[HX_Guy]

That's great mileage, both since car was new at 26.1 MPG and the 360 mile trip where you got 34.7 MPG. What are your average MPH figures?

[///cpt]

At best I get about 20. Normal day 16-17, city and highway mixed. I have MT and drive pretty hard regularly.

[kerm1t]

i hope you guys aren't just basing off ur MPG off what the idrive says. i can drive hard as shit half tank, and drive super soft the other and manage a 23mpg on the monitor, while my overall milage shows a 50-75mile difference. Calculate your full trip by how many gal

[ska///235i]

Originally Posted by kerm1t

i hope you guys aren't just basing off ur MPG off what the idrive says. i can drive hard as shit half tank, and drive super soft the other and manage a 23mpg, while my overall milage shows a 50-75mile difference. Calculate your full trip by how many gal

+1..bust out that calculator

[HX_Guy]

Originally Posted by ska///235i

+1..bust out that calculator

I use Fuely to log and the iDrive is incredibly accurate, it's pretty amazing.

Last 5 Fuel-Ups

iDrive: 23.2 MPG
Calculated: 23.3 MPG
Difference: 0.1

iDrive: 21.0 MPG
Calculated: 20.9 MPG
Difference: 0.1

iDrive: 19.4 MPG
Calculated: 19.2 MPG
Difference: 0.2

iDrive: 19.7 MPG
Calculated: 19.5 MPG
Difference: 0.2

iDrive: 22.1 MPG
Calculated: 22.2 MPG
Difference: 0.1

[bollinm]

Wow, that is very accurate!

[RPM90]

MPG numbers can and are all over the place because there are a wide variety of factors that contribute to MPG even with the same cars.

The best comparison one can get is drivers of the same car in the same area driving on the same roads and terrain.
I live in the flat lands of the Chicago area. City driving in Chicago is not the same as city driving in San Francisco.
Highway driving north to south in Illinois or Indiana will be much different than highway driving in areas with elevation changes.

Then, throw in different drive mode settings, some manually shifting, some AT only, some in DS, some in comfort. And there is varying tire pressures, number of passengers, AC use, jack rabbit off the line winners, slow as a Yugo from a light or stop, etc...

The only true number we can use is the actual EPA testing numbers because their driving is standardized. But then, how many drivers actually drive on the same conditions as the EPA route? How many drive the way the EPA testers drive?
Exactly. EPA testing numbers are simply a reference by which to compare on car to another, in general terms.
In all, the real MPG rating is.....YMMV!

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by kerm1t

i hope you guys aren't just basing off ur MPG off what the idrive says. i can drive hard as shit half tank, and drive super soft the other and manage a 23mpg on the monitor, while my overall milage shows a 50-75mile difference. Calculate your full trip by how many gal

I did use the old fashioned method of calculating the MPG for my 360 mile road trip; the one where I achieved 34.7 MPG. I've made that trip many, many times and I'm happy to report that the odometer in my M235i is accurate. But yes, use the gallons pumped in to do the calculations just to be sure.

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

That's great mileage, both since car was new at 26.1 MPG and the 360 mile trip where you got 34.7 MPG. What are your average MPH figures?

The trip computer currently indicates 37.6 MPH average. I assume that is the average speed since the car was new - I have not reset it.

As to the 34.7 MPG on the 360 mile trip segment, I was cruising 70 to 82 MPH for the vast majority of the trip, with a couple of bursts to 95+ to pass a line of semi-trucks. And again, I made the trip entirely in the Comfort mode.

[mczoomer]

Thanks all for posting your mpg's. Can one conclude that the automatic will give better mpg than the manual _only_ if driven in Comfort? The mpg's for Sport mode seem considerably lower, as one would expect. We don't have that many data points, but I'm speculating that the average mpg for the MT will be in between the averages for Sport and Comfort. Of course, very hard to get a close comparison, for the reasons RPM90 mentioned.

[HX_Guy]

Speaking of MPG, Sport and Comfort...is there any difference on the 6MT between them all?

With the Auto, I understand it holds gears longer (higher RPMs = lower MPG) but on the 6MT, the driver is controlling at that, so all you really get from Sport is faster throttle response...would that affect the gas mileage? Boost has been shown to be the same between Sport and Comfort so that wouldn't change there.

[MikeG12]

Mine is a 228i and I got 34.8mpg today on 200+ mile trip in New England which has up and down hills. Cruise set at 73mph and auto in comfort mode. Happy camper. My old 2007 VW GTI would get about 28mpg under the same conditions.

[mczoomer]

I keep thinking about the apparently significant "official" MPG advantage of the 8AT over the 6MT.

Do we know if the EPA ratings for the M235i automatic (22/32) assume Comfort mode? Eco mode? Sport? A mix?

Speculating, and using the numbers reported here in this thread, it seems to me that IF driven in Comfort model, the AT can really give good mpg, but in Sport, it's no better, and in fact may be worse, than the MT.

