Steve Bland

Hi all,

I am looking for any suggestions on the break in period of my E550. I skimmed the manual and it says to use C mode, not S. No tip down shifting, and I think no full throttle. Yet, it also says nothing about changing the oil when it goes in for the 1 to 3k first service check. I intend to change the oil, it can't hurt. Any other thoughts on how others have handled break in on past MBs?

Thanks,

Steve
07 E550 Sport Silver/Black

cyclerider

C mode for first 1,000 miles with moderate throttle (don't floor it), keep RPM below 2/3rds of redline, and gentle use of brakes for a few hundred miles.

Changing your synthetic oil between 1,000-3,000 miles is a huge waste of money. Just follow M-B service recommendations.

edspider

It was very hard for me to not change my oil after the first few K miles, but I decided to just go with the manufacturer's schedule. Everyone says it's a waste of money to change the oil early.

MB Fanatic

Well from an AMg owners perspective and an owner of an S550 (same drivetrain as your E550). I say floor that ***** and put it in S mode if you want. The drivetrain is already dynoed at the factory and broken in so dont worry.

Also, do change the oil at 3,000 miles or earlier, it will be full of black gunk and some minute, minute metal shaving left over from the break in process.

Nickc0844

Drive it like you stole it!

vraa

Where did you read the drivetrain (tranny and stuff) is already broken in?

MB Fanatic

Vraa, good to have the old name back lol.

Secondly, I accompanied my brother on a recent Euro delivery of his wifes E350. We ran into a engineer in Stuttgart (sp??) who told us that each and every E that rolls off the assembly line is benched on the dyno, and it is there where he said its perfectly fine to beat the engine in and not really baby it. It was legal that suggests DCX to tell its customers of a break in period so if anything breaks warranty claims can be denied or what have you.

MARK CUMMINS

Its best to drive it hard to seat the rings ..as they are dynoed before we get them..Sooo Drive it like you stole it for 1.5k miles and then change the oil/filter
send the oil out to be tested...then you are set

Thats what all my friends say at MB

lkchris

Toured the Unterturkheim V-engine plant in July.

All engines are test run by being spun up by an electric motor.

vraa

I had to bring sexy back

I'm finding it kinda difficult to digest that every E is dynoed understanding how many of them they make. The logistics in that would be boggling.
Are you sure he wasn't talking about the engines of the AMG's?

revstriker

I agree!

lkchris

They aren't dynoed, they're electrically spun up as I noted.

AMG, too.

Toured both.

Keeps the headers looking nice

Also saves all the hassles with fuel and exhaust

revstriker

Interesting that legal would suggest this break in period, but not a suggestion to change the oil. Especially since MB no longer includes service.

revstriker

I agree. This is the first I've heard of this.

AndrewAZ

I would assume all engines are tested before they are sent out. They have to fall within a 5% window of rated power so how else are you going to test this? I know at BMW for a fact they dyno the car, you can see them doing this in the making of BMW's video. It would be crazy not to start a car up and test it before sending it out of the factory to sell.

revstriker

Some testing I can understand. But to run a dyno test on every engine would take a lot of time, and seems kind of like a waste to me.

Are you sure it's EVERY car that BMW dynos, and not just selected ones? I know most companies road test their cars too (on a track), but this doesn't mean that every car is road tested.

They also have to ensure that every car meets a crash test specification. But they don't crash test every car.

Either way, even if a car is tested or dynoed.... this doesn't mean that a break in period is no longer needed.

vraa

With the rattles I've heard in my dads car... :p

So the engines are electronically spun up while hooked up to the transmission?

NCE500

Steve,

I would agree to go with C mode for first 1,000 miles with moderate throttle (especially from a stop), keep below 4500 RPM, and gentle use of brakes for 1st 300 hundred miles. Gradually push a bit harder after about 700 miles until the 1000 mile point.

From my vantage, after spending $60K on a car, the cost for an earlier oil change at 2000 miles is insignificant from an expense perspective. I changed mine myself at around 2200 miles (cost about $65) and the factory fill was DIRTY. It was a no brainer to me

Guessing you got yours from Leith, I would have bought your car a couple of weeks back if it had Package 2 and Grey interior.

Please do let us know how it performs after the breakin.

Erik (in North Raleigh)

lkchris

Before they're ever mated to a trans.

In the engine factory(s). (s) because AMG engines are built in Afalterbach, rest of the V gasoline engines in Unterturkheim.

2MANYCARS

Just drive it the way you drive. Floor it from time to time to break in the engine, if you do, the car is not going to drive like a dog. On the highway, keep it steady at about 70MPH, but do hard acceleration a few times on the highway. Like others said, tranny is already broken in, so no worries there.

2K6E55

Hell yeah, drive it like you STOLE IT. It's only a car.

sklasse

I Disagree. How much is an Oil change ? 40 bucks ....if you did it yourself its 25 bucks. but if you **** up your engine consider it 50K as "a huge waste of money"... of course it should be free anyway (warr)

nothing wrong with a little preventive maintenance..

W211 Ryda

$25 to change your own oil on a newer benz? Get real! Synthetic oil runs about $5 - $6 per quart and my motor requires 8.5 quarts! Filter is about $10 - $15. Nowhere near the $25 you claim. So yeah, I still prefer to change my own oil & filter every 5000 miles, but that's just for my assurance. Then have the dealer change it during the 10K interval.