More Miles per Gallon (400 miles per tank)!!!!
 

Gentlemen, I have a stock 05 4.8is and just did a minor tune up and other stuff before my long road trip with wife 2 kids and vehicle full of luggage. First I replaced all the fluids, from the engine oil with 10W-30, Diffs (X2) Redline, transfer case (BMW oil) Transmission with the redline D4. Then I replaced all Spark plugs (platinum), cleaned my dry Air filter (AFE), my MAF sensor and eliminated the hose that comes off the valve covers returning back into the intake part of the emissions, there are two, on the top of the intake manifold and the other that Y's off to the bottom portion. I Plugged those two up and vented to atmosphere the two that come off the valve covers. You do not need all that oil and gunk returning back into your intake, I know this has helped with the MPG. I also bought a bottle of the Techron fuel injector cleaner and Fuel system cleaner. Ohh, and changed out the Fuel pump on the X5 that was in my M3 (walbro 255LPH) and replaced new fuel filter. Walbro was overkill but I had it laying around. (I upgraded the M3s to an AEM due to needing more fuel for the 500WHP;))

I reset adaptations, reset transmission and went on my way.
Results are

Well, maybe I don't know all other X5 (4.8) enthusiasts MPG results. As I drove 1220 miles, from KS to NJ, I noticed that my MPG increased! I was getting 400 Miles per tank, I would fill up, and take off, (and I have a heavy right foot). On my way back today from NJ, I decided to take pictures and show my results. The first picture is my first 400 mile trip there was still like 1/16 tank left, as you can see approx 26 miles remaining. Then I filled up and took a pictures of the miles once I started again. At half tank I took another picture and it shows 234 miles at half mark, it looks on the picture like if it was less than 1/2 mark but it was the angle the photo was taken from. I Stopped at Hampton Inn for the night and will jet out in the am to post results!:thumbup: Hope some of this helps for you guys out there looking to get better MPG and a better performing X5, because Let me tell you, all this work woke up the X5! response and throttle and fuel economy is totally noticeable.

http://i.imgur.com/1SZ3vPR.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ncEsChK.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/UJaDEd9.jpg

nice... i get about 17 MPG, multiplied by 24 gallon tank - 408 miles a tank...

Ohh ok! So that is the usual then. Approx 400 per tank. Gtg! Thanks for your input!

in city = 10-12 MPG
on highway - up to 19 MPG

I'm envious of you 4.8is owners, especially for getting good mileage to boot on top of an already great performing vehicle. With my heavy foot, my little 3.0i can barely muster out 14mpg city...and this is without using A/C :(

386 range is what my 3.0 shows. driving on city i get 15mpg.

pretty nice on the 4.8is mileage!

I get about 18-19 mpg over mixed driving about 60% highway, I have a 5 speed though and under the impression manual will yield higher mileage in mixed driving.

Last tank I filled up my range was about 430 miles, lifetime consumption says 18.9 MPG on the BC

We average about 15mpg in city driving with our 3.0i. I have new O2 sensors to replaced (105k miles) and see if it improves at all.

Nice results, lflaco.

Mine will average 15.5 MPG in the city, 17 on the highway with the cruise set at 80, 20-21 with the cruise set at 55-60.

I always wondered how much the giant tires hurt the MPG...

Mine is the same as epdarks and that is with stage 3 Dinan mods.

I didn't think you had the S/C? :dunno:

I don't have S/C I have nitrous. I have Dinan stage 3 engine and transmission software.

I always thought the stage 3 was the S/C, not that it really matters, it's just an arbitrary number that Dinan assigns.

on my '05 4.4i with a well maintained engine/tranny (as I'm sure most of you have as well), I get 531miles to a tank when cruising at 65mph. I've done that a bunch of times and its funny cause I NEVER thought I'd be able to get that. And thats not math from the RANGE either, its legit begin to end of trip mileage.
This is also in winter when gas gets sucked back more, BUT I run 255/55R18's too, so it kinda evens out I guess.

I checked my Dinan receipts. I have stage 4 engine and transmission software that matches up with Dinan other mods other than the S/C. There is engine software that comes with the supercharger but there is no stage associated. Stage 4 is to match up with Dinan throttle body, air flow meter, cold air box and exhaust.

