[Tengocity]

I currently have a 335d tourer and long term average for me is about 37mpg. I like the car but I do a lot of long, boring motorway journeys so thinking about getting a 5 (or 6) series, and giving the 335d to the wife to use. I think the extra comfort, refinement, reduced road/wind noise would be very nice.

Just curious as to what typical UK 5 series drivers get from their cars? My car is remapped as well as having xdrive, so thinking a standard 530d, 535d or 640d would be similar or even better?

[morellomax]

I reckon the larger size of the F10 body will just about cancel out the advantage of 2WD and you will get similar mpg.

Personally I average about 37mpg as well, but would get more like 45 mpg if I slowed down a bit and spent more time on the motorway......

[Johnny Grabble]

All depends how you drive it. Even on motorways, if you are at 85 all the time, then on and off the throttle and brakes all the time you'll do a lot worse than at 70 and driving with anticipation.
What I've found to be a fairly accurate predictor has been to use sites like spritmonitor.de or fuelly.com to see what others get and see where my current mpg fits into the range of reported figures. So for example, if my current mpg in my current model is 10% higher than the average reported for this model on one of these sites, it's also likely to be 10% higher than the average reported for the new model.
I did this before I got my current 535d and predicted 46 this way. I'm getting in the 47's - I do a lot of motorway. Just got back from some fun around the lanes today...34.

[AP]

as stated earlier, depends how you drive it.

My long term average was reset when I last did some KOMBI coding , but since then it has 45.mpg (530d) . That's mostly gentle motorway driving with some occasional town driving and the odd spot of flooring it!
I'd say that it is at the upper range and perhaps 35-40 mpg might be more realistic.
Gentle driving I can get 35mpg around town if not too much traffic.

[Tengocity]

Thanks guys.

When I drive for work I take it easy and get 40ish as it tends to be steady motorway, but dips to low 30s over the weekend.
My use of a 5/6 would be more the former and so hopefully can keep it in the 40s.

[gibbonm]

My 535d Runs at about 45ish on a long motorway run, 80mph,

But round town, it is around 33, most of my journeys are less than 12 miles, but i still sit at 36ish average

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by gibbonm

My 535d Runs at about 45ish on a long motorway run, 80mph,

But round town, it is around 33, most of my journeys are less than 12 miles, but i still sit at 36ish average

Cheers, that's better than my 355d would do. You guys also have 70 litre tanks? 3 series has 57 litre tanks, so that's close to 100 miles extra range too, and I'm guessing comfortably over 500 miles between fills?

[The Beast]

I do purely city miles and am not particularly gentle with the car, I get 26-27 mpg. Mid 30's on an end to end longer run, again not trying to be super efficient.

[morellomax]

Also worth sticking with 18's if this car will be the motorway cruiser. Helps a bit with mpg, ride and road noise.

[shiner]

In one year of driving my 530D Auto (19" wheels) 14000 miles during which I have never reset the long term fuel consumption indicator, I have averaged, over short trips and longer motorway trips, 39.8mg. I'm generally a steady sort of driver but not averse to flooring it now and then to see what she can do.

[MARKPRIOR]

Originally Posted by The Beast

I do purely city miles and am not particularly gentle with the car, I get 26-27 mpg. Mid 30's on an end to end longer run, again not trying to be super efficient.

Same here

[MMY]

Just coming up to 20000km in 530d with 19 inch wheels, mixture of driving but mostly A roads and town...I don't drive in an eco friendly manner...the OBC gives me a long term average just over 40 mpg. Previous 330d on 18s on same driving mix was high 40s

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by MMY

Just coming up to 20000km in 530d with 19 inch wheels, mixture of driving but mostly A roads and town...I don't drive in an eco friendly manner...the OBC gives me a long term average just over 40 mpg. Previous 330d on 18s on same driving mix was high 40s

Interesting, so you'd say the 530d is quite a bit less efficient over similar usage?

[AP]

I'd assume a 5 series with the same engine as a 3 series would have a lower mpg just based on being heavier.

I think the 530d is a perfect compromise between performance and economy. Sips fuel when at a constant speed but pushes you back in your seat when you floor it.(assume you are careful booting it as it will want to spin the wheels quite easily otherwise)

[Pottsy]

As others have said, it depends hugely on how you drive. Not just city / A road / Mway, but also on levels of anticipation. Low MPG normally found on cars with heavily dusted front wheels... Also constantly varying the throttle on the motorway can ruin economy.

