ZHP gas mileage

[Dave1027]

So what's the general consensis? What MPG are you guys getting? I'm just trying to get an idea where this car is efficiency wise?

Sorry if this is a taboo subject around these parts.

[Nivo]

average now around 27mpg.
full to empty 434 miles on last tank.

Sedan did better at 466 miles. But that car gets driven like grandma.

[danewilson77]

26-32

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

[BRGcoopahS]

22

[kayger12]

26

[Tnhl1989]

22 now. I need to do a tune up and a few other things :)

[jayjay_dee]

I have a heavy foot, but still, I assume I should be getting above 20mpg, not happening...

Something is wrong with my car...

[pfr]

27 on the highway with cruise control on 79

[cakM3]

since putting on my Sprint Booster, my gas mileage has averaged between 22-24 on average...


I have a heavy foot, but still, I assume I should be getting above 20mpg, not happening...

Something is wrong with my car...

jayjay...have you tried replacing your fuel filter? Can be anything but I would try there first then look at replacing fuel injectors (or maybe clean them)....

[jayjay_dee]

since putting on my Sprint Booster, my gas mileage has averaged between 22-24 on average...


jayjay...have you tried replacing your fuel filter? Can be anything but I would try there first then look at replacing fuel injectors (or maybe clean them)....

Charlie, part of the issue here is the SprintBooster, the fun factor is just hard to resist...
Fuel filter was replaced last summer...

[jiggz]

Mine is terrible at 18MPG :(

The problem is, I putz around locally and the car rarely gets driven on the freeway (I take a bus to work). I have re-set the OBC for a few HWY drives and it does come up to the low/mid 20's at least.

[Dave_B]

Around 20 here. Car is only a little over a week in my ownership and I'm just enjoying it for now.

I'm sure it'll get back up a little higher after a few months of ownership.

[Tnhl1989]

Congrats on the new car Dave

[NorCalZman]

I have averaged about 24mpg during my ownership. I drive around San Francisco which is all short streets and stoplights. I go onto the freeway occasionally. On one road trip to Tahoe (with a lot of uphill) I averaged 29mph that tank.

[UdubBadger]

Before headers I got 28-30 hwy and 22 around town. Now I see about 25 hwy. need to work on getting my o2 sensor sim on and resetting the adaptations.


Mobil 93 / Shell V Power / Marathon 93 / BP 93
Mobil1 5 w 30
102k on car

40% around town errands
30% commuting in rush hour
30% regular highway driving @ 75mph

- Goin' H.A.M. Mobile

[llll1l1ll]

I can usually muster about 350-420 out of one tank. Fuelly says I make about 25 on average. Although, my MPG has been steadily going down. At 101,740, I think it's about time I replaced the O2 sensors.

Edit:

I use any 93 octane but only from the big names like Sunoco or Shell. I've been using Mobil lately.

Type of driving is a highway commute to work and a detour through a neighborhood on the way home. Not a ton of stop and go, but it's there. Averages out to about 25 according to Fuelly.

I have a ZHP sedan with a 6 speed and 101,800 on the clock.

I use BMW 5W-30.

I drive in all weather on (mostly) smooth roads. MD has crap road repair.

[johnrando]

We actually have another thread on this, but this is as good a place as any to discuss. My input doesn't count as much as my MPG is $hitty, but it's 16 city due to short trips, STEP, SB full on, heavy vert, and a heavy foot. Highway is in the low 20s.

[derbo]

City 21-22/ Highway 28-30


type of gas used Chevron 91 California
Type of driving City50% Highway 50%
Car mileage 120,000
Oil used 5w-30 from BMW
Weather and road environment California 40-70F mostly drive and with some hills in city.

[jayjay_dee]

We actually have another thread on this, but this is as good a place as any to discuss. My input doesn't count as much as my MPG is $hitty, but it's 16 city due to short trips, STEP, SB full on, heavy vert, and a heavy foot. Highway is in the low 20s.

somehow this post made me feel better... its not only me!!! its not only me!!! lol...

[alexandre]

In the last few weeks I've been averaging 16 in the city and 28-29 on the highway (70-75mph) on my 6MT, 212k sedan.

- I have a 3.46 diff.
- I need to drive up a mountain every day to get home (I take a flat, alternative route when I go to school, but it's always full of traffic at night).
- Tons of small streets with stops everywhere (about one every 200 yards) in my neighborhood.
- Temperatures have been averaging -5, -10F in the last 2-3 weeks so the engine runs super rich in the mornings until it's warmed up, which doesn't help at all. Plus more idling to defrost windows and all lol.

I'm finding it a lil low in the city, but it's probably because of these factors since hwy is right on EPA rating.

Fuel filter has 40k on it, so it's getting due. I'm suspecting that some component of the SAP system is dead or clogged. Looking at this when it gets warmer. Apart from that I'm mostly up to date on my drivetrain maintenance. I run BMW 5W30 and always fill up with Esso/Shell 91 zero-ethanol gas.

