Fuel Economy

[jeremytaylor]

Well I'm getting 29MPG (average) from my 4,500-mile, 55-plate BMW 535d Sport and curiously, 24MPG from the 1995, 98,000-mile BMW 730i V8 (Petrol) hack I bought for 2 grand...

What's more, I drive the older car to the studio in town on a daily basis, while the posh car is only used for weekends and business meetings etc., so the diesel is doing very little stop/start driving. Go figure, as they say...

Yeah, but a 535 is hardly your average diesel, what with those twin turbos. I'm sure it's a lot quicker in every way than the 730, and more economical to boot.

My Euro 4 E320CDI does 38mpg on fully laden motorway runs. This is a little lower than I was expecting, but it's only doen 6000 miles so far, so maybe it might loosen up and improve in time. But most of my driving is around town where I average 30mpg.

However if I set the speed limiter to the speed limit, not only do I get better consumption, but I also get a line of frustrated drivers queing up behind me (on single carriage roads)!

 

[DieselE]

Best I have got so far from the E320 CDi is 41 mpg on a long motorway journey, with cruiser control set at 70 mph. This seems low compared to some of the quoted figures. Any ideas what a 320 should be doing?

Yesterday I managed 44.3mpg over 240 miles of mainly motorway driving. For a large part of the first hour I was stuck in a mobile traffic jam on the M40 following two large dumper trucks being carried in convoy. I managed 45.7mpg and average speed of 47mph for that hour but I usually achieve about 40mpg over a tankful.

 

[pammy]

I'm doing well to average 25 And if I get 300 out of a tank it's party time :bannana: norm is 280

 

[lotusmark2]

I'm doing well to average 25 And if I get 300 out of a tank it's party time :bannana: norm is 280

Pammy posting in a fuel economy thread!!!!! I have seen it all now

I got the little smarty out and gave her a good run in the last couple of days..49mpg 205 miles from a tank (costs about £17 to fill her to the brim)

Come to think of it, I remember someone was after a fun car with two seats and a drop top.....hmmm

 

[pammy]

Pammy posting in a fuel economy thread!!!!! I have seen it all now

There's a first time for everything The time to worry is when I start to grumble about the economy

Come to think of it, I remember someone was after a fun car with two seats and a drop top.....hmmm

Now you're just being plain silly!!!

 

[lotusmark2]

ha ha ha....they do a Brabus one!!! that said my little beast is quicker than the Brabus version anyway

 

[Tilly]

I typically get 22mpg to and from work and I drive a C180k auto! to be fair though it is only about 1.5 miles across town and then 10 miles on B roads each way from cold and I do it in approx 15 minutes with normal driving across town until the engines hit over 80 degrees and then B roads I pretty much do 60 all the way. Best I've had from mine was 34mpg on my way to doncaster. I've not reset my trip meter since I bought my car because I'm too lazy but in 4400 miles im averaging at 24.5mpg but 70% of my annual mileage is to and from work. I think I would've been better in a 200k because of the lower compression ratio and higher power output from the same 1.8 engine! Just a shame there were none eligble for the bonus within my price range. I'm really astonished at 60mpg though, that really is amazing!

 

[nav]

WOOOHOOOO - i managed to get it to 36 MPG yesterday on the M3. It pays to stick to the speed limit - acheived that at a constant 70.... :0)
The moment i came off the M3 turned right and left then right again.... then straight on...... etc - by the time i got to my destination it was at a lowly 31mpg...... :0(

 

[Mactech]

Powerful diesels

It's interesting that the more powerful the diesel engines get, the closer they become in ecomomy terms to the petrol engines. I'm working on one at the moment that is expected to return about 3mpg...but should reach 350mph!
On the road, I have long since given up trying to see how fast I can get somewhere, I value my licence too much, and if I am in a real hurry I'll take the RSVR Aprilia which simply ignores traffic.
Much more amusing (and seriously sad!) is seeing what milage number you can get. Thats the average mpg added to the average speed. My best is 132 in a CDTi Vectra last year.
Best weapon is anticiaption, look ahead and plan and its amazing the speed you can carry through roundabouts! My rule is that if I have to touch the brakes in normal driving, then I have failed to anticipate the road or traffic correctlty. Keeping the tyre pressures to the recomended max is a good ploy, but adding the 275 wide CLS tyres to the E class has cost me 3mpg, but is much more fun in the twisty bits.
Everything is a balance, but having fun while saving fuel works for me!

