MPG from my 320

[Craig_C]

Been doing the calculations and I'm getting just under 33 mpg from my 320. That was from a fair bit of motorway driving and lots of twisty A road. Not too bad I think. What do your reckon?

What are the 325 boys getting from their cars? I've heard these are the same if not better on fuel but you've got 40 more bhp to play with. Might be worth doing a straight swap sometime if that's the case.

[Jim320i]

33????!!!

I would stick with that engine and not touch it... I get about 21-23mpg... from my 320i

[Ollie_bwoii]

Seriously?

I only get 26ish from my 4 pot.

[andrew_baran]

You must have a feather light touch! I got 28mpg solidly on the 300 mile journey home in my 320, and the previous owner said 28 is what i'll always get - no matter how spirited my driving is...

[F17RAK]

I would rather listen to the straight six than worry about fuel!

[Rav335uk]

I would rather listen to the straight six than worry about fuel!

Is the car out yet?
Because you can't listen to it in the garage.

[F17RAK]

I would rather listen to the straight six than worry about fuel!

Is the car out yet?
Because you can't listen to it in the garage.

lol

[ImysE30]

Was you doing 50mph or summat That's pretty impressive, i don't even think the 2.5 boys can match that

I used to get around 15-20 from mine

[Craig_C]

Nah I wasn't really driving that economically. Motorway driving was all done at between 70 and 90 on the clock, some of the A road driving involved overtaking slow cars, ie blasting it in 3rd etc so I reckon if I drove like a granny it could get better! I don't exactly rag the car but I'm not driving it slowly either. Must just be a good engine Loving the sound of the 6 pot, so I can't help but let it rev sometimes

[ImysE30]

The 320 6 pot is arguably the best sounding, especially when the hood is down going through a tunnel

[Craig_C]

Oh btw, my calculations were are follows:

*Fill up with standard 95 RON shell, till the pump clicks, then keep going to the nearest 50p
*RESET TRIP METER BEFORE LEAVING THE PUMP
*Go driving
*Fill up when it's looking low (I filled up after 360 miles, needle nearly in the red) using the same criterion as point 1.
*Note the miles covered and amount of petrol you just filled up with (my case 360 miles, 49.62 L of petrol
*Go home and do the maths: Convert 49.62 L in to gallons, ie divide by 4.54 = 10.93 Then divide miles by gallons to get MPG ie 360/10.93 = 32.9 MPG

I'm not sad enough to do this all the time! Only did this beacuse it's a new car to me so I wanted to see what MPG it'll actually do

[johnt0709]

or just look at your on board computer that tells you your consumption.

[ross_jsy]

The obc is a wild guess at best.

[Morat]

Craig, the next test should be to drive a known distance and check to see how accurate your odometer is ;)

[johnt0709]

no more so than guessing the amount of fuel in your tank before you fill it up the first time is the same amount when you go to fill it up the second time.

[Grrrmachine]

This is what I was thinking! Are you running standard size tyres? You're getting 10mpg more than I am!

[ross_jsy]

You aren't guessing at all though.

You are seein how much fuel has been consumed in between fill ups, by brimming it, driving, and brimming it again and reading off from the pump. The pump will be within a reasonable amount of accuracy, far greater than the OBC.

Its like the fun-o-meter on the dash, so full of lies

[Blitz]

The 320 6 pot is arguably the best sounding, especially when the hood is down going through a tunnel

I cant wait to try that. Top down 325i in Blackwall tunnel.

[mrcool]

I filled up after 360 miles,

You got how many miles? I can only get about 100 less than that out of my 320i touring. If I was risking it maybe 290miles

[Craig_C]

or just look at your on board computer that tells you your consumption. :Mad:

OBC?! Analogue clock FTW

Craig, the next test should be to drive a known distance and check to see how accurate your odometer is ;)

That's a good point. I should probably do that if I want be be all scientific n that I'm pretty sure it's about right though as I know the rough mileage between two points that I drive regularly and the odometer concurrs.

Are you running standard size tyres? You're getting 10mpg more than I am!

I'm running 215/50 on the rear and 195/50 (oh dear) on the front as that's what the car came with when I bought it. Only had it a month so far. New tyres are on the shopping list... 215/50's are around 2% less in circumference than 205/55's so my speedo still reads 'reasonably' accurately.

You aren't guessing at all though.

You are seein how much fuel has been consumed in between fill ups, by brimming it, driving, and brimming it again and reading off from the pump. The pump will be within a reasonable amount of accuracy, far greater than the OBC.

Its like the fun-o-meter on the dash, so full of lies

Exactly, by filling the tank till the pump clicks then going to the next 50p, using petrol and then filling up using the same criteria, I know pretty accurately how much petrol I've used.

You got how many miles? :Shocked: I can only get about 100 less than that out of my 320i touring. If I was risking it maybe 290miles

I got 360 miles to 49.6 litres of petrol. Gauge on the dash reckoned I was nearly in the red, but as we all know I had at least another 12 litres left in the tank (going by the fact we know the car has a 62 L tank)



Phew, bit of an essay there! And I've only just got in from a bit of a hoon around in the 320. Did some 'faster' motorway driving tonight as I was in the mood... Tank now reading around 3/4 full and 94 miles on the trip meter...

[VeinAST]

My 320i gurgled a 3/4 full tank this evening in 170ish miles

[harry_p]

to be as accurateas possible you need to use the same pump atthe same petrol station for your fills so any slight slope of the ground doesnt skew the results.

sadly the test wouldnt work on the m3, sometimes it will click off at 3/4 of a tank, other times it'll happily fill the aux tank too, seemingly totally at random!

from the calculations i have done, the e30 m3 seems to average between 20 and 25mpg depending how you drive it.

this week so far ive averaged 29.7mpg in the e36 m3. 2 more cylinders 900cc more, 100bhp more, 200kg more, 20-30% less fuel used

[Craig_C]

to be as accurateas possible you need to use the same pump atthe same petrol station for your fills so any slight slope of the ground doesnt skew the results.

I couldn't use the same petrol station at the time, but both were Shell. Both were on flat ground, but I take your point that to be uber accurate I should use the same station and same pump.

While I think of it, the make of petrol used seems to make a difference too. I've always found Shell 95 or Shell V power the best. Both return good MPG but V power does give me a noticeable slight increase in MPG! This has happened in all the cars I've owned that I've bothered to do MPG calculations on ans see whether V power makes a difference, and I've owned a few cars over the past few years I also found that Esso / Texaco and Tesco 95 RON are a bit shite, notceable decrease in MPG, and engine doesn't seem to like it either. Tesco super is great tho! Not used Sainsburys enough to know if it's good, there's not one in a convenient place for me .


... Just realised how sad I sound

[DavieP]

... Just realised how sad I sound

Just to make you feel a bit better ... I fully concur that Esso (std) and Tesco seem to give a bit lower mpg than Shell. I tend to use Jet (not as good as Shell, but better than Tesco) - but only because there's a station not too far away from where I work that is consistently cheaper than any of the locals. Great mileage BTW When running properly (had a few probs recently, but now mostly sorted) mine does mid 20s around town and near mid 30s on a run, but then it's an automatic. Not quite the dipsomania claimed by some.

[MartinSE]

I've had 37mpg in my 320 on a long journey doing ~60mph most of the way tailing lorries. That was an experiment to see how good fuel consumption I could get but it was 4 people with packing! 35mpg is normal on a long trip (not exceding 75mph) and 30-32mpg combined, including spirited driving. It's a pre facelift, 12/86, first 320 with motronic.