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2010 2011 BMW 5 Series Forum F10 BMW 5-Series Gran Turismo GT (F07) Forums General 5-Series GT (Gran Turismo) (F07) Forum 40 MPG?
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      11-19-2010, 07:21 AM   #1
Noodles23
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40 MPG?

Driving around central London in a 530D usually gives me 15-20mpg, but on the open road (or the M4) last week I was nudging 40mpg - not bad for something so big & heavy.
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      11-19-2010, 01:03 PM   #2
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40mpg imperial or US? The European extraurban test on that vehicle says about 42mpg (US). I'm still waiting for them to decide to bring that into the US. It just makes more sense to me than the petrol 535i.

I tried to discover the parameters for the European fuel economy cycles, but gave up after awhile on Google. All I found were there are three values: urban, extraurban, and combined; not how they conduct the tests.
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      11-20-2010, 06:21 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Noodles23 View Post
but on the open road (or the M4) last week I was nudging 40mpg - not bad for something so big & heavy.
What's your secret? Hard as I try,I can't manage more than 34.6 mpg on a very long motorway run Current mileage 7K.
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      11-21-2010, 07:03 AM   #4
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This is my biggest problem with the car - I can only hit 28mpg as an average (most journeys are 10 miles of a road and 3 miles of city commute). This is hilariously short of the 42 advertised. I was expecting a realistic 34 average on my 530D, what is everyone else getting?
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      11-21-2010, 10:01 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hooplescat View Post
This is my biggest problem with the car - I can only hit 28mpg as an average (most journeys are 10 miles of a road and 3 miles of city commute). This is hilariously short of the 42 advertised. I was expecting a realistic 34 average on my 530D, what is everyone else getting?
Have you done any long runs? I had the same problem as you until recently.Still averaging 34.2 for short runs.What mileage have you done? Mind you,I don't believe in "bedding in" improvements to fuel consumption in modern engines.
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      11-21-2010, 12:57 PM   #6
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Mine is a new engine, with about 700 miles on it. I have done a couple of medium length (50 mile) runs, at nice steady speeds, but it doesn't seem to get much better. If I could get it to 34mpg I would be happy, but at the moment that doesn't look too easy to achieve!

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      11-21-2010, 02:21 PM   #7
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41.5MPG

Just back from a longish (220 mile) run which was showing me 41.5MPG (big imperial gallons) as we approached London. The traffic wasn't too bad, so that's varying between 60 & erm, 70ish, most of the way.

The engine has done almost 9k, and its about the third tank through of BP Ultimate Diesel since I switched from the standard stuff.

I think the key to getting decent mileage is the ability to keep a reasonable constant speed, and maybe even the 5mph tail wind helped. I only got high 30's in the opposite direction, although the traffic was much heavier doe the first hour.

All in all, it's yet another impressive thing about a very impressive car.
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      11-22-2010, 10:23 AM   #8
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I forgot to mention,my figures are on Shell V Power (only diesel used)
I think your consumption figures will improve in time (mine did)
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      11-22-2010, 11:28 AM   #9
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Poor Milage

My major concern is that my 550GT is getting far less than 15 mpg. In fact, based on the last reset at 3000 miles, the average is under 10 mpg! Its city driving, to be sure, but that value is still horridly under the official estmates.
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      11-22-2010, 03:12 PM   #10
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How long is your usual drive? While many test sequences start out with the engine cold, I'm not sure how the European test is performed...it could start out with it warm, or, it could include a much longer drive after fully warmed up. Shorter drives and numerous cold starts will produce abysmal fuel economy. The thing only works really efficiently once it is fully warmed up.

