# Best mpg so far?



## TheDrivingG (Dec 30, 2009)

On a recent ~500 mile round trip, I averaged 38.6 MPG @ 60 MPH average speed.

Conditions: Freeway driving + irritating 15 MPH traffic near Santa Barbara (there's always traffic there for absolutely no reason) + pacific coast highway with intermittent traffic signals. Lots of hills, some steep and some gentle - perfect place to break in the engine. Used the AC once in a while. ~5 miles of starting/stopping in a small town. 68 - 74 MPH average cruising speed. 85 MPH sprint up a steep pass (1st time the D downshifted on a grade, still did it effortlessly).

OBC was fairly accurate (confirmed with filling up the tank and noting the miles driven). Driving in the small town with lots of starting/stopping/parking did bring down the MPG reading. Didn't really push the car, only occasional burst of speed to pass people and no intention of getting a speeding ticket. A vette and a lotus were having fun on PCH and a guy with twin exhausts on his Honda was trying to keep up with them. I laughed and got the "are you going to let even the Honda pass you?" but common sense prevailed. Sure enough there was a cop at the top of the hill. Looked like he had a radar or may be he was just taking pictures of the beautiful scenery, who knows. :dunno:


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## slugdriver (Dec 30, 2005)

Averaging circa 30-31 mpg in a mix of suburban and highway traffic. I averaged 38 mpg r/t from Leesburg, VA to Pittsburgh in January.


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## tlak77 (Aug 5, 2009)

26.4mpg, Chicago suburbia type of driving 
I definitely don't drive with economy in mind (my right foot...), although I can't wait till I take it for a long trip....


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## DC335i (Nov 2, 2006)

Just back from a 1000 mi. road trip and the computer average for the whole trip was 36.7. This was mostly interstate driving at 70-80 mph, and included about two hours of stop and go traffic due to rush hour around NY and construction on the highway.


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## Flyingman (Sep 13, 2009)

OK, 4,752 total miles update. I calculated I would put 1,000 miles/month on this car, and I have had it for 4 1 /2 months now. Right on target.

Topped off today, Paid a disgusting $3.09/gal, which is the highest I've paid so far. I suppose fuel prices are up. I had been on travel so had not bought fuel in a while.

I did 453.6 miles, filled up with 16.165 gals, Avg Speed was shown as 36.4mph. This gives me 28mpg. I have really not topped 30mpg, but my driving is consistently 50/50 hwy/cty here in South Florida.

Plug this one to your study Stugout!


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## spacegeek (Mar 16, 2008)

First 500 miles. 33.4 mpg, ~47 mph.
My driving is mostly freeway. Loving this car!!


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## listerone (Jul 21, 2009)

Strictly as an experiment I recently did a 70 mile Interstate trip with cruise set at 60MPH..which would mean about 57 actual miles per hour.Never touched the accelerator or brake once (very smooth sailing)...few hills and little wind worth mentioning.The trip computer read 51.1MPG as I exited the interstate after 70 miles.

The best "fill-drive-fill again" reading I've ever gotten was 40MPG...which was mainly smooth Interstate driving and a little suburban driving.


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## Flyingman (Sep 13, 2009)

*6000 miles report*

OK, 6k miles now, still says I'm 8k till next service, so at 14k. Hope the DEF holds up, got a 3k trip planned for June.

OK, filled up today. MPG on computer read 28.3mpg. Down a bit from earlier in the tank. I've been going pretty quick lately when I can, on the open road. 90mph range, with traffic. Go figure:dunno:

Diesel has been in the $3.09 to $3.15 range lately. Must be getting close to summer time, or some idiot spilled a sh^t load of fuel in the Gulf! 

Here are the stats for the one keeping them:

436.5 miles
15.1 gals
44.2 mph

I calculate 28.9mpg.

Still pretty consistent since new, my driving as well, so pretty much as expected.

