Is 22mpg normal for town driving in a 320i?

[Dr Firefly]

Been worried about fuel economy, and the car's idling very low and smells a bit of petrol from the exhaust, but to be honest I don't sniff car exhausts that much so I don't really know what normal would smell like.

If I get the CO checked at a garage could that help? I've swapped so many AFMs, ICVs, TPSs etc round that I don't know whether that'll have thrown off the CO reading. It's hard to find the problem when I can't afford to buy new parts!

[Dr Firefly]

Ps the above post got a little bit technical, so it might need moving to the technical help section

[Rosc0PColtrane]

hahaha yes!!! I average about 24 mpg at a push!!

[ajm-e30]

well u 2 are lucky i only get about 15mpg in my 320 round town! hence the need for a 24v lump

[J_Mac]

yes i get anywhere from 18-23mpg, roundtown, i call it school running, 18 mpg is when im late

motorways about 26-30mpg, doing 60-90mph

[J_Mac]

saying that "18 when i'm late" thats with kids in the car, i could get the mpg down pretty low if i really tried

[EuRoRiGhTnEsS]

unfortunatly ian e30's are terrible on fuel as i have just noticed
I still would'nt swap it for another car though I put £25 in mine the other day Ian, when i bought the car. I think ive done roughly around 62 miles and its nearly empty
Thing is, i have quite a heavy right foot too

Olly.

[jaistanley]

The 318is is a very frugal car. Or at least it can be, if you service it occasionally and dont rag the living nuts off it.

That'll be why I'm getting 25 average (35 on motorways though); I do neither. Poor little car.

Jai

[aceraf]

I have absolutely no idea how much mpg i get as my speedo don't work

Although, My normal college commute comes to about 260Miles (for 3 days), and i top up £30, and have very little left in the tank after those 3 days... is that good/bad/average????

[DaveGT]

My 320 cabby is doing between 16 and 18 but don't have to use it every day so it doesn't matter

[Rosc0PColtrane]

I have absolutely no idea how much mpg i get as my speedo don't work

Although, My normal college commute comes to about 260Miles (for 3 days), and i top up £30, and have very little left in the tank after those 3 days... is that good/bad/average????

Sounds about right, probably a little better than what I'm getting.

[spence_star]

i fill my 325 up to the top and get 250 miles out of it and lasts me exactly a week, mind you thats motorway driving.

Is this good or not?

[Rosc0PColtrane]

i fill my 325 up to the top and get 250 miles out of it and lasts me exactly a week, mind you thats motorway driving.

Is this good or not?

Considering that is mirroring my cabby, which is a 320i, I'd say that's ok. Although some 325's are doing a lot better

[Barx325i]

i fill my 325 up to the top and get 250 miles out of it and lasts me exactly a week, mind you thats motorway driving.

Is this good or not?

It's not ideal.. Are you hammering it?

I used to get 300 from a full tank.. That's if I avoided bouncing it off the rev limiter every gear change.

What do people think of Optimax - it's supposed to increase fuel econemy but it just makes me drive harder.

[aceraf]

I have absolutely no idea how much mpg i get as my speedo don't work

Although, My normal college commute comes to about 260Miles (for 3 days), and i top up £30, and have very little left in the tank after those 3 days... is that good/bad/average????

Sounds about right, probably a little better than what I'm getting.

I have a 316i....and drive very...very slow on motorway...bout 60 all the way....mind you, i then boot it on the country roads...so probably about right!!!

It's hard to compare, but my 1.6sr sunny that i had, used to use about £20-25 for the same journey....but then petrol prive has also gone up so don't really know what to think!!!

[dazleeds]

i get bout 50/55 to a tenna regardless of how i drive it in the sport

[oakey]

if i drive nicely of the motorway i can do over 35mpg and if i drive it like i nicked it it'll do not much more than 10mpg.
on average i worked out that i get about 25mpg average in my 2.7 tech1

[Morat]

I worked out that I get about 27mpg from my 325 touring in general use. Thats a 14 mile commute each way pretty evenly split between town, dual carriageway (80+) single carriageway A road (40-60) and a nice dose of country B road thrash to top it off.

