Best Run-In Procedure for M5 Engines (F10 oil usage)?
Poll: Best Run-In Procedure for M5 Engines (F10 oil usage)?
Total Members Polled: 30
Discussion
During the break-in period on a new engine the general advice appears to be that the user should vary the engine speed (rpm), vehicle speed, and gear selection as much as possible without exceeding the recommended maximum rpm of circa 5,000rpm.
What's more, this should be done at no more than half-throttle and the user should not exceed 100mph except for short overtakes.
While some users claim that their engines never use a drop of oil, other users appear to be experiencing heavy oil usage with their M5 engine, with top-ups required every 1,200 miles or so. It would be interesting to hear if there is a connection between oil usage, and how your vehicle was run-in.
For this poll, high oil usage would be top-ups required every 2,000 miles or so.
What's more, this should be done at no more than half-throttle and the user should not exceed 100mph except for short overtakes.
While some users claim that their engines never use a drop of oil, other users appear to be experiencing heavy oil usage with their M5 engine, with top-ups required every 1,200 miles or so. It would be interesting to hear if there is a connection between oil usage, and how your vehicle was run-in.
For this poll, high oil usage would be top-ups required every 2,000 miles or so.
As posted in the other thread, my car's using a litre (at just over) every 1,200 miles or so. I'm using the car for my daily commute in London, which can be heavy work for the car, especially because I don't use Start/Stop - today, for example, with awful traffic, the car was crawling in 1st or 2nd for 2 hours! 
Unfortunately I only get the opportunity to take the car out for a real drive (i.e. 30 mins plus) on a motorway or country roads, maybe once a month on average. So, I'd expect the car to consume more oil than a car which is used mostly (or even 50% of the operating time) for motorway / country road driving.
But, my concern is not the miniscule cost of putting a litre of oil in the car every 1,200 miles, but whether the high level of oil usage suggests that the car will suffer from other issues in the medium to long term. Anyone have any thoughts about that?
Unfortunately I only get the opportunity to take the car out for a real drive (i.e. 30 mins plus) on a motorway or country roads, maybe once a month on average. So, I'd expect the car to consume more oil than a car which is used mostly (or even 50% of the operating time) for motorway / country road driving. But, my concern is not the miniscule cost of putting a litre of oil in the car every 1,200 miles, but whether the high level of oil usage suggests that the car will suffer from other issues in the medium to long term. Anyone have any thoughts about that?
High oil usage may be because the engine hasn't been sufficiently extended (yet) and therefore engine components aren't fully bedded yet. Maybe consumption will lessen over time. That said I have always observed the running in procedures (admittedly not in an F10 M5 but M3, GTR etc) and not had long term issues with oil consumption. Present daily driver (520d) used 1 litre in first 6000 miles or so and then needed nothing up to first service at 17,000.
Just to clarify my vote, i didn't drive my M5 like i stole it out of the showroom & was fairly respectful for the 1st 500 miles (had a long return drive from Lancs - Suffolk), but after 500 miles i started to push a bit harder & of course a few mates wanted to see how she performed so i needed to push on for that
My cars covered 3000 miles & the oil level is unchanged from the run in service. She'll be playing out on track twice in March & once in April so i'm hoping this will complete my transformation from an AWD driver to a RWD hooligan;)
My cars covered 3000 miles & the oil level is unchanged from the run in service. She'll be playing out on track twice in March & once in April so i'm hoping this will complete my transformation from an AWD driver to a RWD hooligan;)
Running in:
Warm Oil fully then for the first 40 miles or so; work the RPM hard too 5.5K up and down using gears to slow you, after that just drive normally within the running in range, always use the gears to slow you down, and if you can find some hills this would be even better.
Mine has used NO Oil in 5K miles using this method.
Warm Oil fully then for the first 40 miles or so; work the RPM hard too 5.5K up and down using gears to slow you, after that just drive normally within the running in range, always use the gears to slow you down, and if you can find some hills this would be even better.
Mine has used NO Oil in 5K miles using this method.
Mine has consumed 2 litres+ in the 5k miles that I've driven it, total of 10k on the engine. So not too bad compared to some but the first car I've ever owned that needs top ups between servicing.
Don't know how it was run as it had 3 owners in the first 5k miles! Maybe not very well judging by oil consumption. Oh well won't be my problem a few years down the road.
Don't know how it was run as it had 3 owners in the first 5k miles! Maybe not very well judging by oil consumption. Oh well won't be my problem a few years down the road.
I voted 'Followed procedure - Low Oil Usage', which is true to the letter, I never exceeded 5,000 rpm and never applied too much throttle. Since the 1,200 mile service the car has used no oil at all in 3,000 miles.
HOWEVER, the first 50 miles or so are critical from what I know. It is very important to use the allowed revs and also to use engine braking as much as possible.
The reasoning behind this is that in the very early engine life the rings and bores need to be bedded in so there is no blow by. Engine braking causes a vacuum inside the cylinder that helps pull the rings into the bore and thus increases the rate of bedding in. Once the engine reaches 50-100 miles the bores become coated with varnish from the products of combustion which helps prevent wear, unfortunately if the rings and bores are not bedded in by the time the varnish accumulates they never will bed in fully, this will result in blow by which will increase oil consumption and reduce power slightly. If the varnish has accumulated and the rings/bores are not bedded in the only solution is to re-bore the cylinders and start the running in procedure again.
This is only my opinion based on a little experience and quite a lot of reading and discussion with knowledgeable people.
The best place to bed in an engine is on the track, not racing, just because you can accelerate in low gear using the full 5,000 rpm, then lift off back down to 2,000 rpm without the risk of someone running into the back of you because your brake lights did not come on.
HOWEVER, the first 50 miles or so are critical from what I know. It is very important to use the allowed revs and also to use engine braking as much as possible.
The reasoning behind this is that in the very early engine life the rings and bores need to be bedded in so there is no blow by. Engine braking causes a vacuum inside the cylinder that helps pull the rings into the bore and thus increases the rate of bedding in. Once the engine reaches 50-100 miles the bores become coated with varnish from the products of combustion which helps prevent wear, unfortunately if the rings and bores are not bedded in by the time the varnish accumulates they never will bed in fully, this will result in blow by which will increase oil consumption and reduce power slightly. If the varnish has accumulated and the rings/bores are not bedded in the only solution is to re-bore the cylinders and start the running in procedure again.
This is only my opinion based on a little experience and quite a lot of reading and discussion with knowledgeable people.
The best place to bed in an engine is on the track, not racing, just because you can accelerate in low gear using the full 5,000 rpm, then lift off back down to 2,000 rpm without the risk of someone running into the back of you because your brake lights did not come on.
RichardM5 said:
I voted 'Followed procedure - Low Oil Usage', which is true to the letter, I never exceeded 5,000 rpm and never applied too much throttle. Since the 1,200 mile service the car has used no oil at all in 3,000 miles.
HOWEVER, the first 50 miles or so are critical from what I know. It is very important to use the allowed revs and also to use engine braking as much as possible.
The reasoning behind this is that in the very early engine life the rings and bores need to be bedded in so there is no blow by. Engine braking causes a vacuum inside the cylinder that helps pull the rings into the bore and thus increases the rate of bedding in. Once the engine reaches 50-100 miles the bores become coated with varnish from the products of combustion which helps prevent wear, unfortunately if the rings and bores are not bedded in by the time the varnish accumulates they never will bed in fully, this will result in blow by which will increase oil consumption and reduce power slightly. If the varnish has accumulated and the rings/bores are not bedded in the only solution is to re-bore the cylinders and start the running in procedure again.
This is only my opinion based on a little experience and quite a lot of reading and discussion with knowledgeable people.
The best place to bed in an engine is on the track, not racing, just because you can accelerate in low gear using the full 5,000 rpm, then lift off back down to 2,000 rpm without the risk of someone running into the back of you because your brake lights did not come on.
Good advice. I did this, then luckily went on a 3 day trip down south to Devon were there a lots of hills, and used low gear to brake me down them.HOWEVER, the first 50 miles or so are critical from what I know. It is very important to use the allowed revs and also to use engine braking as much as possible.
The reasoning behind this is that in the very early engine life the rings and bores need to be bedded in so there is no blow by. Engine braking causes a vacuum inside the cylinder that helps pull the rings into the bore and thus increases the rate of bedding in. Once the engine reaches 50-100 miles the bores become coated with varnish from the products of combustion which helps prevent wear, unfortunately if the rings and bores are not bedded in by the time the varnish accumulates they never will bed in fully, this will result in blow by which will increase oil consumption and reduce power slightly. If the varnish has accumulated and the rings/bores are not bedded in the only solution is to re-bore the cylinders and start the running in procedure again.
This is only my opinion based on a little experience and quite a lot of reading and discussion with knowledgeable people.
The best place to bed in an engine is on the track, not racing, just because you can accelerate in low gear using the full 5,000 rpm, then lift off back down to 2,000 rpm without the risk of someone running into the back of you because your brake lights did not come on.
5K miles No Oil used, car feels really strong too.
JMBMWM5 said:
ther forums will say the M5 "drinks Oil", you need to search the internet.
However NONE of my BMW's have used Oil between services and I have had them all.
That's not my experience at all. My e60 m5 and e46 m3 both had top ups between services - I bought the m3 secondhand so didn't run it in, but did run in the m5. Other BMWs that I've had from new and run in (e46 325i, e53 x5 4.4 v8 and e70 x40d) haven't drunk a drop between services. Even my TVR didn't need top ups and that went through a similar run-in regime to the M-cars. However NONE of my BMW's have used Oil between services and I have had them all.
The forums seem to reflect my experience with the M cars, though oil usage on the car will be heavily affected by the type of use.
Andy M said:
So the general theme that we appear to be seeing so far is...that the M5 doesn't consume a lot of oil!?
Yep, mine hasn't asked for anything and I've done just over 3500 miles. I followed the run in process without going to the top of the rev range more than about five times and without going over 100mph. I also had the service a little early at 1000 miles.S&C
I sincerely hope you guys are correct - I've followed both your recommendations
JMBMWM5 said:
Running in:
Warm Oil fully then for the first 40 miles or so; work the RPM hard too 5.5K up and down using gears to slow you, after that just drive normally within the running in range, always use the gears to slow you down, and if you can find some hills this would be even better.
Mine has used NO Oil in 5K miles using this method.
Warm Oil fully then for the first 40 miles or so; work the RPM hard too 5.5K up and down using gears to slow you, after that just drive normally within the running in range, always use the gears to slow you down, and if you can find some hills this would be even better.
Mine has used NO Oil in 5K miles using this method.
RichardM5 said:
I voted 'Followed procedure - Low Oil Usage', which is true to the letter, I never exceeded 5,000 rpm and never applied too much throttle. Since the 1,200 mile service the car has used no oil at all in 3,000 miles.
HOWEVER, the first 50 miles or so are critical from what I know. It is very important to use the allowed revs and also to use engine braking as much as possible.
The reasoning behind this is that in the very early engine life the rings and bores need to be bedded in so there is no blow by. Engine braking causes a vacuum inside the cylinder that helps pull the rings into the bore and thus increases the rate of bedding in. Once the engine reaches 50-100 miles the bores become coated with varnish from the products of combustion which helps prevent wear, unfortunately if the rings and bores are not bedded in by the time the varnish accumulates they never will bed in fully, this will result in blow by which will increase oil consumption and reduce power slightly. If the varnish has accumulated and the rings/bores are not bedded in the only solution is to re-bore the cylinders and start the running in procedure again.
This is only my opinion based on a little experience and quite a lot of reading and discussion with knowledgeable people.
The best place to bed in an engine is on the track, not racing, just because you can accelerate in low gear using the full 5,000 rpm, then lift off back down to 2,000 rpm without the risk of someone running into the back of you because your brake lights did not come on.
HOWEVER, the first 50 miles or so are critical from what I know. It is very important to use the allowed revs and also to use engine braking as much as possible.
The reasoning behind this is that in the very early engine life the rings and bores need to be bedded in so there is no blow by. Engine braking causes a vacuum inside the cylinder that helps pull the rings into the bore and thus increases the rate of bedding in. Once the engine reaches 50-100 miles the bores become coated with varnish from the products of combustion which helps prevent wear, unfortunately if the rings and bores are not bedded in by the time the varnish accumulates they never will bed in fully, this will result in blow by which will increase oil consumption and reduce power slightly. If the varnish has accumulated and the rings/bores are not bedded in the only solution is to re-bore the cylinders and start the running in procedure again.
This is only my opinion based on a little experience and quite a lot of reading and discussion with knowledgeable people.
The best place to bed in an engine is on the track, not racing, just because you can accelerate in low gear using the full 5,000 rpm, then lift off back down to 2,000 rpm without the risk of someone running into the back of you because your brake lights did not come on.
Just thought I'd post an update to this, in time for those who may be collecting new cars in a couple of weeks.
I bought my car new in March and have covered just under 8,000 miles in it since (including a weeks holiday up on the Isle of Skye where the car was absolutely in its element).
In that time the car has required just a single top-up, and this was quite soon after the 1,200 mile service. Since then the oil usage (according to the car) has been zero.
The engine feels absolutely rock solid and pulls like no other car I've ever driven. I'm collecting a new Range Rover Sport (diesel) on September 1st and am going to follow the advice as stated above in this thread.
I bought my car new in March and have covered just under 8,000 miles in it since (including a weeks holiday up on the Isle of Skye where the car was absolutely in its element).
In that time the car has required just a single top-up, and this was quite soon after the 1,200 mile service. Since then the oil usage (according to the car) has been zero.
The engine feels absolutely rock solid and pulls like no other car I've ever driven. I'm collecting a new Range Rover Sport (diesel) on September 1st and am going to follow the advice as stated above in this thread.
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