[ln1234]

Hi Guys,

I've done a search and come up with several threads that discuss real world mpg of their cars, but I wanted to find out how many of you use your car for city only journeys in traffic and what kind of mpg you were getting?

I do about 10 miles each way to work through London in my 320i MSport Auto, and am getting around 17-18mpg over a full tank. I don't really put my foot down that often, but do have quite a few stop/starts throughout the journey. What MPG do you get for similar driving?

In comparison for the same journey - my wife's Civic hybrid does around 35-45mpg, and my old car (Toyota Celica 2.0GT) did about 20-25mpg.

[ShereKhan]

Hmm that sounds quite poor.

What sort of mileage is on the clock?

I can get 24 ish if I thrash it around town. If I thrash on M-way then I get 28/29. I have managed to get 34 on M-Way by being gentle (65/70mph) but its hard driving like that all the time

[NFS]

Originally Posted by ln1234

Hi Guys,

I've done a search and come up with several threads that discuss real world mpg of their cars, but I wanted to find out how many of you use your car for city only journeys in traffic and what kind of mpg you were getting?

I do about 10 miles each way to work through London in my 320i MSport Auto, and am getting around 17-18mpg over a full tank. I don't really put my foot down that often, but do have quite a few stop/starts throughout the journey. What MPG do you get for similar driving?

In comparison for the same journey - my wife's Civic hybrid does around 35-45mpg, and my old car (Toyota Celica 2.0GT) did about 20-25mpg.

That's shocking. To think that I was concerned about getting 24 mpg in my 330i.

Have you tried to check it manually rather than relying on the OBC?

[RockIt]

On a purely urban stop start commute to work I'm averaging about 19. Not good, but about the same as I was used to. The best I've managed so far is 28 on a combination ov A roads and motorways.

[bells0]

17/18!! - not too good is it?! - am looking to change from my A4 Cabriolet to the 2.0l Sport [manual] and expect to get better than the high 20's i get in stop start 5 mile work commute.

Hoping it's your auto box making it drink fuel!

[DJP]

Thats London for you I fear! So far with a week of London commuting in my 335d I'm getting 18.5mpg! Scary figure. My 325ci 02 would get less than this - but not much. I'm hoping that a switch to Ultimate Diesel with improve things, along with running in the engine (I'm only on 250 miles). We will see.

Maybe there's a hole in the fuel tank.

[NathanJT]

Originally Posted by DJP

Maybe there's a hole in the fuel tank.

There is... it's the one that goes to the fuel pump!

Solution to polution, improve roads and keep cars moving... simple really!

[ShereKhan]

I've been filling up after every business trip, but recently I have decided to fill the full tank when empty. Its been quite painful seeing what a full tank costs.

So my last two journeys I've tried really hard to see if I can get 500 miles for the tank range to be displayed on the OBC.

Its been hard but only just managed it by driving at a steady 65/70 with cruise control. I could only show 400 miles when the car was barely run in so a run in does make a difference to the economy.

[ln1234]

The mileage on the car is just over 5k miles - would it have been run in by now? I am a bit concerned about the economy, but i'm putting it down to the stop/start driving i'm doing through town. It feels like a heavy car, as during the first couple of gears when i move off, the economy needle is way over their past the 16 mpg mark. Once it's moving, the needle is between 20-30mpg.

On the last full tank I got 200 miles.

[ChrisMWard]

When my wife was using the M3 to commute 4 1/2 miles to work she was getting around 17MPG and pushing the clutch down around 125 times, not fun. Switching to a 330d auto the MPG went up to around 26-27 for the same journey.

We just took the 335d on it's first long run down to Cornwall and kept the speed down due to the nail in the tire and it achieved 41 MPG. At the end of the week with lots of country lanes and a spirited drive back (with a new tire) the overall for the week was around 34 MPG, so no complaints. We filled up both cars today, over £110, 32.9 MPG for the 335 diesel and 32.7 for the 1.8 petrol.

Regards

Chris

[ShereKhan]

Originally Posted by ln1234

The mileage on the car is just over 5k miles - would it have been run in by now? I am a bit concerned about the economy, but i'm putting it down to the stop/start driving i'm doing through town. It feels like a heavy car, as during the first couple of gears when i move off, the economy needle is way over their past the 16 mpg mark. Once it's moving, the needle is between 20-30mpg.

On the last full tank I got 200 miles.

I would have thought 5k miles would be enough for a run in.

Do you always feather the acceleration and do you always drive stop start?

Sounds like you may need to give it an Italian tune up (Give it good hammering) Take it on a M-way and drive it hard. Or you could drive it in 4th gear at 70. Should blow out some cobwebs under the bonnet.