[johnrando]

somehow this post made me feel better... its not only me!!! its not only me!!! lol...

:rofl. Me too then based on this and A's post!

[cakM3]

Charlie, part of the issue here is the SprintBooster, the fun factor is just hard to resist...
Fuel filter was replaced last summer...

jayjay...having Sprint Booster will contribute to lower gas mileage unless you deliberately drive slower. Having an ///M, I'm used to quicker acceleration so now that I have thus again in my ZHP, I have noticed lower gas mileage but that's because I've been having too much fun driving...

If I was too worried about gas mileage then I would get a Prius...

[NorCalZman]

.

Fuel filter has 40k on it, so it's getting due. I'm suspecting that some component of the SAP system is dead or clogged. Looking at this when it gets warmer. Apart from that I'm mostly up to date on my drivetrain maintenance.

I had to google SAP :-) http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/5-series-bmw/43760-secondary-air-pump-sap-troubleshooting-repair-2000-bmw-e39-528i.html

[BavarianZHP]

Around 25 mpg avg for me:
Chevron w/ techron 91
Mostly highway, easy going
65k miles on the car (sedan, 6spd)
5W-30 BMW synthetic
Hilly (seattle area), roads are always wet and cold now.

Sedan, 6spd, mostly highway but I've been hauling it occassionally. I actually expected a bit higher. I believe 35-40 mph is the most efficient speed for mpg. There was a much more comprehensive chart depicting speed vs. mpg but this is the one I found just googling around:

http://www.mpgforspeed.com/


EDIT: included additional info

[Stu]

I average around 23 MPG with lotsa city, when I'm on the highway I do about 31-32

[RITmusic2k]

I'm about 24mpg city, 32-34 highway. I don't hypermile as much as I used to, but some old economy habits do slip in from time to time.

[Dave1027]

Thanks for all the responses. Looks like I'm about where I should be. I've only gone through two tanks so far. The first tank I did not calculate but estimated around 27 overall with a 25/75 city/hwy mix. The last tank I did calculate and came out to 26 but I was showing the car off to friends and family and driving aggressively a few times.

The SD mode on the step was a real eye opener as I once almost hit red line. I was trying not to show my concern but it kind of freaked me out because I thought either I was not working it right or something was wrong.

Once I get this car tweaked in I'm hoping to see an increase in MPG to probably average in the 28 range. That's my goal.

Oh btw, how accurate is that range computer thing? I got it down to 60 miles yesterday and the gas light came on. I wanted to drive to my favorite gas station 20 miles away but decided not to risk it.

[Dave1027]

I'm about 24mpg city, 32-34 highway. I don't hypermile as much as I used to, but some old economy habits do slip in from time to time. See, this is the thing I've wondered about. I mean, is it kosher to discuss BMW and hypermiling?

[johnrando]

No, IT IS NOT! But we allow Kevin to do it anyway. lol

[Avetiso]

22-25

[BavarianZHP]

Maybe we can all edit our responses to include:

type of gas used
Type of driving
Car mileage
Oil used (specifically weight)
Weather and road environment

to make it more informative than just another what's your mpg's thread? Just my .02

[alexandre]

Thanks for all the responses. Looks like I'm about where I should be. I've only gone through two tanks so far. The first tank I did not calculate but estimated around 27 overall with a 25/75 city/hwy mix. The last tank I did calculate and came out to 26 but I was showing the car off to friends and family and driving aggressively a few times.

The SD mode on the step was a real eye opener as I once almost hit red line. I was trying not to show my concern but it kind of freaked me out because I thought either I was not working it right or something was wrong.

Once I get this car tweaked in I'm hoping to see an increase in MPG to probably average in the 28 range. That's my goal.

Oh btw, how accurate is that range computer thing? I got it down to 60 miles yesterday and the gas light came on. I wanted to drive to my favorite gas station 20 miles away but decided not to risk it.

Accurate to the last mile. I ran mine down to 1 mi left in October, was 0.5 away from the station. I put in 62.35L in the 62.5L tank. It's bad for the fuel pump to go under 3/4-1/2 though - don't make this a habit.


Maybe we can all edit our responses to include:

type of gas used
Type of driving
Car mileage
Oil used (specifically weight)
Weather and road environment

to make it more informative than just another what's your mpg's thread? Just my .02

Good call. Did mine.

[RITmusic2k]

See, this is the thing I've wondered about. I mean, is it kosher to discuss BMW and hypermiling?


No, IT IS NOT! But we allow Kevin to do it anyway. lol

Hehe, it's as John said. There's a link in my sig to my monumental hypermiling thread if you care to take a gander!

[UdubBadger]

Updated mine


- Goin' H.A.M. Mobile

[Crickett]

Averaging 23 mpg; usually see 20ish city, 25 highway. I remember being able to get right around 30 on the highway, but haven't seen that high in a while . . . might be time to finally replace my fuel filter.

