Whats your fuel economy like ?

Ian J · Post by **Ian J** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 6:27 pm

I've tried the additive and that hasn't made any difference as it still runs roughly at steady motorway speeds and I got 16.8mpg from the last tankful.

I think that a trip to a BMW indie may be in order to hook it up to the computer and see if there is anything obvious malfunctioning

sclarke · Post by **sclarke** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 12:44 pm

Managed to get an OBC average of 33.4 mpg from Exeter to Oxford!!! Drove at 2000 rpm on the motorway, roughly 67mph and then really light throttle for the remaining parts of the trip. Interesting thing was that on the way back I drove normally and it took only 10 minutes less, but averaged 25mpg. I was prompted by a magazine article that suggested that petrol engines are substantially more efficient below 2000 rpm. If only I had a sixth gear....

Post by **neil** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 12:58 pm

sclarke wrote:Managed to get an OBC average of 33.4 mpg from Exeter to Oxford!!! Drove at 2000 rpm on the motorway, roughly 67mph and then really light throttle for the remaining parts of the trip. Interesting thing was that <b>on the way back I drove normally and it took only 10 minutes less, but averaged 25mpg</b>. I was prompted by a magazine article that suggested that petrol engines are substantially more efficient below 2000 rpm. If only I had a sixth gear....

Interesting stuff - it just goes to show we could all do a bit more for the environment.

Have to ask though -- which bit of the journey did you enjoy

sclarke · Post by **sclarke** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 2:58 pm

Well both actually. Strange as it seems I think I just enjoy driving. Sometimes I enjoy the self discipline of driving within the limit and equally I enjoy taking the car nearer to its limit. I was at 9 points for about 18 months a few years ago and I drove at the speed limit for probably 80% of that time. I found it challenging at times, but mostly just relaxing and it allowed me to take in the surroundings a bit more.

Oh and I was more concerned with my pocket than the environment if the truth were known

I spend all week recycling cars - that's my bit for the environment

Cybermush · Post by **Cybermush** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 11:47 pm

Just got back from a 400 mile round trip to the Norfolk Broads and averaged 31mpg in my B3 3.3 I was trying really hard to keep it high though!

I think I'm averaging 28mpg or so.

Not too good, but if I were worried about mpg I would have got a Smart car... oh wait I've already got one of those!

Trevor.

Ian J · Post by **Ian J** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 12:43 pm

What with holidays etc I haven't been able to get my B10 3.3 looked at before today but I took it to Marques of Tamworth who were recommended to me as local BMW independents and they have diagnosed a faulty inlet cam sensor which they will now replace so hopefully the fuel consumption will now increase from it's ridiculously low average of 18.5mpg

As a matter of interest they had an old Alpina C?? in the yard that hadn't been driven for 11 years and they had been commissioned to get it running again. Hopefully if the owner has taken this step he may also get the bodywork restored too as it was basically sound

Ian J · Post by **Ian J** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 6:46 pm

I've just done a 20 mile run of mixed traffic and the OBC showed an average a tad under 27mpg. Not only has the economy improved drastically but the performance is also so much better

Peter&Janet · Post by **Peter&Janet** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 7:35 pm

Peter's RoadsterS

Long run plenty traffic but up with the leaders in speed 33mpg
Keeping it legal at 60/70mph gives 38mpg
Town driving 27mpg including runs to nottingham 11 miles away.

Amazing this is very similar to our previous car a 120D auto which averaged 32mpg over the 3 years ownership and was never driven hard.

Peter

thomas v8 · Post by **thomas v8** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 5:01 pm

I have now been driving my E34 520i for nearly 6 weeks and i think the fuel consumption is not much better than the B10 v8. I kind of find it hard to believe but it seems that way. Just curious to know would the E39 Alpina v8's fuel consumption be based on the E39 540i sport auto or the E60 550i sport manual. The figures are=

2002 540i sport auto urban = 15.5 combined 23.0

2003 550i manual urban = 17.8 comb 26.2.

i would have thought more like the 540i sport.

The thing is my consumption with the 520i tourning isnt that good at all i would be thinking more 26.5 urban and 32.5 combined but i dont seem to be getting near as good as that. If anyone knows the exact figures for the e34 520i touring please post them.

ALPB1033 · Post by **ALPB1033** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 2:30 am

Hi Thomas,

For E34 520i the consumption is about 26-28 mpg on the long run when doing between 85-95 mph. For urban about 24-27mpg that depends on traffic condition and the age of your car. The maximun I get from a 520i saloon with 72 l tank was about 460 miles and usually between 380 and 420 per tank.
However for my B10 3.3 with 70 l tank I usually get between 420-460 miles per tank. ie. 28-30 mpg. On a long run I did recently I just need two tankfuls of fuel to get home from Berlin(about 800 miles and I did it in 10 hrs including tunnel crossing) with about 60-90 mile of fuel left.
So if you driving the Alpina with 3-4k rpm on motorway you will find that the consumption is better than the 520i. This is due to the high low down torque from the engine which usually uses a lot of fuel when you try to move a heavy car. This applies to your V8 as well beside the Alpina is designed to save fuel especially in urban driving. So you better take note of that from now on and you will be amaused by that.
Your V8 should be doing about 24-27mpg and this can be verified by the other members of the forum. Sometime I can see my 3.3. consumption have a range of 500-560m per tank. That was the time I was driving between 55-65mph.

thomas v8 · Post by **thomas v8** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 11:53 am

James do you use standard unleaded or the higher grade fuel in your 520i. And do you think it makes much difference in the 520i.

Does your Alpina have the swicth- tronic or is it a manual. Am i right in thinking my consumption would be better in the swicth-tron mode rather than the E programe around town. So really around town the B10 would give better fuel consumption than the E34 520i.

ALPB1033 · Post by **ALPB1033** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 2:36 am

I use(or my wife) the standard unlead either from the supermarket fuel station or Shell for the 520i. But for my B10 3.3 manual I use the Shell V power unless I have no choice. Then I will use the best available. However I do find that if I use the higher octane fuel for my B10 I got more milage per tank.
For town driving the switchtronic should give you more milage than the manual.

gazoo · Post by **gazoo** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 11:59 am

Here are my economy figures for my 2002 B3S:

Purchased 26th March 2006

Miles Driven 15812

Petrol Cost Â£2687.08
Miles Per Gallon 26.73

Pence Per Mile 16.99

rcshott · Post by **rcshott** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 12:19 pm

'89 E34 B10 I get 24mpg overall, on 98ron, with a heavy foot. Recently been "expiermenting" with slower average speeds as well as using the vacume guage.

Still 'looking' but appears possibly OVER 30mpg! Don't enjoy the ride nearly as much though...

Too busy continually watching speedo & vacume guage

Tinker · Post by **Tinker** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 8:14 pm

From memory the
- B3 3.3 returned about 29-30mpg on the OBC
- B10 V8 about 27mpg on the OBC
- B6S who cares

but it was low 20's
- D10 38mpg on OBC
- RLE again who cares, but over motorway 1000miles it returned 32mpg
- B8 I don't have a long range tank

and it returns 21mpg OBC since I've had it - lowest a scary 9! best 26mpg in Italy at 240kph (go figure ...)

theALPINAregister.com

Whats your fuel economy like ?

My B3S Stats