BMW 535d fuel consumption
BMW 535d fuel consumption
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fordgt40

Original Poster:

10 posts

225 months

Wednesday 12th December 2007
quotequote all
I have just taken delivery of a brand new 535d M Sport Touring and in the first 250 miles of very gentle all types of motoring it has averaged 26.4 mpg, I know it will loosen up with mileage but I suspect it is never going to achieve the fuel figure of 40.9 mpg that's advertised. Performance is good, but again not brilliant ( mind you my other car is a GT40 so perhaps the comparison is not fair ) has anyone else had fuel consumption concerns on this car?

mogul

15,398 posts

279 months

Wednesday 12th December 2007
quotequote all
John

I've had my 535d since June 07, it's a 535d Sport LCI and I average mid 30's in normal driving, sub 30 if spirited.....

It's been re-mapped so I tend to get 30mpg at best and low 20's in town and I'm happy bearing in mind the type of car and the weight of my right foot.

Ignore the mpg and enjoy the car beer


RedOctober

122 posts

245 months

Wednesday 12th December 2007
quotequote all
These are not economy cars by any stretch of the imagination, so for such a big & powerful car, 26mpg isn't too bad, especially if you compared it with the equivalent petrol version.

Most road/long-term tests seem to put the mpg in the mid 30's with gentle driving, and low 20's if you enjoy yourself with the throttle.

These are very powerful, torquey engines, running a high level of turbo boost. Because the boost level is so high, the compression ratio is quite low for a Diesel, compared to the older, less powerful Diesels of the previous generation.

As the compression ratio drops, the engine efficiency also drops. Dropping the compression ratio also reduced the severity of the 'Diesel clatter', as well as allowing a very high level of turbo boost to be used.

The net effect of this is to make a very powerful & refined Diesel engine, but one that is not quite as efficient during combustion as the previous generation of 'clattery oil burners', although it's still more economical than the equivalent petrol model.

Alex

mogul

15,398 posts

279 months

Wednesday 12th December 2007
quotequote all
RedOctober said:
These are not economy cars by any stretch of the imagination, so for such a big & powerful car, 26mpg isn't too bad, especially if you compared it with the equivalent petrol version.

Most road/long-term tests seem to put the mpg in the mid 30's with gentle driving, and low 20's if you enjoy yourself with the throttle.

These are very powerful, torquey engines, running a high level of turbo boost. Because the boost level is so high, the compression ratio is quite low for a Diesel, compared to the older, less powerful Diesels of the previous generation.

As the compression ratio drops, the engine efficiency also drops. Dropping the compression ratio also reduced the severity of the 'Diesel clatter', as well as allowing a very high level of turbo boost to be used.

The net effect of this is to make a very powerful & refined Diesel engine, but one that is not quite as efficient during combustion as the previous generation of 'clattery oil burners', although it's still more economical than the equivalent petrol model.

Alex
You took the words right out of my mouth....whistle

fordgt40

Original Poster:

10 posts

225 months

Wednesday 12th December 2007
quotequote all
The 535d has replaced a 330d touring which had been upgraded to 224 HP and that car car averaged in the 40's to the gallon in the same sort of motoring. I'm probably being a bit picky but I expected something aproaching that. The figures BMW give are a bit misleading, (Urban 30.7, Extra Urban 50.4, Combined 40.9) because they are I believe taken on a rolling road. I can only hope in gets better when it's fully loosend up. Apart from the fuel consumption it's a fabulous car (i-drive excepted)

timwatsham

239 posts

279 months

Wednesday 12th December 2007
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Was the 330d a manual or auto? Colleagues have reported a massive difference (5mpg+) from manual to auto on 525d's

fordgt40

Original Poster:

10 posts

225 months

Wednesday 12th December 2007
quotequote all
330d was a manual and I do remember there was a big diference in mpg between the auto and manual. I went to Goodwood Revival in it, a jurney of 300 miles plus at an average speed of almost 70 mph and it returned 50.9 mpg.(mainly motorway) I do remember when it was new it didn't do anything like that economy. I can only hope that the 535d improves in the same way

Jonny TVR

4,551 posts

310 months

Thursday 13th December 2007
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I have had my new 535d m sport saloon for 2 weeks. I had a long run a few days ago covering 600 miles and it averaged 35 mpg on mostly motorway. Its not quite run in yet so 3000 rpm was not exceeded. I think you are right the engines will get more economical as they loosen up. Overall I'm over the moon with it.

Jonny TVR

4,551 posts

310 months

Thursday 13th December 2007
quotequote all
John .. just looked at your website and I love your paintings, I like abstract painting, they really make the subject come to life and what a fantastic subject. Do you offer PH discounts!!

phelix

4,680 posts

278 months

Thursday 13th December 2007
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My 3 year old 535d gets 30-35 mpg in real world use, mostly motorway driving.