[paddyrx8]

Originally Posted by ln1234

Hi Guys,

I've done a search and come up with several threads that discuss real world mpg of their cars, but I wanted to find out how many of you use your car for city only journeys in traffic and what kind of mpg you were getting?

I do about 10 miles each way to work through London in my 320i MSport Auto, and am getting around 17-18mpg over a full tank. I don't really put my foot down that often, but do have quite a few stop/starts throughout the journey. What MPG do you get for similar driving?

In comparison for the same journey - my wife's Civic hybrid does around 35-45mpg, and my old car (Toyota Celica 2.0GT) did about 20-25mpg.

Hi,
I have a 320i SE. I get approx 28-30 mpg in city driving in traffic. I average 35mpg and have managed to get 49mpg on motorway trip of about 70miles. The Automatic gearbox will hurt your fuel economy. I assume it is not a 320si special edition which are very hard on juice. Your mpg seems quite low. Are you running air con? Are your tyres at the correct pressure?

[ln1234]

28-30mpg would be ideal If I could get that. Mine is a normal 320i Auto (not the si version).

I've only had the car a couple of weeks so I would have hoped the dealer would have checked tire pressures. I have the same alloys as you and bridgestone run flat tyres - what tire pressures should I have?

I have air-con on about 50% of the time. Does this make a big difference? Recently i've tried to be quite light on the accelarator, and have hit 19mpg.

[- Paul -]

I didn't think air-con made much difference nowadays - the technology has moved on from the days of turning it on and noticing your car has stalled!!!

I'm only getting 44mpg - could do better!!

[ShereKhan]

ln1234 air con all the time doesn't make a difference as the newer compressors are designed to run continuosly without affecting fuel consumption.

The MPG you seem to be getting is really poor. I do expect the auto will be worse than the manual but not to the extent you have. I knew my si would be bad - but its made up by the mileage allowance I can claim.......

[ln1234]

As i've only had a couple of weeks, i'm going to go give it another few tanks and try different driving styles to see if that improves mpg. I'm also going to check tyre pressures etc.

[paddyrx8]

Hi, mine are replica wheels – not run flat. Don’t think this should affect the mpg though. Correct pressure for uk is 30psi at the front, 32 psi at the rear. I have tyre pressure monitor valves that I bought on e-bay which stay green if the pressure is correct. Saves the bother of checking tyres every week. In a manual you have more control so fuel savings are possible. It really depends on how you drive. If I get 28 mpg in Belfast traffic which is a lot less than London then I would expect approx 5mpg loss given than you are probably covering more miles at a lower speed. Add 5mpg loss due to the Auto then perhaps 18 mpg in traffic is what you’ll get.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by RR

Think the 320i engine was the same (slightly uprated) as the one in my previous facelifted E46 318i

Interesting... because I used to drive 12 miles through North London too. What is shocking is that my mpg was in the 30s - 35mpg if I had a good day, traffic wise. (Similar sort of figures as what paddyrx8 is describing) I used the A406 from east to west, which is mainly dual carriageway with intermittent stops. To be honest, given the extra weight of the E90 and slightly higher output figures, and obviously depending on the road circumstances... 17-18mpg is probably about right.

Doubt modern A/C makes a difference, but only slightly if any. Think you'll find the auto gearbox is what does the damage here. Having full choice of gears can prove to be a brilliant for mpg, especially when referring to the OBC

Yep it is the same engine as the later e46 318i's:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_N46

My 318i touring was quite dissapointing for mpg. My earlier 323i coupe (2.5 litre) averaged 35mpg for mixed driving. My 318i was more like 30mpg.

Personally I think it slightly struggled at higher speeds. An auto box plus the larger e90 isn't going to help.

I think it's a real shame that the 320i didn't get the old 2.2 litre straight six.

New 170bhp version in the coupe sounds better though.

[yargnat]

I have an auto 330D, and get around 31mpg
This is on a 12 mile commute, about 6 miles of stop start traffic, and 6 miles motorway.

[normanh]

I have a 320si and the mpg is around 26 - 28 I do approx 14ml to work each day average speed about 35. Sometimes I 'stretch her legs' if the camera's are not about

[peterg1965]

Originally Posted by ln1234

Hi Guys,


I do about 10 miles each way to work through London in my 320i MSport Auto, and am getting around 17-18mpg over a full tank. I don't really put my foot down that often, but do have quite a few stop/starts throughout the journey. What MPG do you get for similar driving?

.

That is not good. My wife manages more than that in her Discovery 3 TDV6 on the daily (very painful) school run and that is 2.7 tonnes of diesel eating metal!