Need some help about break-in period

[xuandatou]

I got my 2013 S5 6MT 3 weeks ago and I'm just wondering how should I break-in my ride properly?

I limit the speed to 65 MPH for the first 1000 miles,and limit the RPM lower than 2000.

Or I can just try a little bit harder?

Plus, when would be the best time to do the first oil change? Some friends argue that it is better to do the first oil change at about 1500 miles, it that correct?

Thanks a million!

[dparm]

There isn't much of a procedure. Modern engines are effectively broken-in when they leave the factory.

Just avoid constant engine speeds for a few hundred miles (i.e. long highway trips). Accelerate and decelerate as you normally would to help rings seat -- you don't have to keep the RPM/loads low, though I can't exactly advocate getting it on a race track.

You don't have to change the oil at 1500 -- change it at 5000 per the factory recommendation. You can certainly change it earlier though I don't think it's going to make a big difference.

[GoNavy]

from what i've been told and read, as long as the car is properly warmed up, these engines were made to go fast from day one. i'd probably avoid anything over 5-6k on the RPM's the first few hundred miles just to be safe, but short of that, just have fun!

[xuandatou]

Thank you so much!!

You know what, I really hate driving like a grandma(shift with low RPM)

Maybe it's just the time to have fun!

[xuandatou]

Thanks a lot!

I just can't wait to try a little bit harder for my car.

I have never passed any cars on the free way with my S5 because I thought I had to limit the speed in order to break-in the car properly

I was totally wrong

[neverfollow-rs4]

Just have fun man, you bought it for a reason. I thought the same for the last few times when I got a new car but I don't care anymore (I don't redline it or anything like that), I just enjoy the car every time when I get in my S4. I suggest do the same, shift down to third gear and step on the gas, you'll love the sound and the power, you'll love the car.


Thanks a lot!

I just can't wait to try a little bit harder for my car.

I have never passed any cars on the free way with my S5 because I thought I had to limit the speed in order to break-in the car properly

I was totally wrong

[Stubek]

My B6 I took to an autocross 4 days after owning it with less than 100 miles when I got there.
My B8 had an APR stage 1 tune just after 500 miles.
No problems. As dparm said, most modern engines are basically broken in from the factory. Maybe go easy on it for the first 100 miles or so so that YOU get use to the car.

[AKPS4]

Vary vary and vary. Engine break some. Accelerate some. Drive normal or drive and have some fun. I did t follow any specific procedure and everything good so far. Did have a little oil loss though.

[S4_Phantom]

My car was broken in 4.9 seconds after leaving the dealer lot.

[kooltechie]

avoiding WOT and trying to keep it under 3000-3500 RPM till 1000 miles is what I've done with all the new cars I've owned since 1994 with no powertrain issues....knock on wood [:)]
my S5 has a little over 2000 miles now, and I enjoy WOT and the exhaust noise once in a while within the legal limits.

enjoy your car!

[kooltechie]

My car was broken in 4.9 seconds after leaving the dealer lot.

[>_<]

[redrocker55]

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

I have 82,000 miles on my B8 S4 and not burning a drop of oil. I'm just finished a 12,000 mile oil change interval and received a great analysis by Blackstone. I followed the Motoman/ Dr GP method for break in. It works.

[helix139]

+1 for the motorman/DrGP method. Get it warm then run 1-2 WOT to redline blasts every time you take it out for the first 1k miles and engine brake back down. Do plenty of engine braking in between WOT runs to redline and feel free to tae it WOT short of redline. Also vary your RPMs. This will give you the best chance of fully seating your piston rings and minimizing oil consumption. 28k here and no oil burned.

[JohnEnglish]

Just do what the manual says. I've followed the manual for all my cars and have never had any problems.

[proman]

I was told at the factory to keep the RPMs under 3K for the first 500 km. I had planned on doing a more aggressive break-in and hit 150 mph 5 hours later on the Autobahn. I did vary RPMs a lot and did a lot of engine braking and didn't go completely to redline. I'm still burning a bit of oil, especially after driving hard, hopefully it'll calm down with more miles (currently 1260).

[ENV²]

Warm her up then drive it like you stole it.

[OmaHahn]

Warm her up then drive it like you stole it.

>THIS!

Better to break it in hard and then drive easy versus breaking it in easy then putting the engine under heavy load when it's not used to it then all sorts of things can go south quickly.

[MrFunk]

My car was broken in 4.9 seconds after leaving the dealer lot.

Sorry it took so long mate! Mine was primed in 4.6!

[13S4]

Same.. I took it straight to have the USS system installed, then hit my favorite traffic free back roads. I may or may not have maxed the car out.

