Ridiculously horrible gas mileage 128i

[Iron Man]

Originally Posted by 631twentyeighteye

the issue with that is that i drive .25 of a mile before i have to merge onto a highway, i'd rather let it idle for a few minutes before having to merge on a cold motor.

Yeah, it said "light driving" to warm it up. You can't just start it up and then floor it to get on a highway, so in your case idling would be better.

[631twentyeighteye]

i keep it under 3k until the oil gauge shows a reading and i haven't had any issues thus far. I also change my oil every 5k instead of the ridiculous 12k oil changes BMW recommends.

[bmw1racer]

Originally Posted by 631twentyeighteye

i keep it under 3k until the oil gauge shows a reading

Oil gauge on a 128i?

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by bmw1racer

Oil gauge on a 128i?

OBC oil gauge.

[hatepotholez]

Originally Posted by 631twentyeighteye

i keep it under 3k until the oil gauge shows a reading and i haven't had any issues thus far. I also change my oil every 5k instead of the ridiculous 12k oil changes BMW recommends.

This is highly debated. I think the farthest I can do is 7500.

[631twentyeighteye]

oil is cheap insurance and can show signs if anything is wrong earlier then you would normally find it. I'm also used to changing the oil on my race quad every 10 hours of riding.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by hatepotholez

This is highly debated. I think the farthest I can do is 7500.

Not much of a debate. Magically when BMW began covering fluids under warranty, oil intervals doubled and trans/diff became lifetime.

Frankly, bullshit.

[hatepotholez]

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

Not much of a debate. Magically when BMW began covering fluids under warranty, oil intervals doubled and trans/diff became lifetime.

Frankly, bullshit.

lol u weren't the only one who caught that. Definitely going to get an analysis of my oil.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by hatepotholez

lol u weren't the only one who caught that. Definitely going to get an analysis of my oil.

Never said I was?

Blackstone is good for an overview for a reasonable dollar.

[hatepotholez]

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

Never said I was?

Blackstone is good for an overview for a reasonable dollar.

Ya, I know just agreeing with you.

[The Dowager Countess]

you guys are crazy. you think bmw wants to replace expensive engine bits under warranty? that makes no financial sense. stuff is better now- if anything bmw knows more about how often fluids and oil needs to be replaced in their cars than they ever have. the fact that a bunch of people including an adult male who names himself after a fictitious charachter on a pompous british public television program, think they know more about their cars than the engineers who designed them is absurd. bmw wants ggod cars to sell off lease....they dont want to replace expensive engine bits....they wouldnt make up service intervals for no reason.
-the dowager countess

[RoundelM3]

My wife's '11 128i Convertible gets 22-23MPG commuting to work, which is a couple miles of freeway along with some 40MPH roads through a residential area. On a trip, we'll get 26+, although we could probably bump that to 28 by holding the speed down to 70-75.

[Obioban]

Originally Posted by cgaulzetti

you guys are crazy. you think bmw wants to replace expensive engine bits under warranty? that makes no financial sense. stuff is better now- if anything bmw knows more about how often fluids and oil needs to be replaced in their cars than they ever have. the fact that a bunch of people including an adult male who names himself after a fictitious charachter on a pompous british public television program, think they know more about their cars than the engineers who designed them is absurd. bmw wants ggod cars to sell off lease....they dont want to replace expensive engine bits....they wouldnt make up service intervals for no reason.
-the dowager countess

BMW's goal is to make the car reliable for the first owner and CPO owner, while minimizing warranty repairs. They want to create cars that are reliable for the first 100,000 miles. Beyond that, they don't really care.

The same day they went to included maintenance with new car purchase, the fluid intervals drastically changed. They eliminated the (previously standard on all cars, M or otherwise) 1200 mile break in service, trans fluid went from a 15-25,000 mile service to "lifetime fill", and oil life dramatically increased. Many of those occurred without any change in the fluids at all.

It's likely that the original 3000 mile oil change, 15,000 trans/diff fluid change were a bit overly aggressive to pad the dealer's pockets a bit... but it's also extremely likely that the current intervals are terrible for long term ownership. The lack of a 1200 mile break in service is extremely concerning, imo.

So, the truth lies in the middle. I do trans and diff fluid with every inspection interval and oil twice as often as the car asks for it. The condition based service is a nice feature, even when not used exactly as BMW intended. My OBC calls for an oil change every ~12,000 mile, so I do one every ~6000 miles. Every other oil change I send it in for analysis, and they tell me I could extend my OCI's by ~1000-1500 miles. Which means... my oil would be shot long before the car is asking for it at 12,000. I don't extend it because I'd rather have a buffer than get out of the oil's 100% functional life, and doing it at halfway on the OBC is easy to remember. Oil is cheap, engines aren't.

That said, objectively, if you plan to sell the car before 100,000 miles and don't care how it is for the next owner... the BMW intervals are likely the cheapest way to do it.... which happens to be exactly why I wouldn't buy a used BMW with more than 60,000 miles on it (as that's the latest I'd want to do a trans/diff fluid swap). Even then, I'd be extremely sad that my car hadn't had a break in service done as it will certainly shorten component life.

