Diminished power in your 135?

[cartrouble]

I am currently leasing a 135i that I got about one month back. I asked the dealer several times about any kind of break in period at all, like anything whatsoever. The only thing I was told was to go easy on the brakes for the first 500 miles which I did. But thinking that the car had no break in, at least regarding the RPM limits I got in the car at dealership and floored it a few times on the way home. I stayed under 5k rpms and don't recall ever getting to redline in the car for the first week or so.

Since that first day I had driven the car up to redline maybe once or twice and got up to around 130 mph while the car was still under 1200 miles. Since I've been over 1200 miles I rarely take the car above 5k, maybe once every few days I think (rarely for me). However I do get on it pretty often on the highway and accelerating from on ramps etc..but usually stay around 5k or so.

Also after "spirited driving" I sit in the car for about 5 to 10 minutes idling as I've heard this is a good idea with cars with turbos. The dealer told me this was un-neccessary as all the engine fluids are synthetic. I am also sceptical about the oil change frequency given with the car's computer and wonder if it might need to be changed sooner than this. I am at about 2200 miles on it now.

Given the above driving behavior and observations it feels as if the car has lost some power since when I drove it in the first couple weeks and it sorta sounds like the engine is knocking when I sit in it idling. I am thinking that I may have just gotten used to the car by now and I'm getting a sort of highway blindness but I'm not sure and I'm concerned about the engine knocking.

I plan on taking it to the dealership and having them take a look at it but I am curious if any others have noticied diminished power in their 135 since they first got it and if so what could be the possible culprit of this. Of course, it is greater than 110F in this area now and I have the AC on and there is goddam smoke everywhere so I'm thinking that all these things are combining to make the car perform poorly. But I have since driven the car with the AC off and in the cooler mornings and evenings and it still seems to lack the same punch I recall from the first couple weeks.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated as I think my dealer might be a couple cards short of a full deck.

[335TT]

I am currently leasing a 135i that I got about one month back. I asked the dealer several times about any kind of break in period at all, like anything whatsoever. The only thing I was told was to go easy on the brakes for the first 500 miles which I did. But thinking that the car had no break in, at least regarding the RPM limits I got in the car at dealership and floored it a few times on the way home. I stayed under 5k rpms and don't recall ever getting to redline in the car for the first week or so.

Since that first day I had driven the car up to redline maybe once or twice and got up to around 130 mph while the car was still under 1200 miles. Since I've been over 1200 miles I rarely take the car above 5k, maybe once every few days I think (rarely for me). However I do get on it pretty often on the highway and accelerating from on ramps etc..but usually stay around 5k or so.

Also after "spirited driving" I sit in the car for about 5 to 10 minutes idling as I've heard this is a good idea with cars with turbos. The dealer told me this was un-neccessary as all the engine fluids are synthetic. I am also sceptical about the oil change frequency given with the car's computer and wonder if it might need to be changed sooner than this. I am at about 2200 miles on it now.

Given the above driving behavior and observations it feels as if the car has lost some power since when I drove it in the first couple weeks and it sorta sounds like the engine is knocking when I sit in it idling. I am thinking that I may have just gotten used to the car by now and I'm getting a sort of highway blindness but I'm not sure and I'm concerned about the engine knocking.

I plan on taking it to the dealership and having them take a look at it but I am curious if any others have noticied diminished power in their 135 since they first got it and if so what could be the possible culprit of this. Of course, it is greater than 110F in this area now and I have the AC on and there is goddam smoke everywhere so I'm thinking that all these things are combining to make the car perform poorly. But I have since driven the car with the AC off and in the cooler mornings and evenings and it still seems to lack the same punch I recall from the first couple weeks.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated as I think my dealer might be a couple cards short of a full deck.

If its hot outside it will affect performance a little. Another thing, you should have read the manual, it has the break in periods, listed in there, never take the stealerships word for anything.

[cartrouble]

Yeah I found out about the break in period after the fact when I got down to reading the manual. I guess I could have looked it up online beforehand but I didn't consider they would put break-in info in the owners manual. Even after that I still felt it would be ok to exceed the recommended RPM a few times and the max speed a bit provided I wasn't doing it all the time. I guess what I'm mainly concerned about is did my failure to strictly adhere ot the recommended break-in guidelines affect the performance of the car and if so is there anything to do about this. I plan on keeping the car for a while beyond the end of my lease and I would like to know if I'd be better off selling the dang thing and getting another new car and breaking it in correctly.

Thanks for your reply though I appreciate it.

[wag-zhp]

: popcorn:

[RockyRoad]

To OP:

Does the term RTFOM mean anything to you???:tsk:

[djfitter]

To OP:

Does the term RTFOM mean anything to you???:tsk:

+100

dj

[jkp1187]

On breaking-in an engine:



http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns/Archive/1997/September/02.html

Dear Tom and Ray:


Is the "recommended" break-in period for a new car really important? My new Corolla's manual says that for 1,000 miles I can't drive faster than 55 mph, can't drive at steady speeds, etc. It's a bit frustrating to get a new car and be told right off the bat that I can't fully enjoy it for 1,000 miles. What bad things will happen if I ignore these recommendations? -- Michael

Tom: Well, you may develop chafing and itching around your lower extremities, Michael. And if it continues after the first 1,000 miles, you should definitely consult your doctor.

Ray: Actually, we can't say for certain what will happen to YOUR car if you don't break it in properly, but I can tell you the widely accepted theory. The piston rings don't fit the cylinders absolutely perfectly when the car comes off the assembly line. Why? Because the spaces in between the two are tens of thousanths of an inch. So the break-in period is supposed to be a time in which you drive gently and allow the rings to "seat," or mold themselves perfectly to the exact shapes of the cylinder walls.