Also, beware the highly optimistic on-board MPG meter. Mine was well out (see graph below - you can spot when I calibrated it in the summer).

Here's my MPG over the last year (535d F10). Lots of motorway work. Average real MPG (from the pump) is 48, recently going down due to increased town and fun driving.

[Pottsy]

Originally Posted by AP

I'd assume a 5 series with the same engine as a 3 series would have a lower mpg just based on being heavier.

I think the 530d is a perfect compromise between performance and economy. Sips fuel when at a constant speed but pushes you back in your seat when you floor it.(assume you are careful booting it as it will want to spin the wheels quite easily otherwise)

Weights / MPG:

335d: 1770 / 49.6
530d: 1785 / 51.4-55.4
535d: 1810 / 50.4-52.3

You can see that there's no real weight difference. A 335d with a full tank of fuel weighs the same as a 535d with a quarter tank.

The 5 series range of MPG is there because of different body specs (including wheel sizes). The lower figures will be the "good 'ole M Sport with 19 inch wheels", so lets look at those for comparison....

There's nothing in it. A range of 1-2 MPG in the test is miles less than the range from driver to driver (maybe 10 MPG). The 335d should be slightly better with less frontal area, but is dragged down more by the increased mechanical drag from the 4WD gubbins.

So the choice is down to "how nice" and "how much". I find the 5 series to be much nicer than the 3, and I personally put quite a lot of value on the low rpm performance of the 35d compared to the 30d (enough to warrant the extra cost), hence 535d.

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by Pottsy

Weights / MPG:

335d: 1770 / 49.6
530d: 1785 / 51.4-55.4
535d: 1810 / 50.4-52.3

You can see that there's no real weight difference. A 335d with a full tank of fuel weighs the same as a 535d with a quarter tank.

The 5 series range of MPG is there because of different body specs (including wheel sizes). The lower figures will be the "good 'ole M Sport with 19 inch wheels", so lets look at those for comparison....

There's nothing in it. A range of 1-2 MPG in the test is miles less than the range from driver to driver (maybe 10 MPG). The 335d should be slightly better with less frontal area, but is dragged down more by the increased mechanical drag from the 4WD gubbins.

So the choice is down to "how nice" and "how much". I find the 5 series to be much nicer than the 3, and I personally put quite a lot of value on the low rpm performance of the 35d compared to the 30d (enough to warrant the extra cost), hence 535d.

Yes this is much what I'd expect, and actually I think the 4wd losses have more of an impact than the official economy tests lead you to believe (comparing real world 320 and 330 cars with sdrive and xdrive), so much so that I expect I'd see better consumption out of a 535d than my 335d.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

Yes this is much what I'd expect, and actually I think the 4wd losses have more of an impact than the official economy tests lead you to believe (comparing real world 320 and 330 cars with sdrive and xdrive), so much so that I expect I'd see better consumption out of a 535d than my 335d.

I believe you are correct concerning xDrive and the impact on mpg. The harder you work an xDrive model, the greater the drivetrain losses. There is thinking that AWD adds a fixed percentage of losses, say an extra 15%, but drivetrain losses are not a constant, not even linear. Lots of hard acceleration and/or high speed driving will impact even more.

Pottsy makes some interesting observations, including the similarity in weight. I wouldn't be surprised if the figures will be within a couple of mpg.

HighlandPete

[PatrickM3]

my typical use for 530xD: (please convert to mpg yourself)
after 165.000 kilometers

mainly easy highway: 7.0 l/100km
combination highway / rural roads 7.5 l/100km
city: 9.5 l/100km
Sporty driving total average 8.8 - 10 l/100km
insane driving 15.5 l/100km

[shiner]

Over a year of driving In my 535D F11 MSport with a mixture of driving I get about 36-37mpg. About 2mpg thirstier than the 530D that I had when I replied earlier in the thread.

[JOHNBMWM5]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

Cheers, that's better than my 355d would do. You guys also have 70 litre tanks? 3 series has 57 litre tanks, so that's close to 100 miles extra range too, and I'm guessing comfortably over 500 miles between fills?

I have covered 700 miles now and getting over 600 miles per tank.
Mainly out of town driving with some town.
Did 100 miles each way to London and back 85/90 MPH both ways filled it after and = 38.5 MPG brim to brim.

[turboblue]

Another two-penneth...

F10 530d M-Sport (on 19" wheels - so doing myself no favours here)

Over 5000 miles - mostly driven out of town / on motorways, it is showing an average of 44 MPG, and I think it is still loosening up a bit...