[hatepotholez]

Originally Posted by Obioban

BMW's goal is to make the car reliable for the first owner and CPO owner, while minimizing warranty repairs. They want to create cars that are reliable for the first 100,000 miles. Beyond that, they don't really care.

The same day they went to included maintenance with new car purchase, the fluid intervals drastically changed. They eliminated the (previously standard on all cars, M or otherwise) 1200 mile break in service, trans fluid went from a 15-25,000 mile service to "lifetime fill", and oil life dramatically increased. Many of those occurred without any change in the fluids at all.

It's likely that the original 3000 mile oil change, 15,000 trans/diff fluid change were a bit overly aggressive to pad the dealer's pockets a bit... but it's also extremely likely that the current intervals are terrible for long term ownership. The lack of a 1200 mile break in service is extremely concerning, imo.

So, the truth lies in the middle. I do trans and diff fluid with every inspection interval and oil twice as often as the car asks for it. The condition based service is a nice feature, even when not used exactly as BMW intended. My OBC calls for an oil change every ~12,000 mile, so I do one every ~6000 miles. Every other oil change I send it in for analysis, and they tell me I could extend my OCI's by ~1000-1500 miles. Which means... my oil would be shot long before the car is asking for it at 12,000. I don't extend it because I'd rather have a buffer than get out of the oil's 100% functional life, and doing it at halfway on the OBC is easy to remember. Oil is cheap, engines aren't.

That said, objectively, if you plan to sell the car before 100,000 miles and don't care how it is for the next owner... the BMW intervals are likely the cheapest way to do it.... which happens to be exactly why I wouldn't buy a used BMW with more than 60,000 miles on it (as that's the latest I'd want to do a trans/diff fluid swap). Even then, I'd be extremely sad that my car hadn't had a break in service done as it will certainly shorten component life.

+1

[hatepotholez]

Originally Posted by cgaulzetti

you guys are crazy. you think bmw wants to replace expensive engine bits under warranty? that makes no financial sense. stuff is better now- if anything bmw knows more about how often fluids and oil needs to be replaced in their cars than they ever have. the fact that a bunch of people including an adult male who names himself after a fictitious charachter on a pompous british public television program, think they know more about their cars than the engineers who designed them is absurd. bmw wants ggod cars to sell off lease....they dont want to replace expensive engine bits....they wouldnt make up service intervals for no reason.
-the dowager countess

I'm not an Engineer, but to me with all the online evidence and photos of sludge, and my driving style it would be safer for me to change it out earlier than recommended.

[hatepotholez]

Originally Posted by roundel335

My wife's '11 128i Convertible gets 22-23MPG commuting to work, which is a couple miles of freeway along with some 40MPH roads through a residential area. On a trip, we'll get 26+, although we could probably bump that to 28 by holding the speed down to 70-75.

Wish I got those numbers.

[RoundelM3]

Originally Posted by hatepotholez

Wish I got those numbers.

Well again, we're in a warmer climate, and those figures are without her running the A/C, which usually knocks us down 1 or 2 mpg, depending on the type of driving.

[Satalite]

Originally Posted by hatepotholez

Wish I got those numbers.

That's what I get on my 128i. Avg about 23mpg city/hwy with hwy driving inching close to 30mpg on longer drives.

[dorkdog]

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

If you are getting 14-15mpg you have a serious problem.

I drive like a complete ass whenever I can(~80% of the time) and I get 20.4mpg. The only time I was getting 14-15 MPG is when on the highway at a constant 130mph. We lose mpg dramatically going past 80mph in this car.

Funny, I get the same number. 20.4. No matter what I do, it always seems to center back on 20 - 21 or so. If I start out driving like an ass it's at 10-12, then I stop fooling around and when I get to work? 20.4

If I gas up, reset, and drive sensibly I can keep it at 30 on the highway, but after not monitoring it for a while it creeps back down to 20 - 21 MPG.

I do find that premium (93) gas imporoves my mileage slightly, as does trying not to stop.

[dorkdog]

[QUOTE=hatepotholez;13564490]

Running stock size tires, front RF tire is brand new, LF has pretty good thread on it. The tire pressure readings i'm not to sure of but I will definitely check them over. I bought a tire gauge just for this lol!

QUOTE]

Running tires of unequal wear scares me a little. Are they the same type? Apo*ogies if this has been asked before , or since rather...

[dorkdog]

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

OBC oil gauge.

Can you p*ease give me a bit more information on this? I have Torque running but cannot access oi* temperature. How did you access that parameter, please?

[631twentyeighteye]

On the left hand stalk by the steering wheel, the one above the cruise control stalk, scroll up on the wheel 2 or 3 times until you see oil, then click on it with the end button. If it shows a reading, i consider my car warmed up. If you just see a sort of loading screen, i consider that not warmed up yet.