I own a CPO'd '08 328xiT (E91) and have been wondering about the poor gas mileage I've been getting since buying the car in May of 2010. I bought the car with 13.5K on the clock. I commute about 55 miles a day over a route that is divided somewhat equally between highway and local streets. On the weekends, I try to use my other car as much as possible to keep the usage down but I still have to take my car out on occasion. I've taken one long trip with it and I'm not in the habit of driving like an animal. Since buying the car, I've never seen 21 mpg on the computer. Usually, the gas mileage hovers between 19 and 20.5. If I calculate it tank by tank the mileage is about 0.5 mpg better than the computer's result. I've tried all available grades of gas at different gasoline vendors. So, does it take that much more power to turn the AWD plumbing? The car weighs 100kg more than a RWD wagon so that's similar to driving around with another adult male in the car and I realize that could account for some of the loss of mpg. I keep seeing dashboard shots and reading articles in Roundel of BWM's with a lot more hp than I have averaging over 25 mpg. I also have a friend with an E36 M3 (his only car) and he claims a 26 mpg average. Is there some possible issue with my car or is this kind of normal and I should stop worrying?
It's almost certainly driving style and route. Take it out on the highway, reset it and drive 100 miles at 60-70 mph; you should get ~28ish.
Sounds a bit excessive... The X-drive option should not cost you more than a couple mpg vs no x-drive. Your course sounds like it is more around town than highway which will certainly effect your numbers. My commute is 32 miles each way, about 4 off highway and the rest is high speed highway (75-85 mph typical speed) Driving a 7 series in that fashion I averaged just slightly under 20mpg for over 50K of driving. The 328 should do considerably better than that. My wife's 330 convertible typically gets better than 25mpg with a lot of around town driving. My latest addition (335d) is getting me over 30mpg on the same commute I used the 750 for... but I've only had it a few days so that is not a good number yet. Have it checked for dragging brakes or possibly a faulty x-drive control module. Show your mileage log to the tech and explain the situation. They should be able to take it out for a ride and tell you whether or not something seems odd. They can also do some manual checks while its on a lift... Chuck
I do about 1200 miles/month with a 70/30 highway/local mix and averaged 26mpg on my 2007 328xi and average about 22mpg on my 2009 335i (RWD). My highway speeds are never under 80. Your mileage seems a bit low to me.
Thanks for all the replies. I tried resetting the gas mileage as soon as I started the highway part of my commute and guess what? My gas mileage average went to 26.5mpg! Then, I left work during my lunch hour and ran a few errands locally and guess what? My gas mileage average went to 18.5mpg!!! Since do not recall performing any burnouts or power slides during my lunch hour, I guess route really does count for a lot, much more than I originally thought. Or, there's still something wrong with my car...
I have a 2006 325i 6 spd manual and i have had it for 3 years i get 30 mpg i do mostly highway and when combined around town and some aggressive driving the worst i ever got was 28.6 My fiance has a 2007 328i and she is averaging 28.6 with highway and it drops to about 27 around town on weekends. our average speed on highways is around 75 to 80 mph
I have a '07 328xiT with Steptronic. I don't get as good of gas mileage in the winter. I live in Ohio and you highway mileage of 26.5 sounds right for the winter I might get 28-29 in the summer. I think your short trip is do to the fact that the car isn't warmed up. Did you drive under 5 miles in stop and go? If so that doesn't sound that bad to me. Cheers
stop & go driving, gas quality = warehouse brand, ETHANOL, air filter clogged If you have a Non-ethanol station near you, try a tank full. http://pure-gas.org/
I am confused by this list. I thought congress passed a law that all fuel now has to have ethanol in it? My local station that had ethanol free fuel has switch over because of this. Can anyone enlighten me here regarding ethanol and what is federally mandated? Maybe it is just Penna, but the list you supply a link to has Penna stations on it?
Did I miss the original poster telling us what transmission he has? Big swings in city vs. highway could be from driving style, or driving style specifically with a manual transmission where the expectation of fuel economy is lower anyway.
Thanks for the link. Clear as Mud!! Don't you just love politics!! Oops! Not trying to go down that road.
Well, you can get infinite mpg, temporarily, at least if it's like the M20; the ecu cuts the gas when you lift off the throttle - that's why that mpg swing-gauge goes to 40+ when you lift. That's one way the older Bosch fuel injection systems gained some 'efficiency' and mpg. I don't know if it's the same for more recent bimmers, but I'd think so. So, if you can _coast_ everywhere you go, you don't need any gas at all!
No, I truly got 30mpg one time on a trip in my E30 M3. This was over about 180 mile trip. I am not talking about coasting or off throttle! My average speed was about 55mph b/c my wife was following me in my parents VW Vanagon. Remember this "Just" a 2.3 liter 4 banger! Keep the speed down and it does well on fuel. If I am cruising around 70mph I will get around 26 or 27 mpg. I am telling there are many reasons to love the E30 M3!!!!!! Even hard on the throttle around town I rarely dip into the teens. Now my E30 325ix is another story. But I can get low 30s in my 84 318i! Again speed is a big determiner! These cars are boxy!!!
