Initial start-up and debugging of the engine after repair (BMW 7 Series E32)

Caution: When starting the engine for the first time, have a fire extinguisher handy.

Once the engine is installed in the vehicle, check the oil and coolant levels.

After removing the spark plugs and turning off the ignition system, rotate the crankshaft until the sensor shows oil pressure or the light goes out.

Screw in the spark plugs, connect the wires to the spark plugs and connect the ignition system.

Start the engine. It may take a few moments for the fuel system to reach normal pressure, but the engine should start without much effort,

Caution: If the engine backfires through the throttle body, check the valve timing and ignition timing.

Once the engine has started, it must be allowed to warm up to normal operating temperature. Do not allow the engine to accelerate to maximum idle speed.

While the engine is warming up, carefully check for fuel, oil and coolant leaks. If a new camshaft and tappets were installed during the repair, the engine should be run for 15 minutes at full idle speed to allow the shaft and tappets to "seat in" (while doing this, keep an eye on the temperature gauge and don't let the engine warm up). Turn off the engine and check the oil and coolant levels again.

Take the car to a road with minimal traffic, accelerate from 50 to 80 km/h, then let the car slow down to 50 km/h with the throttle closed. Repeat this 10-12 times. This will put a load on the piston rings, and they will assume the correct position relative to the cylinder walls. Check again for oil and coolant leaks.



For the first 800 km, drive the car at a moderate speed and constantly monitor the oil level. During the break-in period, oil consumption may be high.

After approximately 900-1000 km of mileage, change the oil and filter.

For the next few hundred kilometers, drive as normal.

After 3500 km, change the oil and filter again and consider the engine broken in.

Engine life

BMW engines are known for their durability. Thus, the small "six" can travel 200 thousand km without any problems. Once upon a time, the cylinder head of these engines often cracked and failed, but today this is a thing of the past. The large six-cylinder engine, if not overloaded, often runs more than 250 thousand km, and without any noticeable loss of power.

As a rule, whether a car will live to a ripe old age or prematurely depart for another world depends on how the driver treats it. The temperature of the engine oil plays a major role in this. It is important to remember that while the coolant temperature gauge signals relatively quickly that the operating temperature has been reached, the engine oil needs at least another 10 minutes of driving to begin to fully demonstrate its lubricating ability.

Therefore, we do not recommend that after a few weeks of driving the car only short distances, suddenly give it full throttle. When idling for a long time and during urban driving, carbon deposits form in the combustion chambers and on the valves, which must be allowed to gradually burn off as the load increases. To do this, let the oil warm up to operating temperature and drive quickly, but avoid sudden acceleration.

About engine speed

The combustion engine produces its greatest power at a certain speed, the so-called nominal engine speed. Although the power does not increase at higher speeds, shifting to a higher gear is easier, which is important for maximum acceleration. When driving calmly, you should keep the engine in the speed range of the highest torque as much as possible. This way, you can get the best traction.

The engine has a high speed. The fact is that the valves are driven by short rockers from the overhead camshaft. At the same time, the mass of the parts performing reciprocating motion is small, which allows achieving a high rotation frequency without fear for the valve drive.

However, you should not drive at the maximum speed for a long time. To avoid overloading the engine, the permissible speed for long-term driving is set at 200 rpm below the maximum. This reasonable limitation significantly increases the service life of the engine.

[The original article is available on the website «www.bmwman.ru»]