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      01-07-2021, 05:38 PM   #1
trialNerror
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Abysmal MPG in my 540i

Hey Gang, I'm curious if anyone else is getting poor gas mileage in their 540. My '17 540i xDrive averages 12-15 MPG per the onboard computer. I do mostly City driving and I don't have a heavy foot. Even in Eco Pro I'm still in the teens. I'm getting nowhere near BMW's disclosed 20/29 MPG. Anyone else in the same boat?
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      01-07-2021, 05:44 PM   #2
nisam
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Im @ 14/15 but i drive only in sport mode (regular) if that helps
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      01-07-2021, 05:53 PM   #3
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just wondering what's the difference between sport and sport + mode?
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      01-07-2021, 08:16 PM   #4
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That does seem awfully low. I get 23-25 mixed (mostly highway-style) driving in my 2018 M550i. Have maintained 26+ and could keep it there if I really wanted to. Start in comfort for first 10 miles or so, some adaptive, and never in eco pro. I sport mode it for most of the commute. Similar driving (minus the adaptive) in my 2018 430i and I can keep it 30-31+.
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      01-07-2021, 10:50 PM   #5
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Sounds about right I would imagine. City driving is the worst possible use case for an ICE engine. The frequent acceleration from a stop is the worst for fuel economy. It will vary based on city too. In Philly we have very short blocks that create more frequent stops than cities with a modern road network built for cars. That translates into poor fuel economy unless you can get on the highway and not catch much gridlock.

That reality was what pushed me to the 530e. My previous car would be in the mid-teens with a V6 and I’d be burning gas like crazy. Now I am usually on electric in the city and over 40MPG on the highway (and that’s the low end estimate). For me, it was all about eliminating city drag.

You can try driving different, cleaning your engine with carbon cleaners, etc. Might help a tiny bit since fuel economy drops with carbon buildup. But your biggest problem is driving a V6 primarily in the city and caring about the fuel burn.
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      01-07-2021, 11:29 PM   #6
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When I traded my 540i MSport for M340i, the average MPG was exactly 24.5. I live in Massachusetts, so there is a lot of traffic jams, deity driving involved.
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      01-08-2021, 07:01 AM   #7
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My M550 gets 22mpg in combined city/highway, in comfort mode and sport transmission mode. In cruise control on the highway at 75-80, I get 30-31mpg. Yours sounds very low. I'd see service and get it checked.
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      01-08-2021, 07:39 AM   #8
AP
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My 540 can let high teens (imperial mpg) in central London. As others have said any acceleration will kill consumption and pulling away a car that's close to 2 tons is going to use a lot of fuel.

My average is 32mpg (imperial) and my absolute best though far from normal driving has been 47.7 ) have a photo somewhere of that)
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      01-08-2021, 11:22 AM   #9
LogicalApex
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hlothery View Post
My M550 gets 22mpg in combined city/highway, in comfort mode and sport transmission mode. In cruise control on the highway at 75-80, I get 30-31mpg. Yours sounds very low. I'd see service and get it checked.
I think OP will need to say where they are in the US before we can be sure it is a problem and needs to be serviced.

For instance, Philadelphia city blocks are around 400 feet long compared to 900 feet long in NY. That means a car driving in the city in Philly will stop twice as often as one driving in NYC and fail to reach the same cruising speed that you'll reach in NYC as well. Meaning a NYC car will have better fuel economy city than one in Philly. Acceleration is where your fuel economy tanks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_block
https://whyy.org/articles/3568/

If you're one of the "lead foot" from a stop in a city like Philly you'll have absolutely abysmal fuel economy.

But that's why I went PHEV.
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      01-08-2021, 11:30 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LogicalApex View Post
I think OP will need to say where they are in the US before we can be sure it is a problem and needs to be serviced.

For instance, Philadelphia city blocks are around 400 feet long compared to 900 feet long in NY. That means a car driving in the city in Philly will stop twice as often as one driving in NYC and fail to reach the same cruising speed that you'll reach in NYC as well. Meaning a NYC car will have better fuel economy city than one in Philly. Acceleration is where your fuel economy tanks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_block
https://whyy.org/articles/3568/

If you're one of the "lead foot" from a stop in a city like Philly you'll have absolutely abysmal fuel economy.

