Hormazd

I gased up today after a weekend of driving. Manual calculation 18.2 Mpg. The car says 16.8mpg. I think they are both right. I think the car is measuring my average over a period of miles, which I don't know. The hand calculated 18.2 is on the last tank of gas. Some observations.

I took every opportunity I had to keep the car in 6th gear through the last 300miles. 75% was highway, but of that more than half was at speeds in excess of 90 mph with several stretches at 105mph and bursts upto 125mph. The gas mileage at these speeds is not that stella even though the car is in top gear.

The ideal speed is about 70mph with the car in top gear and using cruise control. I think 30mpg is possible. I will never get to see that as long as I am behind the wheel.

Anyone know the algorithm for the mpg measure in the car?

120yz

in addition to this discussion... i would like to ask

which one is better value? 530 or 545? i see that 545 has valvetronic but does it help much if compared to the 530? the 530 should have pretty good gas mileage right?

heezy545i

Not sure how accurate the computer guage is, but lately, I've been getting about 13-14 mpg in the city.

120yz

anyone is currently using 2004 530?? how is the gas mileage?

Bedford530i

I have a 2004 530i with 5400 miles on it. The computer (OBC) displays my mileage to be 26.9 miles per gallon. ( this mixture of town/highway driving ).

alohalc

i have '04 530. before the s/w update, i have high 16's to low 17's. but after the update, i think i only have 15 <_<. 95% city driving.

wolverine

Here's a recommendation for improving your gas mileage in a 545:

You'll need one of those elastic straps. Tie one end to your right foot, and the other to your belt. Tension as required to minimize frequent and uncontrollable extension of the right foot to the car floor.

Good luck!

Seriously though, I noted pretty bad mileage my first few months because I was always stomping the throttle. Your mileages do seem a bit low. I'll post a graph of my car's mileage vs average speed in a new thread.

BangleBox_530d

My first drive of my new E60 tonight, and the gauge showed 50 MPG at 80 MPH

JDN

I can do that with my 545, too, but when I start pedaling again, the needle swings back.

Hormazd

I have never found driving in Los Angeles more frustrating than in the last two months since I have taken delivery of my 545i. I drove 2K miles in Europe and have managed to drive another 2K miles here since re-delivery even though my commute is only 2miles. I find any excuse to drive my car. The V8 asks you/wants you to rev it. Every gap I see in traffic makes me want to feel that surge. I love feeling the different sensations of accelerating in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th. Each gear a differnent sensation, each one a delight in its own way.

Now if I got my kicks on my commute maybe this wouldn't be the case, but I yearn for open road that just doesn't exist in this town.

So needless to say my gas mileage sucks. You have to rest the onboard info to calculate it properly. I drove about 300 miles one weekend, reset the trip mileage counter gased the car and drove the next 300 miles in slow traffic. It said I was getting 16.5mpg. I actual fact I was gettin more like 12mpg on the second tank of gas. but it was factoring in the first 340 miles at 19mpg.