Gas: Shell vPower 91 (I miss the Midwest's 93 . . . )
Driving style: fairly aggressive on the go pedal, especially now with my SB! I do set my cruise almost any time I'm holding a speed for more than a few minutes, though, even in-town.
Mileage: 100,7xx mi
Oil: BMW High Performance Synthetic 5W-30
Weather / roads: Las Vegas dry wx, fairly decent roads. 90% of my driving is highway to & from work; slightly uphill to work, slightly downhill from.

[Stu]

Maybe we can all edit our responses to include:

type of gas used
Type of driving
Car mileage
Oil used (specifically weight)
Weather and road environment

to make it more informative than just another what's your mpg's thread? Just my .02

Shell V-Power 93
23.5 average, 31-32 Highway
2/3 city, 1/3 highway
111,1194 miles
Pentosin 5w40
Warm, mostly flat roads

[kayger12]

Maybe we can all edit our responses to include:

type of gas used
Type of driving
Car mileage
Oil used (specifically weight)
Weather and road environment

to make it more informative than just another what's your mpg's thread? Just my .02

Sunoco ultra 93
Spirited
70k
5w30
Mostly flat, all weather
26 mpg

[Beau B]

Average: 29.3 mpg
Gas: 89-93 depending on where I stop..
Driving style: normal, not aggressive, but not granny either..
Mileage: 147,500
Oil: Mobile 1 5W-30
Road/Weather: All weather (daily driver 100 miles a day), back country roads averaging 60 mph

[az3579]

City - between 20-23 depending on how many and how frequent the stops are.

Highway - between 28-32 entirely depending on how many hills and what kind of traffic there is.

Average - around 26-27 mpg for the 200 fill-ups I did track. After that, I had my nice average number and stopped tracking after that.

Record high for me is 36 indicated, 35.6 actual, over the course of precisely 100 miles.


Sent from my iPhone 4S from Tapatalk

[Torxuvin]

I usually get 26-28 on the highway going 79. I'm averaging about 24-24 mixed. Right now I'm getting 21 mostly city.

[328ioc]

22-23 in city
24-25 in mixed
27-31 in highway

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 2

[llll1l1ll]

I've updated my infos.

[BRGcoopahS]

I posted already but with a little more info now. The computer reads a 22 mpg average. I do a pretty equal mix of city and highway driving, so I'm assuming city is 20 and highway is 24.

ZHP vert. 6 spd. 67k

[Racinghart]

22-24 City
26 Highway

[Johal E32]

The old ZHP gave 25mpg mixed on a bad thermostat.. 60% highway, 40% around town.

Thermostat along with the cooling system was overhauled before the car was sold..

[WOLFN8TR]

Pretty much the same as Crickett:

I'm always in S D mode.
Sprint Booster set on Green.

Averaging 23.5mpg
25 highway.

Gas: Shell vPower 91

Driving style: fairly aggressive on the go pedal, especially with SB. I do set my cruise almost any time also.

Mileage: 114,454
Oil: BMW High Performance Synthetic 5W-30
Weather / roads: Las Vegas dry wx, fairly decent roads. 90% of my driving is highway to & from work; slightly uphill to work, slightly downhill from.

[nike001]

Damn, I've been dipping down lately. OBC says 20.5, but I've been heavy on the throttle lately and I've been using the higher revs snow drifting a lot :shifty

[PsychoCemia]

Gas: 93 QT High Octane
Driving: 2/3 city, 1/3 highway, pretty heavy footed in both
Miles: 99,800
Gas Mileage: 16-18 city, 24-27 highway
Oil: BMW 5W-30
All weather, decent to shitty roads (Atlanta...ugh).

Did the fuel filter at 60k, need to do that again. O2 sensors need doing, too. Still original.

Fuelly says I'm averaging 20.6 mpg over the 3 years I've had the car (160 fuel-ups). Link for those interested. (http://www.fuelly.com/driver/psychocemia/330ci)

Edit: EEEEEEEKK. 3 years of driving: $7,917.42 spent in gas.

[danewilson77]

Edit: EEEEEEEKK. 3 years of driving: $7,917.42 spent in gas.

Wished you hadn't of posted this.

I've spent >$ 12k on gas since August 2010.

[BimmerWill]

Wished you hadn't of posted this.

I've spent >$ 12k on gas since August 2010.

That's a lot of dead dino's lol

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

[llll1l1ll]

I spent about $2,200 in gas last year.

[Go Horns!]

Was doing a long highway drive the other day, the computer told me I was getting 32 mpg at 68 mph and 27 mpg at 78 mph. I was resetting it and going about 10-15 minutes to see what the difference would be. Increase in speed was do to a speed limit change.

