[JohnT]

With Mini owners split betweeen the "drive 'em hard from the start" and "follow the owner's manual guidence" theories of break in, I've decided on trying to follow the advice of Mini.

With that in mind, I find myself wondering about the wisdom of trying to get a Mini from NY to SoCal by driving it vs. having it trucked.

The questions I have concern the variation of RPMs during break in. Keep the revs below 4500 and no long periods at a constant RPM rate is the recommendation - but what in practical terms does that mean? Shifting up/down every 30/20/15/10 minutes? Varying the speed of the engine via the transmission is one aspect, but what about the rest of the running gear and drive train? Are wheel bearings and the rest of it in need of constant variation as well to avoid heat build up on mating surfaces as well? It almost seems as if city driving would most closely follow the recommended break in procedures! Seems counter intuitive since I'm under the impression that city driving is the hardest on a car.

So if you were going to try and follow Mini's advice during the break in period, and were facing the prospect of driving the US Interstate road system across the country, what specific guidelines would you follow?

I'm looking advice like "vary the RPMs by a gear change every 30 minutes for the first 500 miles" or "rural roads till you get past Virginia" level of specificity. How have those of you who have taken delivery of your baby significant distances away followed Mini's advice?

JohnT - (who can't bear the thought of taking months to complete the break in)

[Martin L]

Quote: Originally Posted by JohnT

JohnT - (who can't bear the thought of taking months to complete the break in)

You definatley won't take months to break her in
Once you get the car you'll make up any excuse to go out for a spin

Before you know it the miles have totted up and then you can really enjoy the car

As for running in I really cant help you
When I've been driving long distances I've tended to vary speeds and gears just to keep the revs variable, running in procedure is a tad vague

[nonsequitur]

I've always been instructed that it's much more than "varying the speed of the engine"; the break-in process is all about driving in such a way to mate all of the friction surfaces as uniformly and tightly as possible.

Key points are 1) reduced stress, and 2) effective lubrication of the surfaces.

With these statements in mind, here's what I've been told by trusted industry people:

Early break-in miles are very much more important than later break-in period miles. This may seem obvious, but they cautioned that many many drivers "forget" that these new surfaces are being stressed more by just moving in the very first miles than later in the break-in period. So, don't do "just one" [plug in any of the no-nos like high revs, stop-light drag, ABS-assisted stop, full-throttle pass, ...], because careful seating of the surfaces is the most important concern during the early miles.

As an example, an expensively prepped race engine will run hard right off the bench because that process produces very uniform, very carefully confirmed tolerances. The MINI break-in process is intended to reach a high level of uniform tolerances by wearing down all these surfaces gently. So that's the watchword; do all the driving carefully.

Next is lubrication, and again it is the very early miles that are critical. Just starting the motor moves high pressure oil (good), engaging the transmission does the same thing (good), and actually driving rotates and warms(!!!) wheel bearings (good), CV-joints, bearings, bearings, all the bearings throughout the drivetrain (good). Gentle use, gentle rise and fall of temperature, and exercise are all good. Heat cycles (warm up, warm down) are especially good in the very early miles. You want all the surfaces to fully receive warmed-to-operating-temperature lubricants, and some wear.

Varying the engine rpm produces some vacuum that draws lubrication along the surfaces (cylinder walls, etc.) and (in older cars) gives varying oil pressure. This leads to one controversial recommendation here: Accelerate gently and steadily to road speeds (reduced stress), and then release the throttle (coast) to produce longer periods of vacuum for thorough lubrication in the very early miles. This is actually an exaggerated version of the "vary engine rpm" recommendation.

As your break-in period passes, you can gradually extend each element: somewhat stronger acceleration, more definite braking, longer periods of nearly steady speeds.

Some specific recommendations. You should be able to drive the car home across the country, and thoroughly enjoy the drive! Put a very short first day into your driving plan; exaggerate the driving style to thoroughly warm up all the fluids, draw lubrication into easing the wear that you want to happen early, let the temperatures cycle down (a long lunch?), and then do it all again that first day. Use all the gears often, check fluids (but don't expect anything to change) so you catch anything that needs attention.

Drive the very early miles with much attention to the car, not the scenery.

Then, with a couple of hundred miles behind you, lift your eyes to the joy of a cross country drive ... in your new MINI! Consider a "..., or bust!" sign in the window, and practice your MINI hand waves along the way, as you vary the engine rpm.

[jonturner]

nonsequitur, that was the most thorough and technically accurate explanation of proper engine break-in technique I've ever seen in print and DEFINTELY belongs in the MINI2 FAQ. You nailed all the main points, and the reasons behind them. Well done.

Your post should be in 35-point bold type on the first page of the MINI owners manual and on a sticker on the steering wheel at delivery!

[ScottyB]

One would think you made the car nonsequitur

Great info. Ill be following it in about 2 weeks time

Cheers,
Scotty

[MiniG]

That sounds like good break-in advice to me!

Most of all, have fun!


- Hey, Wot's all thet nonsense about a Mazda!!!

[MukiMunki]

Of course the only problem with the above good advice is that your mini already has delivery miles from the factory to your dealership, and they'll have moved it around to get other cars out for delivery etc.

And Dealers always drive like they stole it. Without exception.

[swamos]

Good work nonsequitur. I was faced with exactly this problem when I picked up my MINI. The way I got around it was to gently speed up and slow down, and then to take every on-ramp with a roundabout. Wheeeeeee!!! Good for the car, good for me

[nonsequitur]

Change the oil once at 500 miles (even synthetics) to flush out any of the
materials that will be collected by the oil in the very early miles. These
nasty materials include dust, lint, metal shavings, water, etc -- all the
stuff that even modern manufacturing may allow into the process or are
produced in the initial few miles of actual driving.

From then on, follow the manufacturer's recommendations for the break-in
period and maintenance, unless you just can't resist doing oil changes more
often than the extended recommendations now common in the industry.

You can't do anything about delivery miles which are typically very very few (12-18 miles), so the key is to take the car forward from that point correctly.

[Ibb]

Awesome posts!

[caminifan]

Quote: Originally Posted by nonsequitur

Change the oil once at 500 miles (even synthetics) to flush out any of the
materials that will be collected by the oil in the very early miles.

I would only add that the transmission oil should be changed at around 3,000 miles to get rid of metal particles that have accumulated during breakin.