BMW 530d Top Tip to improve fuel consumption by 20% easily..

[michaeldouglas72]

I recently picked up an E61 diesel, imagine my surprise when I discovered it rarely saw 35mpg and more often than not was hovering around 30mpg or below! I set about resolving this issue and bought a Carly diagnostics OBD2 wifi adaptor...great piece of kit with everything you need to diagnose issues without running back to the garage every 5 minutes.

Back to the mpg, air mass meter was replaced, it was showing up faulty...no noticeable improvement in mpg. Brakes checked to make sure there was no binding, no issues. Glow plug relay bought, not yet fitted, but it was showing up faulty. Forums trawled to find out what an acceptable mpg is...no answers found.

Problem solved extremely quickly by accessing iDrive and changing U.S. gallons to U.K. gallons...an extra 20% added at the click of a button. Note to self, RTFM!!

[mekondelta]

That's it, I'm getting the train home now to try it out! Great tip! :-)

[clockworks]

Had exactly the same issue when I bought a secondhand E61.

[john_1983]

Make sure your thermostats are working correctly, if the coolant is only getting to 80 or whatever you'll be using more fuel. Common problem.

Great cars though, drove mine this morning for the first time in a couple of weeks and for a 12 year old car with 125k on the clock it's just a brilliant thing

[michaeldouglas72]

Thanks John, this Carly OBD2 adaptor is the best car gadget I have ever bought. It can be used to log a gazillion parameters around the car including temperature! I’m OK with fuel consumption now that it’s on UK mpg, getting around 36 with 50% of that in town and a 4 bike roof rack on top. I’m still in the trial period with the car and lacking confidence in it.