18.4 Mpg?!

[phita23]

I just refilled my new 2004 325i for the first time.

At $1.97 a gallon, I pumped 16 gallons exactly. I went 295 miles, which is 18.4375mpg.

Isn't that a little low? I'm still in breakin period, so I haven't been flooring the gas at all.

[Kaz]

$1.97/gal??? I haven't seen gas that cheap in almost 2 years.

And you meant 'the attendant pumped 16 gallons,' right? IIRC you can't pump your own gas in Jersey.

[phita23]

Yea, attendant pumped it. $1.97 for super duper premium is alot :/ I remember when I paid $.95 - albeit regular - 6-7 years ago.

[drmwvr]

I just refilled my new 2004 325i for the first time.

At $1.97 a gallon, I pumped 16 gallons exactly. I went 295 miles, which is 18.4375mpg.

Isn't that a little low? I'm still in breakin period, so I haven't been flooring the gas at all.


I have 16,8xx on my 325i right now and have averaged 19.3917 over the life of the car.

High...25.14
Low...17.42

I just paid $1.979 here in Houston for premium...

[phita23]

Uh oh, doesn't look too good as far as MPG efficiency goes :/

[drmwvr]

Uh oh, doesn't look too good as far as MPG efficiency goes :/

If it makes you feel any better, I drive 99% in the city (a congested city at that) :(

[Kaz]

Uh oh, doesn't look too good as far as MPG efficiency goes :/

Perhaps you should have considered a Prius. :dunno:

[cantona7]

That MPG is a little low, but it should improve after break-in. Also, is your car a 5-speed or auto? And what kind of driving conditions?

[Salvator]

Uh oh, doesn't look too good as far as MPG efficiency goes :/
I routinely get 27+ MPG on my 70 mile round trip commute, 70% highway (anywhere from 65 to 80 MPH) and 30% city (stop & go to 45MPH)... You might check your tire pressure, although that shouldn't have THAT much of a detriment to your MPG...

[st_o_p]

For the 1st couple thousand miles I could never reach 20 mpg - 19.8 at best. Now that I have about 12k miles, the avg is 21.5. Of course, now is summer and back then was winter. Oh, and I have an xi - I guess that eats about 1 mpg

[Tanning machine]

I just refilled my new 2004 325i for the first time.

At $1.97 a gallon, I pumped 16 gallons exactly. I went 295 miles, which is 18.4375mpg.

Isn't that a little low? I'm still in breakin period, so I haven't been flooring the gas at all.

You're assuming the tank was entirely full the first time around. Chances are the dealer didn't try to cram the tank quite as full as the Sunoco pump-jockey.

And, yes, in a lot of city driving you can get numbers like that, especially at first.

[grayghost]

I just refilled my new 2004 325i for the first time.

At $1.97 a gallon, I pumped 16 gallons exactly. I went 295 miles, which is 18.4375mpg.

Isn't that a little low? I'm still in breakin period, so I haven't been flooring the gas at all.

I typically get about 27 MPG in my mostly surburban driving... but that is really part of a personal experiment to see how high I can get the MPG numbers.
(2004 330ci with 6MT

This has been discussed quite a bit in other threads, see for example:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71399

[Jim H]

You're assuming the tank was entirely full the first time around. Chances are the dealer didn't try to cram the tank quite as full as the Sunoco pump-jockey.

And, yes, in a lot of city driving you can get numbers like that, especially at first.

That's EXACTLY what I was thinking. Just a gallon or so low will through the whole thing off. I'd not worry about it until you try it again, based on your own fill-up.

[tashi]

I just refilled my new 2004 325i for the first time.

At $1.97 a gallon, I pumped 16 gallons exactly. I went 295 miles, which is 18.4375mpg.

Isn't that a little low? I'm still in breakin period, so I haven't been flooring the gas at all.

I also get about 19-20mpg avg on my 325i. Have about 7500 miles now. Mostly city driving or going up and down hills.


$1.97/gal??? I haven't seen gas that cheap in almost 2 years.



Kaz, Costco in Poway has regular gas at $1.98, but the required premium is at $2.18 .

[operknockity]

$1.97/gal??? I haven't seen gas that cheap in almost 2 years.
I actually got Chevron, Mobil, and Texaco 91 octane for that price in the last few months here in LA when we had that very brief pull back in oil prices. There was only 1 station of each of those brands that went that low.

The one good thing (if you could call it good) was that I used to put the absolutely cheapest low-test gas I could in the POS rental I had.

[Nick325xiT 5spd]

heh

I got 16-17 most of the time in my 325.

Now my M3 tells me it gets about 13.

[Staszek]

Do you have a stick or an auto? It seems a little low to me depends on your style of driving and where you drive. Paramus isnt the least congested area

(Oh yea filled up today for 1.94 per gallon for super in central NJ)

Anyway I have 102k on my car its a manual though, I do a mix of 60% highway and 40% city, and drive my car pretty hard

Average almost always between 23-24 mpg

[Bimmer4life]

My 99 328i auto gets 20.5 MPG with 90% city driving, roads here are flat & lots of traffic. Always run premium fuel. This to me is fantastic mileage for my year vehicle. On the straight highway I can get over 30 MPG again this is excellent to me. I'm sure your mileage will improve with time.

Did I say I love my car today? :)

[Arthur]

I have averaged 22 for the first 2 months.

[EdCT]

I'm averaging 26 mpg after 38k on my 2000 323i

Ed

[schreck]

Haha, 2$ for gas, and you haven't seen that in two years?! It's never even touched the two dollar mark here! Now it's at 1.70 hahahahahaha.


Alex

[dorkus]

don't sweat it. i have a '04 325i with Steptronic. i got around 18mpg on my first fill (but as others have said it's approximate, tank was probalby not completely full out of the dealer)... next tank got around 20mpg, then 15mpg (stuck in traffic in NYC, lots of A/C), then 25mpg with mostly highway driving. i drive moderately agressively (necessary to break the car in properly); with about 1400 miles on the car now i'd say i get 20mpg in my normal mixed highway/local driving (i live in Jersey City), 25mpg on the highway. if i drive more like my dad (super conservative), i could probably get closer to 27mpg with mostly highway driving. in any case, i expect things to improve about 15% once the car is broken in (over 10k miles).

keep checking your mileage over the next few fills (so far i've kept all my receipts with mileages marked). if you get around 16 to 18mpg in city driving, 18 to 22mpg in mixed driving, and 25 to 27mpg on the highway, i'd say your car is pretty normal. it's hard to get good mileage in the crowded parts of jersey that we live in... too much stop and go.

P.S. premium generally runs between $1.97 and $2.09 in northern NJ, but out in central jersey i've gotten it as low as $1.87 for Mobil 93 octane...

[phita23]

Do you have a stick or an auto? It seems a little low to me depends on your style of driving and where you drive. Paramus isnt the least congested area

(Oh yea filled up today for 1.94 per gallon for super in central NJ)

Anyway I have 102k on my car its a manual though, I do a mix of 60% highway and 40% city, and drive my car pretty hard

Average almost always between 23-24 mpg


I drive manual, and I'm still in the break-in so I'm not even driving that hard.

[MG67]

In the last 2 years I did not fill my car up for under $2.20 per gallon... On a full tank it will last me about 300 miles here in L.A....:thumbup:

[marcio]

Gas mileage comparisons are useless because these cars get such a wide difference in gas mileage between city and hwy. Mine normally gets 18mpg in mostly local street commute. When the commute changed for a short period of time to mostly freeway, the gas mileage jumped to 26mpg. Same driver, same car, same city, same gas, a different commute.