BMW 6-pot's. Which displacement and in which car?

[eltax91]

Hi all

I have the need to consider swapping my daily driver for a decent estate (or hatch with large boot) car that will cruise England's motorways in relative comfort. The way my company fuel allowance is set up, it makes it financially more beneficial for me to to have a 2000cc or greater petrol car, so after all these years, no need for the dreaded derv. (LPG is ruled out as the mileage rate is reduced if running LPG)

So, my mind has wandered onto a slice of 6 cylinder engineering from BMW. I've heard great reputations of reliability, sound and performance from these engines, so it really leaves me wondering which one? I really need to achieve 30mpg from the car to make the numbers stack up, so I'm wondering if anyone has some real world experience of running either a 3 or 5 series with these engines in and has any comment on them?

My budget is around £3.5k, £4k absolute tops, as i dont see the point in wasting money on depreciation for a daily car. This seems to put me in a 2001-2003 car in each.

So, 3 series or 5 series? x20, x23, x25 or x30????

Cheers all for the help.

[eltax91]

I should probably add, either would ideally be in auto form. Anyone any experience of real world economy on these cars/ engines?

Cheers

[HustleRussell]

The M50B25 engine in mine will average 30mpg over a tank (calculated brim-to-brim) so long as the majority of the miles are motorway. That's with an old verion of the 2.5l engine and a manual gearbox. I'd expect the later ones would do 30mpg with simular use even with an auto 'box.

[Pickled]

Get the biggest one! Economy on all BMW 6 pots is roughly the same, you'll probably only see 30 mpg on long runs, none of them will be anywhere near that around town, especially with an auto

[Bitzer]

330i auto will achieve 30, and early 30s on a run.

I ran a 2003 325i auto for 2 years and low 30s was the norm driving on a DC or motorway. The 3.0 is virtually no different economy wise.

[HustleRussell]

HustleRussell said:

The M50B25 engine in mine will average 30mpg over a tank (calculated brim-to-brim) so long as the majority of the miles are motorway. That's with an old verion of the 2.5l engine and a manual gearbox. I'd expect the later ones would do 30mpg with simular use even with an auto 'box.

Oh, and that's in a big ole' 5-series Touring (1996)

[LewisR]

My 530i E60 [53 plate] on a 6 speed manual box will do around 30mpg (just below) on stop-start commute to work and will easily do 36mpg on a run. If traffic's busy on a run, it will nudge 40mpg. The trip computer actually under reads by about 0.7mpg too!

[eltax91]

The Crack Fox said:

I've has an E34 525 manual, E39 528 manual, and now a 330ci sport manual. The Trip on my 330ci shows 29.7 MPG average over the last c.20k miles of mixed driving and the odd hoon. Pretty good for 231bhp I reckon.

Autos will seriously dent your MPG, and driving pleasure, be warned....

Good luck

Thanks! The reason I'm thinking of an Auto is that 90% of my driving is as follows:-

• Drive 2 miles of NSL to the M1
• Drive to a faraway place at an indicated 80 mph
• Arrive at said faraway place for a meeting
• Return home

So, just how much will the auto effect mpg? I'm not that adverse to a manual, I have one now, just I figured an auto would be easier for those journeys and for the odd trip i do where the traffic gets heavy.

Are the manuals 5 or 6 speed? Auto's are 5 (not 4) I presume?

[g3org3y]

Autobox is unfortunately thirsty.

My E36 325i (auto) does around 30 on a decent motorway run. The manual 328i I had would get closer to 32 (if not more at slightly more sedate speeds).

The 2.5 from the E36 is a little old now (you won't find it in the E39). I'm not sure if early 528i (E39) had the same single Vanos (variable valve timing) or the later double Vanos engine. Either are a very very good.

If you're wanting to go down the E39 route (with your budget), it has to be the 530i imo.

[g3org3y]

HustleRussell said:

HustleRussell said:

The M50B25 engine in mine will average 30mpg over a tank (calculated brim-to-brim) so long as the majority of the miles are motorway. That's with an old verion of the 2.5l engine and a manual gearbox. I'd expect the later ones would do 30mpg with simular use even with an auto 'box.

