E91 530d poor MPG

[Geavesy]

Hi all, i have just purchsed a 530d Sport touring. I don't think the economy is where it should be. Heavy around town i'm doing around 23 mpg on a 2 hour long run i averaged 34 mpg mostly on motorway.

How does this compare with other owners? I love car the performance is excellent just thought it would be much better on diesel.

Thanks in advance.

[Silver993tt]

I have a 2009 330D Touring and it's averaging 45mpg with mixed driving. I would expect the 530D to get at least 40mpg on average.

[vinnie83]

my 535d gives ~22mpg around town, and ~32 on the motorway if that helps

[StuB]

You don't say if it's auto or manual. Our chipped 530d auto does 33mpg in the mixed driving the wife does with short journeys and 40+ on motorways without fail.

I'd suggest you have your friendly local independent do a fault check as your air mass meter might be faulty, or something similar, causing the brain to run on a failure mode map. How are your tyre pressures? Do you have the AC on all the time? Are the brakes free from binding?

[phelix]

Have a read of this thread: http://forums.5series.net/topic/70669-problem-solv...

A summary: the EGR and the main thermostats are prone to "leaking" hot coolant to the radiator circuit before the engine is fully up to temperature causing the engine to run cool. This will affect fuel economy and could affect the DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) in the long term. Here's how to read engine temp on an E60:

To find Temperature in hidden menu (530D);

1) Turn ignition key to position 1 (Radio)
2) Press and hold Trip button until "01._" appears.
3) The car's chassis number will soon appear below this. Add the last five digits together, and remember this total for later on. For example, if your chassis number is "B900056" then the figure is 11.
4) Press and hold Trip button to get "01._" again, and as soon as "01._" reappears keep pressing the Trip button repeatedly until menu "19 Lock On" appears. You have perhaps only a second between button presses; any longer and the system will revert back to the initial hidden menu or even the trip computer.
5) As soon as "00" appears below it, immediately press the Trip button until the "00" changes to the same figure as the total of the last five digits of the chassis number calculated in step 3 above.
6) Wait momentarily until menu "01._" reappears and then repeatedly press the Trip button to get menu "07._" and the coolant temperature will appear.

If the car is started from this menu, you will get a continuous temp. read-out until the ignition is switched off again. You can also do this on the move but it is rather distracting to follow the button press sequence.

You should see the temperature reach a minimum of 90 degrees in perhaps 10-15 minutes; any thing less and probably both thermostats need to be replaced. The parts are circa 60 and 2-3 hours of labour.

Edited by phelix on Monday 25th October 09:31

[Silver993tt]

phelix said:

Have a read of this thread: http://forums.5series.net/topic/70669-problem-solv...

A summary: the EGR and the main thermostats are prone to "leaking" hot coolant to the radiator circuit before the engine is fully up to temperature causing the engine to run cool. This will affect fuel economy and could affect the DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) in the long term. Here's how to read engine temp on an E60:

To find Temperature in hidden menu (530D);

1) Turn ignition key to position 1 (Radio)
2) Press and hold Trip button until "01._" appears.
3) The car's chassis number will soon appear below this. Add the last five digits together, and remember this total for later on. For example, if your chassis number is "B900056" then the figure is 11.
4) Press and hold Trip button to get "01._" again, and as soon as "01._" reappears keep pressing the Trip button repeatedly until menu "19 Lock On" appears. You have perhaps only a second between button presses; any longer and the system will revert back to the initial hidden menu or even the trip computer.
5) As soon as "00" appears below it, immediately press the Trip button until the "00" changes to the same figure as the total of the last five digits of the chassis number calculated in step 3 above.
6) Wait momentarily until menu "01._" reappears and then repeatedly press the Trip button to get menu "07._" and the coolant temperature will appear.

If the car is started from this menu, you will get a continuous temp. read-out until the ignition is switched off again. You can also do this on the move but it is rather distracting to follow the button press sequence.

You should see the temperature reach a minimum of 90 degrees in perhaps 10-15 minutes; any thing less and probably both thermostats need to be replaced. The parts are circa 60 and 2-3 hours of labour.

Edited by phelix on Monday 25th October 09:31

any idea why the engine temp isn't a normal menu option that can be chosen as part of the customised display? Why the mystery/complexity to get at what nearly every other car has displayed all of the time?

[phelix]

Silver993tt said:

any idea why the engine temp isn't a normal menu option that can be chosen as part of the customised display? Why the mystery/complexity to get at what nearly every other car has displayed all of the time?

Few cars give you a digital coolant temp gauge which is what the above does.

Even my E46 has a computer controlled gauge - it always read vertical regardless of whether the coolant temp is 80 or 100 degrees C. I guess BMW thinks that unless there's something wrong there's no need for any information - sort of like why some models no longer have a dip stick.

