3.0d Fuel consumption opinions

StewieG · Post by **StewieG** » Sat Dec 24, 2011 12:15 pm

Hi All,

I recently filled my tank up on my X5 3.0d. The range read 498 miles. My journeys are around town are 3-5 miles each day, with some motorway driving occasionally. Now ive just checked how much fuel has actually been used. It totals around 330 miles. This means ive lost almost 170 miles.

The drivings not been erratic. I drive within speed limits alot of the time. Perhaps on the motorway i do put my footdown, around 70-80mph.

Does this consumption seem correct? I cant believe ive lost 170 miles worth of fuel.

Any opinion is welcome.

gchristofi · Post by **gchristofi** » Sat Dec 24, 2011 12:25 pm

I would imagine that your town driving accounts for the majority of the difference especially short journeys if the engine is not up to full operating temp.

Not sure how the OBC figures the range number out though. Would think it would adjust over time to your average mpg to give a more accurate range estimate than you're getting?

StewieG · Post by **StewieG** » Sat Dec 24, 2011 4:22 pm

Surely i shouldnt be losing around 170 miles for town driving.

pvr · Post by **pvr** » Sat Dec 24, 2011 4:40 pm

Since it got colder, I noticed a drop as well of about 10% on all my cars.

Side effect of having an iPhone that I now record all these sad details

petert · Post by **petert** » Sat Dec 24, 2011 6:46 pm

If I recall corrctly range is calculated based on consumption over the last several miles or over a specific time frame, so if your consumption happened to be relatively low (engine was nice and warm, not much stop/go traffic etc) then the range when you fill up will be reasonably high. As you then do lots of short journeys from cold the range will be claculated on relatively 'poor' consumption and will reduce from the start value.
I see this on my car as well. If I fill up after a motorway cruise my range is around 1000 km. If I fill up from cold it can be 800 or even less.
Peter T

gchristofi · Post by **gchristofi** » Sat Dec 24, 2011 10:25 pm

Best solution to mpg issues is to get a V8......................... because then you learn never to look at the OBC for mpg or range information!! MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL

thedweeb · Post by **thedweeb** » Sat Dec 24, 2011 11:11 pm

[quote=""gchristofi""]Best solution to mpg issues is to get a V8......................... because then you learn never to look at the OBC for mpg or range information!! MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL

[/quote]

Dan1502 · Post by **Dan1502** » Sun Dec 25, 2011 9:41 am

[quote=""gchristofi""]Best solution to mpg issues is to get a V8......................... because then you learn never to look at the OBC for mpg or range information!! MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL

[/quote]

That's funny, I was just thinking why didn't I buy a 4.8is instead of a 3.0d.

kkodal78 · Post by **kkodal78** » Sun Dec 25, 2011 10:06 am

i have a 4.6 and i enjoy checking my fuel mileage. maximum i saw was 440 with full tank but than again ive seen it do 300 miles to a tank as well . either way i am happy with my 4.6

StewieG · Post by **StewieG** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 8:56 pm

With these 4.0+ petrols, is it worth doing the LPG gas conversion? Im just thiking out loud is all.

Smeeagain · Post by **Smeeagain** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 11:49 pm

With regard to the original post, the mileage is calculated on the previous time/distance, so although you think you've 'lost' 170 miles you would 'get it back' if you then went out on the motorway and drove for a bit. What the computer is telling you is how far you will get with that type of driving.

Now this isn't an empirical scientific study ...... but just prior to Christmas I drove from just outside Portsmouth to Wigan (2004 E53 X5 3.0 D Sport) - almost exclusively motorway, M27, M3, A34, M40, M42, M6 - a total of about 245 miles sitting at a steady 70mph with no delays. Prior to filling up the range said 40 miles and after filling up it said 620 miles (the older models only show a maximum if 620 miles) The computer told me I was getting around 37.5 mpg. Now the computer may of course not be accurate but the fact is it is a constant.The car had 2 adults with luggage for 2 weeks plus 85kg of fuel. I tend to drive conservatively where possible (although i did have to see off a young whippersnapper at one point

) I then spent the next couple of days visiting family and friends in and around Liverpool - I reset the computer and for that driving I got 29mpg for circa 120 miles. I reset the computer and then drive back after Christmas - another 250 miles at 36mpg (there were delays on the motorway). Some additional local mileage totalled it at around 750 miles from the tank (the range said 50 miles remaining)

I put in 85 Litres at Â£1.39 which cost me Â£118 - that's 8.8 miles per litre. Given that there was pretty much the same amount of fuel left in the tank as there was to begin with then I used all 85 litres. At 4.54 litres to the gallon and 8.8 miles per litre that works out at 39.9 mpg

I have done other trips that have gotten over 825 miles from almost 90 litres (which takes it to circa 41mpg). But you have to be very smooth with acceleration, braking, etc

fenj66 · Post by **fenj66** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 12:04 am

yep, i always expect 700+ miles from a full tank on a long run. and the predicted range goes slowly up or down depending on the recent driving economy.
my trip computer shows a maximum mileage range of 620 too. i suspect the computer works in kilometers and only has space for 3 digits so 999 kilometers = 620 miles.

petert · Post by **petert** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 1:47 am

Interesting about the 3 digit limit on the older displays. E70 doesn't have it - have seen over 1100 km range displayed on my 2010 35d.
Peter T

jaynana · Post by **jaynana** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 7:24 pm

i've seen both ends of the spectrum.

my regular journeys are around 1 or 2 miles one way!! to my kids swimming or music class, and the mileage goes down to 20 to 21mpg!! (i cycle to work - guess that balances out my green credentials having a guzzler in the driveway

)

recently i did a 750mile+ round trip to wales, cornwall and back to london over xmas/new year. mileage was 34.8mpg on the way out, back into london it was 32mpg. mostly moterway obviously.

range changes based on mpg on the last few miles and available fuel capacity. note that range calculation is based on last whatever miles but the mpg displayed is since it was last reset.

its horrific to see 20mpg on a regular basis, but thats what it is, when you have a turbo charged 3L with 369lb/ft torque that you can feel if you floor it in low gears!! i'm somewhat conceded after seeing 34.xmpg on the way to wales..

gobiman · Post by **gobiman** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 8:33 am

I used to have a facelift diesel and drove to work (5 miles Central London) each day and used it generally for fast motorway at other times (80-90 typically).
I got 25-26 mpg overall typically.
For the 4.8iS I get 20-22 for the same trips.
My thoughts are -
- short trips are always poor with warm-up, heater on etc.
- traffic in London always stop-start.
- diesel seems to take a little longer to warm up than petrol.

I have just bought a congestion-charge free Kia Picanto 1.25 with stop/start. Where I got maybe 25 mpg with the diesel it only gets 32-35 - puts it in perspective!

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