I'm really hoping to see some impressive numbers on my Summer Trip through the Southeast.:thumbup:


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## Snipe656 (Oct 22, 2009)

Is that a typo on the cost of fuel? It is 2.89 to 3.25 here.


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## Flyingman (Sep 13, 2009)

Snipe656 said:


> Is that a typo on the cost of fuel? It is 2.89 to 3.25 here.


Corrected, thanks. $3.09 to $3.15/gal.:slap:

My bad.


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## DarioF (Apr 13, 2010)

Great mileage.


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## Snipe656 (Oct 22, 2009)

Darn, I was trying to get a semi for a road trip to Florida for cheap fuel.


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## Flyingman (Sep 13, 2009)

OK, I did some miles today, took a trip up the Florida Turnpike (by the way that is in Florida!, subject of another rant...).

Drove from Fort Lauderdale to Palm Beach. It is about 60 miles, a solid hour drive. I went up in aggresive mode, doing 90+ with a long tail of folks trying to tailgate me, common on the turnpike. My MPG was staying in the 25-26mpg range.

Got to my destination, and then on the trip back I set it in cruise at 65mph. I stayed far right and was being passed by the sewage trucks!

My MPG was right at *39mpg* for a solid hour. Impressive. I don't see those numbers at 40mph.:thumbup:

It was about 90 Deg F outside with A/C on auto set at 72.


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## ghughes20 (Feb 27, 2010)

I just did a trip from North Jersey to Hartford and back with little traffic, though some stop and go. I left my house with 3/4 of a tank and the computer, which I reset with each fill, was reading 33.1 MPG for the first 1/4 tank consumed. When I returned from Hartford, the computer was at 36.1 MPG. Anyway, I typically drive speed limit + 10 mph. This is true speed via my GPS and not the speedo. So figure I was going between 65 and 75 for most of the trip. When I got home, I still had 1/2 tank and I had gone over 300 miles on the tank so far. I love the range on this car.

I figure the way I drive on the highway, I'd probably get 38 mpg. My typical commute plus local driving on weekends will return 32-34 mpg. Not bad!!!


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## jsmegrudy (Aug 30, 2009)

Madison to Milwaukee at 70-78 MPH, all highway-42 MPG.


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## RoBMWED (Aug 3, 2007)

*Right after the "annual/interval" service*

So we got the car serviced, filled the tires and got 41.2 mpg on 200+ miles with average speed of 48mph: 2-lane and interstate on a BMWCCA tour to the coast.


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## ilhooq (Jun 13, 2006)

*Lifetime 29mpg, cross-country average 33.8*

Worst tanks were 17.1 & 17.8 mpg when doing short trips (mostly less than 4 mi) only.

Best tank was 36+ mpg in a harrowing &(*^&*'ing mini-blizzard (<50 mph) in Ohio when driving it across from PCD to LA, via NYC, PA, OH to I-40.

Mileage over the last two tanks _feels_ like it's getting better at 7,000 miles, regardless of driving style, but admittedly with longer trips.

(By comparison, the X5d -only used for short trips- is resolutely stuck at 15 mpg.)

http://www.fuelly.com/driver/tva335/335d


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## Snipe656 (Oct 22, 2009)

17 really amazes me, my truck(until last fall when mpg dropped from then on) for short trips is usually around 15, sometimes 14.5 but it guzzles fuel in comparisons to these cars. Anyone ever had to do extended idling in these? I had to yesterday, guess it was 30-45 minutes and was surprised to see a drop in the fuel level, estimated miles to fillup and ultimately ended up with 26mpg instead of 28mpg on that tank. Neither of my other vehicles have ever displayed any significant drop in mpg with extended idling so that is what made it surprising to me.


