I pushed my little girl very hard this morning, and she is now a woman.

WOW...I can only imagine how fun the X5 would be on a race track, the performance was amazing. For those of you that think the 3.0si is underpowered for this vehicle...IT IS NOT.

I can also confirm that the computer will NOT allow the X5 to redline, in M the computer automatically changes gear just prior to redline.
You should try it...lots of fun. This is a very impressive vehicle.

btw I am at 1770 miles.

I've seen that mototune break-in article before, and it's very interesting. But I think in the end I have to go with BMW's recommendations for break-in. BMW has highly-paid engineers, they've been building engines for decades, they spend bazillions in racing trying to get every last drop of HP, they pay a penalty when their CAFE numbers aren't high enough, and they get dinged in reviews when HP numbers are lower than competitors.

All that says to me that it's in BMW's best interests to give consumers the best recipe available for maximizing HP and fuel economy, based on their very extensive and expensive research. But if somebody has a car on lease and is willing to rev the heck out of it to test out the alternative break-in theory, I'd be very interested in hearing about the results.

As an aside, I've also heard that BMW will pull random cars off the line and flog them around a racetrack for QA before delivering the same vehicle to the customer. If true, maybe BMW doesn't follow their own recommendations.....

With respect to BMW's break-in and maintenance recommendations, BMW is in the business of selling you NEW cars every few years. They do not make money by you keeping your bimmer running great for 10 years, nor by you selling it for a premium. The reason for their very attractive 3 year leasing terms is to facilitate selling more units to loyal repeat customers. Their longer term financing is not nearly as attractive.

If you are only keeping your car 3 years, BMW's recommendations are OK - except you may lose a little HP. If you are into keeping you prized toy for many years, I recommend a proper break-in and exceeding their oil change recommendation schedule.

:iagree:How do you define a proper break-in?

Regarding oil changes, yes 15,000 miles is way too many. I changed my oil every 3500 miles on my wifes Yukon and its still running strong at 100,000+ miles...of course its a GMC so more is better.
What would you reccomend w/ the X5 considering it has a much larger oil reserve and uses synthetic? Is 7500 sufficient? 5000 too frequent?

While I've not read Mototune's break-in recommendations before, I have received similar advice from professional motor builders in the past and have had success following said advice. These recommendations refered to the "warm-up", "loading" and "varying engine speed". I've never heard of, or followed mototune's "redlining" recommendation.

With respect to oil changes, I believe 7500 miles min. and 10,000 miles max on good synthetic (Castrol, Mobil 1). 15,000 miles is just foolish. While syn oil does not breakdown, it does get dirty and contaminated like any oil.

That's only looking at a very small piece of the picture. Car companies value their reputation for reliability and longevity, which influences resale value and lease residuals. These things help them to sell more cars, charge a premium, and enhance overall reputation. Look at all the "certified used" car programs manufacturers have these days - they're not doing it for charity.

Any car company that sold cars that self-destructed in 4 years wouldn't be in business very long. Look at jaguar and rover for two examples - before they got bought out, nobody in their right mind would want to own one of those out of warranty, and new car sales plummeted as a result. In fact I'd say that most manufacturers in most industries would value a reputation for longevity in their products.

Good points. But keep in mind, BMW is also one of those cars most people would not want to own without a warranty. This may be why their certified program is successful.