fuel consumption in 135i-whats normal?

[Jeef Beef]

Originally Posted by malvern135i

why would you use D mode (auto) when you found that tiptronic M6 mode was more fuel effiecient?
Where i drive to and from work to home, there isnt much traffick. Its a 7 min drive on average.
I may switch from auto mode to manuel to race of the line or around corners at times, maybe thats my issue with fuel consumption?

I was looking at GTI specs recently--they avg around 7l/100km
and ferrari, etc---14-15l/100km

I'm thinking the 7 minute drive is the problem. IIRC, I have to drive for about 10mins before the oil temp needle moves off 70 degrees, and before that I drive like a granny.

You're not giving your engine enough time to warm up to the most efficient operating temperature. Combine that with 'racing off the line' I'm not too surprised at the 16L/100km.

[gse748]

I was surprised at how thirsty my 135i. In in Los Angeles and driving to work on city streets without much traffic, I'd get 16mpg every day. On long freeway runs I might see 28mpg. Definitely more thirsty than BMW would have you believe

[sparoz]

Do you have your settings right is it reading L/100Km? Mine is sitting on 10.1, having said that I do have a freeway run to work. I am certainly not light footed, and I always rev match which I should assume will eat up more fuel?

On the highway, depending on gradient, it's between 6.6-9 when cruising at 110km/h.

Most people here I thought would have run their cars in properly? I have also did an early change of oil at 2000. The other thing is I have normal tyres - which probably made the difference that shed 2-3kg each corner.

Also, can't quite compare vert and coupe figures either.

[x5mad]

Reading these posts gave me a thought. I am no mechanic so perhaps someone with knowledge can comment.

The 125 and 135 both have 3.0l in line 6. Is it possible to have a switch to dis engage the turbos and thus in effect having a 135 behave like a 125 and have similar consumption figures? You could for instance switch off the turbos if you were just cruising along on motorway at constant speed or are in heavy stop start traffic where you dont really need the turbos.

So by bypassing or switching off turbos would this improve our fuel consumption? Is this even possible? Not everyone drives heavy footed / spirited all the time.

['fatboy']

I've done over 15,000kms and my consumption per the trip computer reads 11.3.

[TimMc]

I'm averaging 10.4 with some freeway driving. At 110 it's about 7.5 lt/100km.

When cruising a turbo car will always use more fuel than the same size engine non turbo. The exhaust gas is always blocked by the turbines.

[Zuzu]

I'm also averaging 11.8 with a mix of driving conditions at about 18K km's up..

[BBK]

Originally Posted by x5mad

Reading these posts gave me a thought. I am no mechanic so perhaps someone with knowledge can comment.

The 125 and 135 both have 3.0l in line 6. Is it possible to have a switch to dis engage the turbos and thus in effect having a 135 behave like a 125 and have similar consumption figures? You could for instance switch off the turbos if you were just cruising along on motorway at constant speed or are in heavy stop start traffic where you dont really need the turbos.

So by bypassing or switching off turbos would this improve our fuel consumption? Is this even possible? Not everyone drives heavy footed / spirited all the time.

If you really want to save fuel, just drive intelligently. If I wanted to, I could get my 135i down to low 9's in suburban/city driving quite easily. I think the main problem is shifting times. With the auto, if I am not in a hurry, I shift below 2k rpm. May sound like a nanny, but why rev higher without the need for acceleration?

[AussieRacer]

Just under 18,000km and averaging mid-17s with 90% CBD driving. In mid-Dec when the traffic was real bad I averaged high 21s.

Would I like better fuel consumption - yeah I suppose. Do I really give a $h!+ - No. I didn't buy a economy car and in comparison to cars of similar performance it gives decent fuel consumption.

[Breville]

13l/100 average. I'm pretty sure I get 6l odd on the freeway.

[Jeef Beef]

Originally Posted by x5mad

Reading these posts gave me a thought. I am no mechanic so perhaps someone with knowledge can comment.

The 125 and 135 both have 3.0l in line 6. Is it possible to have a switch to dis engage the turbos and thus in effect having a 135 behave like a 125 and have similar consumption figures? You could for instance switch off the turbos if you were just cruising along on motorway at constant speed or are in heavy stop start traffic where you dont really need the turbos.

So by bypassing or switching off turbos would this improve our fuel consumption? Is this even possible? Not everyone drives heavy footed / spirited all the time.

The amount of extra money required for that tech would give you enough for 10years worth of fuel.

In addition to people saying "I only lost cos I missed 2nd" now you'll have people claiming their turbos weren't on.

[sparoz]

Also have you guys try to skip shifts? I have always been taught to put the right gear with the right speed. The other thing is I follow the shift suggestion very closely. Even I am quite heavy footed from the start.

