[Brknbones]

So I was driving yesterday out in the desert on a two lane highway with the music a little high. I went to pass 3 cars all going slow infront of me and nailed it in 2nd gear, before I realize it I feel the accerlation low and I see the car is at 8000 rpm. I immidiatly let of accelration and upshift, was not in redline for more than .5 seconds. No warning lights came on, engine temp was fine, and did not notice any diff in driving afterwards. While I have been pushing my car a lot, I have not redlined it before. I have only 1200 mile on it.
How bad is this?
Is my dealer going to say somthing when I bring it in and he does a diagnostic? Does it record just the MAX rpm or also how often Redlined?

I know some think you should baby your car during breakin, but the last thing my CA told me was "don't worry about the break in, it is not important in these new engines". While I don't know if this is true or not, I have convinced myself it is because it is too much fun not to, and the car is leased

Thx

[Andrew@ET]

how did u get to 8 k redline?

last time i did that it was a downshift to 2nd at 75 mph thought i blew my engine but the time chain slipped. THANK GOD

[canucklion]

yes, it's recorded. Is your dealer going to say something about it? probably not.

Originally Posted by Brknbones

Is my dealer going to say somthing when I bring it in and he does a diagnostic? Does it record just the MAX rpm or also how often Redlined?

[dmichael]

I thought modern BMW used a rev limiter, so as the word impies, wouldn't that save you if you were climbing up the rev band?

On a downshift, vehicle speed will dictate engine revs, so nothing can save you in that case.

[Brknbones]

I definatly think the rev limeter kiked in at 8000. I am usualy more carefull, I was being a little to spirited, and the music too loud to realy hear the engine. It was a long day at work and I drove out to the desert to push the car a little.

[Raja Ventureshield]

i don't think any major hard is done.
there are theories on this - on how to break-in a car.
there are people have driven the car from day one as if it was stolen

[addy85]

Originally Posted by Raja Ventureshield

i don't think any major hard is done.
there are theories on this - on how to break-in a car.
there are people have driven the car from day one as if it was stolen

I would be one of those "people" I've been rapeing my car since the day I got it and only do so because I love it so much Oh and btw 5000 miles and no problems

[raleedy]

People, try to understand the rev limiter. It cuts out power to the engine, but doesn't prevent stupid downshifts in a car with MT. The car will record engine overspeed and if there's a mechanical failure, there will likely be resistance to any warranty claim. $$$.

[Brknbones]

just to clarify, when I downshifted I was well bellow the redline(3-4k?), it was when I floored it that I hit the rev limiter. It was fun though.

[turbotko]

As long as you only hit the rev limiter you didn't hurt anything......I hit the limiter almost everday, that's what it's there for.

You could put a brick on the throttle in neutral and leave it there for 30 minutes bouncing off the limiter and not hurt anything. Now a downshift mechanical overrev is a different story. If that was the case, you would know it immediately.

[tinka]

you will be fine,thats exactly what the rev limiter is for.

on a similar note though,a friend in work has,(now with no engine) a fiat punto,and whilst changing from 5th to 4th at around 70mph he went into 2nd.to cut a long story short he sheared the crank pulley bolt,and all 6 flywheel bolts,ive never known that to happen.

[Uberdude328i]

Originally Posted by tinka

you will be fine,thats exactly what the rev limiter is for.

on a similar note though,a friend in work has,(now with no engine) a fiat punto,and whilst changing from 5th to 4th at around 70mph he went into 2nd.to cut a long story short he sheared the crank pulley bolt,and all 6 flywheel bolts,ive never known that to happen.

I heard a story of a Sentra SE-R that did that. Supposedly shot a piston through the valve cover, out the hood, and then 300 yards off the road where it was found three days later.

As for everyone talking about bouncing off the rev limiter, I'm pretty sure if you do it enough, you're going to hurt something. It's there to save you if you screw up, not as a shift indicator. If you know anything about the hp/tq curve, you know you aren't gaining anything by revving that high unless you're in your top gear (what a great show!).

[u5g335]

You got fuel cut. It's there to prevent engine damage, so you are okay. Try to shift at or before redline. Fuel cut happens shortly thereafter.

On a side note, I usually have to touch redline every morning (I live next to a highway with a heavy merge) with the engine ice cold. My boost gauge usually shows 2psi boost at wot so either the turbos don't like spinning cold or the ecu keeps boost down until engine warms up. You really don't know how good of a car you have unless you use the performance.... otherwise you are wasting your money.

[demosthenes]

If the redline is at 7K, how did he get to 8K while accelerating? He wasn't downshifting.

Thanks.

[Remonster]

The rev limiter doesn't kick in until you're a ways into the red zone. I've only done this once on accident in 1st gear and once it got to about 8 grand the revs simply wouldn't climb any more and I thought oh that's how it works and upshifted and went on my way.

It was a while ago so I don't remember exactly and I'm not about to go do it again so sorry if I didn't give you exactly the answer you were looking for demosthenes.

[Robert]

Really, I thought the rev limiter will kick in sooner. important info to keep in mind

[bartman32]

I wouldn't worry about it at all. I've redlined mine a few times on the track. I redlined my old e46 on the track many times. At 1200 miles you are just about broken in. I wouldn't even give it a second thought.

[demosthenes]

I think it's fair to assume that the engine management system was designed to protect the engine from accidental over-revving. This is especially important with the straight six because it revs so smoothly and freely.

Therefore, I think it's fair to assume that you did absolutely no damage, just like the previous poster said.

[joeyrocks]

you guys are a bunch of women.

I have 600 miles on my 335 coupe. Ive redlined the second i drove outta the dealership, i hit 130mph the first night with the car.

Ive had it for 2 weeks and pushed the car very hard. It drives like a dream. Its not a honda, if a BMW which is known for performance isnt capable of being driven hard then that was 52k that i just threw down the drain.

Im gonna enjoy my car and drive "spirited" any opportunity that I can.

[Year's_End]

It's impossible to hit 8k without downshifting in an inappropriate gear. The redline/limiter kicks in at 7k, and even then, it's not going to do anything to your car's engine if you bounce off of it.

The Steptronic, known to prevent any/all types of damage that could be cause by over-revving, was bouncing off the rev limiter one day when I launched the car in M1 after pressing the DTC button once. I was surprised actually. I thought it was going to shift as soon as it hit redline.

[Year's_End]

Originally Posted by joeyrocks

you guys are a bunch of women.

I have 600 miles on my 335 coupe. Ive redlined the second i drove outta the dealership, i hit 130mph the first night with the car.

Ive had it for 2 weeks and pushed the car very hard. It drives like a dream. Its not a honda, if a BMW which is known for performance isnt capable of being driven hard then that was 52k that i just threw down the drain.

Im gonna enjoy my car and drive "spirited" any opportunity that I can.

As long as you don't mash it while it's cold, I'm sure it'll be fine.

I always push it as soon as I see the temperature needle start to move.

[sly1types]

Like someone else said the hardest thing people do is go over 4k rpms when the engine is cold. I don't usually hit the redline in my 330 b/c I just put around in that car. In my M3 I have hit the limiter many many times. It's not great for it, but it is not going to hurt your car.

I hit the limiter just the other day b/c my car broke traction in first and spun to 8k really fast.

See the attached pic for redline in 5th gear!