[gammagoblin]

Drive from Baltimore -NYC, I got ~31 highway. Of course after driving in the city it dropped. Round trip avg was ~25.5. The 30+ on the highway I get I am really happy with but getting 20 and sometimes 18 or 19 in city only is rough.

[Crickett]

I dropped my commute cruise speed from 80 to 70 today to see what that'd get me: average for the trip went from ~25 to ~30 (& my drive time only increased by ~3 min)! I guess I'll keep it at the speed limit goin' to work! :thumbsup

[BavarianZHP]

Speed Kills... mpg

[Gary]

the good news: 2012 avg = 26.21 mpg over 28,114 miles :)

the bad news: 2012 costs = $3936 fuel, $1256 maintenance :(

priceless: the smile on my face whenever I'm behind the wheel:thumbup

[Imola.ZHP]

Geese, what is wrong with my car?

18-19mpg here guys

I live 5 minutes from work and school is about a 20 minute drive with about a 5-8 minute stint on the interstate (usually not at slow speeds).

It took me 6 weeks to drive 500 miles to break in my clutch, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much. I dove less than 10k in 2012, with 4 trips...

[WOLFN8TR]

I dropped my commute cruise speed from 80 to 70 today to see what that'd get me: average for the trip went from ~25 to ~30 (& my drive time only increased by ~3 min)! I guess I'll keep it at the speed limit goin' to work! :thumbsup

Really...Hmmm. Maybe I should slow down. Usually to and from work I set the cruise at 75~77. I always get around 23.5mpg. I might try 70 and see what I get. Well that's if I can drive slower.

[danewilson77]

I'm usually around 74-75 mph, and I get around 28-29 mpg....

[az3579]

Really...Hmmm. Maybe I should slow down. Usually to and from work I set the cruise at 75~77. I always get around 23.5mpg. I might try 70 and see what I get. Well that's if I can drive slower.

You will get better mpg guaranteed. Also note; cruise control KILLS fuel economy. It does a horrible job with fuel because it does whatever it takes to keep the speed precisely at the speed you set, not a mph below or above. It can't plan for hills or traffic situations that a human can easily deal with.


Some quick things to avoid:
Do not idle your car to warm it up. Not only is it worse for your engine, but is horrible for gas consumption. Don't let it idle when you arrive somewhere; turn the engine off immediately, then gather your stuff and prepare your car for parking.
Shift soon and accelerate lightly. By soon, I'm talkin' 1,500-2000rpm. By lightly, I mean it should take a little while to get to 60. (but please for safety's sake, be doing the speed of traffic when merging!)
Do not shift into neutral when coasting; this uses fuel to keep the engine idling. Decelerate in gear; this uses ZERO fuel.



I can give enough hypermiling tips to write a book......... which is why I won't bother typing more. lol

[BavarianZHP]

Do not idle your car to warm it up. Not only is it worse for your engine, but is horrible for gas consumption. Don't let it idle when you arrive somewhere; turn the engine off immediately,

This is what I keep telling my friends! I read an article somewhere (can't remember) that said it's more efficient to turn off your engine if you're going to wait for greater than 4 secs. I kinda started a "should I turn off my engine?" game with my friends when we pull up to pick someone up. Rule of thumb: picking up a girl -> always turn off hahahaha.

[johnrando]

This is what I keep telling my friends! I read an article somewhere (can't remember) that said it's more efficient to turn off your engine if you're going to wait for greater than 4 secs. I kinda started a "should I turn off my engine?" game with my friends when we pull up to pick someone up. Rule of thumb: picking up a girl -> always turn off hahahaha.

LOL, for sure a good rule. I hate to restart my engine shortly after turning it off though. Needless wear.

[BavarianZHP]

Yeah, we're crazy. We'll pull up and start counting: 1..... 2..... 3..... 4.. OOOOOHHHHHH!! Then the disses/insults start flyin' Lol. Good times.

[Imola.ZHP]

Perhaps a poll with multiple options for city/highway/mix would be helpful for this post...

[Katu]

~22mpg, mostly city. I can get near 30mpg highway going 65-70. 3.46 diff only lost me about 1mpg on average.

[BavarianZHP]

LOL, for sure a good rule. I hate to restart my engine shortly after turning it off though. Needless wear.

Don't tell me you haven't waited for someone to get beside your car to turn it on. I love that sound! Childish, I know...

[BRGcoopahS]

You will get better mpg guaranteed. Also note; cruise control KILLS fuel economy. It does a horrible job with fuel because it does whatever it takes to keep the speed precisely at the speed you set, not a mph below or above. It can't plan for hills or traffic situations that a human can easily deal with.


Some quick things to avoid:
Do not idle your car to warm it up. Not only is it worse for your engine, but is horrible for gas consumption. Don't let it idle when you arrive somewhere; turn the engine off immediately, then gather your stuff and prepare your car for parking.
Shift soon and accelerate lightly. By soon, I'm talkin' 1,500-2000rpm. By lightly, I mean it should take a little while to get to 60. (but please for safety's sake, be doing the speed of traffic when merging!)
Do not shift into neutral when coasting; this uses fuel to keep the engine idling. Decelerate in gear; this uses ZERO fuel.