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## tonyspumoni (May 23, 2010)

1500 miles on my 2010 335d non sports package
tires at 40 psi
~870 miles commuting, all suburban/city, no highway, 27.4 mpg average calculated by consumption
one long road trip from San Diego to Vegas and back, round-trip 646 miles, 38.8 mpg (80-85 mph, with AC on, 4 hrs 30 minutes) - I could've just about done it there and back on one tank

Pretty swell numbers considering (1) I have ripped it whenever fate has found me first at the light and (2) my commute is only 7 miles one way, so the motor hardly has a chance to warm up


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## Flyingman (Sep 13, 2009)

Well, I'm now in the 7,500 miles range. My MPG seems to stick pretty close to the 27-28, unless I am doing a long hwy trip, which I haven't really done yet. I remain agressive, but have eased up a bit on the quick starts.

I was filling up my tank in Miami the other day, just of of I-95 where many gas stations seem to cater to the truckers with those extra large nozzles. I refuse to use those with that piece of crap adapter. I look for the automobile size nozzles when I can, and I usually can find them and sometimes they put on of each side by side which is nice.

While I was topping off a guy waiting to get in to the dispenser got out of his car and said " I'm sorry to butt in but does that thing use diesel?". I said Yeah and he said in a surprised voice, "That is a first for me!". So I know the 335d is a rarity indeed. I still haven't seen another one on the road here in over 6 months.

I do see a few VW Jetta TDI's and the occasional MB Bluetec. You can tel the jettas are TDI because their rear end is usally sooted up!


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## Snipe656 (Oct 22, 2009)

I do not think te newer TDI cars get the soot stains. Lucky for my white truck does not get them. I see other d's on the road routinely although it might just be the same three cars I am seeing. I have a hard time getting close enough to always see the "d" or the exhause piss door.


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## spacegeek (Mar 16, 2008)

I'm about 6 tanks in at 4200 miles. I average about 33.1 mpg driving mostly highway and 80 mph. The time off the highway in city traffic seems to be my limiting factor per tank--those lights and stop and go really gives the mpg a beating. Just filled up this morning at $3.24/g.


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## vadim_s (Apr 12, 2010)

First 240 miles, we are at about 34 mpg.


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## Flyingman (Sep 13, 2009)

spacegeek said:


> I'm about 6 tanks in at 4200 miles. I average about 33.1 mpg driving mostly highway and 80 mph. The time off the highway in city traffic seems to be my limiting factor per tank--those lights and stop and go really gives the mpg a beating. Just filled up this morning at $3.24/g.


$3.24, ouchhh

Diesel has been hovering in the $2.90 to $2.99 range. Lowest I've seen has been about $2.85 here in S.Fla.

Gas has dropped, but diesel did not drop as much, but still close to price for premium.


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## railroader (Apr 12, 2010)

Recently completed a nearly 1400 mi. "fun drive" around northern AZ, including the Grand Canyon. And not all Interstate 40 either-- we hit lots of secondary mountain roads and many miles of old Rte. 66 (highly recommended, esp. for the nice stretches of the "Mother Road" still left in AZ.)

Trip computer values were: 24:34 hours of driving; distance 1333 miles; avg. spd. 57 MPH; 
fuel consumption 36.1 MPG.

I'm happy with these figures- they included some snarling slow fwy jams in greater LA and believe it or not, a big jam up in Flagstaff, of all places--it's like the little "LA" of northern AZ.

Least expensive fuel was $2.99 in Parks, AZ and most expensive was Needles, CA at about $3.79. (I know- that is _sick!_! ) One odd little thing about a VALERO station in Needles- the diesel pump had a smaller "gasoline" type pump nozzle which my car's restrictor would not allow to enter. I'm glad it works-- unless the car sees the bigger diesel nozzle, that baby WILL NOT go in. Good design.
Thankfully I did not have to use any trucker's "XXL" nozzles with the supplied adaptor- that job looks like it could be kinda messy, since the auto-shut off feature of course won't work with big-rig nozzles.

My car performed flawlessly - can't wait until the next long run somewhere; maybe up the West Coast towards OR and WA later this year...I am so glad I bought a 335d. Plus the car started "conversations" everywhere I went- the station mgr. in Parks said it was the first Bimmer diesel he'd ever had in his station!


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