fuel consumtion

[mattyb]

hello all. rite, i went down to birmingham to pick up my new leather seats on sunday. i brimmed the fuel tank and when i had done 150 miles i had a quarter of a tank left. so that is about 200 mile to a tank. does anyone know if this is about rite. because i have read threads on ere with people sayin i get 30 mile to the gallon, well i dont. i was just cruising at seventy with light throttle. also its an alpina c2 2.5.

just wondering if anyone knows if this points to a problem. tickover is quite rough thinking maybe fuel pump could be nadgered could this be linked.

any help will be apreciated.

thanks, mattyb

[StuBeeDoo]

i brimmed the fuel tank and when i had done 150 miles i had a quarter of a tank left. so that is about 200 mile to a tank.

That's a very inexact way of doing it.
For example, my 320i Touring's gauge is nowhere near accurate - it will go 75 miles before moving from the full mark, then drop steadily to halfway, drop faster to just below quarter and slow down again.
The only way to check for certain is brim it, drive it & brim it again. Anything else is guess-work.

[mattyb]

will do cheers mate

[jmc330i]

That doesnt seem right to me, but the fuel gauge isnt always accurate or it could be playing up. Mine would be showing 1/4, but there was actually more like 1/2 a tank left. It would also take forever to drop from full, but then drop really quick to about 1/4.

What I normally do is brim the tank, go on the trip and then when I get back brim the tank again. That way I know almost exactly how many litres of fuel the car has used and for how many miles. The MPG can then be worked out from those figures.

If it makes you any feel better, my 1.2 punto is averaging 22mpg ATM, and its meant to be my cheap run about

[George_Of_The_Jungle]

i only average 22-23 even with an egg under the throttle

[jmc330i]

For example, my 320i Touring's gauge is nowhere near accurate - it will go 75 miles before moving from the full mark, then drop steadily to halfway, drop faster to just below quarter and slow down again.[/color]

Doh, I need to type faster

At least I know my fuel gauge isnt the only one that works like that

[fingerman]

Sounds like a nice car but consumption should be a lot better

BTW - I can get about 150 miles out of £23 worth of petrol under light throttle which I think is pretty good from the worst economy E30 - 320 auto.

Sorry can't put more petrol in as it leaks

[suchy]

I can get about 150 miles out of £23 worth of petrol under light throttle which I think is pretty good from the worst economy E30 - 320 auto.

I think I could do possibly about 80 miles on that!!

[Steve-E30]

hello all. rite, i went down to birmingham to pick up my new leather seats on sunday. i brimmed the fuel tank and when i had done 150 miles i had a quarter of a tank left. so that is about 200 mile to a tank. does anyone know if this is about rite. because i have read threads on ere with people sayin i get 30 mile to the gallon, well i dont. i was just cruising at seventy with light throttle. also its an alpina c2 2.5.

just wondering if anyone knows if this points to a problem. tickover is quite rough thinking maybe fuel pump could be nadgered could this be linked.

any help will be apreciated.

thanks, mattyb

Seems right to me , I drive and visit the family a few times each year and its approx 600 mile round trip , 3 tanks of fuel
Thats half A roads and half cruising on the motorway
Mine stays on full for about 60 miles then its as if i stuck a screwdriver in the bottom of the tank . About 190 miles and im praying for a petrol station . Sussed the route now where i go to a petrol station 199 miles from home then fill up to get there and stop at the same one on my way home , Its mental but worth it .
Very rarely see over 200 miles to a tank in mine and if im heavy footed its less

[chu346]

Sounds like your cars can do with a good service

[George_Of_The_Jungle]

i can get 110miles out of £20, and never had enough money to do a full tank

[bmwscorpion]

With my c2.2.5 Touring I get 180 Miles to a tank,

[tailoutcharlie]

ive managed just over 300 miles to a tank in my old 325, that was between 60-70mph as i had a horrendous wobble at 75 tho

service your car

[casper8r]

I don't know what you people are smoking when you say that m20b25 is more economic than m20b20.

I just returned from Scotland over Easter and I drove all the way from Luton to Glasgow (371 miles according to Multimap) on one tank of petrol in my 320 touring. All on motorway at 70 or slightly more.

[jmc330i]

I don't know what you people are smoking when you say that m20b25 is more economic than m20b20.

I think its the fact the B25 is as economical as the B20 but with more performance - 320i = 318i performance, 325i fuel consumption.

Im not sure where to find the figures, but Im pretty sure they all say the 325i is better on fuel, not by a lot, but still better. I know the Parkers guide quotes 20-33mpg for the 320i and 24-39 for the 325i.

My 325i would get at least 300 miles to a tank, more on a long run.

[TRANSPORTER]

Yep my 325i Touring can get 300+ miles from a tank full, £65 or there abouts to brim it and its Cornwall to Hereford and back on a tank full, mind you its just off the red when |I get back to Cornwall, when the speedo works Im doing 3000 rpm approx 70mph with the mpg gauge hovering in the late 20s - 30 mpg.

