E36 320i: Main culprits for poor fuel economy?

[rassi]

The car is in question is a '95 E36 320i, which is returning about 20 mpg (6.7 km/l) over the last 1500 km. It is new to me, so I don't know what is "normal" but even if it has mainly used for short trips in the city, I was expecting slightly more (it is not far off my E39 M5! in the same conditions!)

When the car is idling, I also sense a slight smell of unburnt fuel so something may be amiss.

For those with experience with these cars, are there some normal items like 02 sensors, MAF etc that are know to fail and would be an "easy" fix, or am I possibly looking at something more serious?

[Shropshiremike]

rassi said:

The car is in question is a '95 E36 320i, which is returning about 20 mpg (6.7 km/l) over the last 1500 km. It is new to me, so I don't know what is "normal" but even if it has mainly used for short trips in the city, I was expecting slightly more (it is not far off my E39 M5! in the same conditions!)

When the car is idling, I also sense a slight smell of unburnt fuel so something may be amiss.

For those with experience with these cars, are there some normal items like 02 sensors, MAF etc that are know to fail and would be an "easy" fix, or am I possibly looking at something more serious?

Short trips in the city is about right for 20mpg I'd say.
Is it an auto or manual?
There is the corollary with the 6-cylinders lumps in these cars that the smallest one isn't that much more economical than the bigger capacity ones.
Has it passed an MOT recently? If so the lambda readings will be on there and if you used to get the same mpg before an MOT you can probably discount that.
They usually tend to get 'lazy' as they age.
It might be worth getting the fault codes read to see if there is anything amiss and to put your mind at rest