 

[bahamars]

When I purchased my E320CDI from the Mercedes-Benz dealer, the Managing Director and his team welcomed me to the Mercedes ownership by handing me the keys to the car, a bottle of champagne and the words "you'll be amazed at its economy". Yeah - right, I thought. But to date my total average consumption is 38mpg over 16000 miles - I regularly get 44mpg on long journeys - and I don't hang around! The car has never let me down and it is superb at what it does - gets you from A to B in style, comfort and speed. This is my second Mercedes with a 20 year gap in between. I am totally convinced I bought the right car and will probably get the new version when it arrives in 2 years.

 

[gary350]

Best I have got so far from the E320 CDi is 41 mpg on a long motorway journey, with cruiser control set at 70 mph. This seems low compared to some of the quoted figures. Any ideas what a 320 should be doing?

friend of mine has a CLS320cdi gets 49mpg.

gary

 

[mergli]

I'm doing well to average 25 And if I get 300 out of a tank it's party time :bannana: norm is 280

Sounds about the same as me, although I do get 30 - 31 mpg on the motorway which hasn't been very often recently......

Adam.

 

[BearFace]

Yeah, but a 535 is hardly your average diesel, what with those twin turbos. I'm sure it's a lot quicker in every way than the 730, and more economical to boot...

You know what? The 730 rides better, is arguably a nicer place to be, has no i-Drive (a good thing...) and does 5MPG less overall than the 535d.

But yeah, the diesel is much quicker and like your 320CDi, will undoubtedly improve with mileage.

Not sure I did the right thing with this 535d though; it just hasn't stirred me in the way I'd hoped. The smiles per £ from the 730 have been significantly broader...

 

[nav]

Sounds about the same as me, although I do get 30 - 31 mpg on the motorway which hasn't been very often recently......

Adam.

Maybe i shud have bought a CLK55 instead - u seem to be gettin the same mpg as me in my 230clk...... the moment i turn off the motorway - the mpg dives like a brick in water....

 

[altreed]

My c36 has given me 33mpg on a fast laden drive through France on holiday, but I tend to see 23-24 normally. I tend to drive at 30-50 through a town to and from work.

I am quite pleased with that, dreaming of my old Golf Gti that used to regularly deliver 42mpg.

 

[SilverSaloon]

on a good motorway run i can reach the mighty hights of 24mpg.

driving to edinbough and back each day i get around 17mpg

but i dont expect much else really lol

 

[steveatpipex]

Out of the CLk I'm getting low 30's in the city and high 40's on longer runs. Never done a long run yet - most has been 40 miles of mixed use. Roll on holiday time!

Z4 returns low 20's in the city and mid 30's on motorways, although i tend to drive it more spiritedly than Mrs Steve so that makes a difference!

 

[Shude]

After 103 fill-ups the average MPG from my c230k is just over 29. If you imagine that every day I drive on the M62 at an average of 8mph or something for 45 minutes that's not bad! The queuing is murder on the economy.

M62 eastbound towards leeds: bringing misery to millions on a daily basis.

 

[PeterE320Cdi]

Improving MPG on my 320 CDi

I decided to try a fuel additive as they get good reviews here. I am on the second tank of Millers diesel power plus and today did my regular journey Exeter to Bristol and got 43.1 MPG with cruise set at 70 ish.

My best on the same journey before using millers was 41.1

 

[CLK320Vert]

ROFL ...after the M3 Evo and filling up every 2-3 days and returning early 20's on a run and 13-15 on a thrash I have done over 300 miles in the CLk and not filled up yet I think I am the only joyeous one here...:bannana: