Break in oil change
 

Having read many many posts over the past few years about changing the oil after break in to ensure better peformance, I decided to email my dealership to request the same....Im at 1500km now and almost at break in....
So when I received the following email I was a little surprised and now not sure of my next step:

The "M" vehicles are the ones that we usually do a break in service for due to the type of oil and because it is a high performance engine. I just spoke to ***** about your X5 and he has told me that the engines are pre broken in and because we use a full synthetic the chances of debris are slim to none. But after saying that if you would like to have one performed for piece of mind I would suggest waiting until you have gone over the 2000km mark as that is when we perform the 2k service on the "M" cars.

Engines are pre broken in????
Is there something we dont know ??? I know this master technician at BMW is highly knowledgeable...

i want to know about this too. How much does it cost to do a oil change at the dealer?

I was just quoted something like $139 in Ontario.

I have 3000 miles and asked the same question today in US. Cost was $149 for 8 q of synthetic oil change. No wonder they now only do it every 11K miles.

I've heard that many are randomly pulled off the line for random quality assurance checks.

Therefore, there is a big chance that your engine could be broken in. I'm pretty sure they don't break all of them in - that would be too costly and too expensive...

For these engines to be pre broken in thay would have to run them for at least 500 miles which is highly unlikely. Using synthetic oil has nothing to do with the fact that all engines while being broken in produce small metal fragments because all the moving parts are wearing in together. These fragments should be removed because the oil filter may not capture all of them.
It's cheap insurance to change the oil and filter after the break in mileage.
If your leasing the car then just follow the free schedule but if your interested in the long term care of your motor then pay for the 1st. oil change after break in somewhere between 1000 and 2000 miles.

These days very few engine manuf. do a hot test at the factory to check for problems. A few might be pulled off the line and run, but it'd be a miniscule number. Change the oil+filter between 1k at 2k miles like mentioned above to get rid of the intital metal debris. If you plan on keeping the vehicle for a while, do an oil change at 7.5k between the 'free' ones.

I think BMW runs every car to about 130km/h on a treadmill before it leaves the factory. However, this doesnt mean it's "broken in". If you wish, you can change the oil yourself or pay them to do it. There is no special "break-in oil" that is used on BMWs except maybe the M models (not sure about that). However, whatever you choose to do, I recommend you change the oil at 7500mi (or the km equivalent).

why?

I meant that whether or not he decides to do the 1200mi break-in oil change, he should get the oil changed at 7500mi. Waiting til ~15k is too long IMO.