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      11-19-2012, 07:39 AM   #1
halfalife
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Very Dissapointing Diesel Milage Returns

Hi, I've have a 2.0 D Auto for 10 weeks, and after 2000 miles have only returned an average of 36mpg. These miles have been been driven mostly by my wife who is a stick to the speed limit type of gal.
Does anyone else feel slightly aggrieved that BMW keep quoting 50.4 mpg for this engine ??? Do they live in the real world ???
I know car manufacturers tend to exaggerate the mpg claims, but this is way off !
I feel ever so slightly peeved off with these numbers, it takes the shine away from a great car.
Anyone else getting similar returns ?
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      11-19-2012, 07:51 AM   #2
Andyh747
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You've got me worried now

I ordered my 20D SE a couple of weeks ago and am due delivery sometime in February. I was hoping for much better mileage than you're getting currently. I do mostly motorway driving and in my current Land Rover Freelander 2 get around 40mpg. I was expecting more from the X3 having read the fuel consumption figures.

I'd be interested in others reports on how the diesel consumption is going. If BMW are quoting 50mpg then you should be well over 40mpg. 36mpg sounds very low.
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      11-19-2012, 07:57 AM   #3
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Let the engine settle in a bit. Also - does the wife do mostly town driving or highway? Does the engine oil temperature reach optimum - especially now in your winter clime? But even under ideal circumstances - you will probably only reach the official consumption figure when traveling at a constant 50mph. Also check Spritmonitor.de for a breakdown on your vehicle figures - together with Honest John.
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      11-19-2012, 08:24 AM   #4
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We have done 8000 miles in ours. On distance driving at 80mph we easily get over 40mpg. We try not to use it around town too much but we get around 36-38mpg when we have done a mix of town and local run arounds.
Never had less than 36. We both drive and we are not slow drivers, on the one time I did 90miles at a steady 70mph (in cruise control) it was reading 44mpg.
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      11-19-2012, 11:35 AM   #5
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For the non-imperial non-metric people, 40 mpg imperial is 33.3 mpg US gallons.

In the US, the X3 with 2.0 engine gets about 28 mpg on highways with gasoline. Given that diesel has about 20% energy than gas, that 33.3 diesel mpg is about right. (But the price of diesel in the US varies with season since it's similar to heating oil - diesel can sometimes cost about 10% more than gas, and is seldom priced less)
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      11-19-2012, 11:51 AM   #6
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Where is the car driven? I drive mainly around town (with a few A road and motorway journeys thrown in) and get 34mpg - seems reasonable for the sort of driving that I do.
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      11-19-2012, 12:09 PM   #7
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Have a look at the attached link

http://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=734537

X3's seem to be bad on short trips and at high speed. When I do the school run, about 2 miles from a cold start, I'm lucky to see much above 30 yet a long A road run in traffic it goes to 50 and that is the 3.0D
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      11-19-2012, 12:14 PM   #8
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We've had our 2.0D auto for approx eight months, it has settled down to almost consitantly 42.5mpg. However, it is mostly used for out of town driving (normally non-motorway).

We use a VW Up for town driving.

Manufacturer MPGs are optimised for taxing purposes and are seldomly achieved in real life.

See here for real life data, suggests that you are not that far off the typical - http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/bmw/x3-f25-2010
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      11-19-2012, 12:54 PM   #9
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I have 16000 mls on my 2011 X3 2.0d Auto and it has averaged 43 mpg over this period. No agressive driving and not much urban driving. Im happy with this
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      11-19-2012, 04:13 PM   #10
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Comparing average mpg is meaningless really unless the two people drive for a similar amount of time and at similar speeds. Lots of small trips will kill your average mpg, particularly with diesels which need time to become more efficient. Someone told me that the petrol Q5 gives the same if not better economy than the diesel if used for lots of small trips

Re. the official urban/extra urban figures: they are useful only as a comparison from one model to another tested with the same procedure. The actual driving sequence under test conditions bears little resemblance to real driving. It's on wikipedia if you're interested