[danimal]

Originally Posted by mczoomer

Thanks all for posting your mpg's. Can one conclude that the automatic will give better mpg than the manual _only_ if driven in Comfort? The mpg's for Sport mode seem considerably lower, as one would expect. We don't have that many data points, but I'm speculating that the average mpg for the MT will be in between the averages for Sport and Comfort. Of course, very hard to get a close comparison, for the reasons RPM90 mentioned.

For freeway driving, I would think gear ratios would have an impact. Wouldn't the 8AT be pulling lower RPMs on the freeway than the 6MT?

[jbenington86]

Originally Posted by mczoomer

I keep thinking about the apparently significant "official" MPG advantage of the 8AT over the 6MT.

Do we know if the EPA ratings for the M235i automatic (22/32) assume Comfort mode? Eco mode? Sport? A mix?

Speculating, and using the numbers reported here in this thread, it seems to me that IF driven in Comfort model, the AT can really give good mpg, but in Sport, it's no better, and in fact may be worse, than the MT.

I would guess closer to the comfort side...normal rpms at speed (close to 2k) without being heavy on the throttle on take off....my 128i is rated at 18/28 but I usually get 26-27 city/highway mix and have achieved as high as 34mpg on the highway @ 80mph with cruise control on

[cire]

I have 8700km on my 228 auto. My commute is 45km each way with 2/3 highway at 120km and the rest in the City of Calgary AB. I have never reset my mileage indicator. I get 750km/tank and 7.1l/100km combined fuel mileage. This works out to 40 mpg (Canadian).

Several years ago, I commuted with a 2008 Yaris. With the Yaris my mileage was 44 mpg. The N20 power and economy is amazing.

[Killramos]

Ok so I made my first big trip with the car. Using proper calculations I managed 6.89 L/100km. This is about 34.1 mpg according to google. Shell 91 V Power.

For reference this is a very good number with a lot of different driving conditions built in. The route is from Calgary AB to Kelowna BC with an average speed of 111 km/hr. Drove in Eco Pro to maximize economy. Route is a lot of high speed slimming then lower speed (100-110 km/h) through mountain passes downhill then another few hundred km relatively flat.

As good of an acid test as any. Big elevation change through the trip. Up and down.

Should note: 2 passengers lots of luggage (seats folded down) also was doing a lot of passing not just droning in cruise

[soghetto]

Im keeping pretty consistent around 20 MPG

about 1600 miles so far, lots of city driving in sport mode.

this gas tank is so much smaller than the E46 - over 3 gallons less so alot more trips to the gas station.

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by Killramos

Ok so I made my first big trip with the car. Using proper calculations I managed 6.89 L/100km. This is about 34.1 mpg according to google. Shell 91 V Power.

For reference this is a very good number with a lot of different driving conditions built in. The route is from Calgary AB to Kelowna BC with an average speed of 111 km/hr. Drove in Eco Pro to maximize economy. Route is a lot of high speed slimming then lower speed (100-110 km/h) through mountain passes downhill then another few hundred km relatively flat.

As good of an acid test as any. Big elevation change through the trip. Up and down.

Should note: 2 passengers lots of luggage (seats folded down) also was doing a lot of passing not just droning in cruise

Very good MPG and consistent with my trip experiences.

Based on my own experiences and many road tests I've read, I think the car is a bit under rated in terms of MPG and power. Not a bad position for BMW to take. Better than the other way around and end up disappointed.

I traded in a 2004 Mazda RX-8 that I had owned nearly 10 years and it never did measure up to the advertised MPG. In addition, a year so later, Mazda revised the advertised engine HP rating down by 6 HP. Perhaps not a big deal, but...

[Killramos]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

Very good MPG and consistent with my trip experiences.

Based on my own experiences and many road tests I've read, I think the car is a bit under rated in terms of MPG and power. Not a bad position for BMW to take. Better than the other way around and end up disappointed.

I traded in a 2004 Mazda RX-8 that I had owned nearly 10 years and it never did measure up to the advertised MPG. In addition, a year so later, Mazda revised the advertised engine HP rating down by 6 HP. Perhaps not a big deal, but...

Yup. I really think if driven slowly (at speed limit) on relatively flat that sub 6 L/100 is easily attainable with a single person in the car. That's probably better than a damn Prius.

On my trip I wasn't passed once in 6 hours to give you an idea of how fast I was going relative to traffic. I still got great fuel numbers.

Another thing I have found is that 8th gear is pretty redundant. You have to be going pretty quick to make use of it without lugging the engine, quicker than any speed limit in Canada...

[2+3=5]

8.5 l/100km mixed city/highway

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by Killramos

Another thing I have found is that 8th gear is pretty redundant. You have to be going pretty quick to make use of it without lugging the engine, quicker than any speed limit in Canada...

Interesting comment. My car easily stays in 8th gear while cruising at 65 MPH on level ground. And I think with the full 330 ft/lbs of torque available at only 1400 RPM, the engine is kind of difficult to lug - at least lugging in the traditional sense.