Discussion
Some slightly at a tangent thoughts on 6 cylinder 3 series mpg. I had a 1999 328i. On a 100 mile trip with cruise at maybe 85 it gave an indicated mpg of 37.5, calculated was 32.5.
Best ever actual mpg was 43, Surrey to the Lake District. If you want decent mpg, diesel’s the way. (Unless you are rich enough to afford an electric car!)
Best ever actual mpg was 43, Surrey to the Lake District. If you want decent mpg, diesel’s the way. (Unless you are rich enough to afford an electric car!)
helix402 said:
Some slightly at a tangent thoughts on 6 cylinder 3 series mpg. I had a 1999 328i. On a 100 mile trip with cruise at maybe 85 it gave an indicated mpg of 37.5, calculated was 32.5.
Best ever actual mpg was 43, Surrey to the Lake District. If you want decent mpg, diesel’s the way. (Unless you are rich enough to afford an electric car!)
My E36 2.5 I6 used to get 32 mpg, 34mpg with 98/99 RON.Best ever actual mpg was 43, Surrey to the Lake District. If you want decent mpg, diesel’s the way. (Unless you are rich enough to afford an electric car!)
Lowest I ever got was a 27 mpg on a 4 mile run to work and back in the depth of winter.
Current 335d gets 45mpg overall after 27k miles.
cerb4.5lee said:
I always thought that my 2006 E90 330i auto was thirsty for the performance that it actually offered. A manual gearbox and the later N53 engined models are much better on fuel and performance I believe though.
The N53 is better for mpg. I believe the N53 was only available with an Auto box … (someone will correct me on this if it is not true). TheN53 has more things to go wrong though.mike9009 said:
The N53 is better for mpg. I believe the N53 was only available with an Auto box … (someone will correct me on this if it is not true). TheN53 has more things to go wrong though.
I'm not 100% myself but I do think that you can get the N53 with a manual and I think they're just rare like the N52 manuals. Agree that the N53 is a more troublesome engine for sure. My manual 330i has the N53, so you could definitely get manual N53 saloons at least. I'm sure I saw at least one later manual coupe when I was looking, too, presumably also N53.
(There aren't a lot of them around, though - if howmanyleft is accurate, it looks like pretty much nobody was buying manual 330i's of any description at the time.)
(There aren't a lot of them around, though - if howmanyleft is accurate, it looks like pretty much nobody was buying manual 330i's of any description at the time.)
I've been meaning to start a thread on mpg expectations as well, so this is good timing. My obc is currently showing 14.2mpg...I feel something isn't right! It's a 530i N53. My old 330ci in the same driving conditions was showing an average of around 23mpg. Wondering what can be done to improve things as I'm sure these engines can do better.
Probably should have got a 550i!
Probably should have got a 550i!
RanchoGrande said:
I've been meaning to start a thread on mpg expectations as well, so this is good timing. My obc is currently showing 14.2mpg...I feel something isn't right! It's a 530i N53. My old 330ci in the same driving conditions was showing an average of around 23mpg. Wondering what can be done to improve things as I'm sure these engines can do better.
Probably should have got a 550i!
Or a diesel?Probably should have got a 550i!
What error codes do you get? What usages. Etc. Does seem low.
Fwiw my f10 530i returns low 20's (21/22) easily around town, typical journeys are a few miles only. Shorter journeys are lower mpg.
Older diesels are no longer welcome in London, that and I prefer petrol.
Its mixed city driving, lots of start stop stuff. I never expected it to be amazing but thought it'd be similar to the 330, especially given the n53 is supposed to be a bit more modern and economical. No error codes are popping up at the moment.
Maybe it's the thermostat? Going to see what the engine running temp is tomorrow.
Its mixed city driving, lots of start stop stuff. I never expected it to be amazing but thought it'd be similar to the 330, especially given the n53 is supposed to be a bit more modern and economical. No error codes are popping up at the moment.
Maybe it's the thermostat? Going to see what the engine running temp is tomorrow.
RanchoGrande said:
Its mixed city driving, lots of start stop stuff. I never expected it to be amazing but thought it'd be similar to the 330, especially given the n53 is supposed to be a bit more modern and economical.
Call me a cynic, but I think the N53 may just produce better results for C02 emissions in a test facility! 
Albeit with added issues!N53 is better on a run, round town not really any better than the N52.
I managed 500 miles from a tank on an E91 which worked out 38mpg over the whole tank, I thought that amazing. I then got the same car the week after for another day and just nipping around it was 26mpg, and that wasn't really lots of traffic, just lots of short trips here and there.
I would get the codes read, to check things like o2 sensors, they tend to fail regularly and control the fuel mixture just as much as the thermostats.
If you're going to run these modern cars it is well worth having some sort of scan tool to keep an eye on things, it can pay for it self in a few weeks on fuel savings alone if you catch issues.
I managed 500 miles from a tank on an E91 which worked out 38mpg over the whole tank, I thought that amazing. I then got the same car the week after for another day and just nipping around it was 26mpg, and that wasn't really lots of traffic, just lots of short trips here and there.
I would get the codes read, to check things like o2 sensors, they tend to fail regularly and control the fuel mixture just as much as the thermostats.
If you're going to run these modern cars it is well worth having some sort of scan tool to keep an eye on things, it can pay for it self in a few weeks on fuel savings alone if you catch issues.
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