E30 M40b18 powerde touring. 27.5MPG. This normal?

Post Fri Apr 04, 2014 12:53 pm

Hello guys.

Ive been getting 27.5MPg out of my 1.8 touring recently mixed driving. Not trashing it and not driving like a nun either.

Is this the normal expected fuel consumption for a m40 1.8 in a touring?

What do you guys get?

How can i make it more economical?

How does it compare to other engines I could swap for if i ever fancy a conversion?

fire away

Post Fri Apr 04, 2014 1:29 pm

Firstly, could you reduce your sig pic size please.

Secondly, I'd love my 318i touring to give 27mpg with mixed driving. Mine seemed to return around 21-22mpg, but would do 35+mpg on a run.

If you want to stay with a 4 pot, an M42 engine is meant to be more economical than the M40...

Post Fri Apr 04, 2014 6:24 pm

i got 20ish if i was lucky so 27.5 is pretty good

Post Fri Apr 04, 2014 6:27 pm

you will have a 4.27 diff so if you went 4.10 or even 3.91 you will lose some acceleration but gain much better mpg in 4th and 5th gears

Post Sat Apr 05, 2014 12:23 am

My 316i touring used to return 26 mpg on fast motorway runs! I think the cats are quite restrictive and the diff ratios are low.

Post Sat Apr 05, 2014 12:40 pm

70 mph and 4k revs =

Post Sat Apr 05, 2014 12:47 pm

I'd be more concerned about the headlining and not the MPG

Post Sat Apr 05, 2014 12:55 pm

Kos wrote:I'd be more concerned about the headlining and not the MPG

Not like a saggy headlining is going to hurt his wallet though is it.

Mechanics before cosmetics, surely?

Post Sat Apr 05, 2014 12:57 pm

gooner1 wrote:
Kos wrote:I'd be more concerned about the headlining and not the MPG

Not like a saggy headlining is going to hurt his wallet though is it.

Mechanics before cosmetics, surely?

Agreed 100%

But take a careful look at the headlining

Post Sat Apr 05, 2014 1:02 pm

Feck, see what you mean mate.

Post Sat Apr 05, 2014 1:21 pm

haterz !

Post Sat Apr 05, 2014 5:01 pm

Haha cheers guys.

Mechanics are spot on and the car practically got rebuilt before I even re-trimmed the headliner and re-dyed some sports seats.

Not to everyone's tats but it beats a saggy one

and I like it for now.
Easy to do so I'm not fussed

What sort of mpg does peoples m50/m52 swaps get?

Thanks for the replies.

Post Sat Apr 05, 2014 5:10 pm

When we ran a 316i touring,it returned between a worst of 18.8mpg and a best of 38mpg!
The worst fiqure was six weeks of .8 of a mile trips to and from 'er indoors work.
Best was a steady motorway trip to/from home to Bristol.
I also fitted a 4:1 diff.

My current M50'd touring does mostly long trips,most weeks it gives 31/34mpg.

Post Sun Apr 06, 2014 7:21 pm

Ha. Bingley this aft?

Post Sun Apr 06, 2014 10:40 pm

I love the individuality of your headlining! Well done ! Non conformaty, radicalism, is certainly refreshing. Youve done what you want, not what so many others would suggest. A latter day Ed Roth in the making maybe.

Post Sun Apr 06, 2014 11:06 pm

As for fuel consumption, sorry cant help. If its low I just fill it up. Mines a 325 and I still dont know what it does to the gallon/litre!

Post Mon Apr 07, 2014 11:46 am

My M10 averages ~30mpg with a 32/36 carb on it.

Post Mon Apr 07, 2014 2:47 pm

Goldfield wrote:Ha. Bingley this aft?

Bingerz. You a local zoner mr goldfield?

Post Mon Apr 07, 2014 5:49 pm

Our 318 touring is up to a consistent 37mpg from about 29 when we got it a year ago. No one thing made a real difference its the sum of everything.

14"Wheels running 36psi.
Brakes running free no binding or dragging.
Change diff & gearbox oil.
Clean out the breather & icv check all pipes hoses are good.
Get the engine back on full synthetic (quantum platinum 5/40)
Fuel system clean (bg44k)
DMCL chip
Decat with a standard pipe

I honestly think a good run most days helps as well over the last year it's just got better and better.
Hope its of some use:-)