'03 4.4 sport pkg here. I have done several runs between Dallas TX and Spring Hill FL (1100 miles, GPS verified) with a SINGLE fuel stop and showing 60 miles to empty at arrival. New fluids in trans/Xfer case/diffs (at 100k miles), tires inflated to 38 psi (I usually remove the staggered wheels and mount the "highway wheels" for long road trips, those are 255-55-18s non-stagger), no AC, windows up and speeds below 70mph. That works out to around 580 miles a tank. I've logged and calculated my mileage and regularly see over 23 MPG during highway driving when I can keep it under 70 MPH. Running at 75 MPH the mileage drops to around 20 MPG.

FWIW, I add 10 oz of Lucas Upper Cylinder Lube with each fill up, an addition $3 on a $90 fill is not noticeable. I've been using this product for over 20 yrs and have yet to have a fuel system issue on any of my vehicles.

Regular city driving in the Dallas area returns around 400 miles per tank (just now checked the OBC, 345 traveled with 53 to E)

Great! I see that our vehicles with the proper maintenance and care will yield great MPG. But FYI the vehicles are set with the speedometer/odometer to that vehicle configuration, ie engine, transmition, diff, tire size, to get the most accurate mileage, meaning changing the size of the tire to a smaller one will spin faster telling the vehicle is going more miles than it ussually goes, so in the long run it will say an innacurate reading. Somewhere on the net, there's a tire/speed calculator that will tell you what is your actual speed, which in the long run will affect the odometer reading, just look into it.

Well aware of tire diameter, the V speed rated 255-55-18s are the OE wheels that came on my truck and are the wheels I mentioned on the 580 miles per tank trip. My staggered setup is actually SLIGHTLY larger in diameter then the OE wheels resulting in several fewer revs per mile, this would actually show a lower OBC MPG then actual MPG if the OBC was calibrated perfectly. I GPS log and calculate MPG on long trips, this is more accurate then the OBC data.

Yep...Orlando to Deerfield Beach & back on ONE TANK (410 miles) in my 4.8is. Best gas mileage of any vehicle I ever owned - including a straight 6 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

I guess I was spoiled getting 22-23 MPG (and 300 lb./ft. of torque) from my 2007 335i before I traded it in on my 4.8is. The first few fillups have been a little painful, but worth it for the extra cargo room (the reason for the trade). I'm averaging about 14-15 MPG with mostly city driving. Looking forward to seeing what I can get on my first long road trip (most likely to Grandma's house).

dkl, you must be stuck on the 405 all day, or racing up at Pomona!

Our '01 gets 400+ on a tank just driving around the mtns, std fare.
My best tank below, which I have posted a few times...568 miles.
GL, mD

Hi guys,

I was kinda resisting replying to thread till now but perhaps you'd also be interested in a slightly different experience?

Keeping at a stead 80mph, and driving regularly from Milan (Italy) to London (UK) (about 750miles) usually takes about a tank each way.

Of course it's a Euro 3.0D 218bhp, but when you're paying $7 (Austria)-$10 (Italy) per gallon - it's insane not to run a diesel :(

Having had an E39 M5 before, I can tell you it's nowhere near as much fun, but....

I'll dig out a photo later with 999km range and already 250km since the last fill (tho probably someone has already posted something similar in the past).

Glad to see that you guys (with your ultra-cheap fuel) are also keeping an eye on the consumption too ;)

For my curiosity (please excuse my ignorance), it seems that diesel is available in the US (a bit more expensive than petrol), but doesn't seem to be a popular choice? - can you get the diesel X5 models there?

Cheers, Kev

E53s did not have diesel in the US, E70s do have a diesel option.

Kev,
I would have bought a diesel e53 if they were available, especially with the option of using recycled bio diesel (french fry oil) as fuel. But, with that being said, I have gotten some pretty remarkable MPG's out of my petrol 3.0. My best was 34.5 mpg over a 110 mile trip through the rockies. My goal is to break the 700 mile range on one tank. My overall for the round trip was 30.25 and if I had maintained that, I would have been at about 726 miles of range. Of coarse this was mostly at 70mph and not 80. You probably pull those numbers with out breaking a sweat with your diesel.

Are those numbers off imperial gallons or US gallons?

Great job lFlaco!!!
However Your baby had to be running smooth and excellent on MPG
with all this great tune-up: fluids changed, New spark plugs, fuel filter & more.
It was such a very good job for your trip also to keep your car running smoothly.

