Wow, this is a pretty interesting method. Reading it over, it seems to explain a lot. IMO I wouldn't be surprised if ALL the car manufacturers got together and decided to tell everyone to break in their cars the "old-fashioned" way that everyone is used to, just so cars WOULD break down early. If everybody's car was as reliable as a Corolla that lasted for 15+ years, why would people want to buy new cars? The car industry would be in HUGE trouble. If a car has engine trouble after 80,000 miles, people aren't going to think it was caused by something they were told to do in the first hundred miles of the break in period, and why would they, the owners manual HAS to be right because its in there. Probably why this thread has been so quiet is that there could be a lot of PO'ed new Mz3 (or any car for that matter) owners that found out that the way they broke in their car may hurt it in the future. I will definitely break in my 3 using MotoMan's way, should be interesting to compare the power/reliability of other 3's that had an easier break in. As I see it, the break in period is like a training mode for a car. Train it hard and it will perform just as well further down the road; Glad this car has such a good warranty, if something were to happen within the first 2,000 miles, I will just take it back to the dealership.
Lordz - Using the Sport AT may be an advantage than the regular AT just due to the fact the car will not change gears before you are ready and be able to get that tach revving high.
Hope to get some more views on this topic