jasy000

How much overall impact does this have on SUV's life?

Manual: "The more you look after the engine when it is new, the more satisfied you will be with its performance in the future.

• You should therefore drive at varying vehicle and engine speeds for the first 1,000 miles (1,500 km).

• Avoid heavy loads, e.g. driving at full throttle, during this period.

• Change gear in good time, before the tachometer needle is Ô of the way to the red area of the tachometer.

• Do not manually shift to a lower gear to brake the vehicle.

• If possible, do not depress the accelerator pedal past the point of resistance (kickdown).

• Only select shift ranges 3, 2 or 1 when driving slowly, e.g. in mountainous terrain.

After 1,000 miles (1,500 km), you can increase the engine speed gradually and accelerate the vehicle to full speed.

Additional breaking-in notes for AMG vehicles:
• Do not drive faster than 85 mph (140 km/h) for the first 1,000 miles (1,500 km).

• Only allow the engine to reach a maximum engine speed of 4,500 rpm briefly.

• Change gear in good time.

• Ideally, for the first 1,000 miles (1,500 km), drive in program C.

You should also observe these notes on breaking in if the engine or parts of the drive train on your vehicle have been replaced.
"

Philamg

I am confused as to why you posted this jasy000, is there a reason?.

jasy000

My question was is this really needed, it has many restrictions for first 1500km. I think this could be a overkill or does this really extend engine life?

Philamg

Understand now, doesn't matter as much as it used to with todays tolerances. 1000 miles isn't that long and if nothing else gives time for brakes to bed in.

Ron.s

I’m no expert but these break-in periods vary by Manufacturer. Logically the first few hundred miles are more important than the last few hundred. Towing would be the most important thing to avoid during break-in. This is probably One of the most controversial subjects on cars so there will be lots of opinions. Lots of people just drive and don’t worry about it but at the price of cars today why not follow the recommendation? The Manufacturer would be in the best position to know since they do a lot of testing.

jasy000

Agree, but here is my reason. Since its lockdown, so far in last week or so only hit 148 km out of the 1500 km.

When driving on street or highway, I have to drive like a Grandma...LoL
I am not used to drive on slower lane, that also making sure RPM stays close to 2000 & soft breaks... as if I am carrying glass breakable vasks... so u can imagine... it's NOT fun driving.

KJ

After about 1,000 kms I've been driving much harder.

No wide-open-throttle yet, but pretty close.

Lucky 777

Drive it like ya stole it...

anbr

My dealer said, dont drive in red rpm and it will be allright.

mickhoog

I do this with every new Mercedes-Benz i have bought, and it's not difficult or onerous. I normally do it for the first 1,500-2000 km and i haven't had any engine issues.
Basically it is, keep it in Comfort Mode, don't kick down, don't red line it, and let it change gears naturally itself.

marchgroupinc

I would add don't tow any thing or use cruise control to that so that you vary the speed as recommended. The way I heard one engineer describe the varying speed break in as; this is a way to have the smoothest wear part surfaces like bearings and cylinders by not having a constant wear pattern from limited rpm levels. Made sense to me. Also using maximum torque or RPM could put extra strain on these wear components when they are new and "tighter" and could lead to less than optimal long term wear patterns. When I bought past Corvettes 2 different salesmen said drive it like you stole it to break it in. Turns out that is not recommended by GM engineers and all C7 or newer Corvettes have a built in RPM and torque limiters programmed in to prevent some poor break in procedures.

The part I don't understand about Mercedes break in is that you keep the same oil for 20,000kms until its first recommended oil change. There is always some level of excess "wear" metal in a new engine and that is best to be removed after extended break in. I plan on a 5000 km oil and filter change for my new GLS.

hutch300

Is this still a thing? Do people do this whole 1000 mile nonsense?

PS I know this thread is old - I used the search so no flames please.

jaxslk

Seems like yes, it's still a thing. My '22 GLE53 had a sticker from the factory on the windshield, still advising the owner to follow this 1k breakin process. It's easy for me to follow, only delays gratification a few weeks. 350 miles to go. We all get to decide our choice on following the mfg rec or not, at least in my case where the label spelled it out. I'll follow the breakin period but no way is the oil staying in for 10k intervals. Way too long for me. Everyone can choose their interval of course. All that Ymmv stuff.... ;-)

Ron.s

I agree with following the 1000 mile doctrine although it’s more important early than later. “Drive it like you stole it” isn’t in my vocabulary for an expensive car. It’s a minor inconvenience at most to follow the Manufacturer’s recommendation.

mikapen

Another recommendation that few hear, or adhere to, has to do with warming up your car.

​​​​​You want the engine to be at full operating temperature, so the parts wear in at the designed tolerances.
Which in essence means take the Long Way home every time, so the engine spends more time at temperature while breaking in.

Not only will this give you a better break in and longer life, but it hastens your arrival at the first thousand mile point.

hutch300

I could not find this in the manual so I wanted to see if people were still doing it.

mikapen

My guess is "not many."
With the manufacturers' push to lease vehicles, which ensures a constant supply of used, I doubt that many people are paying attention to break in mileage, bleeding their brakes, or other things that they would do if they didn't consider their cars disposable.

jaxslk

It's really not easy to find. Pretty obscure location if you ask me. Seems if it were nearer to the front of the book would be seen by more. Page 160. I did find it in the car mbux version as well.