E91 Straight Six Bearding

[JakeT]

bodhi said:

Good to hear the car made the trip without issue -one thing that never ceases to amaze me is how frugal these engines are on a cruise -ive had 40+ showing before now over 100+ miles.

Is yours auto or manual?

I reckon it may have touched 40 if I drove more sensibly in Germany, and had less traffic through Belgium. Mine's a manual, which I'm sure helps economy in traffic and lower speeds, but once at speed the gap closes up, with the Auto most likely doing better economy due to the taller gearing.

I drove a friends 630i with an N53 from Essex to Reading, and as I exited the M4 for home the computer said 49.5MPG, which I was genuinely astounded at.

[Swervin_Mervin]

34 is my best ever, and I was driving like a saint on a long motorway run I was pretty chuffed with that as it's usually more like 24-27 average.

[JakeT]

I've only really been happy with the economy since I've fitted a new rear caliper, and sorted the thermostat. Before that I would imagine 30 would have been a rough figure.

I'm a bit strange in that I can extract quite good economy numbers out of most things. Friends and family say I drive a bit like an old man. Only when they're in the car though.

[Swervin_Mervin]

It may say much about my driving that mine is still wearing the same front discs and pads that it was when I bought it 7yrs and 70k ago

[bodhi]

JakeT said:

bodhi said:

Good to hear the car made the trip without issue -one thing that never ceases to amaze me is how frugal these engines are on a cruise -ive had 40+ showing before now over 100+ miles.

Is yours auto or manual?

I reckon it may have touched 40 if I drove more sensibly in Germany, and had less traffic through Belgium. Mine's a manual, which I'm sure helps economy in traffic and lower speeds, but once at speed the gap closes up, with the Auto most likely doing better economy due to the taller gearing.

I drove a friends 630i with an N53 from Essex to Reading, and as I exited the M4 for home the computer said 49.5MPG, which I was genuinely astounded at.

I did a similar trip (Stafford to Bruges, then on to Amsterdam) not long after I picked the car up and saw 33.7 mpg over the whole journey, including 30 minutes queuing for Dartford Crossing and driving round Bruges - interestingly it does appear that you can get better consumption on a run out of a 3 Series than you can an E82 - I'm guessing that big bluff front of the 1 Series isn't great for aerodynamics.

Must admit that consumption figure you saw in the 630i just makes me angry - I still have no idea why they replaced the N53 with a 2 litre turbo, when the N53 was capable of numbers like that. Develop it a bit more to get rid of the reliability issues, put it in a 4 Series GC and I'll have one in Tanzanite Blue

[ferrisbueller]

bodhi said:

JakeT said:

bodhi said:

Good to hear the car made the trip without issue -one thing that never ceases to amaze me is how frugal these engines are on a cruise -ive had 40+ showing before now over 100+ miles.

Is yours auto or manual?

I reckon it may have touched 40 if I drove more sensibly in Germany, and had less traffic through Belgium. Mine's a manual, which I'm sure helps economy in traffic and lower speeds, but once at speed the gap closes up, with the Auto most likely doing better economy due to the taller gearing.

I drove a friends 630i with an N53 from Essex to Reading, and as I exited the M4 for home the computer said 49.5MPG, which I was genuinely astounded at.

I did a similar trip (Stafford to Bruges, then on to Amsterdam) not long after I picked the car up and saw 33.7 mpg over the whole journey, including 30 minutes queuing for Dartford Crossing and driving round Bruges - interestingly it does appear that you can get better consumption on a run out of a 3 Series than you can an E82 - I'm guessing that big bluff front of the 1 Series isn't great for aerodynamics.

Must admit that consumption figure you saw in the 630i just makes me angry - I still have no idea why they replaced the N53 with a 2 litre turbo, when the N53 was capable of numbers like that. Develop it a bit more to get rid of the reliability issues, put it in a 4 Series GC and I'll have one in Tanzanite Blue

Does the 1-Series have the same gearing?