[Doc Brown]

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

I have 82,000 miles on my B8 S4 and not burning a drop of oil. I'm just finished a 12,000 mile oil change interval and received a great analysis by Blackstone. I followed the Motoman/ Dr GP method for break in. It works.

Oh there are threads all over the place on this one. Everyone had an opinion and opinions are like, mmm something - forget what, but everyone has one.

Break in back in the day for the American Iron I built and drove in my youth (big block Pontiac, Chevy stroker, etc.) was a huge issue. Now, not so much. Modern engines, not built in my garage, are different.

I tend to agree with Motoman. My entirely non-scientific and completely anecdotal experience with a statistically insignificantly small sample of modern engines is that the one I broke in gently burned oil like crazy for the whole time I had it - the others did not.

I did baby the new S4 driving it home yesterday. I don't baby the car past the first 100 miles but I also do not beat the snot out of it. Honestly, even when broken in, I do not beat on any engine cold. Even the one last romp with the M3 yesterday on the way to the dealership did not occur until the oil was at temperature. I needed to hear the V8 howl one last time.

I will break it in my way over the first 500-1000 miles. As an aside, the dealer said nothing to me about break in. Once warm, I will do a few hard near WOT runs stopping short of redline (I understand the S-tronic will take care of that for me if I get too close) and engine brake back down. That should help seat the oil rings, if not already seated. I have a long road trip scheduled for two weeks from now, so I am not sure what I will do there. I may allocate some more time for that trip and drive a portion of it local on surface streets to avoid steady highway driving unless I can put some miles on it next week. I suspect it will still be under 150 miles when I leave for that trip. I may just take the wife's car and leave the S4 for her.

My M3 had a detailed break in regimen, specified with limits/restrictions, listed out on a sticker on the windshield and in the manual. It had details for "proper" use through the first 3000 miles, IIRC. The limits were not that strict, even for the first few miles. Keep it under 100mph. Keep the RPM under 6000k, etc. Mandated oil change at 1500 miles. I do think the M3 break in oil was different than the usual oil, but I am not sure on that one.

Overall, my opinion is: Drive it. Enjoy it. Don't beat the snot out of it for the first 1000 miles. Run up and down in the gears as much as is reasonable. Avoid steady speed, like long highway drives. Leave the break in oil in it until first scheduled change.

but it is only an opinion. And I didn't read the manual that came with the car yet either.

[OmaHahn]

Oh there are threads all over the place on this one. Everyone had an opinion and opinions are like, mmm something - forget what, but everyone has one.

Break in back in the day for the American Iron I built and drove in my youth (big block Pontiac, Chevy stroker, etc.) was a huge issue. Now, not so much. Modern engines, not built in my garage, are different.

I tend to agree with Motoman. My entirely non-scientific and completely anecdotal experience with a statistically insignificantly small sample of modern engines is that the one I broke in gently burned oil like crazy for the whole time I had it - the others did not.

I did baby the new S4 driving it home yesterday. I don't baby the car past the first 100 miles but I also do not beat the snot out of it. Honestly, even when broken in, I do not beat on any engine cold. Even the one last romp with the M3 yesterday on the way to the dealership did not occur until the oil was at temperature. I needed to hear the V8 howl one last time.

I will break it in my way over the first 500-1000 miles. As an aside, the dealer said nothing to me about break in. Once warm, I will do a few hard near WOT runs stopping short of redline (I understand the S-tronic will take care of that for me if I get too close) and engine brake back down. That should help seat the oil rings, if not already seated. I have a long road trip scheduled for two weeks from now, so I am not sure what I will do there. I may allocate some more time for that trip and drive a portion of it local on surface streets to avoid steady highway driving unless I can put some miles on it next week. I suspect it will still be under 150 miles when I leave for that trip. I may just take the wife's car and leave the S4 (in the garage and make the wife use public transportation!!)

My M3 had a detailed break in regimen, specified with limits/restrictions, listed out on a sticker on the windshield and in the manual. It had details for "proper" use through the first 3000 miles, IIRC. The limits were not that strict, even for the first few miles. Keep it under 100mph. Keep the RPM under 6000k, etc. Mandated oil change at 1500 miles. I do think the M3 break in oil was different than the usual oil, but I am not sure on that one.

Overall, my opinion is: Drive it. Enjoy it. Don't beat the snot out of it for the first 1000 miles. Run up and down in the gears as much as is reasonable. Avoid steady speed, like long highway drives. Leave the break in oil in it until first scheduled change.

but it is only an opinion. And I didn't read the manual that came with the car yet either.

