330d and 335d real life mpg
Discussion
Fox- said:
No it wouldn't, they didn't average 44mpg unless your driving was very motorway biased.
I averaged 38-42mpg commuting in mine year round a 231bhp 330d, when the LCI 330d came out that was a 49.9mpg machine combined now we have the 58.7mpg 330d 8 speed with coast function Urban for the new 335d appears to be mid 40's mpg while M way is deep into the 60's MPG. (We need an owner to reset the trip then cruise control on at 70mph for a few flat miles so that we can see what it is achieving)
Welshbeef said:
I averaged 38-42mpg commuting in mine year round a 231bhp 330d,
So not 44mpg then.Welshbeef said:
now we have the 58.7mpg 330d 8 speed with coast function
When did you get that?!The main gains here are on the NEDC test not in the real world. The 8 speed box is amazing but it doesn't work miracles in economy gains. Despite a combined of something stupid like 49mpg, 50mpg on a long motorway run is the best I've got out of an F11 520d and it's never going to go anywhere near the extra urban figure. Around town, it does 25-32 depending on the mix of cold/warm starts.
The huge leap in economy over the last 10 years is mostly paper based.
Welshbeef said:
(We need an owner to reset the trip then cruise control on at 70mph for a few flat miles so that we can see what it is achieving)
You'll get a totally meaningless figure, a few miles, on the flat, with the engine at operating temperature, what does that even tell you? If I do that in my 530i petrol it will report 45mpg or so. Will it ever average 45mpg on an actual journey, even an easy Motorway one? Not a hope in hell. Most journeys have things called hills, sliproads...Edited by Fox- on Sunday 27th April 13:06
Welshbeef said:
We need an owner to reset the trip then cruise control on at 70mph for a few flat miles so that we can see what it is achieving.
I don't dispute that you can see some impressive figures if you cruise along at 65-70mph but if that's what an owner's doing in their 335d they've wasted their money IMO; might as well buy a 320d if that's all you want from the car. My definition of real-world fuel consumption isn't driving for an economy run, it's what you can expect driving normally and with a 335d that means making use of the performance available for a reasonable proportion of the time (so not driving like you stole it but using the loud pedal when it's safe and appropriate to do so). Driven in that way the couple of diesels I've owned (both BMW's) have missed their claimed combined figures by over 15% which is why a 330d being 20% down doesn't surprise me (maybe a touch worse than I'd expect but not much).Fox- said:
You'll get a totally meaningless figure, a few miles, on the flat, with the engine at operating temperature, what does that even tell you? If I do that in my 530i petrol it will report 45mpg or so. Will it ever average 45mpg on an actual journey, even an easy Motorway one? Not a hope in hell. Most journeys have things called hills, sliproads...
Sorry I meant the F30 330d has a combined of 58.7mpg Edited by Fox- on Sunday 27th April 13:06
Best I ever got out of my old E90 330d 231 auto (2adults and boot of luggage over 600 miles) was 55mpg and it was m way speeds all the way.
JNW1 said:
I don't dispute that you can see some impressive figures if you cruise along at 65-70mph but if that's what an owner's doing in their 335d they've wasted their money IMO; might as well buy a 320d if that's all you want from the car. My definition of real-world fuel consumption isn't driving for an economy run, it's what you can expect driving normally and with a 335d that means making use of the performance available for a reasonable proportion of the time (so not driving like you stole it but using the loud pedal when it's safe and appropriate to do so). Driven in that way the couple of diesels I've owned (both BMW's) have missed their claimed combined figures by over 15% which is why a 330d being 20% down doesn't surprise me (maybe a touch worse than I'd expect but not much).
My point is though that the 231bhp 330d hit its combined and it appears that the E90 LCI more or less did the same yet the f30 330d with 8 speeds so much lower revs at motorway and the same engine as the LCI E90 has to be better it cannot be inferior (maybe the new engines are too new to be run in yet?)Welshbeef said:
Best I ever got out of my old E90 330d 231 auto (2adults and boot of luggage over 600 miles) was 55mpg and it was m way speeds all the way.
For me normal motorway speeds means low 80's so if you've achieved 55mpg in an E90 330d whilst doing that then congratulations, you're one of the few people (perhaps the only person ever) to beat the combined mpg figure in a diesel. However, my experience of diesels driven in that way is that they achieve nowhere near their claimed combined figure never mind exceed it.JNW1 said:
For me normal motorway speeds means low 80's so if you've achieved 55mpg in an E90 330d whilst doing that then congratulations, you're one of the few people (perhaps the only person ever) to beat the combined mpg figure in a diesel. However, my experience of diesels driven in that way is that they achieve nowhere near their claimed combined figure never mind exceed it.
55mpg was once and it was 70mph cruise in UK clear all the way then 80-85mph in Belgium/France again clear all the way. However normally if I did a c200 mile drive to Manchester it would be mid to high 40's if traffic was not great or if clear it nudged into 50/51mpg. Note when on M way I use cruise a lot (climate on all the time and frequently heated seats on)
My friend test drove an E90 330D. I asked him to reset the computer before the drive, since I was really curious about the figures reported.
