[eskdale]

I have just taken delivery on Friday of a new F11 520d M Sport. But have discovered that there are no Shutters fitted behind the Kidney Grills. This is one of the Efficient Dynamics features that BMW make a big deal about as it allows the Engine to warm up quickly and hence improves fuel economy and emissions as well as reducing engine wear. Additionally is is supposed to improve aerodynamics again improving emissions.

The vehicle is fitted with Night vision and the camera is mounted in the grill. Now when I placed the order I thought to myself would this affect the active grills so asked the salesman at the time. He assured me that as removing it would affect the emissions and as the configurator did not indicate that the emissions were changing and there was no mention of it being removed then it would be there.

Now I have the vehicle and everything else is great except I'm not happy with this situation. Given a choice I would have the active grill and not the night vision. The active grill will get used on every journey the night vision only a few.

Can BMW make changes like this which affect the emissions for the worse with specifying it?

Thanks

[BigKutta]

Hmmm, doesn't sound right. I am gonna check for my shutters but I don't have night vision. I assume these are open when it's hot outside and closed when it's very cold?

[Losco]

at least my car doesn't have this.

[E90Fleet]

Its the air duct behind the kidneys you are referring to.
The F10 has a number of air ducts fitted depending on equipment and country.

The M Sports pack and the Night Vision does change the Air duct used, but many countries dont get the one that closes no matter what options they have

To get to the country must specify option "1CB"


I am not sure if the UK gets 1CB. Have you seen other 520d with the option fitted in the UK ?
I have not seen it on any F10 here.

Either way, i dont believe any car with night vision gets the closing flaps in any country.

[rory1968]

I have a 2011 520D Auto.it has the shutters behind the grill.Once the engine is hot,they open up. Mine is pre; stop/start technology.

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by rory1968

I have a 2011 520D Auto.it has the shutters behind the grill.Once the engine is hot,they open up. Mine is pre; stop/start technology.

Ok, so the UK does get 1CB then on certain cars.
But the night vision cancels it out.

[eskdale]

I'm very disappointed at the moment because I feel BMW should fit these grills as they advertise the car as having them in the UK and if you watch all their advertising on them about how wonderful they are in improving the Fuel economy and emissions. You don't expect them to be deleted without warning when you purchase a £1.5K option of night vision. Sure adding Night vision requires some engineering but that is why you pay so much for it. The car is now not going to meet the fuel economy or emissions advertised. Surely it can't be that difficult to engineer it. All the 5 series in the showroom had them but the dealer had never sold a night vision.

[Jon D]

Originally Posted by eskdale

...The car is now not going to meet the fuel economy or emissions advertised...

If that can be demonstrated by conducting an emissions test and it is proven that the car has not been sold as advertised, I think you have justifiable cause to request the removal of the IR system along with a full refund and fitment of the flaps.

[Holmax]

And you honestly expect that it would meet the mpg figures if they were fitted.
I've had quite a few new cars and I'm yet to find one that will match what the brochure says. Nearest I've ever got is when driving like st tippy toe of delicate and even then I've never managed it.
Best advice:
There's bigger things in life to worry about. Just enjoy your new car.

[eskdale]

Hi Holmax - That is an interesting question the on-board computer is currently displaying 51.0 mpg - Don't know how accurate it is yet. I've only had the car 6 days but have done 650 miles and the low fuel light has just come on.

I'm pretty light footed and bought the BMW not for its performance but for its economy and all of its options (Toys really - just a old kid)
My previous vehicle was a Ford Galaxy full of toys as well, and the on-board computer on that would typically read between 47 and 53 mpg on a tank but the actual overall calculated measure from the www.fuelly.com was 45 mpg so the computer was optimistic (although the 45 mpg does include some towing where the trip would indicate 38-42 mpg but I estimate it would typically read 5 mpg above the true reading.
Manufactures figures are:
Urban Combined Extra Urban
Galaxy 34.4 43.5 51.4
BMW 46.3 55.4 64.2

So my actual measured mpg on the Galaxy is 45.0 which is better than Combined
but on the BMW its quite a bit short of its combined at the moment assuming the computer is 100% accurate.

Now I accept that a) This is a brand new vehicle and had not loosened up as yet. b) The weather has been cold which always makes a signifacant difference (But then this is when the grills will have the biggest effect)

Time to go and refuel the tank again and see how much it takes

[E90Fleet]

A brand new engine will be far from the figures.
It needs time to run in
Ive always seen improvements till atleast 20,000km ( 12,500 miles ??)


Also, the quoted figures are most probably stated for the engine without the flaps since more than one combination may delete the flaps

[Holmax]

Hi Eskdale,
I'm also not sure how accurate the computer is. I just know that in all the cars I've had with a trip computer, I've never got anything like the theoretical range that the broucher said I could.
However, I'm not worrying too much about it in this case as I've recently come from a 6.2 litre e class amg merc which returned around 17mpg, so the 36-40mpg I'm getting from my 535d seems amazing!
Incidentally, what do you think to the night view? I had it on a cl63 amg merc and found it to be way too distracting and definitely a gimmick. I, as you, love my toys, my 535 is fully loaded with pretty much every toy, but decided not to go for the night view due to my previous experience.

[eskdale]

Hi Holmax,
The on-board computer was indicating 51.0 however the true calculated value on fuel up is 47.1 mpg so it appears to be reading almost 4 mpg higher than the true figure. Does this agree with others findings?
My question is how much would the Grill Shutters improve it?
For anyone interested the analysis of fuel consumption for my Galaxy is available at:-
Galaxy Fuel analysis
This shows a true figure of 45.5 which is higher than the figure that Ford published for the combined mpg for this vehicle (The Galaxy also has the roof rack bars permanently fitted)
The BMW details can be found here:-
BMW Fuel analysis
These are no way near the published combined mpg. I appreciate that they will improve slightly as the engine loosens up and with warmer weather. Although BMW has been driven slightly slower than the Galaxy.
Do BMW quote figures using the Shutters or without them?


As for the Night vision, it is quite impressive. perhaps a bit distracting but shouldn't be much more than watching the rear view mirrors. As any detected danger is signalled in the Head up Display you don't have to watch it in detail. However the manual says this warning only works if the night vision is being displayed, this seems a little stupid as this should work if the night vision is turned on even if it is not currently being displayed. So many things remove the display. As an example if you receive a phone call or make a call the night vision turns off and doesn't turn back on unless you press the Night Vision button again, and this button is not in an easy place to press without looking at it and taking you hands of the wheel. The back button does not restore it so if you use the iDrive you then have to swap hands and look and find the button to turn it back on. There is no voice control command to turn it on either. It just seems a battle to keep it turned on