[JakeT]

bodhi said:

I did a similar trip (Stafford to Bruges, then on to Amsterdam) not long after I picked the car up and saw 33.7 mpg over the whole journey, including 30 minutes queuing for Dartford Crossing and driving round Bruges - interestingly it does appear that you can get better consumption on a run out of a 3 Series than you can an E82 - I'm guessing that big bluff front of the 1 Series isn't great for aerodynamics.

Must admit that consumption figure you saw in the 630i just makes me angry - I still have no idea why they replaced the N53 with a 2 litre turbo, when the N53 was capable of numbers like that. Develop it a bit more to get rid of the reliability issues, put it in a 4 Series GC and I'll have one in Tanzanite Blue

33.7 is still a good result for that. Driving around Bruges is always a very slow affair. Saying that I am off there in a few weeks. Lovely place. Driving in urban Holland also makes me sad. Groningen was a particularly harrowing experience.

The N53 is excellent for economy figures. I suppose the injector and gearbox issues he's faced with it make it a little less worth it, but I wouldn't turn one down. I'd like an F31 328/330i with the N53. That would make for a nice next car after an E91.

[Mr Tidy]

I only had my E91 325i (N52 engine) for a year and 7,000 miles, but my average mpg was 33.8 according to my Excel spreadsheet (I know it's sad)! rolleyes:

To put that into perspective I no longer commute, so no rush hour queueing and at least 75% of my mileage is on M/ways or dual-carriageway A Roads.

It's replacement E90 330i isn't doing quite as well so far, but to be fair that's probably my fault for using the extra horses - just because they are there, which is why I bought it!

[g3org3y]

I think wife's E91 needs the engine or gearbox mounts doing.

Seems to be more vibration through the steering wheel at idle than I would expect. I think it started after the oil pan gasket was done. I know the subframe needs to be dropped for that. Would that disturb/affect the engine mounts at all?

[zippyonline]

Re: mpg.

I'm on a life average of just shy of 30mpg, I'll get over 30mpg on a run, and tend to avoid urban driving generally (although it still does some and tip runs etc.). To be fair, it's generally sitting at a fairly healthy "making progress" speed, so no real economy driving. Given the speed involved and healthy use of the right pedal, I'm quite happy with the economy to be honest.

g3org3y said:

. I know the subframe needs to be dropped for that. Would that disturb/affect the engine mounts at all?

Yes, you'd have to undo the engine mounts to lower the subframe from the engine to leave enough room to get the oil pan out. I have a new oil sump gasket and bolts waiting to be fitted, I also have some new engine mounts to pop in at the same time given the extra labour is minimal. I just haven't go round to it yet...! The oil loss is pretty minimal though, and the other day I found out the amount of leaking you can have and till pass an MOT is waaay more than I'd be comfortable with!

[Spitfires]

Going back a (good) few pages to the issues with Brembo discs and pads, I'd like to add that I have had the same with two sets. Both bought around the same time as the issues you (ATM?) were having.

The first set eventually cleaned up somehow and were fine for the remaining 35k miles or so; maybe this was just irregular pad transfer? I'd bought a second set to replace them shortly after (thinking there was an underlying issue with my car) in one of GSF's sales but then never fitted them. They went on this summer and warped pretty much straight away, having read this thread by then I changed to gen BMW.

No issues since and I won't be buying Brembo again.

[ferrisbueller]

Spitfires said:

Going back a (good) few pages to the issues with Brembo discs and pads, I'd like to add that I have had the same with two sets. Both bought around the same time as the issues you (ATM?) were having.

The first set eventually cleaned up somehow and were fine for the remaining 35k miles or so; maybe this was just irregular pad transfer? I'd bought a second set to replace them shortly after (thinking there was an underlying issue with my car) in one of GSF's sales but then never fitted them. They went on this summer and warped pretty much straight away, having read this thread by then I changed to gen BMW.

No issues since and I won't be buying Brembo again.

I had to swap out two sets of Brembos. A friend has had similar. BMW parts from the dealer = no issues. Odd but true.

[JakeT]

A few years ago a mate fitted a set to the front of his 320td. Ruined in short order. I tend to avoid parts from GSF too, they just don't seem to be that good when I've bought from them.

[g3org3y]

zippyonline said:

g3org3y said:

. I know the subframe needs to be dropped for that. Would that disturb/affect the engine mounts at all?

