Bad Fuel Economy - 2013 328i

I just leased a 2013 328i in Los Angeles, CA.
I drive a mix of highway and city.
I'm on my second full tank of gas and i'm only getting 19 mpg.
The EPA estimated mpg on the car is 23 city and 33 highway, for a combined 26mpg.

Anybody have any ideas on why i'm getting such poor fuel efficiency?
I drive in comfort mode and have pretty typical driving habits.

Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
-Andy

Originally Posted by AndyFisher

I just leased a 2013 328i in Los Angeles, CA.
I drive a mix of highway and city.
I'm on my second full tank of gas and i'm only getting 19 mpg.
The EPA estimated mpg on the car is 23 city and 33 highway, for a combined 26mpg.

Anybody have any ideas on why i'm getting such poor fuel efficiency?
I drive in comfort mode and have pretty typical driving habits.

Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
-Andy

These posts come up a lot. Before freaking out, take your car out onto the high way. Turn on the cruise control and set it to 65mph. Reset the trip computer and drive about 50 miles. See what your results are.

If they are still terrible, then there is a chance it is the car, but 99.99% of the time, it is how you drive and were you drive. Short 10 minute trips are terrible for mileage. We had someone a month ago complaining and swearing his car was broken because he was getting 16 mpg on this new 328i. Turns out he drove 5 miles to work and sits in traffic for 30 minutes on the way

Probably LA traffic. When I had my e90 328i, my mileage was 17mpg consistently. Sometimes 16 if I was in extra traffic that tank. City driving kills it. Even though that was mostly city, when I mixed with a bunch of highway I'd be lucky to bring it up to 18-19.

Like the previous poster said best to check highway mileage using his method to be sure. I still hit 30 on the highway sometimes even though city was 17 most of the time. so I didn't think it was the car.

What part of LA? Here on the westside it's hard not to get crap fuel economy.

I have an 11 mile commute each way in the morning and I average right around 21-22 on those days with my 335. But this is after I got to around 2000 miles. Before that it was worse. When I am driving true highway driving I get at least 30.

If your in metro LA, that's going to happen. Take it easy on accelerating and coast as much as possible... My theory is the less you brake, the more gas you save. In South Bay suburbs I average 21-22 mpg so 19 in Metro LA traffic is not unreasonable. If I go through a tank of 50% highway (80 mph) I will get about 25 mpg.

Yeah, what everyone else said. It totally depends on how you drive and what kind of traffic you're in. Short trips, particularly in the winter months, will kill your fuel efficiency, as will stop and go traffic. Excessive speeds will prevent you from breaking the mid-30's but it should still allow you to attain 30.

As others have said, try setting cruise control strictly to 65 or 70 and driving for 30 miles and see what fuel economy you get.

As far as real world driving tips, try using Eco Pro mode and abiding by the moderate acceleration tips you're given. You're probably going to die a little on the inside when merging into the highway

I had the same problem with my A4 2.0T which was one of the things that pushed me towards the ActiveHybrid 3. I spend most of my miles stuck in commute traffic and the hybrid really helps match or exceed EPA fuel economy in those cases (depending on how much willpower I have against mashing the pedal)

Your mpg will improve the more miles you put on the car.

At 9k miles, I am averaging 26 mpg in about a 50/50 mix, city/highway.

Originally Posted by shabadoo25

Your mpg will improve the more miles you put on the car.

At 9k miles, I am averaging 26 mpg in about a 50/50 mix, city/highway.

What were you initially getting?

Looking over the 35,000mi course of my A4's fill ups, there's only a weakly correlated trend of 1mpg per 10,000 miles.

Thanks for all the quick responses.
I do have a lot of 10 minute quick trips around Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood.
But i also have a 10 mile commute from Beverly Hills to Downtown LA where i take the 10 freeway, usually with light traffic.

I hope i can improve upon the 19mpg im getting now

For those that have the latest 3 series with the auto-stop/engine shut down feature, do you think that helps or hurts the fuel efficiency?

Thanks!

It without a doubt helps. However in short trips, your engine might not warm enough for ASS to kick in on a good portion of the trip.

Originally Posted by jdong

It without a doubt helps. However in short trips, your engine might not warm enough for ASS to kick in on a good portion of the trip.

For me (in LA), I've had ASS kick in immediately after cold starting it (200 yards to my stop sign), I don't think it gets cold enough here for ASS to be disabled due to ambient temperature and I don't think it cares about engine temp too much.

It seems to take 10-15 minutes to get the oil temp up to normal. If all you are going is 10 mile trips, you car is never getting fully warm and stabilized.

Take your car out on the open road and let it breath properly as suggested and see what it will do MPG wise.

Originally Posted by AndyFisher

Thanks for all the quick responses.
I do have a lot of 10 minute quick trips around Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood.
But i also have a 10 mile commute from Beverly Hills to Downtown LA where i take the 10 freeway, usually with light traffic.

I hope i can improve upon the 19mpg im getting now

For those that have the latest 3 series with the auto-stop/engine shut down feature, do you think that helps or hurts the fuel efficiency?

Thanks!

We've had the 328 since the 31st of Dec. The one thing we've learned to HATE is the ASS. As soon as we start the engine, we push the Off switch. Planning to go to our dealer and set it where it only come on the last used setting.

