Is this the correct mpg?

Post Thu Mar 10, 2005 9:10 am

just a quick one, my e30 325i sport is doing about 180-190 miles to a full tank (about Ãƒ”šÃ‚£35) is this normal?

Post Thu Mar 10, 2005 9:21 am

Nope... I can squeeze out 300 miles from mine. And I'm sure I'm over fuelling with an adjustable regulator... so it sounds like you've either a) got a problem or b) got a really heavy right foot.

G.

Post Thu Mar 10, 2005 9:24 am

i dont hammer it that much, any suggestions to what it is? the car has not been driven since 02, ive just finished restoring it, not been tuned yet, could this have something to do with it?

Post Thu Mar 10, 2005 11:41 am

300 to a full tank?

How??

Must be something wrong with mine!!!

I get about 60 miles to a tenner!

Post Thu Mar 10, 2005 11:47 am

thank fuck for that, so if mine is doing about 180-90 to a full tank, everything is pretty much ok then? even though its not been tuned and has been stood for 3 years?

Post Thu Mar 10, 2005 11:52 am

I get up to 360 from a tank on my 325 touring, but that's on long motorway journeys. Normal 10 mile commutes accross town and country roads drops that way down below 300 but always above 260. Also the slow puncture on my front left has a dramatic effect if I forget to put some air in once a week!!

Post Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:27 pm

I'm getting 14mpg?

Post Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:32 pm

:yeahthat:

Post Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:43 pm

I'm only getting 200 miles to a full tank, I fail to understand how anyone can squeeze 300 miles out of a tank unless it's steady 50mph cruising for long distances.

Post Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:48 pm

come live with me for a week and i'll show you how!

Post Thu Mar 10, 2005 11:09 pm

i only get about 180 miles out of about 32 quid. but i only drive 2 miles to work. and all but about 800 yards of that is 30 limit and i have to go about a 1/2-3/4 mile in total over a load of speed bumps, which doesn't help as it is pretty much go stop go stop as i only crawl over them. plus there is always loads of traffic on a morning too. i get about 300 out of it on a motorway cruise for the entire tank. at least thats what was managed when i picked it up.

Post Thu Mar 10, 2005 11:22 pm

i could get 350 easy on a motorway tank!

Post Thu Mar 10, 2005 11:27 pm

Simon13 wrote:i could get 350 easy on a motorway tank!

is that a diesel sport???? in disguise

Post Thu Mar 10, 2005 11:34 pm

350 miles on a run... 250 round town. About 300 combined.

And I think I'm not getting the best out if it as it is!

Post Thu Mar 10, 2005 11:36 pm

Simon used to get that milege out of yours so i know i'm not the only one!

I'm sure people drive on here with the car doing 15mpg cos if they let their foot up slightly it'll slow down!

Warnig to all the economy guage does work so pay attention to it! It's worked on all my cars to get 30+mpg in my 318i and iS amd high 20's in the sport.

Post Fri Mar 11, 2005 8:29 am

Arf arf, I could (before it died) get just under 30mpg town driving and 35 on a motorway stint

It's not just how heavy your foot is, it's all about how far ahead you look and plan, e.g: if the guy in front of you's indicating right and there's traffic coming the other way, you can bet pound to a pinch of shit that he'll have to stop. Now if you're a reasonable distance behind him, you won't have to. Accelerating cars is about the least efficient part of driving!

However, 90% of motorists seem to look about 1ft beyond the end of their bonnet and so everything that happens in front of them comes as a complete surprise to them.

Grrrrrrr.

EDIT> should add I have a standard 1985 325i manual.

Post Fri Mar 11, 2005 10:29 am

My 320i Touring regularly gives 27mpg commuting/delivering and 31+ on a 300 mile motorway and A road trip. I did once get over 34mpg pottering 'round the Loch Lomond area.
I don't drive like a gadgie - 80mph is my average on motorways and duals and when accellerating I'm often above 5000rpm.
HTH
Stuart.

Post Fri Mar 11, 2005 10:45 am

Turbo-Brown is speaking the truth....

It's about planning....If you go down a hill on a motorway, you can afford to build up a bit of speed because the fuel required is less than on the flat, then use less fuel on the flat while you go back down to your normal cruising speed or whatever, or slow down up the hill.

Watching the traffic ahead helps, keeping the revs down (esp. 6 pot!) etc.

Sitting behind lorries is the ultimate.....I got loads of MPG once doing this.

My old sport on a careful(ish) run used to get 300 miles to the tank, this wasn't too hard. Saw 330+ a few times....

Then again, you could easily get this down to 130 miles!

Post Sat Mar 12, 2005 2:14 am

Just been out for a wee run in the 320 touring....

got 303 miles out of Ãƒ”šÃ‚£30 (thats 38 litres (8.7 gallons) giving me

34.9mpg

thats not bad considering did about 130 miles on the motorway at between 60-65mph, and the rest on twisty A and B roads around Loch Lomond and Perth, where its a rare ocassion to get into 5th, never mind hit 60mph (assuming you're planning on living...)

