Originally Posted by DrIsotope

The bolt breaking before it's recommended torque would lead me to believe it's bottoming out.

I think some blame has to fall on Shimano's wacky asymmetric 4-arm cranks. 12-16N-m for chainring bolts? All of the bikes I'm riding/wrenching are 5-bolt 110BCD, and call for 7-8N-m. I've never broken a bolt.