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I suppose it's plausible but I'm still doubtful. I have been frequenting numerous auto related forums over the years and have never heard of a manufacturer de-tuning a car for X # of miles to increase engine longevity. I'm not even sold on the 'baby the motor during break in' theory anyway.
I just see a huge risk with releasing a detuned engine in a new car. There would be some serious legal ramifications if a customer would get in a bad accident when merging into traffic only to later find out that BMW intentionally slowed down the vehicle.
Also, think about all the press cars that a manufacturer distributes when they release a new model. Do these new cars get a special 'normal' tune so that the performance numbers are on par with cars that are > 5000 miles (or whatever it may be)?
What about the new cars on dealer lots that are ready for test drives? Do the sales people say "Enjoy your test drive but please note, since this is a new car it will be slower and less efficient than what you experience after you put X # of miles on it." Probably wouldn't go over to well.
I have, on rare occasion, read about car companies INCREASING the performance levels on their new press cars but that is extremely risky and is not common practice. The automotive journalists are a very picky bunch and if they suspected their demo cars were performing outside of the known performance window they'd be all over that.
But honestly, at the end of the day, neither you nor I will ever know all the dark magic that goes into these cars so it's really hard to say one way or the other.
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