I can give enough hypermiling tips to write a book......... which is why I won't bother typing more. lol

This is basically the opposite of what I do. I've noticed lately if I let the car warm up, the car will get into gear better in the cold weather. You're also saying coasting in neutral uses more gas than leaving it in gear? I dont understand any of this. How is letting a car idle bad ofr the engine and coasting in neutral worse for gas?

[quikryptonite]

I got 29.2 MPG on my last fill up. I had 160 miles on the clock with 80% of those being freeway miles going about 65-70 mph. I am averaging just over 26 MPG right now per fillup.

[BimmerWill]

This is basically the opposite of what I do. I've noticed lately if I let the car warm up, the car will get into gear better in the cold weather. You're also saying coasting in neutral uses more gas than leaving it in gear? I dont understand any of this. How is letting a car idle bad ofr the engine and coasting in neutral worse for gas?

As far as coasting in neutral when going down a hill you burn more gas then if it were in gear. Essentially the transmission is turning the motor versus it is using fuel to do so keeping it at idle while coasting.

Here's some info to read if your speculative.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/_mobile/cars/alternative-fuel/news/coasting-in-neutral-fuel-economy

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

[BavarianZHP]

Ok guys, correct/fill her in:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqcIaXIw9dhxdGZhUVFKb1p3UERsUmU3Zl9rZnYtd UE&usp=sharing


I, or some statistician can crunch the numbers.

EDIT: Oh, anyone can see your comments... So keep that in mind! :-)

[danewilson77]

This is basically the opposite of what I do. I've noticed lately if I let the car warm up, the car will get into gear better in the cold weather. You're also saying coasting in neutral uses more gas than leaving it in gear? I dont understand any of this. How is letting a car idle bad ofr the engine and coasting in neutral worse for gas?

Check BP's hypermilling thread/writeup.

[az3579]

This is basically the opposite of what I do. I've noticed lately if I let the car warm up, the car will get into gear better in the cold weather.

The transmission doesn't warm up until you start shifting it. The engine responds differently when it's warmed up a little bit versus when cold. I think that's your mind playing games with you. lol
It really shouldn't matter because you shouldn't be jamming it into gear anyway. If you shift slowly and smoothly when cold, then this isn't an issue. As the car gets older, I do understand that it can get harder to shift into gear, but it still shouldn't be an issue if you shift slowly and smoothly while it's cold. (My E30's tranny had 340k miles on it and it was just fine to shift if being gentle with it when cold)
German cars also have a harder time shifting into 2nd than others. Audi, BMW; they both have a firmer 2nd gear than something comparatively Japanese, so I'm told.



You're also saying coasting in neutral uses more gas than leaving it in gear? I dont understand any of this. How is letting a car idle bad ofr the engine and coasting in neutral worse for gas?

When you start the car, the oil is not warmed up. The most wear an engine gets happens when you first start it because the engine isn't properly lubricated yet, so there's more friction on the moving parts until the oil has enough temperature to be useful. Notice that when you start your car, it takes FOREVER for your water temp to get to the middle position? Well, if you start driving, you'll notice that water temp doesn't take 15 minutes to get up there, instead it takes 2-5, tops. So, in essence, you're spending less time in the "cold" start of the engine warm-up process. The best way to warm up your engine and cause minimal wear is to immediately start driving it gently. Shift at 2k if you want to be more fuel efficient or 3k if you don't care, and just let the engine warm up as you drive. Don't mash the throttle, be very soft and gentle. The lower the revs during warm-up the better. Also note that gas mileage is the worst when it's warming up, because an engine runs rich until it warms up.

Coasting - modern fuel-injected cars are programmed to shut off the injectors when there is no throttle being applied as long as the car is in gear. If the car is out of gear, then the engine has to stay idling somehow, so it uses fuel to do that. When it's in gear, the engine is being turned over mechanically, so if you cut the gas, it'll continue to turn over until it stalls or until you give it some throttle. Take a look at your MPG gauge - this is kind of a cheat sheet on knowing when your injectors cut the fuel. Coast down a hill in gear and you'll see the needle swing alllllll the way over to the "infinite" side. Now coast down that same hill and you'll see that it's past 50 but not all the way over. At this point it's still using gas.

Note: The guage will read infinite when at a standstill because it doesn't register anything until you pass a few mph. That does not mean it's using no fuel.

[NorCalZman]

It really shouldn't matter because you shouldn't be jamming it into gear anyway. If you shift slowly and smoothly when cold, then this isn't an issue. As the car gets older, I do understand that it can get harder to shift into gear, but it still shouldn't be an issue if you shift slowly and smoothly while it's cold. (My E30's tranny had 340k miles on it and it was just fine to shift if being gentle with it when cold)
German cars also have a harder time shifting into 2nd than others. Audi, BMW; they both have a firmer 2nd gear than something comparatively Japanese, so I'm told.