Result? 16.something MPG. I had to double check with him. He said it was a cold engine driven very quickly on a twisty test drive so we knew it was not representative of everyday driving but... wow. He bought a Golf GT instead.
The VW engines have always had the most impressive MPG. Especially in pre-DPF days. BMW next. Then French? We have one of each in our family and the VW outranks all.
Result? 16.something MPG. I had to double check with him. He said it was a cold engine driven very quickly on a twisty test drive so we knew it was not representative of everyday driving but... wow. He bought a Golf GT instead.
The VW engines have always had the most impressive MPG. Especially in pre-DPF days. BMW next. Then French? We have one of each in our family and the VW outranks all.
Pentoman said:
My friend test drove an E90 330D. I asked him to reset the computer before the drive, since I was really curious about the figures reported.
Result? 16.something MPG. I had to double check with him. He said it was a cold engine driven very quickly on a twisty test drive so we knew it was not representative of everyday driving but... wow. He bought a Golf GT instead.
The VW engines have always had the most impressive MPG. Especially in pre-DPF days. BMW next. Then French? We have one of each in our family and the VW outranks all.
I. Bet the owner of that BMW was pretty pissed off at someone turning up and thrashing his car from cold - and then not buying it.... Result? 16.something MPG. I had to double check with him. He said it was a cold engine driven very quickly on a twisty test drive so we knew it was not representative of everyday driving but... wow. He bought a Golf GT instead.
The VW engines have always had the most impressive MPG. Especially in pre-DPF days. BMW next. Then French? We have one of each in our family and the VW outranks all.
The lowest MPG over a whole tank I ever achieved was 35mpg. I don't drive slowly but never drive hard from cold.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I think that's fair comment and if a 335d is capable of averaging 40mpg or more in normal driving I think that's pretty good given the size of the car and the performance on offer. However, what irritates me is when people quote a sub-5 second 0-60mph time and 50mpg in the same sentence almost as if you can drive the same way and achieve both (clearly complete tosh!). As I need more flexibility in terms of space I'm thinking about an estate of some sort to replace my E92 335i and the F31 335i and S4 Avant are the two front runners; however, the F31 335d could also be an outside bet albeit at 15k miles a year I don't think I really need a diesel.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
E92 lasted about 3 months, hated it. Great car but very much not me, it was a mistake borne out of not being able to afford an F10 as they'd only been out a year at that point. Currently looking around for the right F10 (Well, given they are all diesel, the least wrong F10 
).Fox- said:
E92 lasted about 3 months, hated it. Great car but very much not me, it was a mistake borne out of not being able to afford an F10 as they'd only been out a year at that point. Currently looking around for the right F10 (Well, given they are all diesel, the least wrong F10 ).
Was that build quality issues?).Also ouch you must have taken a bath on changing it so quickly.
Welshbeef said:
Was that build quality issues?
Mostly lack of refinement, ride quality, etc. Which I should have noticed on the test drive was I not blown away by the astounding engine it had Welshbeef said:
Also ouch you must have taken a bath on changing it so quickly.
Suprisingly not, got back pretty much what I paid for it. Even more annoyingly, 3 years later I'd probably only have lost 5k had I hung onto it. People seem content to pay bonkers money for previous shape 3 Series coupes used.msej449 said:
I've had a 330d F31 xDrive six months now. I'm averaging 45.5 overall, with the majority of journeys in the 15-50 miles range and a couple of long-distance trips to the Alps. The combination of straight-six 3.0L and 8-speed auto is excellent. As mentioned, I think that I'd go for more options rather than the 335d I don't think I've ever thought that I needed more power.
Actually averaging 45.7 after 7 months. That's with the 8-Speed Sports Auto and xDrive. 
Well thanks for all the advice, really appreciated and gave me a lot to think about.
Having discovered that the 335d is an additional £62/month on company car tax I had decided to get the 330d, but then in a sudden change of thought process I have now decided to get the BMW i3 instead....
My daily commute is 30 miles each way on predominantly flat roads, it works. Plus we have solar panels at work so the charging is completely free. I will save £250/month on BIK in comparison to my current 320d plus the £200 on fuel means that even man maths are not needed to justify something fun for the weekend.
Plus it does 0-37mph in 3.5 seconds!
Yes it doesn't get around the need for an estate car but who cares. I will just hire one when needed.
Thoughts PH?
Having discovered that the 335d is an additional £62/month on company car tax I had decided to get the 330d, but then in a sudden change of thought process I have now decided to get the BMW i3 instead....
My daily commute is 30 miles each way on predominantly flat roads, it works. Plus we have solar panels at work so the charging is completely free. I will save £250/month on BIK in comparison to my current 320d plus the £200 on fuel means that even man maths are not needed to justify something fun for the weekend.
Plus it does 0-37mph in 3.5 seconds!
Yes it doesn't get around the need for an estate car but who cares. I will just hire one when needed.
Thoughts PH?
Edited by TallTony on Tuesday 29th April 21:15
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