Also the X3's figures are for non-run flat low rolling resistance tyres, not run flats as most people will have

All of that said, the difference between the official mpg and the actual mpg seems much greater in the X3 than it was for example in my last car (Golf GTI). I distinctly remember getting 38mpg on the motorway at about 75-80mph in the GTI and the official mpg is LESS => 35mpg. Compare that to the X3 and it would be like getting 54mpg at 75mph. Absolutely no chance of that unless you're going downhill!
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      11-19-2012, 05:42 PM   #11
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The bigger the push for 'so called' fuel efficiency the greater the mpg shortfall.

As said, the figures BMW publish are for the EU official test regime, not of BMW making, and the only figures BMW can legally publish.

The type of vehicle makes a lot of difference to how the mpg shortfall impinges on real world driving. To be fair, and not intending to be insulting, the X3 is a heavy brick, driving fast or lots of stop starts, particularly if involving lots of cold starts are all stacked against you.

We run an E83 X3 in the family, my son had the 2.0d manual and then changed to the 3.0sd auto. Mpg is very similar in the 3.0sd, just a couple of mpg down. The 2.0d worked hard the 3.0sd is running light.

It is a bit of the "smaller engine big car", compared to same car with a decent size engine to haul it along. Official test for the bigger engine looks far worse, but pulling the same vehicle around in the real world means far less difference than any light use test figures will give us.

The more the manufacturers can achieve in the EU test, the worse it works out in the real world.

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      11-20-2012, 06:05 AM   #12
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Hi

I have the 2.0D with 7000 miles and am starting to average around about 42mpg which is a combination of motorway and around town. I have however been driving with the 369 19" alloys on which I know make a difference.

I have recently put a winter set of 17" wheels and alloys on and have immediately noticed an increase to about 45mpg. So I would say the wheel/tyre setup has changed the mpg.

I would hazard a guess that another 5k miles or so I may get another 1-2mpg improvement as well with the engine settling in.
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      11-20-2012, 06:16 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by halfalife View Post
Hi, I've have a 2.0 D Auto for 10 weeks, and after 2000 miles have only returned an average of 36mpg. These miles have been been driven mostly by my wife who is a stick to the speed limit type of gal.
Does anyone else feel slightly aggrieved that BMW keep quoting 50.4 mpg for this engine ??? Do they live in the real world ???
I know car manufacturers tend to exaggerate the mpg claims, but this is way off !
I feel ever so slightly peeved off with these numbers, it takes the shine away from a great car.
Anyone else getting similar returns ?
On my 35d, I'm regularly getting about 37 mpg (7.5 - 7.6L/100km) on autobahn and traffic, and I tend to have a lead foot.

You might want to check the tire pressure as they always seem to not put enough at the dealer.

Also HighlandPete is right concerning the "smaller engine big car" thing. I would imagine that it would be the worst in traffic and at high speeds, when the motor has to deal with the weight and/or wind resistance.
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      11-20-2012, 07:20 AM   #14
HighlandPete
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Wheels, tyres, pressures, other added options, all make a difference to the mpg.

Don't forget the driver... the OP suggests his wife is a slower driver, but that doesn't mean she is an economical driver. I've sat with drivers over the years who drive slower than me, but with greater fuel consumption.

Remember it is documented that the driver, and how he/she drives, can make a difference of up to 30% on mpg consumption over the same trip. Hence the EU drive for 'driver awareness' on how to drive for better economy.

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      11-20-2012, 08:39 AM   #15
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This debate makes me wonder what the true MPG is going to be for the 18d that's recently launched.
The drive in the UK seems to be to lower CO2 for tax purposes. But the lower CO2 doesn't translate to real world lower MPG.