Prior to retiring, I had a moderate commute, mostly on the highway of about 20miles each way. I got about 20-21mpg (US) on the thing. Now, most of my trips are barely a mile each way to do things like go to the grocery store or mall (which are obviously close by). While doing that, the same car has been getting 12-13mpg. Lately, I've been driving over to a park and riding my bike there on the trails. Because it is about 10-miles away, the car gets warmed up more, and I'm getting about 16-17mpg. I took a long trip a few days ago and got about 23mpg cruising at about 72mph. So, it really depends on the duration of the trip, where you are driving, and how you drive (agressive starts and braking at the last moment rather than coasting to that red light really suck up fuel and don't get you there any faster).
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      11-11-2011, 04:48 PM   #11
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Picked my 535d GT up earlier this week from Central London to Midlands including traffic & playing with power got 41+mpg. Car is ex demo with 8,000 mile
s and much better than my Jaguar XF diesel ever achieved. All down to anticipation and thinking ahead rather than all right foot, if failing that get DMS chip as that helps !
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      11-11-2011, 06:01 PM   #12
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40 MPG Imperial = 32MPG U.S. correct?

I get that with my 535i.

I would think diesels would do better.

However, my friend has a 2010 VW Jetta TDI 2.0 which only gets 40 MPG U.S. at the most and that is with a smaller/lighter car. So go figure.
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      12-12-2011, 10:12 AM   #13
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530d GT with 25,000 miles covered in 12 months. Average mpg from new is now 37.2 (imperial) It has dropped over recent months from 37.6. I'm not sure if this is more right foot or more Central London driving.
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      01-18-2012, 03:37 AM   #14
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There does seem to be a big variation in MPG forum members achieve but I can only say I'm impressed with the fuel returns I get from my 2010 530dGT. It currently has just under 12,000 miles on the clock and our main use is for lengthy journeys (3 up to now) between the UK and Spain with journeys, over a couple of days, of around 650 miles a day. We use motorways in France and Spain and my last trip averaged 41.8mpg (UK, imperial gallon) over the 1320 mile return trip.

Driving style on these trips is usually leisurely on cruise control for the vast majority of the journey which I set at around 75mph. The rev counter rarely going over 1500rpm.

Local town usage is only around 26mpg, although I rarely check MPG in any detail but still good for a big motor. Diesel in the UK is currently selling at over £1.40 a litre so there is no way I would even consider a petrol engined car, although a new M5 would be on my list when I win the lottery!

A quick conversion....UK diesel prices now are around £6.37 a UK imperial gallon and that is around US $9.80. However, the imperial gallon (4.547 litres) is 20% larger than the United States gallon.
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      01-18-2012, 06:21 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by beemermal View Post
A quick conversion....UK diesel prices now are around £6.37 a UK imperial gallon and that is around US $9.80. However, the imperial gallon (4.547 litres) is 20% larger than the United States gallon.
US diesel prices are generally less than half of that, but since our refiners make diesel sort of as an afterthought rather than a primary ouput, it gets more expensive in the winter when it is competing with heating oil, which is essentially the same thing. It's sort of a mute point, though, as BMW refuses to bring the diesel GT into the USA, at least for the present.

WHere I live, premium gas/petrol costs about $4.20 now, but varies +/- a bit (It was $3.60 not that long ago before Christmas). Things are creeping up right now based on worries about Iran's threats...

On a trip, I get around 30mpg on my 535i cruising at about 72mph, that's about 37mpg Imperial. We generally can't go as fast as you can, so that helps make a difference, and it is lower in the winter than the summer. One might expect the a/c to load more, but I guess not.
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      01-19-2012, 03:07 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jadnashuanh View Post
WHere I live, premium gas/petrol costs about $4.20 now, but varies +/- a bit (It was $3.60 not that long ago before Christmas). Things are creeping up right now based on worries about Iran's threats.
Quite frankly no main stream car manufacturer would survive in Europe unless diesel options were available in their range.

At the price we pay for fuel (over 75% in taxes) a petrol (gas) derivative is "nice to have" but rarely an option for many people....resale prices on diesel motors also hold up much better than petrol versions over here so unless the car is tax deductable or wholly company financed the options are usually decided for us!