But that's why I went PHEV.
Excellent point. Here in Phoenix if one is driving 45, it seems slow.
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      01-08-2021, 07:09 PM   #11
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Drive 50/50 city / highway. And 50/50 sport comfort

I’ve got a 2019 540ix MSport.

Getting 18-22 depending on driving style over that tank.

I’m on Long Island NY.
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      01-09-2021, 09:33 AM   #12
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Yep, exactly the same for me. I don’t get it, here’s my thread

https://g30.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1788818
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      01-10-2021, 01:30 AM   #13
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For turbo engine, the difference between city and highway fuel economy is very high. Ever wonder why a M550 is rated to get 25MPG on the highway but only 16MPG in the city? If your commute is mostly city with lots of traffic lights, even on a 540i (especially xDrive), I'd expect no better than 15-16 MPG. My wife's M550 barely gets 15MPG and her average speed is 20MPH.
Someone who drives mostly on the highway and maintains a 50-60MPH average speed will easily get close to 30MPG on a 540i.
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      01-10-2021, 01:28 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sandwi54 View Post
For turbo engine, the difference between city and highway fuel economy is very high. Ever wonder why a M550 is rated to get 25MPG on the highway but only 16MPG in the city? If your commute is mostly city with lots of traffic lights, even on a 540i (especially xDrive), I'd expect no better than 15-16 MPG. My wife's M550 barely gets 15MPG and her average speed is 20MPH.
Someone who drives mostly on the highway and maintains a 50-60MPH average speed will easily get close to 30MPG on a 540i.
That’s good to know, I can accept the low mpg as long as I know it’s not a problem, and I know there are no issues with the car so As you say, I’m pretty sure it’s just the way it is.
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      01-11-2021, 05:10 PM   #15
trialNerror
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Thanks for all the comments, gang. I should have mentioned in my original post that my daily commute to work is less than 2.5 miles which likely explains the poor fuel consumption. I just did a quick trial on the highway and set the cruise at 65mph. I averaged 37.6mpg over approximately 10 miles which is considerably better than the mfr's rating so I guess I shouldn't be complaining. Thanks again for all the feedback.
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      01-11-2021, 05:13 PM   #16
Bob in IL
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Good catch. Now you know there's nothing wrong with the car.
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      01-11-2021, 06:39 PM   #17
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Perfectly normal, my e39 530i consumes about the same on my 2 x 3mls trip every day. I knew this and on yearly basis, it only costs me ~200€ extra compared to a 520i. When we want to taste the endulgements of the I6, there is no other way.
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      01-12-2021, 02:06 AM   #18
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Yeh cold engine stop and start is thirsty.

Cracking engine otherwise , very smooth (well it's a straight six so it should be!)

Although bmw cut 100kg off the weight compared to the f10 , it's still a heavy car

Best mpg sweet spot seems to be around 50mph. My best consumption was 47.7 mpg )imperial) where is was travelling for a considerable amount of time at a constant 50mph. I wasn't in a rush so as an experiment wanted to see what it would do!

None of buy a 540 as an econokoical car but should you ever get caught low on fuel , nice to know it can be frugal if need to get the most out of the fumes left in the tank.
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      01-12-2021, 01:09 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AP View Post
Yeh cold engine stop and start is thirsty.

Cracking engine otherwise , very smooth (well it's a straight six so it should be!)

Although bmw cut 100kg off the weight compared to the f10 , it's still a heavy car
Yeah, exactly. I didn't get a chance to charge my 530e this morning due to a neighbor parking in front of my charger. But I did get a full charge yesterday and was able to see what the impact would be driving my 530e from a dead HV battery in a city with extremely short blocks. I was at about 15MPG as you can see in my photo. I can only imagine what a 540i would do here before it got onto the highway and could open up!

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This was last night after being able to start my journey with a fully charged HV battery.
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      01-12-2021, 11:03 PM   #20
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Wow
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      01-14-2021, 11:21 AM   #21
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I did a 380 mile trip yesterday and struggled to get over 40mpg in my 520i, usually I get at least 45mpg

I initially put it down to cold and windy conditions but later checked my tyre pressures which were well down (car hasn't had much use during lockdown)

So I reckon tyres that were underinflated cost me around 5mpg - worth a check
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      01-14-2021, 07:33 PM   #22
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what's your average speed, avg low speed city driving absolutely kills fuel economy, high cruise I get pretty good number...
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