I'm planning on doing a similar job like yours on my (X5 4.4i) because the MPG
isn't quiet working the way it should on my car, because driving on the highway
shows: 8.5MPG & city shows: 8.4MPG. And I'm thinking this could be related due
to a faulty oxygen sensors, because the car doesn't seem to be consumed that much gas.

I might as well toss in my 2 cents here...

2006 X5 48is on 20's in the summer, I get 22 MPG @ 70 mph ( which is actually 67 according to GPS ). In the winter on the 18's I get 23-24 @ 70 mph. It does surprisingly good IF.. I can keep my right foot off the pedal and use the cruse ;)

Man! I WAS jealous of everyone's 4.4's and 4.8's but after reading this I don't mind my 3.0. Getting about 18 mpg around the city and almost 500 miles on a tank is nice! Not being able to pass somebody in the fast lane, not so nice :p:

I just made some interesting observation:

My mileage consumption has improved - when I bought the car, i saw the MPG from 12 to 17 with occassional 19 MPG... mostly it was in the 16 MPG...

Right now I am observing more of the 19 MPG on a steady basis, starting about from June on... I do not know if I should contribute this improvement to change in driving habits (not really, i still drive the same), change in fuel composition (but last summer there was not such a difference), or the fact that I did a few oil changes rather with short interval (approx. 5000 miles apart) along with using Liqu-Molly engine flush before the oil change and then dumping in 12 fl.oz. of AUTO-RX into the engine, and also replacing the torn CCV membranes, in effort to reduce the blue smoke... I do get the blue smoke on EXTENDED idling, but not on the short ones, like the traffic signals or the traffic jams that are moving... which is also an improvement.

what do you think?

If it were me I would expect I hit the wrong button on the calculator.

I'm going to do all those things you did every month. By my calculations I will be getting 32.2 mpg in a year. :bmw:

As tires wear down you have more revs per mile, the OBC does not correct for tire wear. GPS logging is the most accurate way to get true MPG.

tires are staggered... diameter for rear is measured at 28.68" (72.85cm) installed brand new, fronts are measured at 28.66" (72.80cm) installed brand new... as tires are wear (i am sure, unevenly), the numbers change.
1 mile = 1,609.34m = 1,609,340.00cm
circumference of rear tires = pi x diameter
3.14 x 72.85cm = 228.75cm
3.14 x 72.80cm = 228.60cm

rear 1,609,340.00/228.75 = 7,035.37 rotations
front 1,609,340.00/228.60 = 7,039.98 rotations

difference is 4.61 rotations

without even the tire wear, we somehow have fronts rotating 4.5 revolutions more than the rears... i can only assume that the transmission and the Xdrive somehow compensates for the difference...

however, for this argument, lets say that the tires worn down 1cm in diameter (5mm in radius)

3.14 x 71.85cm = 225.61cm
3.14 x 71.80cm = 225.45cm

rear 1,609,340.00/225.61 = 7,133.28 rotations
front 1,609,340.00/225.45 = 7,138.35 rotations

rear 97.91 extra rotations per mile
front 98.37 extra rotations per mile

say, 100 extra rotations per mile extra. to register a full mile, we need 70 real miles that will be registered as 71 miles. for a typical tankful of gas, which say would drive 350 miles (of course this number varies), the car will register 355 miles for 350 actually travelled...

the difference is 1%... if the diameter of the tire is reduced by 1 cm, the difference in registered travel vs real travel is about 1%

the MPG observed is 19MPG vs 16MPG, which roughly translates to about 1.2%

EDIT: I incorrectly took the 19/16=1.1875 and rounded to 1.2%. the correct number is 18.75% as JCL correctly noted below

so, theoretically, it is possible to have increased mileage due to the reduced diameter of a worn tire... <<<--- ignore this statement

now i need to check to see, how realistic is the 1 cm reduction in the diameter of a used tire vs new tire - i don't have that info...

I was with you up to here (although I think 1 cm of wear in the diameter is high).

By my reckoning, that 3 mpg reduction is 16%, not 1.2 %.

As gas prices increase, I keep checking mileage different ways until I get a number that I think justifies ownership. I inflate it if someone is asking me the mileage in case their intention this is to say the X5 is further proof I am a dipstick.

Anything I do to improve the mileage will go on the bad side of the feel good fun factor meter so it is as likely to happen as me buying a Prius. My guess is there are as many X5 drivers that would drive the way it takes to get the best mileage for more than a day or two as there are leadfoot Prius pilots pushing to keep pace. I am not going to be either.

