x5 3.0 fuel economy

[E61Silver]

16 mpg is not so bad considering that a new 335 get 17 mpg city according to the EPA

[demondali]

05 E53 3.0d 30,000 on the clock and from new the computer reads

average 22.6MPG.

I use it for a whole mixture of city/town driving to motorway/highway driving

[blueagle]

demondali,

I drive an 02 E53 X5 3.0d euro with 30k kms mileage. Just finished Inspection 2 maintenance. Any major problems with your X5 so far ?

[lo_jack]

Originally Posted by Wagner

Normal, actually better then average for a 7 year old X5. New ones average between 17-18mpg.

Rubbish.

My 2001 with a manual gets 17-18 city and 22-23 highway. That is with no mods with stock wheels and OEM spec tires.

Check the following:
Oil condition
Spark plugs
air filter
oil seperator condition
tire pressure
operating temp of engine

And if the fuel filter is old, it might be a good idea to replace that as well.


The only thing I changed about the car is that all my fluids are Royal Purple or Mobil 1.

[gregwx5]

damn is mine broken...I get like 14 all city in Boston during the winter...I still have my 20" rims on.

[lo_jack]

Originally Posted by gregwx5

damn is mine broken...I get like 14 all city in Boston during the winter...I still have my 20" rims on.

It doesnt take a lot to get worse mileage in these cars. The throttle is notchy and does not like to be at part throttle in the first place. Heavier rim and tire combos are not good for mileage. They are harder to spin up and also make you slower, so you use the accellerator more. In winter if you are not warming up to operating temp, that would not help either.

[motordavid]

Originally Posted by lo_jack

...
My 2001 with a manual gets 17-18 city and 22-23 highway. That is with no mods with stock wheels and OEM spec tires.

...

Our 5 spd manual '01 gets about the same, though I went to staggered
19s from the oem style 69 18s, about 2 yrs ago.

My orig. comment to the OP was based on my wondering why he was
wondering his mpg wasn't "better" around town in an auto.

If ours/yours had a freakin OD 5th, like the newer semi-OD 6 speeds,
it would certainly help the highway mpg.
BR,mD

[lo_jack]

Oh man if I could drop even just 500-600 RPM on the highway it would be glorious. Apparently BMW didn't care about that, and I resent them for it.

[motordavid]

Originally Posted by lo_jack

Oh man if I could drop even just 500-600 RPM on the highway it would be glorious. Apparently BMW didn't care about that, and I resent them for it.

Me too...very, very stupid and short sighted, esp. if they had any of the
Teuton mkt in mind, eg rolling down the 'Bahn.

Even the long overdue 6 speed got "shorted" so to speak, imo: they coulda
made that 6th gear a lot taller and fiddled with 1st gear to getaway from
the stump puller ratio. Alas, the Biff&Buffy Brigade have become much of
their "mkt", imo.

[cary]

Just another data point.

2001 X5 Auto with Sport Package.

Purely in town driving by my wife 15.5-16 mpg US (no freeway, all local stop and go).

Pure freeway, 75-85mph but careful to not accelerate hard, etc, 23mpg.