E90 325i/330i Great Fuel Consumption?
Discussion
Hello all,
Do the E90 330i LCI's really return around 39mpg on a run?
I am just looking at buying a new car. I am doing quite a lot of miles and will be for the next couple of years at least. 30,000 miles / year.
The E90 325/330i LCI's seem to really jump up in fuel economy when comparing the figures. Do they really get 8/9mpg better than the older 3.0L units? It's confusing because if BMW had the technology to get almost 40mpg out of the 3.0L and put it in the 3 series I would have thought that the z4's of that vintage and also the newer z4's would be much better than 30mpg claimed.
Does anybody see 40mpg regularly on the commute? I have a 1998 528i at the moment which is giving about 30mpg on my commute which is 90 miles per day, half motorway then dual carriageway and urban. I would love to be able to stick with petrol and get 35-40mpg on that same commute. I assume the petrol would be much better for a couple of track days per year. Though I am sure a 330d could do it if ask. I actually had an E92 330i in 2010 on lease hire for a couple years, it was a great all rounder. I mainly thrashed it about on shorter journeys though so never really tested it's longer distance fuel economy.
Regards
Jonathan
Do the E90 330i LCI's really return around 39mpg on a run?
I am just looking at buying a new car. I am doing quite a lot of miles and will be for the next couple of years at least. 30,000 miles / year.
The E90 325/330i LCI's seem to really jump up in fuel economy when comparing the figures. Do they really get 8/9mpg better than the older 3.0L units? It's confusing because if BMW had the technology to get almost 40mpg out of the 3.0L and put it in the 3 series I would have thought that the z4's of that vintage and also the newer z4's would be much better than 30mpg claimed.
Does anybody see 40mpg regularly on the commute? I have a 1998 528i at the moment which is giving about 30mpg on my commute which is 90 miles per day, half motorway then dual carriageway and urban. I would love to be able to stick with petrol and get 35-40mpg on that same commute. I assume the petrol would be much better for a couple of track days per year. Though I am sure a 330d could do it if ask. I actually had an E92 330i in 2010 on lease hire for a couple years, it was a great all rounder. I mainly thrashed it about on shorter journeys though so never really tested it's longer distance fuel economy.
Regards
Jonathan
Never seen 40 mpg out of my LCI 330I (although it's an auto and an estate which probably don't help).
How close you can get to 35 mpg would really depend on how much urban driving is involved and cruising speed, traffic etc on the faster roads.
I thought the economy would be better than it has turned out to be.
How close you can get to 35 mpg would really depend on how much urban driving is involved and cruising speed, traffic etc on the faster roads.
I thought the economy would be better than it has turned out to be.
Yes is seems the figures for all the BMW's models are reasonable and relate to the reality except the figures for the later E90 330i in question.
It sounds like it isn't 8/9mpg better more like 4/5mpg at best than the older units.
Otherwise there would be less of a move to the new 4 cylinder turbo unit in the 328i which is only quoted 42mpg. Hardly a massive improvement on 39mpg in an older 6 cylinder unit.
Jonathan
It sounds like it isn't 8/9mpg better more like 4/5mpg at best than the older units.
Otherwise there would be less of a move to the new 4 cylinder turbo unit in the 328i which is only quoted 42mpg. Hardly a massive improvement on 39mpg in an older 6 cylinder unit.
Jonathan
The quoted figures are not done in a realistic environment. While I can get 40 mpg when being careful. 19mpg is average and if I just used it in town (London) it would be less and less still if driven harder.
A 330i E92 is still 1.5 tonne of car with a 3.0l engine. I would say anything above 25mpg for that is very good as an average.
Before I had my 330ci I had a 320ci (2.2l straight 6) and everyone said it was similar in fuel to a 330ci. Well it isn't, those people haven't owned both, I can tell you that there is at least 6 mpg difference. The 330d is a good car and if MPG is important but you still want some performance then I don't see why it wouldn't be a good choice especially with 30,000 miles/year.
A 330i E92 is still 1.5 tonne of car with a 3.0l engine. I would say anything above 25mpg for that is very good as an average.
Before I had my 330ci I had a 320ci (2.2l straight 6) and everyone said it was similar in fuel to a 330ci. Well it isn't, those people haven't owned both, I can tell you that there is at least 6 mpg difference. The 330d is a good car and if MPG is important but you still want some performance then I don't see why it wouldn't be a good choice especially with 30,000 miles/year.
tomic said:
My E92 330i manual with the N53 engine will do 40mpg, but that needs to be pure motorway driving sitting at about 80mph. If you give it the beans that figure will rapidly drop.
Agreed. Best I've got out of a tank was ~38mpg doing purely motorway miles. My daily commute is about 15 miles of A roads sitting at a steady 40mph with a couple of miles either side where you get to give it a bit of a poke... average since July is reading 30mpg. E90 330i manual with N53 engine.
I have had various models of BMW with the 2.5 and 3.0 m54 engines and yes they both achieved 40 mpg on a good run but you have to be steady 70 tops. I did 860 miles in a weekend Scotland and back and overall achieved 39 mpg in the z4.
The 3.0 engine averages 20 mpg round town and the 2.5 averages 26 mpg round town.
These figures may change slightly depending where you live, it's all hills near me, you will get a couple of mpg more if it's flatter and a faster constant speed on your shorter journeys.
These figures seem pretty much the same as I've compared mates cars both 3 series and 5 series and they get pretty much the same results as I get.
Not bad at all for a big engine.
