cntlaw

1313

Most car manufacturers recommend 1000miles or 1600km for running in. I redlined mine after 1600km.

Zeppelin

You should have redlined the car from day one. You know the dealer salesmen have all ready been out redlining your car before you took delivery. It is no big deal to redline a new motor. Some people say this is the proper way to break them in.

cntlaw

I guess I did by accident when I wasn't too sure about the speedshift button and got redline at 1st gear :p
cheers
cnt

Prasith32

depending on who you ask it is actually better to drive a motor really hard right from the beginning.

However it is the tranny and differential that needs some time to lubricate and needs to be loosened up.

Either way change the oil at 2k miles or so. It really helps.

Prasith

cntlaw

DO you mean change the tranny 's oil after 2k ? How about engine oil ? Oil/Air Filers...etc?

aries palmiotto

My philosophy: Break it now while its under warranty.

cntlaw

OK I DO THAT. ANYONE JOINS ME THIS COMING SUNDAY MORNING 9AM STARTING AT HK AIRPORT BRIDGE LOOKOUT?

Nickerz

I have to say...I've been running my engine hard! Not extremely HARD but definitely breaking it in how I'm going to drive it in the future. I'm definitely not babying my car, that's for sure!

I of course wait until the car is completely warmed up but after that...to the floor baby!

Nick

mick1

don't know. mine has only 10 miles on the odometer when i took delivery

according to the C-class operator's manual, the driver needs to take it easy until the car has had at least 1,000 miles.

vitaman

This is confusing. If "C" is the preferred position, how is it possible to vary engine speeds? With C the engine rarely gets above 2400 RPM's. It stays very smooth and stable. Sounds like a Catch 22 to me.

NORTH 44 C63

I think its like this>>>>>

AMG programs the ECU to be very forgiving with high tolerence for average drivers. ie: a non enthusiast that might not follow service schedules and otherwise not take good care of the vehicle. This is why companies like Renntech and Powerchip can squeeze extra HP by chipping alone.

This also relates to the easy break-in outlined in the user manual. this breaks in the motor in a way that if the service schedule is not followed, there are pre existing tolerences in place to protect the motor.

"Spare the rod and spoil the child"

If you are an AMG enthusiast, drive as you would normally right from the start. It is VERY important to let the engine warm to full operating temp and then run the first few minutes at moderate loads as to let the tranny fluid temp to catch up as well. The tranny needs to seat and seal over the first 1000 miles/1600 km. This will produce a smooth, responsive and very tight engine that will stay that way. Still follow the recommended scheduled first oil/filter change and away you go.....

I'm not saying to go racing the first weekend but if you drive hard and smoothly through the gears right out of the gate you can expect to maintain top torque and HP numbers for the life of the engine. Follow the "recommended" break in and expect a 10 to 15 HP drop and for sure, lots of "cylinder blow by" in the years to come.

This is just my 2 cents but I have been breaking in engines (both high performance and stock) this way for years and its never let me down.

The program came to me from a Mercedes factory test driver back in the 1980's and he still maintains the method (and still works for MB).

I hope this helps

Nickerz

Amen to that North 44 C55!

Vitaman brings up a good point too! I have been driving my car in "C" mode so would "S" mode be fine during the breakin period? What mode do you use North 44 C55?

Thanks,
Nick

cntlaw

I agree all.

I believe both S and C are just fine during breakin so long as the driver is cautious about the 'effect' of the S or C.

My own rules are:-

leave the pedal alone when at 4500rpm.
I don't do engine break if I were above 80kmh
I don't stay in 2nd , 3rd gear longer than if I see it reaches 4000rpm.
I been using a lot 4th and 5th on highways at higher speeds.
I do my gears shifts variations at narrow hills roads where speed is always under 80kmh.

I am pretty confident my C55 will run as superb as my W210 - perfect performance with both engine and transmission lasted me 3 long years for 38000km.

cheers
cnt

NORTH 44 C63

Nick, C is fine but IMO S/M (no pun intended) would be better. Keeps the revs moving more than in C and more control. Keep in mind the warm up process is VERY important

s4iscool

just RTFM and youll be fine. I love people who like to 2nd guess AMG engineers and countless other marques engineers.

speedybenz

I will bet lunch that the AMG and Std. Mercedes all see redline at the factory. How else are they going to check the engine and tranny before shipping?

The manual is for Liability Protection for MB. They get people to drive around slow and it creates less accidents and breaks less parts that will break anyhow due to poor quality.

Follow the manual and be 15 Hp down on idiots like me who didn't. Follow the herd, follow the herd, it's pretty comfortable back there, but the view is not so good.

Nickerz

I'm sure the engineers would rather "error on the side of caution" than to come out and tell people they can break-in the engine however they want.

It's safer as SPEEDYBENZ mentions and that makes more sense when putting it into writing (i.e., car manual)

Nick

PS Thanks North 44 C55 for the feed back on the C vs. S mode!