E36 328is Crazy high fuel consumption
Discussion
Slurms said:
That sounds really low to begin with - my 330ci used to run around 29mpg regardless of how I drove it..
Are you sure it isn't overfueling or leaking - I can't believe you could get it to run at 8mpg without it going somewhere.
No leaks, no smells. I have placed white sheets under the car in the garage and driven backwards and forwards and left it to sit for a weekend. Checked afterwards some dust and bit of water but signs of oil or petrol and again, no smell of petrol at all!Are you sure it isn't overfueling or leaking - I can't believe you could get it to run at 8mpg without it going somewhere.
Would cleaning the EGR valve be an idea, excuse my ignorance but does a petrol car have an EGR valve?
There's no egr valve on your car. There is a crankcase breather valve under the inlet manifold. These can block up with age and miles. The pipes to the valve also go soft with age.
I just sold my 328i E36, I was getting 24mpg on short runs and 34 on longer ones (obc figures). This was a good condition car with 170k miles.
I just sold my 328i E36, I was getting 24mpg on short runs and 34 on longer ones (obc figures). This was a good condition car with 170k miles.
OptiManc said:
I have a '98 E36 328is with an M52 (M52TUB28 I think) auto.
No E36 got the M52TUB28 engine, that's the twin VANOS engine that came in with the E46. Your engine is the M52B28 engine with single VANOSOptiManc said:
Anyway, problem is for the last 12 months or so I have been battling with its high, very high fuel consumption, it was never like this when I bought it in 2008.
Refuelling and driving off the forecourt, the Range will countdown instantly, by the time I’m off the forecourt I’ll have ‘lost’ around 4-6 miles already – but the Range will stay static while the car is stationary
. Furthermore, performance is laboured from take-off and acceleration at any speeds; it takes ages to pick up revs, however! Occasionally it’s perfectly fine, quick, sounds smooth and prompt and fuel consumption stabilises. After a restart it'll go back to being lazy and gulping down the fuel.
No sign of leaks or smells of petrol.
Any ideas what so ever on how to resolve this would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
OptiManc!
Based on your symptoms, it sounds to Me like the gearbox could be going into "Limp home mode" intermittently. This means that it is trying to drive the car in third gear only for a period of time and then clearing itself, hence the sluggish feeling pulling away and when accelerating followed by it driving normally at other times. Refuelling and driving off the forecourt, the Range will countdown instantly, by the time I’m off the forecourt I’ll have ‘lost’ around 4-6 miles already – but the Range will stay static while the car is stationary
. Furthermore, performance is laboured from take-off and acceleration at any speeds; it takes ages to pick up revs, however! Occasionally it’s perfectly fine, quick, sounds smooth and prompt and fuel consumption stabilises. After a restart it'll go back to being lazy and gulping down the fuel.
No sign of leaks or smells of petrol.
Any ideas what so ever on how to resolve this would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
OptiManc!
You'll be losing 4-6 miles range off the petrol forecourt because the computer is working out how much fuel you are using pulling away in third gear.
helix402 said:
There's no egr valve on your car. There is a crankcase breather valve under the inlet manifold. These can block up with age and miles. The pipes to the valve also go soft with age.
A blocked Crank Case Valve (CCV) will cause excessive oil consumption but shouldn't cause excessive fuel consumption so I'd rule that out.vsonix said:
When taking off hard in second gear, does the car feel heavy/sluggish until you hit around 3.5k revs whereupon all of a sudden it feels like a lead weight's been thrown out the window as the car suddenly finds its power and surges forward?
Pretty much yes, the revs are very lazy getting up to 3k-ish. There is onely 1 pre and 1 post cat sensor as far as i am aware. My 540i had 2 of each!
Mmm, this is what mine was doing until I had the camshaft position sensor changed. It's a common fault and apparently they don't always throw a fault code until they're properly dead. Cost me about £120 parts & labour from my local indie BMW specialist. Car is now pulling like a champ all the way through the revs and returning the sort of figures you would expect.
vsonix said:
Mmm, this is what mine was doing until I had the camshaft position sensor changed. It's a common fault and apparently they don't always throw a fault code until they're properly dead. Cost me about £120 parts & labour from my local indie BMW specialist. Car is now pulling like a champ all the way through the revs and returning the sort of figures you would expect.
Ooh! Exciting that is! Changing my cam sensor this weekend, sunday most likely - i wont be sleeping now!seismic22 said:
15 mins to change cam sensor - take oil filter cap off for better access and just stick a sandwich bag over the filter housing. Get that old viscous 32mm spanner at the ready to undo the vanos solenoid too. Good luck and update us.
Got all my hope on the cam sensor doing the trick...but curses! I've been thwarted by the great British weather! Also found that i only have a 30mm spanner so ventured out to the spares shop, they only stock 30mm max. Halfords and even B&Q also only have 30mm! Will attempt again tomorrow once I've found the tools and hopefully the rain and wind will clear.Doing short journeys i have suffered high mpg for over 20 yrs -and nothing had any affect to improve it.In fact on a couple of services the mpg got worse!!!!
Worst was 12mpg for Mondeo 2.0 auto (16mpg was normal -which i also got for Montego 1.6hl).
Best city mpg i got was 33mpg from Nissan Micra 1.0 --i had 4 over the years all did exactly 33mpg
My pug 405td " easy 50mpg ebay" did only 23mpg
My averages are 22.5mpg from 99bhp
Worst was 12mpg for Mondeo 2.0 auto (16mpg was normal -which i also got for Montego 1.6hl).
Best city mpg i got was 33mpg from Nissan Micra 1.0 --i had 4 over the years all did exactly 33mpg
My pug 405td " easy 50mpg ebay" did only 23mpg
My averages are 22.5mpg from 99bhp
E30M3SE said:
Thanks but my local store does have any. I have however just bought an adjustable one up to 33mm from bnq...watch this space!heebeegeetee said:
I'm surprised at some of the figures on this thread, 'cos according to the 328 owners who post on the anti-diesel threads they all do 40 mpg all the time.
It's not just a 328 thing - every apparently thirsty 6/8/12 cylinder petrol gets near diesel levels of mpg.And old cars which are matching their 25 yrs newer counterparts.Go figure
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