I have a 2.8 stick on order.

Friends of mine have picked up BMW 3 series cars and were told to not rev it past 4500 rpms for the first 2000 kms.

Would this be applicable or similar for the A4?

Basically:
1. Don't rev the car too high.
2. Don't keep the car at a constant speed (like freeway cruising).
3. etc... There will be more info in your manual.

Break In period refers to the period when you first "work" the engine. Like breaking in a baseball glove, when you first buy it, it's hard and it doesn't fit your hand quite right, you have to work it in and make it feel more comfortable on your hand.... OK, so that's a not so good analogy, but that's all I can think of right now.

Some believe that you need to baby your engine, "don't go above a certain RPM or your engine will blow up" and yet, some believe that you should redline your engine once in a while. Look at the posts below about break in periods.

HTH,
Mark
99.5 1.8T qms