Now I realize that there is a link here talking about breakin mileage just below or above. I have a real question as it pertains to picking up my car.
I will be picking up my car in Alexandria, Louisiana the end of May and perhaps driving it back to Irvine, CA. This is probably about 2000 miles all on the highway. Is this good, bad or indifferent to a proper breakin?
Would it be better to truck it back?
I did not breakin my first car this way. It was broken in with short trips. This will be one long trip over a four day period.
Mark, I honestly won't do it if I were you. I was thinking of the same thing about my M5 which originated from Georgia.
I believe that you need to drive the car in various RPMs during the break in period. Also that it's not a good idea to just maintain the same speed and RPM at the same rate for a long period of time.
My M5 is sitting in the showroom with 18 miles on it and it's hard to accept if I will have to add more than 2000 miles just from driving it back here. Well.... maybe it could be fun if we would pick them up at the same time.
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Adrian
01 M5 LeMans Blue - Silverstone/Extended Nappa Point/Heritage - Titanium Trim
I guess I got the best of both worlds, pickup at a non-local dealer and good-but-not-too-long breaking drive back.
Live in SF Bay Area - picked up in LA and got to do the scenic Hwy 101 / Hwy 1 route back home. I loved stopping for little snacks and lunches in Santa Barbara and Monterey.
LOTS of seconds takes and envious glances
The best is when I spot the lookers that are pretending not to look or stare obviously but really are rotating the old eyeballs to max perihperal vision when The Beast rolls by
MAH, personally I wouldn't drive it. If you decide to do it, then definitely vary the engine revs a lot. This is actually easier on an M5 than most because for most of trip you'll be able to work 4th, 5th and 6th gears. (Personally) I would also do some of the trip off Interstate through quaint stop-and-go towns.
Might make sense to schedule your 1200 miles service now - the Beast will need it as soon as you get it home.
1. It will be hard to vary the RPM's a lot and you will not be doing as much heat cycling during breakin.
2. That is a lot of miles to put on your car - why not use them for a more enjoyable purpose(like visiting us in NorCal again).
3. After already having the joy of driving your '00 Beast on long trips at 150+MPH, could you really obey the breakin rules?
When I bought mine from a dealer in Kansas City last year it cost me about $1,000.
Drive it if you have time to take your time (going into towns gives you chance to vary RPM more); ship it if not. You do lose some ability to vary RPM by staying on the highway, but you can always change gears. There is something to heat/cold cycling that helps make the engine stronger (remember when they made turbo BMW F1 engines? they went with USED engine blocks w/more than 70k miles on them to ensure they had fully stabilized), but that will happen over time anyway. So, in some respects at say, 5,000 miles, your engine will not be as broken in as one with more heat/cold cycles on it due to more around town driving. But you will have broken it in with oil that's almost always up to operating temp. Either way, enjoy!
I think there would be nothing better than to break in a car by the time it gets home. The only thing is, you have to take your time getting home. If you have time, I would suggest picking out various cities (at least 3 or 4) on the way home that you will run across. Input the first city on the GPS, and choose "Most use of highways" from your departure city in Louisiana. Once you get to that city, input the next destination and choose "least use of highways" and so on. Of course, the highway areas should definitely be longer than the non-highway areas, but I think it would be a nice way to see cities and break it in properly. But, you need to have the time. I would not drive it straight home on the highways; get it shipped.
Break In Discussion - What do you think?
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