I Find that to get fuel consumption like that, its best to do as Simon13 says!

Warnig to all the economy guage does work so pay attention to it! It's worked on all my cars to get 30+mpg in my 318i and iS amd high 20's in the sport.

generally, I shift up if the needle dips below the 15mpg marker, and once in 5th, try to keep the needle above the 30mpg marker.

Even in town, the 2.0 will happily deal with 30mph in 5th giving between 30-40mpg!

Also advisable to read the road ahead -(hills and slopes) Give the car as little throttle as possible to clime the hill (most folk tend to overcompensate, and actually accelerate up the hill (i Know i sometimes do

)

Slopes are your greatest ally in getting good fuel consumption-they let you maintain the same speed with little or no throttle (often the meter hits 40-50mpg)

Good luck and hopefully the fuel consumption decreases, so you have more money to spend on :bling:

stuff for your car!

320Touring

Post Sat Mar 12, 2005 2:25 am

What rpm are you pulling at 30mph in 5th, its gotta b summin pretty low? I always thought you shouldnt let the engine go under 1500rpm in driving as it labours it a bit, even mighty straight 6s with their wide and vast powerband

Post Sat Mar 12, 2005 10:12 am

320i Touring is geared for 20.53mph/1000rpm in 5th. Therefore 30mph is near as dammit 1500rpm.
Mind you - if you want it to accellerate from that speed you need to drop to 2nd!! (....and that'll ruin your fuel consumption figures!)

Post Sat Mar 12, 2005 5:05 pm

essbee wrote:320i Touring is geared for 20.53mph/1000rpm in 5th. Therefore 30mph is near as dammit 1500rpm.
Mind you - if you want it to accellerate from that speed you need to drop to 2nd!! (....and that'll ruin your fuel consumption figures!)

yup-5th at 30mph on the flat is 'do-able'!

For accelerating from 30mph, I just pop it into 3rd-plenty of torque as long as it isnt a hill......

Way I see it is maybe one tank in 4 you can have a good sprint-tearing all over the place touring car stylee-the other three 'careful' tanks make it easier to afford it

Post Sat Mar 12, 2005 5:56 pm

I just did 40 miles on Ãƒ”šÃ‚£10. A-class back road blast... was fun. Haven't been out on my own for a sprint in ages... roads were empty too... which was nice.

Post Wed Mar 16, 2005 7:36 pm

My 325 Touring is in the range 260 to 350 also. Taking it from Calais to Cannes (nearly 750 miiles) takes me just under 9 hours and averages 320 a tank. Lots of really short trips might just bring it below 250.

Guest · Post Wed Mar 16, 2005 8:16 pm

My 325i Cab averages 27mpg in normal driving. 30mpg over 3000miles to Italy (lots of mountain roads down and cruising at 100+ back on motorways). 33mpg on slow run Hants to Yorks.
But it is an auto and needs driving in sport mode to get any acceleration.

Post Wed Mar 16, 2005 8:42 pm

mike325i wrote:My 325i Cab averages 27mpg in normal driving. 30mpg over 3000miles to Italy (lots of mountain roads down and cruising at 100+ back on motorways). 33mpg on slow run Hants to Yorks.
But it is an auto and needs driving in sport mode to get any acceleration.

Mines an auto but i can't even get 20mpg, forget 27mpg!

I think the obc must be wrong.

Post Wed Mar 16, 2005 8:50 pm

chu346-best way to figure out the fuel consumption is

1.Fill car with fuel, and take a note of the cost per litre. (Standard tank size is circa 55l or 12.1 gals)

2. Reset the trip counter on the speedo/OBC

3. Drive a lot

4.Divide the distance travelled by the fuel used in gallons (usually 12.1 gal)

5. Voila-we have MPG!

remember and live by the econometer!

here's hoping the 14mpg is wrong (my 4.0 jag wasnt even that bad

)

good luck
320 Touring

Post Wed Mar 16, 2005 9:00 pm

I'll give it ago when i can afford to fill it up. I think i'm gonna get lpg fitted.

Post Wed Mar 16, 2005 10:36 pm

im getting around 20mpg, thats town driving stupid short little trips and annoying country roads which i thrash along not very economically

fuel economy can be upsetting. paying for fuel is worse when your like me and dont have a job

Post Thu Mar 17, 2005 9:14 am

If I drive purely for economy I am getting about 28-29 out of my 2.7 auto' But of late I have been enjoying the power too much to bother about the mpg. My average is about 23-24 mpg. I always fill it to the brim and and set the trip and make the calculation (milegage divided by litres times 4.54) on my mobile before I pull away from the garage. The good intentions to do better usually last until the next roundabout or lights. I do use the econoguage on the motorway tho.