Originally Posted by AndyFisher

Thanks for all the quick responses.
I do have a lot of 10 minute quick trips around Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood.
But i also have a 10 mile commute from Beverly Hills to Downtown LA where i take the 10 freeway, usually with light traffic.

I hope i can improve upon the 19mpg im getting now

For those that have the latest 3 series with the auto-stop/engine shut down feature, do you think that helps or hurts the fuel efficiency?

Thanks!

ASS only really saves when you are stuck at a light for a minute or more, or at a train crossing. I keep it because I see those lights down here, but in a stop n go, or driving down a street with lots of stop signs, I'd turn it off.

to the OP, I do feel your pain though. I came from an E93 335, and it only got 18 or 19 mph, mostly suburban driving. Dropping to the 328, AND using EcoPro, I'm still getting less than 20 mph. It sux, its gutless, and makes me re-think my purchase almost daily. If I mash the 4banger a bit, its still relatively fun, but not like the 6 cyl., and when I drive like that, I average about 10 mpg. I think I already regret the downgrade to the 328, especially if the 335 really does get the same mpg. But, I do concur with what people say, on the freeway with cruise control, I consistently get over 30 mpg, but I don't drive the freeway on a regular basis. [shrug]

Originally Posted by samualcc

These posts come up a lot. Before freaking out, take your car out onto the high way. Turn on the cruise control and set it to 65mph. Reset the trip computer and drive about 50 miles. See what your results are.

Bad advise. Don't use " cruise control " while your car is in the break in period,under 1200 miles.Good luck
cheers
vern

I don't think the 335 gets the same mileage as the 328 if you're digging into the boost while having fun. EPA numbers don't reflect real world driving habits. I got pretty close to the single digits on a short test drive lap with the 2013 335i...

Originally Posted by vern

Bad advise. Don't use " cruise control " while your car is in the break in period,under 1200 miles.Good luck
cheers
vern

What? Why not?

Originally Posted by jdong

What? Why not?

Read the manual!!!! In the break in period its not good for the engine to stay at a constant speed,or RPM for any prolonged time
cheers
vern

Seems pretty crappy if the actual real world use of the car is 8-10 mpg below what the "EPA Estimate" is...
One of the main selling points of the new 2013 328i was its improved "best in class" fuel economy.

It sounds like people are mixed on how their own 328i's are doing with fuel economy.
But I can't imagine that our driving styles are THAT different.

Sadly, there's a huge difference in mpg when driving for fun vs. driving for economy. I agree with others that its a bit ironic to buy a $50k+ car and worry about a few extra mpg's, but I did factor mpg into my overall car choice, and gave a lot of weight to the 328's proclaimed fuel economy. If you drive like a frightened grandmother downhill on the freeway, yeah, you'll get good gas mileage; if you drive like an enthusiast, it apparently doesn't matter if you're driving the 328 or a Corvette or a Porsche 911 (my other cars that got similar mileage as the 328, but were more fun to drive "aggressively)

Originally Posted by vern

Read the manual!!!! In the break in period its not good for the engine to stay at a constant speed,or RPM for any prolonged time
cheers
vern

The manual says no such thing... Internet folklore says to vary the engine speed or do periodic full-throttle bursts. All the manual says is:

Engine and differential
Always obey the official speed limit.
Up to 1,200 miles/2,000 km
Do not exceed the maximum engine and road speed:
***9655; For gasoline engine, 4,500 rpm and 100 mph/160 km/h.
Avoid full-throttle operation and use of the transmission's kickdown mode for the initial miles.
From 1,200 miles/2,000 km
The engine and vehicle speed can gradually be increased.

That's entirely compatible with using cruise control.

Originally Posted by AndyFisher

Seems pretty crappy if the actual real world use of the car is 8-10 mpg below what the "EPA Estimate" is...
One of the main selling points of the new 2013 328i was its improved "best in class" fuel economy.

It sounds like people are mixed on how their own 328i's are doing with fuel economy.
But I can't imagine that our driving styles are THAT different.

My average commute to work is 28mpg or so, but one day I decided to challenge myself to see how efficiently I could drive it, and I made it there at 36mpg. The way you drive has a lot to do with the ful economy one gets.

It is indeed sad that EPA numbers don't always line up with what actual drivers see. It makes purchasing a car a lot more difficult too if fuel economy is a selling point (whether it be for financial or just philosophical reasons)...

Originally Posted by jdong

It is indeed sad that EPA numbers don't always line up with what actual drivers see. It makes purchasing a car a lot more difficult too if fuel economy is a selling point (whether it be for financial or just philosophical reasons)...

You can't expect Joe to drive the car in the same manner as Jane. The EPA numbers are for an ideal driving environment that most of us are not subject to.

Has anyone actually gone to the dealer and had the ASS turned off by default on their 2013 328i?
Is this actually something a dealer/service dept can do easily?

Originally Posted by lqaddict

You can't expect Joe to drive the car in the same manner as Jane. The EPA numbers are for an ideal driving environment that most of us are not subject to.

I don't really think so. Different driver and different routes make a huge difference in fuel economy. My observation from sitting in others' cars has been that there's quite a range of driving habits that people have.