Also compare the OBC reading to the calculated fuel use to see if the OBC is correct.

Beemer-5

7,897 posts

243 months

Thursday 13th December 2007
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I had a DMS-mapped 535d M Sport saloon and it would approach 40 mpg on a gentle motorway run and average 26-28 mpg generally.

My Jaguar XKR 4.2 Coupe just produced 13.1 mpg from the last tankful, so the 535d is brilliant!
:-(

MattOz

4,020 posts

293 months

Thursday 13th December 2007
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My 2005 535d averaged 32.8mpg over the 10k miles that I owned it. Not too bad, but nowhere near BMW's claimed mpg. Having said that, it ate French autoroutes and was a fantastic car. smile

Aeroresh

1,429 posts

261 months

Thursday 13th December 2007
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I get 31mpg ave from my DMS 535d.

Mainly off peak A and B road driving (before 6am and after 7pm). Car usually driven at around 9/10ths. Same run in my T5 gives 21.5 mpg and its no where near as quick.

fordgt40

Original Poster:

10 posts

225 months

Thursday 13th December 2007
quotequote all
Is the DMS upgrade worth having, what are the diferences, and I suspect the waranty would be invalid. My car has only covered 300 miles and I will probably wait until it has loosened up a bit. I am still disappointed at the fuel consumption though, my son has a Merc E63 AMG and his car on a decent motorway run will return 24 mpg.

JonnyTVR, unfortunately my paintings are sold through my agent, www.historiccarart.net , and they have total control of prices, sorry, but if you're interested contact them and mention you've been in touch with me, I'm sure we could arrange something

pgilc1

40,169 posts

226 months

Thursday 13th December 2007
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fordgt40 said:
Is the DMS upgrade worth having, what are the diferences, and I suspect the waranty would be invalid. My car has only covered 300 miles and I will probably wait until it has loosened up a bit. I am still disappointed at the fuel consumption though, my son has a Merc E63 AMG and his car on a decent motorway run will return 24 mpg.

JonnyTVR, unfortunately my paintings are sold through my agent, www.historiccarart.net , and they have total control of prices, sorry, but if you're interested contact them and mention you've been in touch with me, I'm sure we could arrange something
Standard 535d = Wayhey.
Remapped 535d = WAYHEYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!

Big difference, very very fast.

For the record, my remapped LCI 535d could crack 40mpg easy on long motorway runs.


gizlaroc

17,251 posts

253 months

Thursday 13th December 2007
quotequote all
My 535d went at 18 months old and just over 40k miles on it, average over that time was 26mpg, yeah if I reset it and went on a journey I could get the OBC up to 35 mpg, but the true average over 40k miles was 26mpg.
Worst tankful was 19mpg, after 100 odd miles it was showing 16mpg but by the time the tank was filled again it was at 19, that was a fun afternoon. wink

A manual BMW diesel will easily get 25% more than the same car in auto guise when we are talking diesel, with petrol there is no where near as much in it.

phelix

4,680 posts

278 months

Friday 14th December 2007
quotequote all
gizlaroc said:
A manual BMW diesel will easily get 25% more than the same car in auto guise when we are talking diesel, with petrol there is no where near as much in it.
Do you reckon that's just in city driving or motorway driving as well? I would have thought the motorway figures were much the same.

Jonny TVR

4,551 posts

310 months

Friday 14th December 2007
quotequote all
fordgt40 said:
Is the DMS upgrade worth having, what are the diferences, and I suspect the waranty would be invalid. My car has only covered 300 miles and I will probably wait until it has loosened up a bit. I am still disappointed at the fuel consumption though, my son has a Merc E63 AMG and his car on a decent motorway run will return 24 mpg.

JonnyTVR, unfortunately my paintings are sold through my agent, www.historiccarart.net , and they have total control of prices, sorry, but if you're interested contact them and mention you've been in touch with me, I'm sure we could arrange something
I may just do that.

Jon

pgilc1

40,169 posts

226 months

Friday 14th December 2007
quotequote all
phelix said:
gizlaroc said:
A manual BMW diesel will easily get 25% more than the same car in auto guise when we are talking diesel, with petrol there is no where near as much in it.
Do you reckon that's just in city driving or motorway driving as well? I would have thought the motorway figures were much the same.
I'd have thought they were much the same on motorway driving, plus the new gearboxes in the LCI models are a lot more efficient

happyhobie

7 posts

225 months

Monday 17th December 2007
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Recently bought two year old 535d with 31K miles so engine must be loose by now! Car is great but fuel consumption dissapointing. She returns 35mpg at a steady 80 mph on the motorway. By comparison, my last car, a Merc E320cdi, returned just over 40. The quoted consumption by BMW is better than that quoted by Merc and I feel they are conning the public to some degree.