[BMW86]

Okay so I checked my car out again tonight.

My average fuel consumption to date is 14.3l/100km and I've done 26,000km.

I also found that sitting on 100km/hr I was burning 6.6l/100km in regular D. When I switched over to M6 it was a bit higher so it does burn more fuel in sport mode regardless of the gear.

The most interesting thing I found was that at a complete stop our 135i's use 39.5l/100km!!! Check it out for yourselves

[Totti]

Yeah I noticed that in my dads old 730..

[BBK]

I tested the D vs M mode this morning and can't say there was much difference. at 105km/hr it seemed to be about the 7.4-7.8 range, flicked to M6 was still about the same, switched back to D and it was still similar.

Odd that our cars behave quite differently, I mean I knew there would be differences, but something like this I thought would be similar throughout?

[BMW86]

Originally Posted by BBK

I tested the D vs M mode this morning and can't say there was much difference. at 105km/hr it seemed to be about the 7.4-7.8 range, flicked to M6 was still about the same, switched back to D and it was still similar.

Odd that our cars behave quite differently, I mean I knew there would be differences, but something like this I thought would be similar throughout?

Because there isn't much in it make sure you reset the fields when switching between D and M6. I did this 3-4 times. It takes a good 30 seconds to calculate the new average. I found that regular D was around 6.6l/100km which I think is very fuel efficient. The M6 was somewhere in the 7.7 range but I'll need to test it again. Also, make sure the gradient you are driving on is very level. Other factors such as mods will also come into play. A flash tune should lower our fuel consumption as our engines run fairly rich from factory.

[fatjoez]

Originally Posted by BBK

With the auto, if I am not in a hurry, I shift below 2k rpm. May sound like a nanny, but why rev higher without the need for acceleration?

just a thought dude but generally speaking isn't shifting TOO early bad also..
I mean if the engines not at the optimal rev, you're chucking in a higher gear, the engine'll just have to work even harder to sync with it.

I mean im just thinking imagine im riding a bike along at like slow speeds then chuck it up a gear. ima have a hard time pedalling..

mind you the 135i has torque at low revs so i guess 2k could be fine?

[BBK]

Yes could be on to something, but I don't do it unless its a levellish road, and I am not accelerating hard. When it is in D (auto) the car shifts itself around 2k rpm anyway so a little below can't be that bad.

[takahashi]

Originally Posted by AussieRacer

Just under 18,000km and averaging mid-17s with 90% CBD driving. In mid-Dec when the traffic was real bad I averaged high 21s.

Would I like better fuel consumption - yeah I suppose. Do I really give a $h!+ - No. I didn't buy a economy car and in comparison to cars of similar performance it gives decent fuel consumption.

I canned the car like hell after warm up and I am now about 13.6L in average.

I found I get better mileage after I move out of your area Aussieracer . I don't get that much stopping but just slowing just 1-2 suburbs away.

[Jeef Beef]

Originally Posted by sparoz

Also have you guys try to skip shifts? I have always been taught to put the right gear with the right speed. The other thing is I follow the shift suggestion very closely. Even I am quite heavy footed from the start.

Yeh, I do 1-2-3-6 quite often on the 80kph stretch of Epping Road.

@BMW86, when my car's ALMOST at a complete stop, the instantaneous consumption will jump to the high 30s. However, when I am stopped the thing just reads "---" Do you do your D to M tests with cruise?

[BMW86]

Originally Posted by Jeef Beef

Yeh, I do 1-2-3-6 quite often on the 80kph stretch of Epping Road.

@BMW86, when my car's ALMOST at a complete stop, the instantaneous consumption will jump to the high 30s. However, when I am stopped the thing just reads "---" Do you do your D to M tests with cruise?

I use the 1-2-3-6 quite often too when using paddles. I can't imagine what an 8 speed would be like.

I do use cruise control for all of my tests. To test my car at a complete stop I also get --- but if if I reset it and roll my car forward I wait for it to start and then I come to a complete stop. It consistently reads 39.5l/100km which is very worrying.

[Jeef Beef]

Originally Posted by BMW86

I use the 1-2-3-6 quite often too when using paddles. I can't imagine what an 8 speed would be like.

I do use cruise control for all of my tests. To test my car at a complete stop I also get --- but if if I reset it and roll my car forward I wait for it to start and then I come to a complete stop. It consistently reads 39.5l/100km which is very worrying.

Well with paddles it's still 1-2-3-4-5-6 albeit very quick

Technically, the fuel consumption when at a complete stop should be infinite, not just 39.5L/100km. Your car is burning fuel at idle but traveling zero distance. I wouldn't be overly concerned with that figure.