So all E46s have a tough time going into 2nd gear when cold? Interesting....

[alexandre]

The transmission doesn't warm up until you start shifting it. The engine responds differently when it's warmed up a little bit versus when cold. I think that's your mind playing games with you. lol
It really shouldn't matter because you shouldn't be jamming it into gear anyway. If you shift slowly and smoothly when cold, then this isn't an issue. As the car gets older, I do understand that it can get harder to shift into gear, but it still shouldn't be an issue if you shift slowly and smoothly while it's cold. (My E30's tranny had 340k miles on it and it was just fine to shift if being gentle with it when cold)
German cars also have a harder time shifting into 2nd than others. Audi, BMW; they both have a firmer 2nd gear than something comparatively Japanese, so I'm told.



When you start the car, the oil is not warmed up. The most wear an engine gets happens when you first start it because the engine isn't properly lubricated yet, so there's more friction on the moving parts until the oil has enough temperature to be useful. Notice that when you start your car, it takes FOREVER for your water temp to get to the middle position? Well, if you start driving, you'll notice that water temp doesn't take 15 minutes to get up there, instead it takes 2-5, tops. So, in essence, you're spending less time in the "cold" start of the engine warm-up process. The best way to warm up your engine and cause minimal wear is to immediately start driving it gently. Shift at 2k if you want to be more fuel efficient or 3k if you don't care, and just let the engine warm up as you drive. Don't mash the throttle, be very soft and gentle. The lower the revs during warm-up the better. Also note that gas mileage is the worst when it's warming up, because an engine runs rich until it warms up.

Coasting - modern fuel-injected cars are programmed to shut off the injectors when there is no throttle being applied as long as the car is in gear. If the car is out of gear, then the engine has to stay idling somehow, so it uses fuel to do that. When it's in gear, the engine is being turned over mechanically, so if you cut the gas, it'll continue to turn over until it stalls or until you give it some throttle. Take a look at your MPG gauge - this is kind of a cheat sheet on knowing when your injectors cut the fuel. Coast down a hill in gear and you'll see the needle swing alllllll the way over to the "infinite" side. Now coast down that same hill and you'll see that it's past 50 but not all the way over. At this point it's still using gas.

Note: The guage will read infinite when at a standstill because it doesn't register anything until you pass a few mph. That does not mean it's using no fuel.

I've been wondering about that with my -20F startups in the last few weeks, since the ZHP sleeps outside and feels like a glacier every morning. Starting the engine, letting it warm up for like 5 secs and then going on my way has worked well for me. I shift at 2k rpm until it's warmed up to avoid excess wear. The first ~five 1>2>3 shifts are a little work, but after that it's super smooth.

I'm curious since you seem to know your way around engine wear - I've been burning a qt of oil every 800 miles this winter. No leaks, exhaust gas is clear 100% of the time, CCV has 50k. Engine maintenance is fully up to date. Do you think it might just be the (frozen) engine that burns through some oil when it gets things moving ?

[az3579]

Alexandre,
I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination. I don't know what could be causing your excessive oil loss.
You say no leaks, but are you sure? You may not get any oil drips, but on my car for example, my leaking oil filter housing gasket produced nothing on the driveway but cause a quart of loss every 1,500 miles or so. Your car does have quite some mileage on it, but I think a quart every 800 is excessive.

Does it use that much in the summer as well?


So all E46s have a tough time going into 2nd gear when cold? Interesting....

That isn't what I said. What I said was German cars have a harder time shifting into 2nd compared to say Japanese cars, from what I was told.

[Gary]

Who can shift these cars at 1500-2000 rpm? I dont know if thats possible. :)

[alexandre]

Alexandre,
I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination. I don't know what could be causing your excessive oil loss.
You say no leaks, but are you sure? You may not get any oil drips, but on my car for example, my leaking oil filter housing gasket produced nothing on the driveway but cause a quart of loss every 1,500 miles or so. Your car does have quite some mileage on it, but I think a quart every 800 is excessive.

Does it use that much in the summer as well?

I changed OFHG in August. Splash pan is dry, and engine doesn't seem to have any leaks in the common areas... I know the rear main is leaking a little, but I've never had a puddle in my driveway or the underground garage at school. I doubt it'd leak a quart without leaving any spots.

I only did 3,000 miles this summer, but I've never had to top up. I caught the OFHG right when it started to leak, and made sure oil was full when I finished the repair. I'll probably finish the winter with 1-2 spare quarts and examine in detail after, but it's definitely a curious issue.


