BMW and M Power Owners

Jonny ///M said:
Anyway, what sort of MPG is expected out of an M54? 330i engine on the motorway at 80/90 or up to 100? or basically what is the best combination of speed/mpg on a run.
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Can vary a bit depending on the gearbox.

My 6 speed manual sits a bit under 2.5k rpm @ 70mph in 6th and that got me around 32mpg average. Jumping up to 80/90 seemed to have a fairly large impact on economy (dropped to around 28 average) whereas dropping to 60 gave a small gain (around 34mpg). I think 70 is the best balance personally.

Look here for different gear ratios and cruising rpms for the e46 - no mpg values as such but you can extrapolate within reason.
 
Some people seem to report bizarrely low fuel economy figures with the M54. It's always confused me a bit. 32mpg in 6th at 70mph? Really? My car is heavier than yours and revs higher at 70mph because it has a 5 speed gearbox yet it's a good 5-8mpg better than that at 70mph depending on the wind/road/etc.

My longterm average over the last 3 years since I started recording it is 26.5mpg. The overwhelming majority of my driving is short trips from cold, my typical monthly tank average is 20mpg in winter and 22mpg in summer. The longterm average is pulled up by the fact whenever I go on a long trip, the economy the M54 offers is fairly awesome for such a car. When cold its particularly thirsty, but when warmed up its remarkably efficient.

If I set the cruise to 70mph it will average between 35mpg and 40mpg depending on various factors like whether it's a nice flat motorway or a hilly dual carriageway or whether I'm against the wind or whatever.

I averaged, verified the old fashioned way, exactly 35mpg on my jaunt around Europe in the Summer. Much of this was motorway/autobahn/etc driving at a nice steady 70-80mph but that also included crawling through heavy traffic in central Budapest in 40c heat, driving through the Alps and up the Stelvio Pass and also numerous blats on the Autobahn including making sure that it did, as advertised, do 155mph. I thought that was absolutely brilliant fuel economy for a 10 year 3 litre petrol car!
 
I'd hazard a guess that you are calculating your mpg figure manually from litres used from a full tank and mileage etc and not using the obc? I'm simply going by the obc average reading after a reset and a run so it's likely our figures aren't that far off in reality.

Then again, maybe I have a particularly heavy right foot!? :p

In any case, I know that at least my driving style and the car were consistent as I was able to maintain that level of economy in the entire time I had the car standard.

I do agree though - especially with the "omg I need to buy a smelly derv to get moar mpgzz even though I only do 10 miles a year" ;) brigade coming out of the woodwork, it's fantastic to tell them I can average mid-high 30's in my ancient 3 litre petrol engine.
 
Basher said:
You manually work out the MPG for every tank of fuel you use?
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plenty of phone apps these days that do this for you, I use Road trip and just have to input the no of litres and the mileage(and price if you want costings) at every fill up)
 
Basher said:
Not suggesting it's hard, I just personally don't see much benefit.
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Curiosity, and peace of mind :). I'll do it occasionally after getting annoyed at what I think was too short a time between fill-ups. Though that's generally on the bike and it's always a nice figure :).
 
My 325ti averages around 34mpg on long motorway runs, and closer to 27-28mpg on my daily commute, with the odd bit of spirited driving thrown in for good measure. Seems pretty standard for all M54 engines.
 
That does seem pretty good for a larger engine. My commute is only 7 miles from my house but then 12 miles to Glasgow to the girlfriends and then 13-14 miles on the motorway home.

I plan on moving in with her too so that would make it 12 there and 12 back giving better economy I guess.
 
Why are there so few used Z4 35i M Sports and 35is M Sports for sale? Thought they would have been much more popular than they are. Possibly because of the high retail price? I specced a car on the BMW website last week and it lists a dealer contribution of £10k; not too bad.
 
I want a 35is soooooo badly. To me they're really desirable. I'm surprised that more people with money didn't buy one, but then I suppose there are plenty of other options for the money.
 
Robbie G said:
I want a 35is soooooo badly. To me they're really desirable. I'm surprised that more people with money didn't buy one, but then I suppose there are plenty of other options for the money.
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Same here, much more accomplished than the previous model Z4.
 
Chris1712 said:
Pretty sure they sold sweet fa of them, just like the rest of the BMW range (or any manufacturer for that matter) the small engines and even dagdags sell big numbers nowadays.

http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?utf8=✓&q=bmw+z4+35i

About 10% of the 23i's sold.
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What is more interesting about those stats is proportionally how few are sold in M Sport trim? Wheresa if you look at a 120d nobody would be seen dead in one that isn't M Sport.

How interesting that buyers of diesel powered eco-hatches fall over themselves to get M Sport yet buyers of high powered sports cars do not..
 
I THINK the M Sport trim didn't actually exist until 2012<, 61 Plate onwards. And it all it is is the bumpers & sports seats. I suspect from 2012 onwards it probably swings the other way to mostly MSport.
 
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