[....,,,,..,,..]

Originally Posted by GAS428

I do not know that I agree and here is why,

This is a post I did on another site. though you might find it useful.

This break in process is my derivation. I am an electromechanical Flight Control Engineer and had studied long life mechanical system and this is a process that I use on all my mechanical systems from my 73AMX the Garden scale locomotives I run.

Here is the foundation of my philosophy.

1 Machined metal looks like a mountain range under high powered microscope.

2 Mating Parts are like two inverted mountain ranges going in opposite direction.

3 As they pass each other they rip off their peaks that then travels to the oil filter passing other mechanical components along the way.

Key Point
The higher the force between the mountain ranges, the larger the peaks that break off tearing the metal and scoring other metal parts on its way to the oil pan.

The lower the force between the mountain ranges the smaller the peaks rip off and tend to act like lapping compound as the material travels to the oil filter

Low force Good, High force Bad.

The only was to eliminate the this process is to super finish all moving parts. http://www.remchem.com/services/ For the cost I am certain BMW did not do this.

The other theory is Carbon Hardening.

Have a 73 AMX, Valves failed when unleaded Gas burned in these engines after fresh valve jobs From Burning the higher unleaded heat. Valves that did not burn were infused with carbon from the engine combustion burn hardening them. the higher the cycles the harder the walls.

By allowing the piston rings polish (seat) to the walls under low loads and have the metal hardened by the burnt fuel carbon at combustion chamber temperatures you will generate a durable mated surface that will hold the proper film of oil on the cylinder wall.

Why Eco Mode?
Eco Mode detunes the engine to reduce the wear forces while you break it in. It will not let you over load the engine. BMW did not recommend it, but it makes sense to me since my foot loves the turbo.

Why 3,000 Miles?
That is what I did for my AMX and 30 years later it still runs like a bat out of Hell with no oil burn

Change oil after 3000 miles

The gradual load increase from BMW is a great idea after initial break in process, reason being as the engine revs higher, the connecting rod stretches placing the rings on new cylinder wall section, and the other matting surfaces improving the surface finish mating with steadily increasing loads.

With this break in process, and proper oil service, I am anticipating a hard working engine the occasionally will visit the track that will hold its power and not waste oil past 300K miles.

That is my plan.

While not torally disagreeing just a couple of points.

You are basing the running in of a full scale engine against a toy train engine?
Even though the manufacturer recommends 1200, that will be a conservative estimate based on most critical component in engine / drive train.

The actual force remains constant within the engine, it is the speed that varies, a piston generates the same force, however it's speed varies with actual revs, that gives the increase in force / power.

Anyone driving in Eco mode (self harm mode) for 30 miles never mind 3000 miles deserves a medal.

Engines need variation of speeds and loads to bed in correctly.

The majority of all functional checks / tests of any engine have it running at various power / rpm settings.

Also the standard of modern engines are well ahead of those from 80s and earlier, where yes care had to be taken.