Who can shift these cars at 1500-2000 rpm? I dont know if thats possible. :)

With the 3.46 diff it just drives itself. In the summer it never goes under 3,500 though :biggrin

[Johnmadd]

28

[BavarianZHP]

Ok all, here's the latest data from your responses. Feel free to update the chart with your values - the more info we have the more accurate it reflects real-world values.

I have the means for city, hwy, and overall avg mpg listed below and the 95% CI's of those means.

So according to the data, the mean of our average mpg is 95% likely to be 22.99 to 25.05 mpg...



City 20.11 (Mean), 95% CI of mean is [18.76 to 21.46 mpg]
HWY 27.82 (Mean), 95% CI of mean is [26.46 to 29.18 mpg]
Avg 24.02 (Mean), 95% CI of mean is [22.99 to 25.05 mpg]



https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqcIaXIw9dhxdGZhUVFKb1p3UERsUmU3Zl9rZnYtd UE&usp=sharing

[BRGcoopahS]

The transmission doesn't warm up until you start shifting it. The engine responds differently when it's warmed up a little bit versus when cold. I think that's your mind playing games with you. lol
It really shouldn't matter because you shouldn't be jamming it into gear anyway. If you shift slowly and smoothly when cold, then this isn't an issue. As the car gets older, I do understand that it can get harder to shift into gear, but it still shouldn't be an issue if you shift slowly and smoothly while it's cold. (My E30's tranny had 340k miles on it and it was just fine to shift if being gentle with it when cold)
German cars also have a harder time shifting into 2nd than others. Audi, BMW; they both have a firmer 2nd gear than something comparatively Japanese, so I'm told.



When you start the car, the oil is not warmed up. The most wear an engine gets happens when you first start it because the engine isn't properly lubricated yet, so there's more friction on the moving parts until the oil has enough temperature to be useful. Notice that when you start your car, it takes FOREVER for your water temp to get to the middle position? Well, if you start driving, you'll notice that water temp doesn't take 15 minutes to get up there, instead it takes 2-5, tops. So, in essence, you're spending less time in the "cold" start of the engine warm-up process. The best way to warm up your engine and cause minimal wear is to immediately start driving it gently. Shift at 2k if you want to be more fuel efficient or 3k if you don't care, and just let the engine warm up as you drive. Don't mash the throttle, be very soft and gentle. The lower the revs during warm-up the better. Also note that gas mileage is the worst when it's warming up, because an engine runs rich until it warms up.

Coasting - modern fuel-injected cars are programmed to shut off the injectors when there is no throttle being applied as long as the car is in gear. If the car is out of gear, then the engine has to stay idling somehow, so it uses fuel to do that. When it's in gear, the engine is being turned over mechanically, so if you cut the gas, it'll continue to turn over until it stalls or until you give it some throttle. Take a look at your MPG gauge - this is kind of a cheat sheet on knowing when your injectors cut the fuel. Coast down a hill in gear and you'll see the needle swing alllllll the way over to the "infinite" side. Now coast down that same hill and you'll see that it's past 50 but not all the way over. At this point it's still using gas.

Note: The guage will read infinite when at a standstill because it doesn't register anything until you pass a few mph. That does not mean it's using no fuel.

Gotcha, makes sense. Thanks for the info.

[Dave1027]

Would help to include what tranny you have. I would think the automatic cars would get slighty less MPG but that's not the case with my Toyota truck where the automatics beat the manuals.

[BavarianZHP]

Would help to include what tranny you have. I would think the automatic cars would get slighty less MPG but that's not the case with my Toyota truck where the automatics beat the manuals.

Yep, I included a category for this in the excel chart. The stats are based on the comprehensive listing at the moment so coupes, convertibles, sedans, any transmission, any driving style, etc... are indiscriminate in the calculations. With more data I would be able to narrow it down based on transmission, body type, etc... but with a sample size of only 2 listed convertibles, the stats for that would be unreliable.

[Dave1027]

Hey, great job on the spreadsheet. I should add to my stats.

Tranny: Step
Driving style: Normal
Gas: Mostly Shell 91

Might help to standardize some of the stats like have 4 or 5 different options for driving style to pick from.

[Imola.ZHP]

When you start the car, the oil is not warmed up. The most wear an engine gets happens when you first start it because the engine isn't properly lubricated yet, so there's more friction on the moving parts until the oil has enough temperature to be useful. Notice that when you start your car, it takes FOREVER for your water temp to get to the middle position? Well, if you start driving, you'll notice that water temp doesn't take 15 minutes to get up there, instead it takes 2-5, tops. So, in essence, you're spending less time in the "cold" start of the engine warm-up process. The best way to warm up your engine and cause minimal wear is to immediately start driving it gently. Shift at 2k if you want to be more fuel efficient or 3k if you don't care, and just let the engine warm up as you drive. Don't mash the throttle, be very soft and gentle. The lower the revs during warm-up the better. Also note that gas mileage is the worst when it's warming up, because an engine runs rich until it warms up.

