New 330i ZHP getting lousy mileage

I get about 18 - 22, mostly city driving, and very heavy use of the pedals. Like others have said, I wasn't really too concerned about the gas mileage. I bought the car because it's so much fun to drive. If mileage were a concern I'd have gotten a hybred, and had the family bury me in a plot with a view, because driving something like that would have just killed me...

Originally Posted by alpinewhite325i

Are you saying you picked the 330 over the S4 based on gas mileage alone?

I hope the day never comes that I choose my car based on gas mileage!!

Been there, done that

Originally Posted by Kaz

How the heck did you get 450+ miles out of a 325? I could push mine down a hill and there's no way mine will do that.

For 16 gallons, that's about 28mpg. I routinely get 27 out of mine and have for the life of the car.

Originally Posted by Kaz

How the heck did you get 450+ miles out of a 325? I could push mine down a hill and there's no way mine will do that.

I've gotten close to 500 miles out of my 325i. 17 gallon tank and sometimes over 30 mpg on long highway trips.

I have averaged 24.4 mpg since I got the car. My normal commute is 15 miles each way to a commuter bus lot, over two mountains, lots of gas up hil, very little downhill. Doing the commute alone I get about 26mpg. One tank with two trips into Manhattan and little traffic at the Tunnel showed me over 27mpg. Around town on the weekends I get terrible mileage which generally drops my tank average.

Nevertheless, the only tank that I ever got less than 22.5mpg was when I spent the day at Lime Rock Park last October. That day included a 2 hr drive to the park, then 4 25 minute sessions on the track and some idling. That tank showed about 17.5mpg when I refilled, just after the track day.

I see 30-32mpg when I cruise on the highway.

I'm religious about NOT idling the car. I get to the lot in the morning and turn the car off, while everyone else sits and idles to stay warm waiting for the bus. I'd probably lose 2+ points if I let it idle 3-5 minutes per day.

I've been completely blown away by the gas mileage on this car. I'm still running pre-39.2 software, but I do have Bosch coils and have stalled only twice.

This post sounds like an ad for the hair club for men.

Originally Posted by MicahO

This post sounds like an ad for the hair club for men.

We all know ZHP's have been known to regrow (chest) hair.

19.9 mpg so far on very limited mileage....only about 220 miles on the car....mostly city miles.

Originally Posted by allaboutme

Hah. Whoops. I meant 747 miles on one tank.

Well, it was 45+ mpg for that descent. I was trying to see the best mileage I could get for any particular stretch of the highway...

I currently try very hard to keep the mpg above 20 mpg mainly city driving, but I like other's try not to worry about it otherwise I would have bought another Honda. I recently took a trip to FL and averaged about 80 mph at 26-27 mpg.

Try bringing your lunch two days a week, drinking the free office coffee instead of buying, and that way like I do, I don't worry about the mpg, just enjoy the drive and the sound of the sweet inline 6.

What RPM range do any of you stay in to get such good or bad mileage?

Originally Posted by car_for_mom

I've noticed that if I do a lot of freeway driving right after I fill up, I get waaay better mileage overall - if I'm on the freeway a lot the first 1 or 2 days after I fill up, even if I do a lot of city driving the rest of the week, my mileage is pretty good.

The more weight you carry, the more hills you go up, and the more acceleration you do (and the harder you accelerate), the bigger the hit on your mileage. Filling up, then doing a lot of highway driving means you accelerate infrequently with the heaviest load, and then your car is lighter for the city driving, so you should get better mileage. Doing it the other way around means you are spending more time accelerating a greater weight, and thus worse mileage.

I cruise in the neighborhood of 2500 rpm, with a few episodes of aggressive acceleration per tank, hills for part of my commute, long shallow grades for the rest, mostly highway miles, but probably 50:50 on the time spent in city versus highway. City driving is often with a passenger load (typically 3 passengers), and highway is often empty. All that yields typical mileage of 21-22 mpg.

On flat highway and when I'm already at speed, I get 30+ mpg instantaneous consumption.

Well I wouldn't buy a car just to get good gas mileage. But it was one big reason to pick the 330iZHP over the G35. (It was one of many reasons)

Bob....

Originally Posted by FenPhen

The more weight you carry, the more hills you go up, and the more acceleration you do (and the harder you accelerate), the bigger the hit on your mileage. Filling up, then doing a lot of highway driving means you accelerate infrequently with the heaviest load, and then your car is lighter for the city driving, so you should get better mileage. Doing it the other way around means you are spending more time accelerating a greater weight, and thus worse mileage.

I cruise in the neighborhood of 2500 rpm, with a few episodes of aggressive acceleration per tank, hills for part of my commute, long shallow grades for the rest, mostly highway miles, but probably 50:50 on the time spent in city versus highway. City driving is often with a passenger load (typically 3 passengers), and highway is often empty. All that yields typical mileage of 21-22 mpg.

On flat highway and when I'm already at speed, I get 30+ mpg instantaneous consumption.

Also keep in mind that if you're driving highway miles for the first half tank and city for the second half, vs. vice versa, then the mileage is skewed because a half tank by the fuel gauge standards is actually different depending on whether you're talking about the first or the second half. The first "half" of the tank is actually more than half...

