1200 mile service done at 700 miles?!

[jsplayin]

My car was redelivered last week from euro delivery. I put 745 miles on my car in Europe. Today I find out my dealer performed the 1200 mile service before redelivering the car to me. I don't think this makes any sense for them to have done this. My service guy (who is always great over the past 10 years) says that they did that because when they read the key the computer tells them it is due, and the computer has a tolerance of allowing service 1000 miles prior to the due milage. This is all great and all for a regular maintenance service but not for a 1200 mile service, it defeats the whole point of changing the fluids after adequate break in. I asked him to check on this with his service manager tomorrow. Not sure what to expect to hear back? 745 miles is still something so might not be a big deal, but I wanted this to be done at 1200 miles as it should have been, and I'm pretty particular with car related details and technicalities. I also don't want to be an ass. Also on my drive home the car computer says 1200 mile service is due in 1200 miles. wtf? What are your thoughts?

[SapphireSiC]

I think the mileage is ok but doubting whether they attached to ISTA which is the only way to correctly do this service.

[jsplayin]

Originally Posted by SapphireSiC

I think the mileage is ok but doubting whether they attached to ISTA which is the only way to correctly do this service.

Could you please explain what ISTA is?

[SapphireSiC]

http://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...85732&posted=1

[Merli]

Get them to put the mineral oils back in, if you're concerned...

Did you drive it hard during the first 750 miles? Varying engine loads, varying speeds? Did you give the piston rings and bores a chance to bed in?

... or were you just driving extended periods along highways at low engine loads?

[jsplayin]

Originally Posted by Merli

Get them to put the mineral oils back in, if you're concerned...

Did you drive it hard during the first 750 miles? Varying engine loads, varying speeds? Did you give the piston rings and bores a chance to bed in?

... or were you just driving extended periods along highways at low engine loads?

All the driving was pretty much continuous over the course of two days. So not many warm up and cool down cycles. But engine loads did vary, lot of uphill and downhill twisty driving requiring numerous downshifts and upshifts and some euro small town driving with slow downs and acceleration. Overall it feels like less than 750 miles though because lots of miles were covered on the Autobahn, tried to vary load and speed best I could. I was not aggressive with acceleration though, all revs kept to about 4k or so, moderate throttle. Did the car really have mineral oil in? I thought it was the same synthetic just a flush?

[Merli]

Originally Posted by jsplayin

All the driving was pretty much continuous over the course of two days. So not many warm up and cool down cycles. But engine loads did vary, lot of uphill and downhill twisty driving requiring numerous downshifts and upshifts and some euro small town driving with slow downs and acceleration. Overall it feels like less than 750 miles though because lots of miles were covered on the Autobahn, tried to vary load and speed best I could. I was not aggressive with acceleration though, all revs kept to about 4k or so, moderate throttle. Did the car really have mineral oil in? I thought it was the same synthetic just a flush?

I don't know what BMW does these days, but it's a common strategy to use mineral oils (lower lubricity than synthetic oils) during first engine break-in period to provide additional friction to allow the piston rings to properly seat against the cylinder walls.

The peaks of the cylinder grooves are ground down a bit and allow a tight compression seal with the rings, that's why it's recommended to drive the engine at varying medium to high loads to allow this seating to happen and to prevent cylinder wall glazing.

Cruising at constant highway speeds isn't ideal for breaking in an engine, but if you consciously varied the loads and speeds, then you should be okay.

That's why oils are changed at 1200 miles, to get rid of the dirty engine and diff oils now that everything is seated and ground down.

You're right though, some car manufacturers use synthetic oils straight away instead of mineral oils. Perhaps a BMW Service Advisor can come in and give us the specifics on how BMW handles break-in.

[jayyp]

I'm sure it's fine.

[Gstone]

I wouldn't be concerned.

I would probably get oil changed again at 5000 miles and pay for it.

[basamx]

Same thing happened to me. They really should not be performing service without you authorizing. In my case when they did it, I told them I am not signing papers okaying the work. I took it back at 1,200 miles and they did the service again. Unfortunately my LC is still not active, since they screwed that up as well.

http://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1021495

[jsplayin]

Got a call from service rep who spoke with service manager. Got the same reply as yesterday that computer calls for it and it was authorized etc. I guess I'm not going to pursue it further other than have them correctly reset the car's computer.

[JonnyM3]

Am i the only one who would be happy about this...from my understanding the break in period, on most engines is finished after 1-200 miles....so instead of driving with all the crud floating around in your engine, you had it flushed out early....Also, I'm a bit pessimistic on break ins in general on modern day engines, so I guess i see why i may be the minority.

[gsrbri]

BMW chooses the interval for a reason, so following their recommendation (unless you have other specific and applicable data) seems to make the most sense.

My assumption is that BMW engineering has closely monitored the optimal running-in period for their M-series engines and arrived at 1,200 miles or thereabouts.

With the advanced/modern material coatings utilized on the machined surfaces and contact surfaces of piston rings, camshafts, and other high friction areas...as well as the drivetrain components, optimizing running-in is likely more important than ever.

Analogy: You can eat pizza everyday and possibly not die of a heart attack at age 50 (genetics, luck, etc.), but I'd rather follow data-driven recommendations and maybe eat it less frequently to benefit from reduced blood-borne cholesterol and reduce the chances.

[BEMR]

Wouldn't even worry about it, now on the other hand if you work for SONY, that I'd worry about ......