Fixed.... [;)]

[Dr GP]

There isn't much of a procedure. Modern engines are effectively broken-in when they leave the factory.

Just avoid constant engine speeds for a few hundred miles (i.e. long highway trips). Accelerate and decelerate as you normally would to help rings seat -- you don't have to keep the RPM/loads low, though I can't exactly advocate getting it on a race track.

You don't have to change the oil at 1500 -- change it at 5000 per the factory recommendation. You can certainly change it earlier though I don't think it's going to make a big difference.

I beg to differ with you. Modern cars are definitely run at the factory. But they are definitely NOT broken in. Breaking in an engine actually has 2 components. One is getting the piston rings to seat COMPLETELY. Most German engines have alum alloy blocks with treated cylinder walls. Usually either Nikasil or as in Audi, Alusil. BMW N54/55 engine is aluminum(non alloy) with cast iron cylinder sleeves. The Alusil cylinder walls are extremely hard. They are acid etched and take much longer for the piston rings to wear in than on the old mechanically hatched cylinder walls. Additionally, all the bearings and moving parts in the engine need to wear in . That can take up to 5k miles. And as far as break in technique, there are basically 3 styles. 1) Easy break in technique where you drive the car conservatively for the first 1k miles. 2) the hard technique where you drive the car like you stole it from day#1. The third, which I advocate, is the Motoman technique, where from day #1 you accelerate WOT to redline followed by engine braking 2-3 times a day for the first 1K miles. Drive it aggressively Wot below redline as you want. Don't beat the car. Interestingly, most owners who report oil consumption issues used the easy technique. You might want to check out Motoman's technique. http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm. Many who have used it have thanked me. No on who has used it has reported oil consumption or engine issues. As always. I encourage anyone who has used the technique and has had problems bring this back to me and report it. So far, no one has. BTW, I've been advocating this technique on AW, QW, and AZ for the last 8 yrs. Been using that same technique on all my cars since 1998.

[Doc Brown]

I beg to differ with you. Modern cars are definitely run at the factory. But they are definitely NOT broken in. Breaking in an engine actually has 2 components. One is getting the piston rings to seat COMPLETELY. Most German engines have alum alloy blocks with treated cylinder walls. Usually either Nikasil or as in Audi, Alusil. BMW N54/55 engine is aluminum(non alloy) with cast iron cylinder sleeves. The Alusil cylinder walls are extremely hard. They are acid etched and take much longer for the piston rings to wear in than on the old mechanically hatched cylinder walls. Additionally, all the bearings and moving parts in the engine need to wear in . That can take up to 5k miles. And as far as break in technique, there are basically 3 styles. 1) Easy break in technique where you drive the car conservatively for the first 1k miles. 2) the hard technique where you drive the car like you stole it from day#1. The third, which I advocate, is the Motoman technique, where from day #1 you accelerate WOT to redline followed by engine braking 2-3 times a day for the first 1K miles. Drive it aggressively Wot below redline as you want. Don't beat the car. Interestingly, most owners who report oil consumption issues used the easy technique. You might want to check out Motoman's technique. http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm. Many who have used it have thanked me. No on who has used it has reported oil consumption or engine issues. As always. I encourage anyone who has used the technique and has had problems bring this back to me and report it. So far, no one has. BTW, I've been advocating this technique on AW, QW, and AZ for the last 8 yrs. Been using that same technique on all my cars since 1998.

thank you

I guess I kinda use a "motoman light" version. I have read his articles, and your postings before on AW. I tend to not run it up and down two to three times per day, but then again I guess it depends on your miles per day. 20 miles round trip in bumper to bumper lends for little chance to run it and then cool down. 100 mile round trip with mixed surface street and open highway is another story.

And the only car I didn't use it in (2003 Z4 with 3.0) burned oil at about quart per 1500 miles for the whole time I had it. I used it in the B7S4, RS4 and both M3s and none burned oil. I ignored the sticker (for the most part) on the M3.

I often did not need to top off between changes.

[dparm]

Burning some oil is not always a bad thing.

[Dr GP]

Burning some oil is not always a bad thing.

Quantify "some". All cars burn oil. IMHO, consuming 1 qt/5k miles is within MY acceptable limits.

[dparm]

Quantify "some". All cars burn oil. IMHO, consuming 1 qt/5k miles is within MY acceptable limits.


Depends on the engine, oil, and driving style, though for most burning 1qt per oil change is considered acceptable.

As long as the rate of consumption is constant you are fine. When consumption goes up or down, that's when you need to start worrying.

[well_armed]

1998 called, they want their website back
http://www.mototuneusa.com/MotoMan.jpg