[Silver993tt]

phelix said:

Silver993tt said:

any idea why the engine temp isn't a normal menu option that can be chosen as part of the customised display? Why the mystery/complexity to get at what nearly every other car has displayed all of the time?

Few cars give you a digital coolant temp gauge which is what the above does.

Even my E46 has a computer controlled gauge - it always read vertical regardless of whether the coolant temp is 80 or 100 degrees C. I guess BMW thinks that unless there's something wrong there's no need for any information - sort of like why some models no longer have a dip stick.

What about knowing when the engine temp is high enough to put load on the engine? Sure, few cars have a digital read out but most have an analogue temp gauge. BMW has neither. Those without a dipstick have a digital readout on the dash but to omit something completely is rather strange, especially on what is a premium car. Again, the information is there, so I really don't understand why it's not easily available if you wantto see it - cost would be zero.

Edited by Silver993tt on Monday 25th October 09:58

[phelix]

My E61 has a temp gauge of sorts built into the outer edge of the tach.

But most people don't care what the coolant temperature is - they just get in and drive and couldn't care less about how much load they're putting on a cold engine. BMW's catering to the common denominator.

[robert78]

My 330ci (petrol) gives 25mpg around town and 35mpg on motorway....

I have had it Superchipped which improves the economey however!

[Silver993tt]

phelix said:

My E61 has a temp gauge of sorts built into the outer edge of the tach.

hmmm..that's interesting. What doe sit show exactly? I wonder if my E91 has the same? I've never really noticed. Anyone have any idea (since I'm away from my car for a while)?

[StuB]

On cold start, there are loads of graduations on the outer edge in the upper rev range. As the redline outer ring moves anticlockwise on startup you see more graduations. As it warms up, the ring rotates clockwise back to the normal rev range/redline position. Quite clever IMO.

[vinnie83]

StuB said:

On cold start, there are loads of graduations on the outer edge in the upper rev range. As the redline outer ring moves anticlockwise on startup you see more graduations. As it warms up, the ring rotates clockwise back to the normal rev range/redline position. Quite clever IMO.

Yep, as far as I know the M-cars have a LED version of this which you can actually notice! I don't know if it applies a limiter lower down when the engine is cold though as I've never ragged it to even close that high a RPM when it's cold.

[anonymous-user]

Geavesy said:

Hi all, i have just purchsed a 530d Sport touring. I don't think the economy is where it should be. Heavy around town i'm doing around 23 mpg on a 2 hour long run i averaged 34 mpg mostly on motorway.

How does this compare with other owners? I love car the performance is excellent just thought it would be much better on diesel.

Thanks in advance.

Sounds about right if you push on a bit - disappointing but these cars don't get near BMWs figures. I have never consistently seen above 36 on a long journey unless I stay in the slow lane and average 28 over the year. Aircon on constantly.

Edited by drmark on Monday 25th October 22:02

[B'stard Child]

I can't see the "Diesel Benefit" at all - When I use my 4.4 L "Petrol" 7 series I get over 30 on a run and it never drops below 22 round town....

[Fox-]

B'stard Child said:

I can't see the "Diesel Benefit" at all - When I use my 4.4 L "Petrol" 7 series I get over 30 on a run and it never drops below 22 round town....

Because everyones definition of 'around town' is different. I get 19mpg around town in my manual 530i, for example. This is because 'around town' for me is cold starts over speed ramps and short distances. On a run it's more than 35mpg.

[gizlaroc]

The gearbox in the early E60's killed consumption on the big diesels.
I had a 2005 535d and it got 26mpg average over 10 months and 25,000 miles, it was on 20k when I got it so well run in.

The later model with the new gearbox would get 30% better economy.

[vinnie83]

gizlaroc said:

The gearbox in the early E60's killed consumption on the big diesels.
I had a 2005 535d and it got 26mpg average over 10 months and 25,000 miles, it was on 20k when I got it so well run in.

The later model with the new gearbox would get 30% better economy.

Dammit!

[Tea Pot One]

I have driven auto BMW 530d's for the last 8 years in SW London .... and around town we get .... about 23mpg. The most I have had on a run is 34mpg ....

They are better now than the 'old' shape ones but they are not exactly super economical ... it may be diesel but it still shifts and is a 6 cylinder engine ... so it still costs in fuel.

I think they are pretty poor for economy but do go well I have probably driven maybe 20 so it is not just one car involved ....

[MattOz]

gizlaroc said:

The gearbox in the early E60's killed consumption on the big diesels.
I had a 2005 535d and it got 26mpg average over 10 months and 25,000 miles, it was on 20k when I got it so well run in.

The later model with the new gearbox would get 30% better economy.

+1

My 2005 535d struggled to return 30mpg and the auto 'box was crap in my opinion.