Holy crappy gas mileage on a 3.0 ouch

[thmotorsports]

I have an 04 3.0 which i drive in the city. On stop and go traffic I got 11mpg - holy crap thats horrible. Has anyone who lives 100% in the city gotten that bad? Glad I use this car to commute back to my office in the burbs, but jebus, i could have just gotten a 4.4 or 4.6 like i originally planned.

Any input on what may be wrong?

Things I checked:

1. Tire pressure perfect
2. Air filter clean as a whistle
3. car just maintenanced at BMW (very good dealership in chicago Knauz)

I work in the aftermarket car part business, and im now considering an intake of some sort haha - no seriouly, any special input on 3.0's? Is there a way of driving to get better gas.

btw gas is 3.99 a gallon in chicago now for premium = woohoo

[dkl]

Something is definitely not right. I have a heavy right foot and the worst that I've ever got in the city was 14mpg on my '04 3.0i, and that was with the A/C running. Old news...we past $3.99 a gallon a couple of weeks ago.

[jcm3]

I also do alot of city driving (I live in downtown chicago) so I'd say 70 city -30 highway and I average about 16-17mpg. How many miles on your car? Maybe the fuel filter?

[rastaFarai]

I have a 4.4 and usually at 4.4 in NYC. Now I work in LI, all highway and i'm up to 15.6mpg.

I am going to replace O2 sensors, already replaced air filter.. Gas is at 3.70 here premium 93.

[midwesterner]

My wife and I do about 100% city driving and get around 14 mpg. Ouch!

[Tomaz]

If you reset your gas milage meter and just drive around town in stop and go traffic in 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear you will see the mileage you are getting. A quick check to see if your engine is performing properly is to drive out to a level straight highway, reset the meter and cruise along at 60 - 70 mph, you should see better than 20 mpg. Good luck

[lo_jack]

How many miles are on the car?

It is not safe to assume everything is great just because it is serviced regularly by the dealer...they check only what they are supposed to check, nothing more.

[mrbmwx5]

here what happened to my X. when i'm in city with my 20'' stagg. wheels i get about 7-11MPG, but when its on HWY with the RPM under 3k i get 20-23MPG. i so changed the Gas filter and seem to be little better on MPG,but i don't care how much Gas my X drink.

[vinuneuro]

Originally Posted by thmotorsports

I
3. car just maintenanced at BMW (very good dealership in chicago Knauz)

LOL! Their service department is about as incompetent as they come, and I'm not alone in sharing that view of them. Try Patrick or better yet Motorwerks.

Try what Tomaz posted first.

[Boston X5 4.4]

Originally Posted by thmotorsports

On stop and go traffic I got 11mpg - holy crap thats horrible. Has anyone who lives 100% in the city gotten that bad?

Yup, not unusual. Like mrbmw I mostly see 7-11 in true city driving with a 4.4.

Don't forget, people have different ideas of 'city driving'....driving through both sets of lights to your local stripmall for a starbucks ain't the same as stuck in Boston or Chicago rush-hour traffic.

Originally Posted by thmotorsports

Ibut jebus, i could have just gotten a 4.4 or 4.6 like

Yup, difference in gas mileage or lack thererof is not sufficient to justify a 3.0 Vs. a 4.4/4.6