Coasting - modern fuel-injected cars are programmed to shut off the injectors when there is no throttle being applied as long as the car is in gear. If the car is out of gear, then the engine has to stay idling somehow, so it uses fuel to do that. When it's in gear, the engine is being turned over mechanically, so if you cut the gas, it'll continue to turn over until it stalls or until you give it some throttle. Take a look at your MPG gauge - this is kind of a cheat sheet on knowing when your injectors cut the fuel. Coast down a hill in gear and you'll see the needle swing alllllll the way over to the "infinite" side. Now coast down that same hill and you'll see that it's past 50 but not all the way over. At this point it's still using gas.

Note: The guage will read infinite when at a standstill because it doesn't register anything until you pass a few mph. That does not mean it's using no fuel.

I don't hardly ever let my car "warm up," and always feel bad about it. I guess I'm doing it right after all! I'm always coasting though, thanks for the info, I will have to re-learn how to drive now, maybe I can get those MPG's up using this new (to me) info...

[llll1l1ll]

Regarding the excessive idling: sometimes in this area it's hard. I mean, I definitely turn off my car if I'm going to be waiting for more than about a minute or so. I don't turn it off at lights, though. However, in traffic, you're just idling. There's no way around it. It's stop and go, so I don't want to keep turning off my car and then turning it on to move up about four feet (so I don't get honked at) only to turn it off again. If the road slopes downhill, though, and I'm in traffic, I turn it off and let it roll.

[BavarianZHP]

Hey, great job on the spreadsheet. I should add to my stats.

Tranny: Step
Driving style: Normal
Gas: Mostly Shell 91

Might help to standardize some of the stats like have 4 or 5 different options for driving style to pick from.

Yep, standardized the driving styles. There are now 5 to choose from the drop down list that pops up.

[az3579]

Regarding the excessive idling: sometimes in this area it's hard. I mean, I definitely turn off my car if I'm going to be waiting for more than about a minute or so. I don't turn it off at lights, though. However, in traffic, you're just idling. There's no way around it. It's stop and go, so I don't want to keep turning off my car and then turning it on to move up about four feet (so I don't get honked at) only to turn it off again. If the road slopes downhill, though, and I'm in traffic, I turn it off and let it roll.

I hear ya. These are the situations you can do nothing about, and have to factor the life of the starter and ignition cylinder if you frequently sit in traffic. Turning the engine off at traffic lights and stop & go is an extreme I don't go to. That is one thing I'd disable in an F30 if I end up in one years down the road (the auto stop/start).


And just so everyone knows, the average MPG figure on the low end is almost bang on for what our combined average MPG is listed as from the EPA. They rate the 330i (according to my window sticker) as 20 city, 30 highway, 23 combined.


Sent from my iPhone 4S from Tapatalk

[BavarianZHP]

And just so everyone knows, the average MPG figure on the low end is almost bang on for what our combined average MPG is listed as from the EPA. They rate the 330i (according to my window sticker) as 20 city, 30 highway, 23 combined.
Sent from my iPhone 4S from Tapatalk

20/30/23 is rated for 6MT sedan then...

Yep, stats pretty much show 20 city, 28 hwy, 24 combined (for all participating ZHPs). So I would think 6MT sedan would be a bit higher... Although most here have 6MT I think.

[brewer90]

I just ran my first full tank through the car while doing my normal driving routes to work and such which is about a 50/50 mix. It was 21.6 mpg. That said, I have been driving very um spirited and I do have a roof rack on top. I'm not going to enter this number into the spreadsheet and skew the data though. I have a feeling I'll be getting around 24 once the newness wears off and I quit pressing the fun pedal so much. 6MT BTW.

[llll1l1ll]

FWIW, I have a 6MT sedan and average around 25.

[BavarianZHP]

Hey guys, not sure if I made this clear but anyone should be able to edit the spreadsheet. Simply enter the link and fill in your row - the stats and charts will update themselves.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqcIaXIw9dhxdGZhUVFKb1p3UERsUmU3Zl9rZnYtd UE&usp=sharing

Give it a shot! Since I'm a little OCD, I'll probably end up stalking you for your info - if there are any annoying gaps in the table...:devilish

[Imola.ZHP]

16.6 on this 1/2 tank so far... I've been having too much fun since finally being released from reduced throttle for new clutch break in... Plus, the new tans fluid and new bushings have re-invigorated the transmission and the cooler weather has made the motor so responsive, its difficult not to drive it like its stolen 100% of the time...

[BavarianZHP]

The 16.6 mpg is well worth the fun! Blissfully laying on the gas is what we bought these cars for - pure driving pleasure.

[llll1l1ll]

I've only got 300 on the tank and it's about 3/4 done. Lots of cold mornings and slow neighborhood driving from many stop signs will do that to you.

[quikryptonite]

I love this car because I can really give it the beans on on/off ramps/in the twisties and then set her down in cruise control (65-70) and still get really good gas mileage.