My beast is still in the break in stage (5xx miles right now). However, I don't really care about the break in crap. I do try to vary my rpm while driving on the highway, but I also test the limit of the beast from time to time by going WOT. Having said that, there's one thing that I haven't done yet: to floor the car. I'm saving this for the road course or the drag strip in the spring because I don't feel safe about flooring my car on Boston's roads, simply too dangerous.

I just went out for a drive with my wife and I finally understand why I bought this car. The shear torque and power this car has are amazing. I can be low profile and follow the traffic if I need to. However, I have the confidence that I will be able to get out of messy situations with the power that my car has. That feels GREAT!

 

KEV: take it from a 'journeyman physician'-you must fully appreciate the power of her as even on dry roads when I make a pass under 3/4 throttle you can feel the rearend 'goose out', fatal move on wintery roads. I live in southern MI so...Joker

 

I've read the threads disputing break-in. A sales guy at the dealership (not my sales guy but one who seemed to appreciate the E55) told me that it was critical to drive it hard right away. He claims that the engine is run for hours at the factory for break-in and, more importantly, the ECU will adapt for life in the way it is driven at first - as he put it "drive like Grandma Sally, get a Grandma Sally car." He did say not to drive at same speed for long periods (like on the highway). But, he said its critical to drive super aggressive at first. His ECU comment made a lot of sense to me. So, my compromise -- no red-lining but lots of stomping it, including from dead stops (after fully warmed up). And, let me tell you, 0-30, 10-50, 30-70, etc. is pretty amazing. Anybody care to comment on the wisdom of this strategy?

 

When you run a new motor hard, you get better ring seal and more peak HP. I'm completely convinced of this. Repeteting heating and cooling cycles will temper the rings and you have a limited opportunity to get them seated properly. Just my opinion.

 

NewMoses, could you go into more detail about what you call "repeated heating and cooling cycles"? Thanks.

 

There are lots of great websites about engine break-in, but here is my basic understanding; An engines performance requires a good seal between the piston rings and the cylinder walls. Rings are at their "softest" when new. When they get heated, they get softer. The force of combustion and cylinder head pressure will seat the soft rings against the cylinder walls for a tight fit, establishing good compression and optimal HP. When steel is heated and cooled repetitively, it gets very hard. This is the tempering process. Only when an engine is new are the rings pliable enough to "mold" to the cylinder walls.

Some folks who build race engines recommend high RPM pulls and high compression decels when an engine is new.

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

 

I've broken in too many V8s to count and have never spared the horses on any of them. I have driven them like a stole em from day one except for one motor.

My second BMW M3. I followed the break in to the T and never ran it hard for the first 4k miles. I had a spun bearing in that car at 7k miles. So much for breaking them in correctly. Fortunately the failure had nothing to do with the break in.

Despite running the others hard I can't remember ever having any problems or oil burning whatsoever.

 

I've heard though a bunch of people are blowing the engines of their E55s??? Either mercedes quality or poor break in period....

however

i didnt follow the breakin rules either!! no problems yet and i'm at 9k

 

I just got my car recently, and the saleman also told me it's not necessary to break in AMG cars, but I saw a sticker on my windshield and it tells " do not exceed 85 mph and 4500 rpm within 1000mph(1500km)"!! Which way should I follow???

 

That kind of stuff it a disclaimer from benz in case somthing goes wrong in the drivetrain and mbe there are some lose wheel nuts or something ... its just to protect their a$$ in a liability claim - I reckon.

Most motors are bench run in nowadays.

Rgds Steve.

 

The motor may be run in but the gearbox, diff etc is not. Besides, I'd rather trust BMW M or AMG before I trust some random guy with his own website. ALL of our BMWs and Mercs have been run in carefully, we never had a single engine or drivetrain problem.

As far as the ECU rumour - it is constantly varying itself according to your driving style over the past few kilometres. This is noticable on the 120d, the SLK and the M5. Drive it HARD for a few days and it will wheelspin easier off the line, especially when you don't expect it to. On a recent relaxed trip to Cape Town I was horrified to find my car had become 'flaccid'. After a few WOT 0-200 runs she was back to normal