Yes, you'd have to undo the engine mounts to lower the subframe from the engine to leave enough room to get the oil pan out. I have a new oil sump gasket and bolts waiting to be fitted, I also have some new engine mounts to pop in at the same time given the extra labour is minimal. I just haven't go round to it yet...! The oil loss is pretty minimal though, and the other day I found out the amount of leaking you can have and till pass an MOT is waaay more than I'd be comfortable with!

Thank you for that info.

[bodhi]

ferrisbueller said:

bodhi said:

JakeT said:

bodhi said:

Good to hear the car made the trip without issue -one thing that never ceases to amaze me is how frugal these engines are on a cruise -ive had 40+ showing before now over 100+ miles.

Is yours auto or manual?

I reckon it may have touched 40 if I drove more sensibly in Germany, and had less traffic through Belgium. Mine's a manual, which I'm sure helps economy in traffic and lower speeds, but once at speed the gap closes up, with the Auto most likely doing better economy due to the taller gearing.

I drove a friends 630i with an N53 from Essex to Reading, and as I exited the M4 for home the computer said 49.5MPG, which I was genuinely astounded at.

I did a similar trip (Stafford to Bruges, then on to Amsterdam) not long after I picked the car up and saw 33.7 mpg over the whole journey, including 30 minutes queuing for Dartford Crossing and driving round Bruges - interestingly it does appear that you can get better consumption on a run out of a 3 Series than you can an E82 - I'm guessing that big bluff front of the 1 Series isn't great for aerodynamics.

Must admit that consumption figure you saw in the 630i just makes me angry - I still have no idea why they replaced the N53 with a 2 litre turbo, when the N53 was capable of numbers like that. Develop it a bit more to get rid of the reliability issues, put it in a 4 Series GC and I'll have one in Tanzanite Blue

Does the 1-Series have the same gearing?

From a bit of digging, it looks like the 125i and 330i have the same Final Drive Ratio (0.85), but the 1 series has slightly closer ratios 1 - 3

Interestingly the 1 Series is back in the garage again (nearside front brake pad has fallen apart, looks as if it's got very hot at some point) , and my mate has given me an E90 320i to run around in - and on the way into the office this morning, I got almost exactly the same MPG I get out of the N52 on the same trip - around 40.

[stevemcs]

Question about the 325i with the 3.0 engine rather than the 2.5, are they any good ? I realise they can be fitted with the 3.0 inlet manifold to increase power. Or should i just consider a 30/35d.

[Mr Tidy]

stevemcs said:

Question about the 325i with the 3.0 engine rather than the 2.5, are they any good ? I realise they can be fitted with the 3.0 inlet manifold to increase power. Or should i just consider a 30/35d.

Well the 2.5 litre 325i had the N52 engine whereas the 3.0 litre 325i has the N53, which seems to suffer from more potential issues.

I don't know how much needs changing to get an N53 325i up to 330i power levels, but I suspect it might be cheaper to just buy a 330i in the first place!

[stevemcs]

Thanks, but E91 330i’s with xenons and heated seats are a little thin on the ground, 325s are more plentiful but 335ds are even easier to find. Although not at 4K

[rallycross]

stevemcs said:

Question about the 325i with the 3.0 engine rather than the 2.5, are they any good ? I realise they can be fitted with the 3.0 inlet manifold to increase power. Or should i just consider a 30/35d.

The 325i 2.5 is one to avoid - slow but thirsty.
The 3:0 325.i is a lot better and if you get a post 2009 model they can be remapped back to 330/130i level of power for less than £300:

[phil_cardiff]

rallycross said:

stevemcs said:

Question about the 325i with the 3.0 engine rather than the 2.5, are they any good ? I realise they can be fitted with the 3.0 inlet manifold to increase power. Or should i just consider a 30/35d.

The 325i 2.5 is one to avoid - slow but thirsty.
The 3:0 325.i is a lot better and if you get a post 2009 model they can be remapped back to 330/130i level of power for less than £300:

The 325i is not one to avoid as it is more reliable and quick enough if you use the gearbox.

Your money, your choice. Obviously.