kchan

I got a 525i manual with about 2700 miles on it
Car drives great, but quite disappointed about the gas mileage I got out of it.
Now I only get about 20.5 MPG, which is not a whole lot better than my x5 3.0 (17-18MPG)
Is that normal, would it improve as the engine breaks in more?
I drive half highway half local (I say more highway), I don't push it too hard, usually shifts around 3k RPM
My accord 4 cylinder can do almost 30MPG when it's new 6 years ago...
I was hoping for 23-25MPG at least...

Any tips? It's my commute car so usually no extra load, standard 17" tire/wheel combo...

fünf dreißig

My 07 530i is getting 22mpg with steptronic. I push from time to time. I usually run 120mph on the autobahn and drive spirited on back roads. During break-in I kept it under 90 and didn't exceede 4k rpm, and was getting 28 mpg. The hot weather probably has something to do with it. I am running the A/C more now also. When it gets colder out the air will be denser and it might burn a little leaner?

znod

I think your milage looks low, but I don't know your average MPH. Over the last zillion miles, I have averaged about 18 MPG at an average MPH of about 29. I tend to accelerate rapidly more than the average BM er, but I am not an always on-it, terrorize-those-on-the-road driver. I think my mileage would be significantly higher if I was 50/50 road/city. I am more like 20/80 road/city.

dlevi67

I assume that's US MPG...

My E39 535i auto used to do ~22 - 22.5 (MPG US) / 26.5 - 27 (MPG UK), driven relatively carefully about 30% in town/70% out. One thing that used to kill it was sitting in traffic - in the city I was not getting more than 18 MPG UK.

Given you have a manual, that it's a litre (and 2 cyls) less and that I think BMW have not stood still in the last 10 years in terms of engines, it sounds high!

my530i

My 550 is about 16.4MPG on everage. I drive roughly 50 miles/day and refill every four/five days depending on how agressive I drive.

drjochen

My 530i gets consistently 18.6 mpg in city driving.
The best I ever got on the freeway was 27.6 mpg.
These are computer values. The real calcluated values are consistently lower by ~ 5-10%.
So, I am more than 10-15% below the EPA estimates. Its normal, I guess, but a bit disappointing considering all the fuel saving technology the engine has (electric fuel pump, valvetronic etc.).
My old E39 525i had better fuel consumption. I always got over 20 mpg for the same city driving.

kchan

Thanks for all your reply.
Yes it's the US MPG, so it's around 1.6KM per 3.8 L...
When I was in Germany for my ED I got like 27-28 MPG, but that's autobahn driving...
So I am like 20% below EPA estimate, since I should get more than 25MPG with 50% highway / 50% local.
I think my average MPG is ~30MPH also by looking at idrive. I consider myself average in terms of how aggressive I drive. I don't mind stepping on it to get up to 3k before I shift, occassionally shifts a little higher (3.5k). Traffic isn't too bad for my commute as it takes 20-25 mins for a 15 miles commute.

Does any of you notice better fuel economy over time? This is one thing I missed from my trusty 130k miles accord...

CVTBenhogan

Hold on. Your 530 has 80 more hps and would smoke that E39. All for a mere 2 less mpg.

Not bad.

CVT Benhogan

znod

Yes, US--see my location.
No, Steptronic--see my sig.

I don't know if mine seems high. Maybe others will provide some info so that we can get a feel for the possible "highness" of my car. My car is an over acheiver in most things.

znod

I did. And, actually, my milage seemed to increase after a software update. I started out getting about 16 MPG under conditions similar to those I mentioned earlier.