So my wife’s econobox was in the shop, and she’d needed to drive my X3M instead. Of note she hates my car - so she pretty much never drives it unless she’s taking a turn on the freeway or something. In other words, with me in the car - until today.
So she messages me today saying she’s confused about why my car is so slow and also why it’s so loud. I was a little busy at work so I don’t really figure out what she means but it turns out she was driving around in first gear unaware that she had it in manual mode.
She probably drove it 20 minutes or so in first gear at about 30 mph. Periodically redlining the poor thing. She burned through about 2 gallons of gas.
So my question is, what damage might be done? I know these engines are built to handle high revs, but you’re not really supposed to drive it bouncing between 6000 RPMs and red line for 10 minutes straight or longer.
Any way to check? Sidebar, is it actually possible to overrev the engine into blowing up? Or do the nanny features prevent you from doing that nowadays?
Lol I did that with my m3 comp. Not nearly that long but yeah… then my wife did it too. Only like .25 miles. But yeah…. It happens.
Engine should be fine but you probably need a new wife, Sir
Was it warm before she decided to nuke it?
You’re probably fine. But if it starts burning oil, you’ll know why
I am pretty sure my wife would have called after 2 minutes. Why in the world do you drive 30 MPH for 20 mins in 1st gear? :-D
Can you program wife mode into the iDrive?
Oh my lord, this idea is gold. They do have Valet mode… Not quite the same though.
Airplanes spend their entire life at redline. You’ll be fine.
Different engine design, no?
I’d only be worried if it was redlined and overrevved when cold. Did she drive it after it had been sitting for a while?
My first car was a 2000 Acura TL and my mom did the same thing to it. Drove it to 243k without any issues. Lol
This is what I like to hear.
Good ol Italian tune up. Forget walnut blasting.
Next time get a car with a manual.
still amazing how many people dont understand how gears work. did they never have a bicycle with gears as a kid? or just leave it first and pedal like a madman everywhere lol.
i let my wife drive my dct M2. she knows how to drive a manual, but i have to clearly explain to never touch the paddles and always see ‘D1, D2, etc’ on the dash to ensure its in automatic mode.
Unless it overheated, an S58’s not going to care about 6-7000rpm at low load for 10 minutes. We regularly run these things on track, to redline, under full load, with G-forces compromising the oil supply, for 20 minutes.
She probably drove it 20 minutes or so in first gear at about 30 mph. Periodically redlining the poor thing. She burned through about 2 gallons of gas.
That is some horrible gas mileage
Horrific.
Is your wife ok?
She in the basement now