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      02-01-2015, 04:29 PM   #1
letitbegood
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Initial gas mileage on my 2015 xDrive28d - very low

Hello, board newbie here.

I just purchased a new 2015 xDrive28d last month. The E.P.A. rating is 27 city/34 hwy. So far I have driven approx. 900 miles and I am averaging only 21.6 mpg.

I am driving about 80% city so far (in Los Angeles, with lots of stop and go). Other than this, I am using normal (comfort) driving mode. I have disabled the auto start/stop feature, but I cannot imagine this would make that much difference.

Just wondering if anyone has any input, or if it is common for the mpg to improve as the car is driven more? If so, I really hope it improves substantially, as I am way off even the E.P.A. city rating of 27 city for this car. My previous Audi A3 TDI was very accurate with it's E.P.A. rating, and I am hoping this is the same with BMW?

Any input from other diesel owners or those knowledgable on this would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

Last edited by letitbegood; 02-01-2015 at 05:38 PM..
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      02-01-2015, 06:46 PM   #2
kevink1
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My first fillup, at 229 miles, was 21.3 mpg. The second, at 461, was 24.2 (cummulative 22.7).

The first fillup was driving home from the dealer, at highway speeds.

I was wondering whether it was either not filled up at the dealer, or whether the pump I filled at was off

I've since improved. Not LA stop and go, but with a majority either highway or an 8 mile drive to work, partially on the interstate up to 70mph, the overall average is 30.3 mpg over 10001 miles. So probably below EPA by a small amount.

As is normal, the on board mpg indicator generally overestimates the mileage. My last fillup indicated 30.2 mpg, the calculated was 29.0.
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      02-01-2015, 06:47 PM   #3
brissim
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I'm sure others with more direct experience with the 20d/28d diesel can comment, but yes 21.6mpg (10.9 l/100km ; 25.9 mpIMPg) does seem a little low although it is a new engine and you do say you're doing 80% city stop/start driving.

For comparison in our 30d (a 3.0l 6-cylinder diesel), we generally do around 9.5-10 l/100km (~24mpg) in fairly free flowing city driving and down to 6.8 l/100km (34.5mpg) in highway driving. Try it out on some freeway driving and see how it goes.

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      02-01-2015, 06:48 PM   #4
kevink1
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I can see why it is rated so much less than the wagon. A taller vehicle, I notice the difference depending on whether I'm driving against the wind or with it. I've seen 37 mpg on the highway, and I've seen 30.
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      02-02-2015, 04:43 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by letitbegood View Post
I just purchased a new 2015 xDrive28d last month. The E.P.A. rating is 27 city/34 hwy. So far I have driven approx. 900 miles and I am averaging only 21.6 mpg.

..... I am driving about 80% city so far (in Los Angeles, with lots of stop and go).

..... My previous Audi A3 TDI was very accurate with it's E.P.A. rating, and I am hoping this is the same with BMW?

Any input from other diesel owners or those knowledgable on this would be greatly appreciated.
I guess a lot has to do with the driving profile and your change from the Audi A3 TDI. Vehicle weight and 'power to weight' ratio does have an impact, particularly in your driving conditions.

Some diesel engines are very tight when new, seen this many times and need mileage to free up and mpg often improves significantly. Many diesel engines require over 10k miles before they really feel free running, some even better after 20k miles.

Accuracy of the OBC is also a factor, you'll need to get a benchmark for accuracy, from brim to brim fills.

I wouldn't panic as if there is something wrong, get more miles on it, get some accurate mpg figures and monitor how it improves.

A light highway run will give a good idea of where mpg really sits for this engine.

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      02-02-2015, 06:01 AM   #6
Peter_R
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As this is a new vehicle and the engine is tight and you are driving in the city most of the time, I would expect to see this happen.

We always say the engine has not loosened up until it has covered 10k miles.

If you want to compare with similar vehicles, I suggest you join fuelly.com

http://www.fuelly.com/dashboard/
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      02-02-2015, 09:02 AM   #7
BrandX
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Yes, check fuelly.com. I've tracked mine since new, using real calculations, not the OBC.
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      02-02-2015, 04:38 PM   #8
tuatua
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We have just over 15000 miles on our 2015 X3 28d. With 40 fill ups, overall mpg from Fuelly is 33.3 with 70% highway/30% city (very free flowing; very little stop and go). Best tank was 42.1 mpg -- steady 45 mph for a couple hundred miles. Worst tank was 27.8 mpg -- steady 90 mph on the interstate in Montana.

Seems X3 28d mpg really takes a hit in stop and go traffic and speeds over 75-80 mph.
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      02-02-2015, 04:58 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tuatua View Post
We have just over 15000 miles on our 2015 X3 28d. With 40 fill ups, overall mpg from Fuelly is 33.3 with 70% highway/30% city (very free flowing; very little stop and go). Best tank was 42.1 mpg -- steady 45 mph for a couple hundred miles. Worst tank was 27.8 mpg -- steady 90 mph on the interstate in Montana.

Seems X3 28d mpg really takes a hit in stop and go traffic and speeds over 75-80 mph.
To be honest that is to be expected. The best figures will always be attained at the approximate speeds that the official figures were quoted for and if I may say were rigged (manipulated or contrived) as the official figures

Perhaps not a good comparison, but my late 2013 X3 xDrive30d M Sport (3.0 litre Turbo diesel developing 258 bhp, has achieved 41.1 mpg on long runs and 32 mpg city driving. Since I have been running it, it has averaged 37.2 mpg using fuelly. Remember this is the full size imperial gallon. Perhaps the 31.0 mpg you see below is the US corrected figure.
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      02-03-2015, 08:56 PM   #10
letitbegood
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Thanks everyone for the input. Will give it some mileage and more freeway use and see what happens. Will report back.

Out of curiosity, I was looking at the trip computer today when stopped at a light with the engine still running. Slowly the average MPG dropped while sitting there. It did get me thinking about how much of a difference the auto start/stop feature may make when dealing with lots of stop and go traffic. Not sure how I feel about this feature yet, but if it makes enough of a difference...
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      02-04-2015, 05:01 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by letitbegood View Post
Slowly the average MPG dropped while sitting there. It did get me thinking about how much of a difference the auto start/stop feature may make when dealing with lots of stop and go traffic. Not sure how I feel about this feature yet, but if it makes enough of a difference...
That is how all manufacturer's achieve their high figures.
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      02-04-2015, 06:41 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by letitbegood View Post
Hello, board newbie here.

I just purchased a new 2015 xDrive28d last month. The E.P.A. rating is 27 city/34 hwy. So far I have driven approx. 900 miles and I am averaging only 21.6 mpg.

I am driving about 80% city so far (in Los Angeles, with lots of stop and go). Other than this, I am using normal (comfort) driving mode. I have disabled the auto start/stop feature, but I cannot imagine this would make that much difference.

Just wondering if anyone has any input, or if it is common for the mpg to improve as the car is driven more? If so, I really hope it improves substantially, as I am way off even the E.P.A. city rating of 27 city for this car. My previous Audi A3 TDI was very accurate with it's E.P.A. rating, and I am hoping this is the same with BMW?

Any input from other diesel owners or those knowledgable on this would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.
I am getting the equivalent of 29 miles/US gallon in very heavy stop go traffic. This also with heated seats and air con on. I have the auto gear box, but manually shift gears and do put my foot down when conditions allow. So I think your fuel consumption is high, but could improve with more mileage - mine has done 12,000 miles.
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