Im a UK 535d sport driver and my average motorway MPG is 38. For guys over the pond thats about 31.
The car is an 2005 model and I dont have the brochure for this, but the 07 brochure says extra urban (motorway) should be in the 50's (thats 41 mpg USA). Am I missing something here or what? I drive at a steady 70 mph and dont thrash it so what the deal?

I know there are a number of posts on MPG but can there really be that much difference between what the book says for 2007 and my 2005 model?

 

I don't think your US conversions are correct... there's no way an E60 gets 41 (or even 31) MPG. High 20's maybe.

 

Later Models (LCI's) have all had significant improvements made in terms of economy whilst performance has also been increased. This is pretty much across the board, but the diesels have benefited here too. Others will be able to confirm this.

I have a 525d M Sport LCI which now has a 'detuned' version of the 3.0d engine. This achieves around 45-47 mpg when cruising at around 80 - 90 mph. If I cruise at 70 mph this increases to around 50 - 52 mpg, whilst 60mph is good for about 55 - 56 mpg. Mine does have a manual gearbox though, but this is another area improvements have been made with auto's now only returning around 1 - 2 mpg lower than the manual equivalents.

 

im looking at the brochure right now and thats what it says. If I could be bothered i'd scan it and post, but that would mean leaving the couch. Take a look here:

http://e60.net/information/options/engines/my2008_535d/

 

For the record -- I got the gas mileage figures from bmw.co.uk as urban (city) and extra-urban (highway) but I also dont understand them...

 

That's easily achievable with a diesel. They are about 30% more efficient than gas engines with equivalent power.

 

I have had my 550i since July 17th and have put on about 2,500 miles. With approximately 85% city driving, I am averaging 14.5 miles per gallon according to iDrive. If I cared, I would do some actual calculations based a few fill-ups. But I really don't care. In fact, I am staring to wish I had more horsepower. I saw a sweet B7 Alpina at the dealer a couple of days ago, could be next.

 

That sounds about right and you won't see much more.
Firstly the mentioned figures are always hopelessly optimistic, as they are reached under optimum and steady benchmark conditions, that do not contain the slightest deviation from the ideal. There is an EU directive how cars have to be tested for that and never have I seen anybody getting these figures in normal day to day driving conditions.
Also your car is a pre LCI (facelift model) with the older gearbox and without "efficient dynamics"
The figures you are quoting solely show the consumption (ECE test method) of the LCI 535d which has a new fly by wire gearbox and many other consumption saving features. Although not reaching the quoted figures, these are about 15 - 20% better on consumption than the pre facelifts. They also have (for that reason) massively reduced CO2 emissions. Yours (and mine) are at 211g/km, while the LCI version only emits 178g/km

By the way, my average consumption (no motorway, just town, B and A roads) is 31mpg (25.8 US). for the power on tap (mine is mapped) and the way I drive it (as it's meant to be) I still think it's excellent consumption for 1.7 ton car with V8 performance. (longer trips also give me about 37-38)

 

I'd be happy with 31 too so will see how it goes.
I cant get over the difference in power between this car and my old 2001 530d Sport. It's huge.

 

Ahhhh.... okay. You don't typically see a lot of diesels in the US, so I didn't know that. I guess what I said applies to gasoline engines only.