2009 E70 - Diesel Fuel Consumption Issue
 

Hi Everyone,
BMW X5 E70 XDrive 30dSE (2009) Mileage:15,000
I hope someone can help me.
I recently noticed that my fuel consumption had changed (just got car back from a garage). My car is using more fuel.
Fuel Mileage
Before
75 litres 280 - 290
After
75 litres 250 - 260

My driving style has remained the same, load in car is similar, routes pretty much the same, and I am using the same fuel as I have always done.
I have obtained a copy of the technical data for my vehicle from BMW UK attached with file.
The garage have said that everything is OK and it is my driving habit.
Can some help me out as to what the probable cause/s could be?

Many Thanks in advance for all your help.

Sanjiv (London)

That sounds bad; but your consumption beforehand was awful too. I used to get 400miles out of a tank; and my X5 was a petrol 3.0is.

Are you driving 100% in the City?

Based in North London. Majority of driving in local area.
Has been ongoing since June.

Could be the effects of seasonally adjusted fuel. Suppliers typically change the fuel spec during winter to handle the cold weather. Winter fuel does not have the same heating value, hence you use more. Not sure what the practice is in the UK, but it is routine in North America, as standard diesel starts to gel at -10C.

Many thanks for your reply, but this has been on going since summer. It started after the garage had to change the PAS pipe from pump to rack.

15 MPG on the 35d? Are you kidding... The bare minimum should be at least 18 MPG. Something is VERY wrong.

I would take it for a blast up the motorway for about 100 miles and see what consumption you get. You should get high 20s for a steady 70-75 mph, possibly low 30s.

What is the onboard consumption reading giving you?

Odometer & Trip distance - 46 mls & 235.7
On-board Computer - Computer
Range. 46mls
Distance to dest. -31mls
Speed. 17.0 mph
Consumption. 17.8mpg

On-board Computer - Journey Computer
Departure. 12:52
Duration. 20:31. H
Distance Covered. 235 mls
Speed. 12.9 mph
Consumption. 14.1 mpg

Both were reset aon filling up with 75 litres of fuel.

just came back form a long trip from Montreal Canada to orlando Florida
over 7000kms in 23 dys
average 8liter per 100km, pretty good
and thats at 120-130kph on highway and regular speed in cities
very smooth, lots of passing power
extremely happy
that a 2011 diesel with 33000km

Average speed of 12.9 mph says it all to me; that's a LOT of stop start motoring and therefore a lot of inertia to overcome. Any SUV/SAV/4 x 4, is going to give you poor mileage in those circumstances.