See http://www.whatcar.com/truempg/my-true-mpg
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      11-20-2012, 10:25 AM   #16
HighlandPete
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Quote:
Originally Posted by philtrick123 View Post
This debate makes me wonder what the true MPG is going to be for the 18d that's recently launched.
The drive in the UK seems to be to lower CO2 for tax purposes. But the lower CO2 doesn't translate to real world lower MPG.
Hardly any cars will give anything like the official figures, unless driven very lightly in light driving condtitions.

1-series doesn't do well as it is a blunt, stubby body form, so driven at speed will start drinking fuel more so than the average saloon/sedan, from my experience.

The whole testing system needs revision, but no system will be perfect, as once we move the goalposts the manufacturers obviously design to achieve the next set of tests. Happened before, when we used to have the 56 & 75mph constant speed driving in the older test regime. Some cars were so badly geared to achieve the best 56mph figure, they were so inflexible in real world driving, it was common to use more fuel in the economy model, that the more sportier cars in the range.

Honest John's site gives a reasonable feel for what models and engines give best figures, and which have the greatest mpg shortfall.

In my 5-series, the 535i touring is rated far closer to official figures at 91% of official figures, (my driving reflects that is pretty accurate for the average) whereas the 535d is 74% of the official figure. That closes the real world gap average to less than 3mpg, so very different to the over 10mpg difference in the official figures. The tests favour the diesel, so petrol engines look far worse on paper.

But that is typical of reality, when we crunch the numbers.

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      11-22-2012, 09:22 AM   #17
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After 24.000 miles I am at roughly 38mpg in the 20dA. This is 70% Freeway (going 95-100 mph) and 30% city stop&go. If I have long stretches of 70mph on highways, it can go up to 43 mpg, but can also stay below 40 if the A/C is on and I have my 275 19" summer tires on. To be honest, I must say this is pretty impressive to me. I used to have one of the early X5 30d and was never ever above 17mpg, no matter how much I tried. Those two cars are exactly the same size, slightly different weight and the X5 had a six-stroke.

I am not sure while people still believe the 46mpg given by BMW are achievable in real life (other than driving through Canada off season w/o a single break).
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      11-22-2012, 10:25 AM   #18
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I am not sure while people still believe the 46mpg given by BMW are achievable in real life (other than driving through Canada off season w/o a single break).[/QUOTE]

I got 46mpg at an average of 60mph over 300 odd mixed miles (A road, town and motorway) driving in the UK from a 30D
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      11-22-2012, 10:36 AM   #19
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I have a 2.0d with 8000 mls on the clock & am also disappointed with the consumption as I consider myself an economic driver; dont believe what you see on the cars computer as it is always higher than doing the calculations on a full tank to full tank.
The car is fitted with 19'' run flats with the pressures checked on a regular basis.
My consumptions are:
overall- 38.5
Best- 41.8
Worst- 37.2
Average dist per fill- 521 mls
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      11-23-2012, 03:50 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kennygee View Post
I have a 2.0d with 8000 mls on the clock & am also disappointed with the consumption as I consider myself an economic driver; dont believe what you see on the cars computer as it is always higher than doing the calculations on a full tank to full tank.
The car is fitted with 19'' run flats with the pressures checked on a regular basis.
My consumptions are:
overall- 38.5
Best- 41.8
Worst- 37.2
Average dist per fill- 521 mls
I'm not sure why you are disappointed. That's good for a 4x4 with the aero of brick!
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      11-23-2012, 05:28 AM   #21
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My 1.6 diesel estate (French!) has the performance of a brick and the same mpg as I get form our 2.0d X3.
You can imagine the discussions each morning we have as we decide who has which car!
- and I only win 50% of the time.
My wife claims she does not push the X3 but her mpg is the same as mine so I guess she enjoys driving it as much as I do.
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      11-23-2012, 06:26 AM   #22
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I think people would be much happier if the advertised combined mpg was about 45. It's the realms of fantasy that produce figures of 56mpg extra urban that should be reviewed as they are misleading. I think it's a combination of BMW using a certain optimum setup (17" low rolling resistance tyres for example) for the test car and the test cycle itself not really being anything like real driving patterns
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