Diesel mileage - I'm impressed!

[motordavid]

OT...

Originally Posted by X5Sport

Diesel in the UK is now $8.75/US Gallon! Gas not far behind ($8.25 ish)

Taxes...

And, a map comparo of 'The Colonies' vs UK, just for fun, but not including Alaska or Hawaii

[TriX5]

On Saturday wife and I test drove a 2010 35d. We have a 4.4 e53 and it gets 16mpg around town, shuttling kids to and fro and supermarket runs as well as wife's work a couple of days a week. We both have a weighty right foot....

We are thinking the diesel might drive our gas bill down. Anyone replaced their V8 for a 35d doing similar daily tasks? What is your experience as to reducing the number of fill ups? It has enough grunt and rides more comfortably than our sport suspension but doesn't feel as stable cornering and braking. Anyone lowered it to get better road holding?

I love diesels but I am not sure this switch makes sense. We don't need a bigger vehicle than the size of the e53 and I wonder if a new X3 makes more sense. (which unfortunately is not sold with a diesel).

[4MoJoe]

It would depend on the spread between cost of diesel and premium in your market; mine is about $.45 cents a gallon diff now. For me coming from a 4.4i, if fuel prices were on par, it'd be the diesel hands down on cost. But something more like a Jetta TDI wagon (30/42 city/highway) would get better mileage and make that argument more concrete.

I think the X3 from what I remember is more similar in size to your X5 and they have great handling and I read 19/25 for fuel economy which is close to the diesel X5. Plus quite zippy.

If you had the standard 18" wheels on the 2010 35d I would say handling isn't that precise from my experience; I noticed a BIG change going to 20's with mine.

For me it came down to performance of the diesel and towing capability. Mileage was something I wanted to be better and it is; I now fill up each week just by habit and it's about $26 to $30 to do that (I have very short work commute).

It's a bigger car no doubt and at first I missed my E53 but got quite used to this and I'm not so shy about tossing it around now. I don't miss the repairs from my 4.4i however. I'd seriously look at at X3 for comparison and drive a gas i6 in the X5 too.

Cheers!

[zalzala]

In my woods, premium vs Diesel is around $4.50 some times premium a bit less. My X5 2005, 4.4 gave Av 15MPG, my X5 2012 35i D is around $20 plus, around 500 miles on tank, so go figure it out your self.

[TriX5]

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback. We are struggling with this as the e53s are hard to match on agility. We'll check the X3 out for sure.

[younghno50]

Originally Posted by ponytrekker

I rented (yes rented, from Avis) an X5 gas last week. Got 26 on the highway. Couldn't believe it.

What town did you rent from? I'm going to UT and was thinking of trying to find one to rent..

[motordavid]

TriX5,
No financial advisor here, but you might do some arith scenarios: is the X you will toss paid for, what is trade in/sell vs acquisition cost of new diesel X, added insurance cost for its higher value, etc. Get to some factor(s), and extrapolate miles driven, mpg of either, projected gas/fuel costs, etc.

Not directing a home work assignment, but the 'conventional wisdom' of "let's sell this car for that new one that gets x amount more mpg, and we will really save", is way overdone, imo. It's gets crazier with hybrids vs one's current gas engined car, and is also a reach for the more expensive cars like a loaded diesel X, imo.

Otoh, if one wants any give car, that's fine and good, and one's own decision; to base it on 'projected savings' vis a vis mpg of a new diesel is a real reach, however...
GL, mD

[RickM5X3]

Run the numbers at the link. For me, it would take about 367 months to reach breakeven by trading my 4.4i for a 35d. So if you are purely isolating a decision based on fuel efficiency, a $60k+ solution won't provide you with any real savings.

But if you love the brutal torque of the 35d (I do!) and the E70 platform, it is worth doing it under the 'cover' of fuel efficency. ;-)

Gas Mileage Savings Calculator: Car Cost vs. Fuel Savings

[TriX5]

You guys are right, just swapping a car for the sake of getting better mileage does not necessarily make sense. It is more that the 03 is aging (we did the trans fix last year, the rear suspension is coming off this weekend and the VCovers/timing work is due this summer...) and we have been wondering what will replace it when we feel that the time is there to make the swap.

[seattle]

For whatever reason, diesel is only 2 cents higher than premium in my area. Used to be 20 cents. Loving it...