I like 19mpg. No one would believe 20, 19 is a stretch but I'm not challenging Term--straight up guy but his latest post makes my head hurt---that could happen--time to recalculate to see if I can find a way to get there.

typing and calculating on cell phone is not one of my forte...

Back to the original thread :D

I get 400 mi per tank city and hwy mix drive!

I try not to let my tank run that low for a couple of reasons:

1) fuel cools the pump, so keep it submerged as much as possible,

b) I never want to be low on fuel when the zombie attack. Gotta get away!

my bad - i was looking at wrong spot after decimal... 19/16=1.1875... the difference in fuel consumption is 18.75%

in this case, a single percentage point in the tire wear probably can't easily transform into 19% MPG reading...

and yes, before i saw routinely 350 to 380 miles per tank before i would fill up, now i see routinely 430 to 455 miles before i have to put the same amount of gas...

and i agree, it is better to keep the tank always with some gas in it, and not run it dry - i learned my lesson in Panama, when going from costa Rican border, through David to Panama City without any gas stations in sight... running on fumes!!! lol...
now, since i am back to civilization, i just feel lazy and slipped back to the old ways... :nanana:

I'm only getting about 12-13mpg city on my 3.0 but on the highway I get about 25mpg+ when I drive out to my friends house in jersey, I usually do 130-140 miles round trip and use about a quarter tank

here are some additional numbers from the car's internals -

4282 wheel sensor impulses to register 1 kilometer in odometer
4229 wheel sensor impulses to register 1 kilometer in speedometer

these are the vallues stored in the E53-HP, which is the iS model with 20" standard staggered wheels... these numbers suggest that the rolling values of the mounted tires are different from the nominal values that I got from the tire calculators - 233.53cm as per the 4282 impulses in odometer ("correct" value as opposed to optimistic 4229 impulses for the speedometer value)

these numbers do not affect the calculations of the MPG much, as we used our numbers to calculate the difference in diameter and those numbers were a percentage points of a ratio...

nevertheless, now i want to go actually measure the tire diameters on my car...

How much does rolling friction change over the tire wear life impact the decrease in circumference?

Holy Tire Tech, Batman!
Some serious azz discussions on something as vague, and only a long term average, as 'mpg'... ;)

yeap!!!

that's us, the xoutposters!!!!:nanana:

my long term MPG is

16.80392 MPG

in 436 days of ownership (as of 8/21/13 latest available results) i have

used 1,773.039 gallons of premium fuel for the

cost of $6,692.34 driving the

distance of 29,794 miles with average

cost per mile of $0.22 and the average

miles per day at 68.80392 and

daily cost of driving at $15.35 a day...

:thumbup:

Gas prices have generally been rising over the years and often fluctuating.

What equation did you use for the rise and fall in gas prices?

My back of the envelope suggests closer to 50 Cts a mile for many cars, esp of the X's ilk, adding in initial depreciation, longer term/lower rate of continued depreciation, insurance, maintenance costs, some repairs, et al.

Not apples to apples, but our '01, coming up on it's 12th birthday, and 88k+ miles, shows 20.6 on the OBC, (only reset a couple times over those 12 years), which is close/slightly under what I get on trips, and more than what I get around town or shorter trips, by the arith method at fill up time.

I feel one has to add in/factor in the other 'running costs', to get closer to a cost per mile...but I still feel that cars like the X are closer to 40-50 Cts per mile overall.
Cars are expensive to buy, own, and operate, though still a wonderful method of trans.
GL, mD

Recent pics from a short trip couple weeks back of cluster and computer before adding AA headers. Crossed a mountain range. Just thought I'd share.... I will be doing a differential swap in a couple of months. If I can squeeze a few more MPG's from some 3.64 diffs on the highway, including my recent header upgrade, mid to upper 30's might be an easy task. And don't be fooled, my 3.0 is no slouch.

I use excel spreadsheet:

at fill-up i take the receipt, and write down the info from the receipt into the spreadsheet -

cost per gallon
miles at fill up
amount of gallons
total amount paid

after several fill ups a calculation is possible... therefore i know exactly how much my MPG is at each entry, can compute the total amounts of fuel, days, dollars, averages... The average cost per gallon came to $3.77, even though I had filled up for $4.30 a gallon and for 3.49...

