[The Beast]

Originally Posted by texasjohn

I don't like this thread.

But seriously fair play for running a 550i in the UK

[texasjohn]

it's really not that bad

[Beancounter_74]

Just recently traded in my 15 month old F10 MSport with 6 speed manual.
34,000 miles with an average of 41.3mph. MPG throughout the whole ownership 43.0!

To be honest I never tried to conserve fuel, so that is driving the car exactly how I wanted to. I didn't think that was bad.

The even better news is my F31 335d is running near 38mpg with a far more playful driving style.

[gIzzE]

Originally Posted by youknowluke

Sure is I had a thrifty BMW 520d MSport 63 plate lci brand new 1000 miles on the clock I put 20,000 miles on it in two weeks and it did 50mpg and I was driving it hard. not to mention it was an estate aswell!! Normal auto not sports.

You what?!

From my door in Norfolk to Fort William it is 500 miles.
No way I could do that 40 times in 2 weeks.

From my door to St. Tropez it is 1000 miles, no way I could even do that run 20 times in 2 weeks either.

I'm intrigued how and where you managed to rack up 20k miles in 2 weeks?

I managed 16,000 miles in 10 weeks and that felt like I was constantly in the car.

[IanS100]

Maybe he's a test pilot for rolling roads

[dippo]

It's only averaging 59 mph 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

[The Beast]

Almost 1,500 miles a day for two weeks solid...

[AP]

that must be 2000 miles in 2 weeks surely?

[youknowluke]

I just downsized and got an F20, my F10 used to manage between 42-48. My f20 auto 118i is doing between 50-56mpg, and I would trade the extra space for the rattle of the diesel to be gone anytime. The 118i is more punchy than the diesel aswell and revs high thanks to the twin power turbo.

I really think diesel is on the way out now especially with all the scandals the rise of the congestion charge for diesels, future higher tax rates etc.

Consider petrol ;-) I did and I will never go back to black

[newstuart]

Had my 520 manual custom remaped and get between 48 & 52 mpg pretty much however i drive it. Thats doing 10,000 in the 4 months i have had it.

Thats working it out at each fill not the car computer

[K6MHX]

Originally Posted by newstuart

Had my 520 manual custom remaped and get between 48 & 52 mpg pretty much however i drive it. Thats doing 10,000 in the 4 months i have had it.

Thats working it out at each fill not the car computer

Who did your remap?

[newstuart]

http://www.theperformancecentre.co.uk/

These guys, well recomended, transformed the car

[K6MHX]

Originally Posted by newstuart

http://www.theperformancecentre.co.uk/

These guys, well recomended, transformed the car

How much did it cost if you don't mind me asking?

[newstuart]

From memory it was around £450 for a full days work spending most of the time on a rolling road. With the mileage I do it will pay for itself over time plus it is so much nicer to drive

[Balster]

Finally my car shows the potential - ok ok its only an hours worth of driving, but the potential is there to get close the claimed mpg for a 520d.

[DDarkEnergy]

The average consumption after 2.4 years and 31,000miles is:
[5.87 l/100km or 48 mpg.

Premium Diesel consumption is 5.80 l/100km or 49 mpg (about 20,000 miles)
Normal Diesel consumption is 6.02 l/100km or 47 mpg. (about 10,000 miles)

[DDarkEnergy]

Just to check on the manufacturers quoted consumption values (extra urban 65.7mpg) I did last night a 35miles test run in the M11 at an average speed of 55mph. I started the test (reset the trip computer) when the engine was up to working temperature for more than 10 miles. The ambient temperature was 13C and there was some side wind. The car has winter tyres with cold pressure of 2.2bar at front and 2.6bar at rear. There were two people on board, the tank was almost full and we carried a light load in the boot. A/C and seat heating were on. Transmission in ECO-PRO mode.

The average consumption was 69.2 mpg.

This OBC value is corrected to the average R2R of 31,000 miles.
The correction factor is 4.1% and is accurate to better than 0.2% at 1 sigma level.

[gIzzE]

Which is very good really as the test speed is only 39mph.

[DDarkEnergy]

Originally Posted by gIzzE

Which is very good really as the test speed is only 39mph.

Yes the average speed of the extra-urban cycle is 39mph but unlike my test it includes several large speed changes with accelerations and brakings. After a 20sec initial idling it accelerates to 43mph then decelerates to 30mph. After two more speed changes, 39mph and 60 mph, it reaches 75mph and cruises at that speed for 10sec then slowly brakes to a full stop and idles for 20sec.

The reason behind my result being better than the EU cycle one is that the speed in my test varied only in a very narrow range, roughly between 55 and 65 mph and did not include any stop.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by DDarkEnergy

Just to check on the manufacturers quoted consumption values (extra urban 65.7mpg) I did last night a 35miles test run in the M11 at an average speed of 55mph. I started the test (reset the trip computer) when the engine was up to working temperature for more than 10 miles. The ambient temperature was 13C and there was some side wind. The car has winter tyres with cold pressure of 2.2bar at front and 2.6bar at rear. There were two people on board, the tank was almost full and we carried a light load in the boot. A/C and seat heating were on. Transmission in ECO-PRO mode.

The average consumption was 69.2 mpg.

Excellent figure. Clearly indicates how hard it is these days with manufacturers squeezing out the last drop in the NEDC test, to get near the extra urban figure.

So different to a few years ago (within the same test regime) where consumption figures were more realistic and we could get extra urban figures driving long trips even at motorway speeds. My E39 540i would exceed the combined figure by about 25% (long term) in my mixed driving. Trips from the Highlands to Wiltshire (2 + luggage) would exceed the extra urban, no problem. That was driving the roads at maximum legal speeds.

I recall one trip down to Banbury in a B5 Passat 110 TDI, when I pulled in at Warwick Services, OBC was over 69mpg. Well over the extra urban figure for the journey at 70mph.

HighlandPete

[MrPogle]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

My E39 540i would exceed the combined figure by about 25% (long term) in my mixed driving.

Out of interest, what were those figures? My E39 540i averaged 23mpg and would do 27mpg on long trips.

Now I've got a 550 F10 and I'm averaging 25mpg with another 160bhp. It's incredible really.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by MrPogle

Out of interest, what were those figures? My E39 540i averaged 23mpg and would do 27mpg on long trips.

Now I've got a 550 F10 and I'm averaging 25mpg with another 160bhp. It's incredible really.

That's a decent figure, as a guesstimate I'd hope to see ~27mpg in a 550i in my driving conditions.

My E39 540i auto was a touring, excellent spec', included double glazing, so at the heavy end of the scale as well. I'd return 30 - 31mpg on the long trips. Long term average over 4-years was 25 - 27mpg, according to season.

By comparison the F11 535i is averaging 30.7mpg long term (3+ years) and on the long runs to Wiltshire is 33 - 34mpg. Not such a big jump up in mpg. But there again, it's a similar weight as the E39 and similar performance, so not really surprising. Plus official figures show a much larger mpg shortfall these days. My 540i was rated at 21.7mpg combined, the F11 535i is 33.2mpg.

HighlandPete