The 3.0 engine averages 20 mpg round town and the 2.5 averages 26 mpg round town.
These figures may change slightly depending where you live, it's all hills near me, you will get a couple of mpg more if it's flatter and a faster constant speed on your shorter journeys.
These figures seem pretty much the same as I've compared mates cars both 3 series and 5 series and they get pretty much the same results as I get.
Not bad at all for a big engine.
From what I hear/read, the LCI 325i/330i are better on fuel than the non LCI engines.
I have a 330i auto estate and over about 17,000 miles we are averaging just under 28mpg and I don’t see myself as a slow driver nor Nigel Mansell! These miles are about 65% duel carriage, A road, M Ways etc and about 35% town driving.
The LCI engines seem to be 5/6MPG better but this is only a guess.
I have a 330i auto estate and over about 17,000 miles we are averaging just under 28mpg and I don’t see myself as a slow driver nor Nigel Mansell! These miles are about 65% duel carriage, A road, M Ways etc and about 35% town driving.
The LCI engines seem to be 5/6MPG better but this is only a guess.
Our pre-LCI 330 auto averages around 25mpg with lots of short journeys around town. On a longer run (motorway and A/B roads) it'll do low 30's.
However as soon as you get in an urban environment, it plummets pretty quickly.
I'm no fan of diesel, but at 30k a year surely that would make more financial sense? I do around 25k a year a nasty ecobox does make sense (the other half does a lot less miles so drives the 330 most of the time).
However as soon as you get in an urban environment, it plummets pretty quickly.
I'm no fan of diesel, but at 30k a year surely that would make more financial sense? I do around 25k a year a nasty ecobox does make sense (the other half does a lot less miles so drives the 330 most of the time).
E91 LCI auto 330i is currently returning 28mpg doing my short 7 mile commute. On anything over 15 miles and not stop start, you should be getting 32-35...a good steady run on the motorway at 70 would be 37+...
however, I'm sure I speak for all 330i owners in that we did not buy our cars for economy, but the silky smooth engine and excellent performance - not to mention sound!!
however, I'm sure I speak for all 330i owners in that we did not buy our cars for economy, but the silky smooth engine and excellent performance - not to mention sound!!
HoHoHo said:
Best I ever got out of my 335i was on an 800 mile run to the South of France.
25mpg at a constant 80mph or so.
Crap, my F10 M5 does more than that on a run (well, nearly
)
I appreciate it's not the engine you are talking about, but a close cousin.
Were you stuck in 4th gear or something? I get over 30mpg on a run from my 335i @ 80mph indicated, quite easily (manual). 25mpg at a constant 80mph or so.
Crap, my F10 M5 does more than that on a run (well, nearly
)I appreciate it's not the engine you are talking about, but a close cousin.
tomic said:
My E92 330i manual with the N53 engine will do 40mpg, but that needs to be pure motorway driving sitting at about 80mph. If you give it the beans that figure will rapidly drop.
That's actually very good: my beloved E36 328i Touring manual averaged 27mpg over 105k miles, with a best of 32mpg at 70mph (I never saw better than 33mpg at anything better than a deeply tedious crawl). Worst I averaged on a journey was 24.5mpg over a round trip to the Alps, 5-up with roof box and cruising at 100-120mph. I thought that was damn good at the time. In fact, I still do, but if you can get 40mpg at 80mph on the motorway that's really impressive. Having now had pretty extensive experience of both petrol and diesel BMWs over 18 years, my conclusion is that the petrols get closer in % terms to the published figures but vary greatly depending on how hard you use them - it's quite easy to hit the published combined figure but a full-on hoon will probably only get you to 50% of that figure. The diesels on the other hand never give better than about 80% of the combined figure but don't vary as much under hard use - my 123D would get 43mpg on average (vs 45mpg published) but wouldn't go below 37mpg under any circumstances. Bought a 2008 E93 325i auto, for the wife, just before Lockdown.
Now done just over 1600 miles, at 31.7 mpg.
I reckon that’s good for mixed driving. She reckons it sucks the petrol.
There again, she’s the one who picks up regular speeding fines.
I’m just more careful around cameras😀
Now done just over 1600 miles, at 31.7 mpg.
I reckon that’s good for mixed driving. She reckons it sucks the petrol.
There again, she’s the one who picks up regular speeding fines.
I’m just more careful around cameras😀
That sounds about right.
I bought my 55 plate E90 330i manual last year and over 6,000 miles the overall average is 32.3mpg, but it does still have 3/4 of a tank and hasn't been used normally since March for obvious reasons!
The manual 06 plate E91 325i I had for a year before that averaged 33.8mpg over 7,000 miles.
I bought my 55 plate E90 330i manual last year and over 6,000 miles the overall average is 32.3mpg, but it does still have 3/4 of a tank and hasn't been used normally since March for obvious reasons!
The manual 06 plate E91 325i I had for a year before that averaged 33.8mpg over 7,000 miles.
Kondeeler said:
Bought a 2008 E93 325i auto, for the wife, just before Lockdown.
Now done just over 1600 miles, at 31.7 mpg.
Over 100K miles, I get something similar. Global average 31.3 mpg. 2008 E91 325i auto.Now done just over 1600 miles, at 31.7 mpg.
I can get to 37 mpg if I drive like a pensioner or am in a motorway speed camera zone
and cruise control is in use.
Best mpg I ever got was over 40 mpg, but that was a lot of downhill from Soelden, Austria
to Kempten, Germany.
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