Tom: If the rings don't "seat" well during break-in, the theory is that your car will burn oil later on, because the poorly seated rings will eventually let oil sneak by and get into the cylinders. Is it true? Yeah, probably. Although it's less true than it used to be.

Ray: Manufacturing technology has improved so much over the years that the rings (and all the other engine parts) come off the assembly line fitting pretty darned well. And overdrive transmissions further reduce the risk by allowing engines to turn slowly at highway speeds. So where, in the old days, a good break-in might have made the difference between your engine lasting 35,000 or 70,000 miles, now it might make the difference between your engine lasting 100,000 and 200,000 miles.

Tom: So it's up to you, Mikey. You can have a good time for the first 1,000 miles and take your chances. Or you can show a nose-hair's worth of restraint and have a good time for the next 199,000. Your call.

[Tym]

I think breaking in a new vehicle is an art form, and not many have the mechanical empathy to doit properly...

As far as idling turboed engines before shut down, when driving TT's we;d never idle less than or over 3 minutes prior to shuting down, 5 to 10 doesnt .sound right...

I always felt } never { maintaining a constant rpm and heat cycles werre very imprtant. Run for awhile than let cool down, run for awhile than let it cool down...

I wouldnt recomend running the piss out of the machine or taking it to easy, hard to explain really...

I doit well however, so if anyone needs me to break in their new Bimmer, send a pm

:)

[JetBlack5OC]

The feeling of loss of power may be due to the current hot temps in Cali.

[Augenstein]

...But thinking that the car had no break in, at least regarding the RPM limits I got in the car at dealership and floored it a few times on the way home...

How you break in a car isn't particularly important, a fact made clear by the hundreds of thousands of testimonials in favor of easy breakin, or drive-it-like-you-stole-it breakin, or rigid adherence to factory recommendations during breakin, or all other forms. They all seem to work just fine, so don't sweat that part.

Romping on a cold engine is a big no-no, however. And "cold" refers not only to coolant temperature, but to oil temperature as well - which takes about twice as long as the coolant to come up to a safe temp, or even a bit longer.

Still, unless the engine is sucking up oil and blowing it out the tailpipe as if you are the local bug comissioner, or that possible noise at idle turns into a loud clank, I wouldn't sweat it. The Tappet Brothers (quoted above) may be correct that a brutish breakin will reduce engine life from 200k to 100k miles (or thereabouts), but so what. Make sure you get rid of it by 98k. :)

Bruce

[David1]

The feeling of loss of power may be due to the current hot temps in Cali.

Yup! Anything over 90 degrees in my 335 with the air on fells like I lost 20 horses.

[superstock]

This is a problem with an engine that runs hot. My 335 does the same thing; pulls timing and restricts boost. A lot more than a 20hp less. Try probaby 50. The engine is just trying to protect itself from detonation.

This is why a tuner might be a BAD idea. I am unfamiliar with how all of them work but if they are adding boost when the stock motor is pulling boost and timing that is a bad combination. And trying to autox the car in the summer or do any track days? Worthless. The car feels sluggish; it needs a bit of a cooling boost. And I am not even running a tuner! I would definitely upgrade the intercooler, oilcooler, radiator before slapping a tuner on the car. Unless of course you leased it. Then F*** it and let someone else worry about it. At least that seems to be the consensus for lease owners.

[traffic]

Regarding break ins, I've always religeously followed the break-in technique for a rebuilt motor. I find a stretch of empty highway and in 2nd or 3rd gear (depending on ratios) I'll start from 15mph and moderately accelerate to 60mph and then coast in gear back down to 15mph. I would repeat this 10 times. Drive easy for a while, then repeat. This will vary the load and rpms to help seat the rings. The worst thing you can do to a brand new engine is run it at a constent rpm. THIS INCLUDES IDLING FOR EXTENDED PERIODS.

So having said that, I don't think being judicious with your right foot is going to do much unless you were bouncing off the rev limiter all the time. Giving it a good load in the midrange once in a while is actually healthy.

Regarding cooling down the turbos, in the old days of dino-juice oils, the turbos would be so hot to cook the oil to the point of solidifying it. This would seize the turbos and you'd have to replace the turbo. These days, the turbos have both oil and coolant running through them to help cool them down. If you were just getting groceries and didn't put much of a load on your car (note, not speed, but load) and you cruise through your neighborhood and pull into your driveway, you've done all the cooling you need and you can shut it down immediately.

If you just came off the freeway where your turbo spins no matter what then take a minute to cool her down. I usually go through the steps of unbuckling, gathering my things and what not and then right before locking up, I shut down the motor.

If you've been loading your motor on your way home or you live on a steep hill, then I'd take at least 30 seconds at your driveway to be safe to get the temps down a bit.

If you've been on a track, after a couple extra cool down runs through the back section of the pits, I leave the hood up and let idle for 3 min.

Regarding your loss of power, if the ambient temps have been up there 85* plus, then you'll feel the affects of loss of power. The higher temps reduce the density of air and you get less power. Also, it's easier to heat soak your intercooler and you'll feel a loss. Since turbos get their power from stuffing more air into the cylinders, hot temps reduce the affectiveness.

[stylinexpat]

A few minor mods will restore that lost power you are talking about:D Intercooler upgrades ame a big difference in the summer.

[traffic]

I forgot to mention. When it's hot outside, your ecu is probably pulling timing so that you don't knock. You can counter this by improving your charge temps with a better intercooler, meth spray, or just running some 100octane gas.

[buccsmf1]

its the summer right now... you're intercooler can't handle all the heat so it blows warmer air and you lose power. I can notice a significant difference between running a turbo charged engine in 40 degrees vs 90 degrees.