Last edited by beemermal; 01-19-2012 at 05:27 AM..
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      01-19-2012, 06:22 PM   #17
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Personally, I waited almost two years after the GT was announced, hoping the diesel would be coming here, but after a rep at the NYC autoshow said no way, at least until mid-cycle update (maybe next year) would it be a possibility - I relented and bought the 535i. My old car was just making me more an more annoyed so I took the plunge.

In some ways, I'd like to see the fuel prices go up IF they applied those funds ONLY to roads, not just the general revenue spending. We have lots of bridges and roads that should be fixed/replaced, and that would go a long way towards helping. It's one of those pay me now or pay me later things, as bumpy roads and detours end up costing more in fuel because of delays, and shortened life on things like shocks, springs, wheels and tires. So, it likely would cost the same out of pocket, but it's not on the political horizon.
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      01-21-2012, 04:22 PM   #18
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My 528i gets 29mpg in mixed driving, and 34mpg straight highway.
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      01-21-2012, 05:10 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by snj1013 View Post
My 528i gets 29mpg in mixed driving, and 34mpg straight highway.
The GT is a lot heavier, then throw in the x-drive and I'm happy I get what I get! More would be nice, and the newer ones may achieve that. Plus, I literally couldn't bend myself into that model, so it wasn't on my radar as a possibility.
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      11-11-2012, 02:11 AM   #20
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Interest in 530d/ 520d consumption figures

All
I am new here, and considering moving to a new 520d GT or an ex-demo 530d GT.

I have driven 2 VW Phaeton 3.0 diesel for the past 5 years and overall these show an OBC of about 31mpg long term: a range of up to 600 miles on the 80L fill-up.

I am really interested in the trade off in performance of the 520GT. On paper it looks adequate, and the extra economy might be an acceptable price for the slight 4 cylinder noise at tickover, but experience suggests that working a smaller diesel hard kills economy, so the 530d might be worth it.

All help for a newby appreciated!

As a side issue, the 184hp diesel in the GT is so much quiteter than in the 520d touring. My wife & I drove them both at dealer, and the GT is so much more like a luxury car. Really impressive.
Don't understand why it's not more popular. But then again, I did drive VW Phaeton; another totally misunderstood car!
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      11-11-2012, 06:01 AM   #21
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At close to 2.5 tons, the GT is never going to be as fuel efficient as a similar-engined sedan or touring in 520d/530d guise or any petrol-engined motor.

The GT also appears to be quite sensitive to driving style: Huge penalties for driving with a heavy right foot, or rabbitting out of traffic lights, or driving in 'Sport/Sport+' mode in my experience. On the other hand, if you drive in 'Normal' mode, with good anticipation and even driving style; and use a premium-fuel like Shell V-Power, it is known to perform by atleast 15% better; around 34-38mpg in mixed driving with 2 adults and no luggage.

On my usual urban commute [5 miles of start stop traffic with average 20mph traffic], i have got 28mpg driving in Sport mode and up to 30 mpg in Normal mode. On the rare ocassion that I have tried driving consciously for efficiency - to win a bet with a friend, it lasted about 2 days - I got 34 mpg.

On long motorway dashes, at 'usual' UK motorway speeds, it is easy to get 34-38 mpg and I presume this would be better with cruise-control, and 'normal' mode for transmission/drivetrain.

I know how i like to drive, and it is a BMW so we have all signed up to a certain kind of performance and driving response, so I guess you have to come to a balance. I wouldnt buy an Efficient-Dynamics model and anyone here looking for that kind of efficiency will never be happy with the GT. You're better off with the 320d/520d sedan.

The UK market is recognising that small turbo-charged petrol engines are as efficient as diesels and i was interested to see that the 116i is out-selling the diesel models, something that caught BMW by surprise and has lead to long lead times.

Just my 2p.

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      11-11-2012, 11:00 AM   #22
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530d GT

SpokenHands

thanks for that. Your experience is more or less what I hoped for. At the end of the day, it's all about how you drive, and the greater the mass, the greater the significance of driving style.
I tend to cruise, but like to have some power in reserve if needed

The focus on running costs tends to be prior to the purchase, not after the event...

It's looking more like a 530d GT every day

Hugh
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