from the occasional "Italian tune-up" when it really gets to stretch its legs. Plenty of owners on the Porsche forums seem to think the same way, there does seem to be a pattern in that the "garage queens" sometimes seem to need more maintenance compared to those that get the benefit of an occasional hammering.

Krozi

Stop and go traffic and low RPM's causes carbon build up in the engine. The occasional beating get's rid of the deposits.

mrfva

I usually shift around the 3-3.5k RPM on my 6spd-mt, but sometimes you just have to let her go, and open her up.

These 2 statements pretty much sums it up