i never thought 25m.p.g. would be possible.....

[tim s]

i took a 280 mile trip on the pa turnpike in the 1995 540i/a. the obc claimed 24.5, but actual was 25.1 m.p.g.. i am amazed this 3800lb. car could get this.
i am making the same trip this week again & i'm anxious to see how well it does again.
tim s.

[icm5er]

highway driving for somewhat long distances, the car manages very well. I suppose it has a lot to do with the fact that it is still fairly new, with only 52k miles, everything is still operating at peak performance. Even with the air conditioning on, I believe it still gets around 23mpg.

http://www.bimmer.info/bmw/ivanc/083103-M5-RRear%20Beach.jpg

[Derek A.]

You guys are not driving fast enough :)

[bjl4776]

I got an average of 25mpg on a 1200 mile trip i had to fill up 3 times, not to bad considering i got 200k miles on it

[rickm]

I pulled just short of 28 on a trip to Florida from NC. 85 to 90 on the highway with 2 bikes and stuff on the roof and the AC on. Not too shabby.

[scott540]

I've gotten 26 on long drives. 80 mph in 6th gear

[ryan roopnarine]

the m50 got 31.2 mpg going 1450 miles in 19 hours (or 76 mph INCLUDING bathroom breaks) as I was driving much faster than that at nightime (85-90). we got stuck in atlanta traffic on return, so 28.1 mpg over 1500 miles in 20.5 hours. then again, the return trip started off with a tank of no name 87 octane, which might have something to do with it.

[rickm]

Ryan, how do you get 30+ out of this thing? I wish I could, I guess if I was a bit more frugal I'd see that. That would take all of the fun out of driving though. My sea level mpg (around Destin) was a bit higher.

[ryan roopnarine]

the bg44k did absolute wonders for my car....best 17 bucks i ever spent on an improvement. i'm finding that i can get 30 mpg at a cruise controlled 70 now, 100% ac use, even with fat 10w40 conventional oil. if you get periodic fuel injector cleanings, it might not help as much as it did for me. the OBC also reported severely inaccurate readings, when i got to toronto, i was kinda upset that the thing was showing about 24.0 mpg. it was only when i added up the receipts for gas that i realised that it was about 31 mpg. If i could have driven the entire distance myself, I might have been able to hit 33 or 34 mpg, but my sis (who is an awful driver) took over while i cat napped. i was using m1 0w40 with tire inflation set for maximum passenger/cargo (i like it set hard). after that trip, my gas mileage only seems to be going higher and higher, guess it did it good. my only problem with the bg44k is that it is nasty on motor oil, it is not like techron which you can be ignorant of and dump it in for 2k miles with no ill effects. within 6 hours of beginning the trip, I was down about 1/3 quart from the bg burning it off.

[Warren N.CA]

trade it in on a new Civic. :)



Ryan, how do you get 30+ out of this thing? I wish I could, I guess if I was a bit more frugal I'd see that. That would take all of the fun out of driving though. My sea level mpg (around Destin) was a bit higher.

[Bob Gardner]

17 mog highway! i win! but seriously, wtf is going on? i got a checkengine code of 1221 and it said something about the o2 sensor. i changed it. nothing improved. the light is showing the same code, so what else could it be? could i have goten a bad 02 sensor to begin with?

[rickm]

trade it in on a new Civic. :)

Is it ok to say KMA on a Sunday. :D I rode in a Civic this past week, it's no E34.

[Sweetwater]

I got 25 mpg from SFran over the Sierra's then 28 mpg across Nevada. Ran 80 mph to keep from getting my first ticket. Looking forward to a high speed blast on some of I80 this summer to check on my dad. BTW, Happy Fathers Day to all.

[molesz]

Well guys, I got just an old '91 520i M50 with manual tran. with 180.000 km in it, plus 17" Borbet rims, with 235/45 tyres and somehow manage to get 33,5 mpg at 70 mph (with wife, kid and some luggage a/c off). Previously I owned '82 E28 520ia, a real petrol guzler, but I was surprised with my "new" E34.

[ryan roopnarine]

are those imperial or US standard (=3.78 L) gallons?

[molesz]

US gallons 3,785 l

[ryan roopnarine]

i guess that would make you das winner then :^) i asked because they don't sell the 520s in North America, assumed it was british market car. I made my car a m50 525 into a 516 when the computer died and I had to shut off cylinders 1 and 6 to drive it to miami....gutless piece it was! and the worst part was that i only got about 25 mpg doing it!

[molesz]

Seriously, other than the rim and tire thing i got only a Remus rear muffler and thats about all the modifications I have in it. I use 10w40 synthetic, 95 octane unleaded fuel and every 2k miles I add one Liqui Molly injector/valve/everythingcleanerstuff to a full tank of gas. Change air filter frequently ... oh, and check the tire pressure on a weekly basis.

[Unregistered]

Seriously, other than the rim and tire thing i got only a Remus rear muffler and thats about all the modifications I have in it. I use 10w40 synthetic, 95 octane unleaded fuel and every 2k miles I add one Liqui Molly injector/valve/everythingcleanerstuff to a full tank of gas. Change air filter frequently ... oh, and check the tire pressure on a weekly basis.

damn straight. now that's how you take care of a car.

[cadman]

1991 535i, 220,000 miles

22 mpg at 75 mph

[David Chen]

Since there are so many variables related to fuel economy calculations, how about everybody post the farthest they've gone on one tankful.

My best is 560 miles between Great Falls, MT & Bismarck, ND, averaging 78mph. That works out to better than 27mpg. And there was still ~1 gallon remaining because the refill only took 20.5

Cheers,

David
'95 M540i/6

[ryan roopnarine]

from the trip i mentioned where i got 31.x at the end of 1450 miles.......on one sampling, i got 430 miles on 3/4 tank. I would fill up every 1/4 tank for cooling off and oil check reasons. the tank takes about 18 before it automatically clicks off, so 18-5 gallons=33.x mpg. strangely enough, this was on some bargain basement 89 octane that we bought in georgia cause it was 1.86/gallon. this is only from one leg, after my sister drove, it brought down the average. also keep in mind that number 6 spark plug became loose and started to rattle around at low speed around hour 6, so that might have helped/hurt economy. it was a long time between bathroom breaks, for sure.