Oh, and that's in a big ole' 5-series Touring (1996)

E34 I assume?

E39 2.5s would have been the 523i and iirc that would have been an M52.

[TEKNOPUG]

eltax91 said:

Thanks! The reason I'm thinking of an Auto is that 90% of my driving is as follows:-

• Drive 2 miles of NSL to the M1
• Drive to a faraway place at an indicated 80 mph
• Arrive at said faraway place for a meeting
• Return home

So, just how much will the auto effect mpg? I'm not that adverse to a manual, I have one now, just I figured an auto would be easier for those journeys and for the odd trip i do where the traffic gets heavy.

Are the manuals 5 or 6 speed? Auto's are 5 (not 4) I presume?

So you'll be driving 4 miles of NSL and then many miles on a Motorway? Why the hell would you need an auto?? How often do you change gear on a motorway? Just stick it in 6th on the motorway and that's 90% of your driving done. You can even put it on cruise-control if you are feeling particularly lazy.

[woots787]

I've got an 02 manual 330 sport touring. On a long journey with no traffic at 80 it will do 32 mpg calculated, 33 according to obc. traffic kills it and will quickly reduce your average. 6 speed box came in 03 so despite being a facelift mine has the 5 speed. The engine has a wide powerband and 5th is pretty long so I don't miss a sixth and would worry a longer top gear would rob it of the decent shove it has at that speed which makes it so easy to drive on long journeys.

John

[woots787]

Oh and so far the engine is very solid, rest of car not so. Have a search on the many e46 buying guide threads on here.

[Targarama]

My E39 5 Series Touring 3.0 Auto will average 30mpg at 80mph. 24-26mpg around town. Lovely car to waft along in. Drove down to Brighton on Saturday from Oxfordshire, 20 miles of A roads and Henley, M4, M25, M23 etc. Traffic queue into Brighton, home via A283 Petsworth, Farnham, Bracknell, Henley in bad rain with lots of small holdups and a few zoomy bits (ahem). Averaging 29.9 on the computer, probably 29 real mpg.

[varsas]

I have a manual E36 328i coupe.

32mpg in general driving, 35mpg on the motorway, with 38 over a 100ish mile journey once while taking it easy. I have a calibrated OBC and verify with brim-to-brim tests. I got 500 miles from my last (62litre) tank. The E46 330ci (M54 engine, with twin vanos) is supposed to be slightly more efficient. That's what I'd be looking at if I where you. You'll struggle to get that down to 30mpg.

As others have said an auto box will kill your economy sadly.

Edited by varsas on Wednesday 29th August 12:35

[eltax91]

TEKNOPUG said:

So you'll be driving 4 miles of NSL and then many miles on a Motorway? Why the hell would you need an auto?? How often do you change gear on a motorway? Just stick it in 6th on the motorway and that's 90% of your driving done. You can even put it on cruise-control if you are feeling particularly lazy.

It's a fair point. use cruise heavily on my current manual Octavia. My thought pattern on the auto was for the times when I hit the m25 at the wrong time etc. I'd, perhaps wrongly, assumed that the more modern auto boxes were not that far behind the manuals in terms of economy.

[Art0ir]

330ci (yes I'm biased, but it will hold it's money best and gets the same economy figures as any other 6 pot)

[bmthnick1981]

I'd go for an E39 530i Touring SE or Sport depending on your preference. I prefer a slusher in these sort of cars but manuals are available too. The x30i is a nice engine and as others have said will do 30mpg on a run but be prepared for much less round town, especially if auto.

[CampDavid]

There are basically 3 choices.

330i - Bit small for my liking

E39 530i - The sensible choice. Touring form it will do everything you want perfectly.

E38 728i - My choice. Not as practical but when it's dark, raining and 100 miles to go until home, you need an interior such as this to make life seem a little better

[daveco]

E46 325/330 will regularly see 30mpg + on a mix of motorway and town driving. Got 300 miles out of 3/4 of a tank on a long journey at the weekend, and this was at an average speed of about 90mph.

If you can get your hands on a post '03 330 manual (think this was slightly earlier for the saloon), they come with 6 speeds so economy will be even better for motorway driving.

Though the 5 speed box is better for hoons imo.