I should probably check again now that its had its chronic lean running sorted out!

[StuBeeDoo]

My daily commute is 8 miles each way. If I get over 24.5mpg I'm doing well.
At the other end of the scale, I regularly get 30-32mpg on a 300 mile (285 of that motorway/dual carriageway) awayday (which takes no more than 4hr15mins - do the maths!) and I once got over 36 on a 150 mile cruise around south-west Scotland.

[e30bmlover]

i still get a consistant 260 - 270 miles to a tank.... no matter how i drive her!

[spence_star]

i fill my 325 up to the top and get 250 miles out of it and lasts me exactly a week, mind you thats motorway driving.

Is this good or not?

It's not ideal.. Are you hammering it?

I used to get 300 from a full tank.. That's if I avoided bouncing it off the rev limiter every gear change.

What do people think of Optimax - it's supposed to increase fuel econemy but it just makes me drive harder.

Nah i dont really hammer it i do about 70 to 85 mph. i do about 10 miles each way everyday.

Why is my MPG really bad then? Would it have anything to do with having the head skimmed????

I want more MPG or if not more the standard miles of a 325 cab.

[kadettc]

My old 320i was a joke on fuel. Glad I have got a 325i now. Appear to be better plus you get the extra oomph.

[snoops]

i get around 50 maybe 60 miles to a tenner but 70 if i let my mom drive.

[Morat]

I just filled up, according to THIS I got 23.38 mpg.
So, not as good as 27 then

[snoops]

I just filled up, according to THIS I got 23.38 mpg.
So, not as good as 27 then

that gives me an average of 25

[Speedtouch]

I can quite easily get 30mpg+ average from my '87 320iSE, which has the older L-Jetronic injection. It can drop to low 20's when I get heavy-footed though. It was a similar scenario with an '88 325iSE I had. I'd say BMW/road test reports of around 26mpg average are about right.

[Dr Firefly]

Just used that site to calculate mine and it's actually 26mpg, which is much better than I thought. Is that really the best that can be gotten out of them? I suppose if that's the original BMW quote that's reasonable, but I assumed that when running perfectly the car would be capable of 35-40 just in general usage? In a way that's good news if mine is running at about where it should be. Still need to sort out the low rough idle though.

Cheers, Ian

[Conan]

Lucky git - i used to get 12mpg round Cardiff!

[Morat]

I think the bottom line is that if you want to improve economy you're going to be looking at new fuel injection with closer control over your AFRs.

cue the Antmeister...

[Brianmoooore]

Three letter answer to all the above ...... LPG!

[kadettc]

Yes, LPG does look an attractive option. I don't use my BMW daily (because I can't at the moment) and probably won't any way, so it might not be worthwhile in my case. However, for most on here that use em daily got to worth a look, even if it is 1000 plus to get fitted. Will re-coup that over a couple years perhaps?

[chinchilla]

my 320i cab drinks like a B*TCH!!!! and its not fast either

Im gonna get a 325i engine and LPG convert it!!!

or just leave it as a 320i and keep it as a summer car and get a run around like a smart for2 CDI! 90mpg! :O and road tax free (low emmisions!)

[Rosc0PColtrane]

my 320i cab drinks like a B*TCH!!!! and its not fast either

Im gonna get a 325i engine and LPG convert it!!!

or just leave it as a 320i and keep it as a summer car and get a run around like a smart for2 CDI! 90mpg! :O and road tax free (low emmisions!)

Mine is a 320i, collecting a 525e at the weekend

[chinchilla]

my 320i cab drinks like a B*TCH!!!! and its not fast either

Im gonna get a 325i engine and LPG convert it!!!

or just leave it as a 320i and keep it as a summer car and get a run around like a smart for2 CDI! 90mpg! :O and road tax free (low emmisions!)

Mine is a 320i, collecting a 525e at the weekend

525e, what the hells that? any good? better than 325i? easy to fit

[kadettc]

2.7 litre, low revving, frugal 6 pot created in the 70's in the midst of the fuel crisis. Nothing exciting as is, but can modify with later 325i stuff to create a 2.7 litre high comp lump