I do not have the cost of operating the X, as the X is still in operation...

We had leased a 2011 335i xDrive Mpackage...

in 232 days we had it, the cost of operating that car came to $0.16 a mile in fuel cost, for 14,535 miles driven, and $0.46 cents a mile in amortization cost, and the grand total is $0.63 a mile including fuel, insurance, lease payments... a disclaimer, the car was returned with 3300 miles UNDER allocation for which there was NO refund, so the amount could have been a penny or two less, should all the miles be used up...
the daily cost for the car was $39.37 including the insurance, the fuel, the costs associated with lease - about the same as rental car of small size...

Term,
Good analysis, and I find your overall cost per mile, to be in the zip code I expected...
Still cheaper/much easier for us, than flying, on most trips. And, convenient.

Cars ain't cheap, esp for the few of us that are Retired Bums, here. :D
GL, mD

Just saw this...That is some serious econobox you got there :thumbup: Were you driving on fumes on that tank? The best that I have ever gotten out of the X's entire life was 465 miles using approx. 23 gallons - hauling a$$ up interstate 5 (from LA to SAC).

FYI...I do see that I can potentially get 26mpg on the computer when I do the instantaneous reset while cruising at 55mph or 60mph. The problem is that I don't have the patient to cruise at that speed :(

dkl,
It was a run from our mtn joint to south Joisey: 660 mile trip, 10 1/2 hrs, filled up just up the road from departure, and slid into Jersey on fumes. Late Octoberish, and no A/C on most of the trip. Usual haul azz/dodging revenue cops speeds however.

Oh, and had the OE Turzanas on that came with the 132s I copped from a fellow poster here. The current replacement Diamaris will not give that kind of distance, ever, for our X.
Hope you are doing well!
BR, mD

:explode:And I thought I was OCD about keeping records. This makes me feel totally inadequate and severely under qualified to claim even one letter in motorhead. :explode: Although, your calculations are for a very small category of all 335i s in 2011.

I find it interesting by not applicable to X5 E53s.

lol... i still have my phone bills from Bell of Pennsylvania since 1991... i don't need them and should get rid of them... they just take up the space and prove nothing... lol...

my calculations are incidental - since i needed to justify the leasing vs buying, i did those calculations, and the numbers came relatively satisfying...

however, cost per mile in fuel alone is not in X5's favor - the E90 was $0.16 a mile and the 4.8iS averages at $0.22 per mile in fuel, considerably more expensive proposition...

:iagree: the dash read out is as close as we need to do a comparison.:trustme: There are so many variables on any one vehicle from tank to tank it is a waste of time an effort to try to be more detailed.(addressing his previous post).

IRS :yikes: sets cost per mile that are deductible annually--got to be conservative, wouldn't you think? Corporations use that annual set amount---got to be conservative wouldn't you think. That cost per mile is not set on X5s of any year--it would be higher if it were. Deductible cost per mile has been around $.50 for several years and about $.55 for the last few. I am not challenging Term's calculations as his is a very unique case.

Comparing OBC readouts, especially cost per mile is still meaningless. There are far to many variables from post to post to draw any conclusion other than--:wahwah:

Not saying this isn't interesting.:rolleyes:

Though, IMO, :yawn:if mileage averages are going to be within the same time zone of a mini-trend consideration, each post should start with the year, current odometer reading, the engine, the transmission, exhaust, city/state, wheels, tires, engine or transmission mods and how they normally drive. Use the readout as that is the only constant among all of us, and post the current average and +/-average over 5000 miles of driving that is as close to normal daily driving from reported location. Using these parameters we can pick out the ones that are the closest match and see how we compare.

DISCLAIMER,:blah:I would never even imply these are the absolute of parameters that could be used to establish an always inaccurate mini-trend. I suspect if this post is considered at all, we will know spend our time disagreeing with these parameters or posting we have to add more. That's OK--

That said, :bmw: I have:

Year---2002
Odometer--109,000
Engine 4.6--stage 4 Dinan Mods and a 150 shot of nitrous now and then
Trans-- automatic--Dinan mod
Exhaust--Dinan-Low restriction
Location---Dallas, TX
Tires--continental extreme contact
Wheels--stock 87s
How driven--as fast and hard as I can get away with.
Readout---Current--13.9 MPG, Lowest I recall--12.9 Highest 19.3
Average--Average over 5000 miles 14.5--16.9