Oh, well I bought the H-ZHP......you know, the Hybrid Performance Package ! I get about 42 mpg.....but screw the inline 6, I really like the purrrr of my fuel cell.

OK... I get 13-14 MPG in the city, and i'm LUCKY to get much more than 200 miles per tank... Granted, I'm an aggressive driver, but still a bit disappointed with the gas mileage of this car...

Filled up today with fuel gauge almost reading empty. The statistics were:

- OBC Computer reading on arrival - 32 miles to empty
- OBC Computer reading on departure - 369 miles range
- Miles on resettable odo - 321.1
- Petrol consumed - 15.389 gal, $1.919/gal 93 octane Costco
- OBC Mileage indicated - 22.6 mpg

- Manually Computed MPG - 20.86 mpg
- Fuel left in tank based on 16.6 gal - 15.389 = 1.211 gal

Oh, one other thing, upon departing the lane the engine stalled and died. I kind of wonder if by letting the gas go down to that point I sucked something into the pickup temporarily. I don't usually let the tank get to this point; just a bit busy and had to stretch time between fill ups this week.

Originally Posted by wingspan

Filled up today with fuel gauge almost reading empty. The statistics were:

- OBC Computer reading on arrival - 32 miles to empty
- OBC Computer reading on departure - 369 miles range
- Miles on resettable odo - 321.1
- Petrol consumed - 15.389 gal, $1.919/gal 93 octane Costco
- OBC Mileage indicated - 22.6 mpg

- Manually Computed MPG - 20.86 mpg
- Fuel left in tank based on 16.6 gal - 15.389 = 1.211 gal

Oh, one other thing, upon departing the lane the engine stalled and died. I kind of wonder if by letting the gas go down to that point I sucked something into the pickup temporarily. I don't usually let the tank get to this point; just a bit busy and had to stretch time between fill ups this week.

Time to upgrade to v39.2?

Originally Posted by wingspan

Oh, one other thing, upon departing the lane the engine stalled and died. I kind of wonder if by letting the gas go down to that point I sucked something into the pickup temporarily. I don't usually let the tank get to this point; just a bit busy and had to stretch time between fill ups this week.

Depending upon the fuel pump's design, that can be bad for a car.

Alex

Originally Posted by swchang

Time to upgrade to v39.2?

I know...slightly off topic... According to my dealer, they just received v40, which was supposed to be installed on my car today (Not sure if there are any decimal points after v40 nor do I know what v40 fixes.)

I haven't driven it much to see if the idle fluctuations are gone (should be resolved by 39.1) but it appears the 4000 RPM drop appears to be gone...as in I don't even notice a hiccup at all. (I'll have to pay closer attention when I drive home to see if that is really gone or barely noticeable.)

So far it feels like I'm driving a different car. Feels much better.

To stay on topic....maybe it is time to upgrade to v40? Maybe fuel mileage will improve?

Originally Posted by Megatron

I know...slightly off topic... According to my dealer, they just received v40, which was supposed to be installed on my car today (Not sure if there are any decimal points after v40 nor do I know what v40 fixes.)

I haven't driven it much to see if the idle fluctuations are gone (should be resolved by 39.1) but it appears the 4000 RPM drop appears to be gone...as in I don't even notice a hiccup at all. (I'll have to pay closer attention when I drive home to see if that is really gone or barely noticeable.)

So far it feels like I'm driving a different car. Feels much better.

To stay on topic....maybe it is time to upgrade to v40? Maybe fuel mileage will improve?

v40? I want that...

I supposedly got v39.1 but my car still stalls and has the idle fluctuation. If I really did get the software upgrade, then it didn't fix it. If I didn't, and the dealership lied, then never mind.

Originally Posted by cwsqbm

I'm surprised that a ZHP gets that much worse mileage than a standard 330. On long highway trips with around 75 mph average, I see over 30mpg on the OBC, with results backed up by manual calculations; range indicated upwards of 450 miles. Even in Europe with a green engine, I averaged 25.5 mpg with a mix of city driving and very high speed Autobahn/Autoroute driving.

(I'm a little late joining in, but...)

I don't have the ZHP, only a normal 330Ci (6M). I drive about 50% "surburban" roads and 50% highway (If Atlanta's Interstates could be called "highways"). I average 26 - 27 mpg (according to the OBC) with this mix. On pure 'highway", I'll get 32 - 33 mpg at 70 - 75 mph. I do tend to take it easy, and don't wind it out going up through the gears very often, so that helps. Of course the lower gearing of the ZHP is going to impact your mileage some also, unless you shift it a little earlier to compensate for that.

wow i dunno whats wrong with ur guys' cars...i drive the **** outta mine and the pannel has never dropped below 26.8mph...i calculated it a few times and was only off by about 1-2gallons...and by me saying i drive the **** outta it i mean i regularly redline it...turn the traction control off to have fun...speed constantly...i figure its a BMW...if it does break i'll just replace it...no sense in payin for somethin and not enjoying it...i could never own a classic sports car...drive the hell out of it

After almost 28K miles on my ZHP I have averaged right around 25-26 MPG. I do a lot of highways in non traffic conditions.