Well, I don't know. Maybe I'd like to have the "break-in oil" out of there after 1,000-1,200 miles, like Porsche used to recommend, before they started "revising" their recommendations to make the government weenies happy. Or, maybe I'd be concerned about a little acid from blow-by and that sort of thing.

Or, perhaps I once bought a used Mercedes that went a long time on it's first oil change, because for a while Mercedes thought they were clever and could monitor oil quality in an engine and recommend when it needed changing. That engine was burning oil and smoking like a diesel by 60k miles...

Or, maybe I wouldn't want a car owned by someone that thought it was okay to go that long on an oil change. I'd bet they aren't the most car savvy...

Cheers,
JR

There is no such thing as "break-in oil" on any new vehicle in my lifetime, it's just regular oil. There is no blow-by with a brand new engine. There is not even a break-in period for new Porsche engines and never has been, at least since the 1960s. The factory runs every motor flat-out on a dyno with 0.0 miles on them.

Your Mercedes sounds like it had defective valve guides or some other fault that may or may not have had anything to do with oil change intervals. The bottom line is that new vehicle engines these days burn so clean that oil change intervals are perfectly responsible @ 10k miles or more. Clean oil sitting in the crankcase of an almost new car is no different from it sitting in a bottle on the shelf at the store. You have an over-active imagination.

I consider "break in oil" to be the first oil used in an engine. It doesn't have to be of a different type. Feel free to do an analysis of your oil, when you change it. If yours is still perfect, by all means re-use it. I can afford to change mine.

I know all about how Porsche engines are built and tested. I first visited the Porsche factory nearly 30 years ago, and saw it with my own two eyes. As perfect as they are, Porsche still recommends a minimum oil change interval of no more than 12 months. I'm happy with that. Look it up in a Porsche service booklet, if you don't believe me.

The Mercedes problem was with the rings and was directly related to long intervals between oil changes. Their "system" could indicate that it was safe to go in excess of 15,000 miles before the first oil change. Lots of people suffered from that. It's a documented problem; go find it if you want to. Frankly, I don't care what you think about it.

I was offering advice to Dottore. I have given it and now I'm done.

Have a nice day,
JR

One other thing, before I go. Porsche does recommend a break-in period for the engine, the gearbox, tires, brakes, etc. It's in the owner's manual, usually in the first 15 pages. It's pretty black and white; lots of do's and dont's. Again, feel free to research this yourself. I've owned 12 Porsches, the oldest being a '71 914-6 and the newest being an '08 Boxter S and every last one of them has had at least a page in the owner's manual devoted to the "break in" tips. Maybe it was different in the 60's, but I doubt it.

Cheers,
JR

I don't own a Porsche at the moment, could you scan that page for us? I sold new Porsches at the dealer for years in the '80s and have owned all of the cars in my signature line going back 35 years. I have no idea what you are talking about, and I think that makes two of us.

I may have an old 911 owners manual from about 1970 somewhere, I'll try to dig it up. As for what you "can afford", blow me. You're really talking to the wrong guy with that girlishness.