[bilun777]

My old 320 auto did about 26mpg,on long dual carriage commutes. Its replacement 325 manual about 28 on same journey.All at indicated77,ish.Check..tyre pressures ,air filter,good service,and drive like your brakes are made of glass.i.e. to slow down take foot off throttle.It,s an age thing tho....

[chu346]

24-39 for the 325i.

On lpg!

[jmc330i]

24-39 for the 325i.

On lpg!

39 might be a push on a tired engine, but when the engine was new, why not?

On a long motorway run I used to be getting 37mpg. Every trip I did to Heathrow airport and back always averaged out around 37 - its just over 150miles each way and 99% motorway, at the time I lived about a mile from the motorway junction. That was in my Sport when the engine was minty fresh, just covered 80k and was always serviced regularly.

Now might be a different story though.

[robbo86]

my fuel consumption doesnt seem that good either..... only get about 250 miles to a tank on a 318i with slushbox.....

[StuBeeDoo]

Back in the days when I used petrol, I had no problem doing a 300+mile journey - of which 290 were motorway & dual carriageway - on between 9.5 and 10 gallons. If I kept it below 75mph at all times it was nearer 9 gallons (ie over 33mpg).
I did - once - do over 400 miles cruising around the Trossochs on a tankfull. That was the only time I've ever seen the red light on in the fuel gauge. IIRC it took 55ltrs to fill-up after that and worked-out at something like 35mpg.

[pnd]

these threads on fuel consumption are always interesting and a testament as to how different each of these old cars are now. in over ten years of running well maintained 325's this is my experience:The early cars when right will give you 30-33mpg combined mileage. The later cars are not so good but should still give 25-28 combined. If a car is giving consistently less than this either you drive like Ayrton Senna everywhere (difficult these days with traffic being what it is) or your car is not running right. If its the later first port of call full service, get the afm set up right and change the blue temp sensior.

[e30bmlover]

i get 250 to a tank driving to work and back through norwich....

[George_Of_The_Jungle]

I have a leaking exhaust manifold (two sheared bolts.... ) that i have been meaning to drill out and get helicoiled, i recon that might help with mine abit. but i have noticed a drop of about 2mpg in the last year, and cant work out where its gone (bolts have been sheared the whole time)..... i change oil and filters regularly, and fix anything that starts to go wrong. any ideas?

[Spion]

I've just brim-to-brimmed my '89 320 tourer and got 22mpg, and the bulk of that was motorway cruising.

When you guys say 'get it serviced' what exactly needs servicing?

I was thinking air filter, getting the fuel system diagnosed/tuned and maybe buying an Evo chip

[RugbySteve]

Im actually mid test on fuel consumption on my 86 318i. from empty fuel tank light being on it took £48 to fill her up and im 100 miles into the tank and its hovering just above half a tank am hoping I can stretch her out to 300 miles though!!! but its looking doubtfull!! Thats town driving as well in Norwich!!!

Im gonna do the same test when I next take car on a run to exeter! 320 miles, so hopfully a tank there and a tank back!!!!

[Jhonno]

£48 to fill the tank?! How small is it?!

[Jhonno]

or.. where is your cheap supplier

[RugbySteve]

standard 318i tank, so is that 55 litre tank?! Petrol was about 103p!!

I still daydream back to the days when I first got a car in the late 90's and petrol was 70p a litre!!

[StuBeeDoo]

I still daydream back to the days when I first got a car in the late 90's and petrol was 70p a litre!!

I can remember paying 70p a gallon
In fact, if I go back to my first part-time job - as a forecourt attendant, remember them? - it was 35p a gallon. That would have been 1972 IIRC.

[fowler]

well all i know is a saloon tank is smaller than a touring as one has 50 litre tantnk on one has 65 litre tank.. feel free to correct me if i am wrong.
Even my turbo'd 327 gets 35-40 on a long run this is on standalone with fully mapped VEMS
i would presume fella you have a vacum leak causing the car to run rough at idle pos the engine needs acheck and a slight freshen up maybe in order.

[robbo86]

I still daydream back to the days when I first got a car in the late 90's and petrol was 70p a litre!!
I can remember paying 70p a gallon
In fact, if I go back to my first part-time job - as a forecourt attendant, remember them? - it was 35p a gallon. That would have been 1972 IIRC.

in my day...........

fowler, vacuum leak, please explain how this would affect it or how i go about tackling this.... i assume this could affect my m40 non turbo'd heap

[snoops]

I have only been putting £10 at a time lately and running it to empty when the car starts jerking in my m40 316i and it only gets around 40 miles (60 at a big push) round town with short journeys depending on how I drive it

I dont bother with the fuel gauge as I have 6 cylinder clocks fitted so the dial is very inaccurate

[pictonroad]

Never get less than 350 miles to a tank on my well serviced 100k 320i, usually more like 370 on a free run, it's driving through town that does the financial damage in these cars

[SteSE]

^
Your car looks sweet!