first gen. E53 gas mileage chart, from carbuzz.com

[workingonit]

I reset my "overall mpg" tracker on my dash, accidentally, months ago, while resetting the fuel gauge. At the time, it showed 15.2 mpg (95+% stop-and-go low-speed, 5% or less highway), including countless hours the engine was idling while testing in my driveway. That's probably to be expected on my old M54 (with erratic fuel trims).

So, I was looking around to see what's considered "normal" mpg, especially EPA numbers not BMW's. I saw a good chart at

https://carbuzz.com/cars/bmw/x5-e53-1st-gen, which showed me that my current mpg reading of 14.5 mpg (99% city), might not be too bad.


I'd love to drive a 500 mile trip at highway speeds, just to see what it'd get, but it's not in my cards.

[Bdc101]

Here is my entire gas mileage and maintenance history:



My average is lower than it truly is, because about 25% of my total miles are towing a trailer. This car gets such terrible mileage that I try not to drive it, and wouldn't ever own a car like this if I didn't need it to tow my trailer.

I did go on a 1,000 mile road trip last month all by myself and focused on fuel economy, driving between 60-65 most of the way and generally taking my time. I got one full tank just about 25 mpg, but the average for the trip was 23.8 including some time driving like an absolute nutjob just to stay alive in California traffic.

This directory is probably a better resource than "carbuzz.com" because it is all crowd-sourced data. https://www.fuelly.com/car/bmw/x5

[Henn28]

4.6is numbers are pretty close to what I'm getting with the 4.6 swap, although a bit lower that what I'm generally seeing.

I'm getting 13ish around town and 16.5 to maybe 17 on the highway if I keep it below 70 and tuck in behind a truck every so often for a while. The 275/70/16s should bump the MPG up a tiny bit too.

Crappy gas mileage any way you slice it. Bad enough that I am having a shelf/bench made for a 5 gal can on the swing out spare carrier I ordered. I'll only need it for peace of mind on my drives to the midwest with the mutts.

[nick325xit 5spd]

15mpg is what we are averaging these days. almost exactly 20mpg highway, and around 10mpg pure city.

[X5chemist]

Average city MPG is between 15-16 on consumer1 readings. For highway driving 75 MPH - 23-25 MPG. The best recorded all highway MPG is 24.3 on an actual fill up.

[workingonit]

Originally Posted by X5chemist

Average city MPG is between 15-16 on consumer1 readings. For highway driving 75 MPH - 23-25 MPG. The best recorded all highway MPG is 24.3 on an actual fill up.

I'm sure that your average city mpg contains some highway miles, so shouldn't it be classified as "combined"? I know that whenever I used to visit Austin (in the 60's & 70's), or the outlying Hill Country, then much of my driving was on highways (or at least at elevated speeds). So, if that 15-16 mpg is reclassified as combined, then perhaps my X5 might someday reach those numbers.

In the last 1.5 years I've had the X5, I don't think the longest stretch of highway I've traveled (without stopping, or thru reduced speed zones) is over 8-10 miles, and I've only had 3-4 trips of over 25 miles during that time (again, no sustained highway speeds).

Anyway, whether my mpg is as good as others', or sub-par by a bit, the X5 is my favorite ride, regardless.

[ToadFMB]

I currently get 16.3 on my 3.0. My commute is 11 miles one way, mostly Freeway.

[X5chemist]

Ok, I pulled out my maintenance spreadsheet. The replacement MAF has 9614 miles logged. Consumer2, which is used for oil change monitoring, has an average of 16.3 MPG (going on almost 2,000 miles). The average MPG over 11,562 miles (since purchase) for actual fuel receipts logs @15.88 MPG. Consumer1 readings of high 24 turned to actual log of 19.65 MPG at fill up. Austin has really turned into a parking lot at rush hour times. We avoid most rush hour times. The wifey has a heavy foot compared to me. I get about 1 MPG more on Consumer1 driving.

[workingonit]

Originally Posted by X5chemist

... The wifey has a heavy foot compared to me. I get about 1 MPG more on Consumer1 driving.

Your mpg looks good to me, especially since I've never been good at getting decent gas mileage, until now in the X5, which I drive comparatively sedately (speed limits + 10mph) as I'm retired and not in a hurry.

In days past, I'd drive rather quickly, as I had a 120+ miles-per-day commute, and even on weekends, whether hauling my drag car to races, or just to my friend's shop (100+ miles commute from home), I'd go fast.

The aged X5 is not going to be abused, so that's why my wife doesn't get to drive it. She drives speed limits, but stomps on the brakes so hard it destroys them & the front suspensions. Her Cobalt has been so damaged that I've been slowly repairing it for almost two years (it may need a new ABS module), and I've just recently repaire/replaced the brakes on my old HHR (which I reluctantly gave her to drive, when I got the X5), but she's hit so many potholes or something in it recently, that I'm ordering new KYB quick struts soon.

I may use more gasoline per mile, but I don't destroy the car or truck as I drive it (as much as she does).

[Bdc101]

Originally Posted by X5chemist

Ok, I pulled out my maintenance spreadsheet. The replacement MAF has 9614 miles logged. Consumer2, which is used for oil change monitoring, has an average of 16.3 MPG (going on almost 2,000 miles). The average MPG over 11,562 miles (since purchase) for actual fuel receipts logs @15.88 MPG. Consumer1 readings of high 24 turned to actual log of 19.65 MPG at fill up. Austin has really turned into a parking lot at rush hour times. We avoid most rush hour times. The wifey has a heavy foot compared to me. I get about 1 MPG more on Consumer1 driving.

My dash is too pixelated to do any comparison, so I've never been able to check it on my car. (Also I don't know how to reset it)


But if you are only off by less than 3% (16.3/15.88) the dash is very accurate. If it's off by 22% (24/19.65) then it's not even worth looking at. My guess is that it was not reset at the right time for the second one though. The biggest problem with dash MPG readings is that they usually are not reset correctly. They have to be reset at the time of fillup, and then checked at the next fillup and immediately reset. Otherwise you are not measuring the same thing as checking your mileage from your odo and gas receipt.



Trip MPG meters from this era (late 90s/early 2000s) are generally not very accurate though.