Surprised in a good way with MPG

[Herms]

Originally Posted by ///Mantis

happened to snap this yesterday:

I've gotten similar mpg hwy, though I can't seem to crack 11 mpg on the street for some reason.

after 850 miles my M3 is getting about 5 mpg less than my 335 on the same daily drive. I'm hopeful it will get up closer to 17-18 once the car is fully broken in as it seems to have improved slightly of late.

[positiveions]

Originally Posted by JEllis

Gents,

I just completed my first fill up at the gas station with my new M and my calculator is telling me that I achieved 16.9 MPG over the first 240ish miles of my cars existence. I was fully ready to see more like 12 MPG as many have reported given that the car is still not even close to being broken in. I must say that 17 MPG is pretty good for a V8 powered sports car (in my opinion) and much better than I expected. I achieve about 5 MPG more in my E36 M3 so overall I am pleased.

On a side note I have had no issues with the car DCT related or otherwise. I have found that you cannot treat the DCT tranny like an Auto tranny nor can you fully treat it like a 6MT either. Coming to a full stop before changing from reverse to S3 or D3 is a must (as the car wont let you shift in drive otherwise) unlike a manual. Conversly, the tranny doesnt always "guess/estimate" the gear you want correctly (much like an aircrafts fly by wire system when it chooses what flight controls to manipulate). The bottom line is that this sort of tranny is a whole new animal that can neither be treated like and automatic or manual and many of us need to stop treating it as such or expecting it to behave as such.

Also, the throttle response issue is something I have paid close attention to. Modes have a serious impact on throttle response. By manipulating both the throttle response modes AND the DCT modes you can achieve various degrees of "off the line" performance. In my opinion the higher DCT modes will offer what the driver might believe is better throttle response but really the car is just releasing the clutch faster something that is natural and forgotten about when driving a manual tranny. Next, the throttle itself appears to have a several levels of logic built into its "throttle by wire system". Again, much like an aircrafts "fly by wire flight controls" the throttle appears to be sensative to both the speed of the car and acceleration in which you impact on the pedal, as well as many other factors. What I am saying is that it is fairly evident that the throttle is not linear. At lower speeds when the driver is easy on the pedal more pedal travel is required. I believe BMW designed this into the system to account for maneuvering in small spaces. Once you realize this and treat the machine accordingly I think some of the near accidents talked about in parking lots can be avoided better. I.E. understand that at some point in a parking lot the throttle logic has picked a setting in which it is expecting slow smooth transitions in pedal movement. If you get frustrated and slam the throttle down the logic will revert to a much more sensative state and give you immediate power that you probably do not want. Anyway, just my opinion but this car is amazing. Overall, after 240miles I couldnt be happier.

Jason

Actually, 16.9 is not bad at all. MY E36 Dinan supercharged M3, with all the mods u can think, used to do about 17 mpg.
SO V8- 16.9 ain't bad

[Davinhci]

Originally Posted by man02195

7 speed m-dct
5th tank, 16.7mpg overall.
these are the individual numbers, 15.2, 16.5, 18.2, 17.6, 15.9, but each one was different miles/gallons to fill, so those won't average to 16.7mpg.
hit 1,200 miles yesterday, time to get the mpg back down to a respectable 11

yeah i know i'm slacking mpg is too high have to lower it soon

[fonusbak]

24.3 since I got mine : about 8,000 miles ago.

Which, reading what some of you chaps get, makes me think I'm driving it all wrong!

[Big Windy]

Originally Posted by fonusbak

24.3 since I got mine : about 8,000 miles ago.

Which, reading what some of you chaps get, makes me think I'm driving it all wrong!

is that from the OBC or from your own calculations?

[GT3 Tim]

Originally Posted by ase2dais

you must be rev'ing high that puppy

Not second gear! LOL

D2 = Drive mode, shift program 2. It's a DCT thing, you wouldn't understand. lol

[!Xoible]

Originally Posted by tfurban

Probably drove 35 in 6th gear for 6 miles. On the interstate. Studly.
I'd be ashamed of 25.8 mpg. My 78 yr. old mom would be impressed though!! Hang on....she says 'fine job mantis!!'

M3 hybrid owner FTW yah

Originally Posted by fonusbak

24.3 since I got mine : about 8,000 miles ago.

Which, reading what some of you chaps get, makes me think I'm driving it all wrong!

okay... for 8k miles yah that's wrong. i only got that once and had to take a pic of it. normal driving i cant get over 15 mpg with 70% highway

[GT3 Tim]

Originally Posted by fonusbak

24.3 since I got mine : about 8,000 miles ago.

Which, reading what some of you chaps get, makes me think I'm driving it all wrong!

Apparently, you are! Put your foot in it and give her some stick!

[cryptkeeper]

These numbers sound pretty good too me. I average about 17mpg and I have half the horsepower you do

[e46e92love]

Originally Posted by GT3 Tim

Not second gear! LOL

D2 = Drive mode, shift program 2. It's a DCT thing, you wouldn't understand. lol

[marwan]

the MPG on the M3 is bad, but not as bad as my E60 M5. M3 fuel consumption will improve over time.

[Sticky]

Exactly 14.0 on my first tank, picked up the car with a full tank yesterday, had to fill it today . Hopefully the mpg improves, but I am having so much fun either way. As soon as I can hit 8400 rpm I will be a happy man. The car seems to be a magnet for G35's that seem to think for whatever reason that they can match the m3.

Edit: If someone would tell me how to reset the MPG and trip meter I would be happy... or I will just check the manual tomorrow. Either it is different from my E46 or my memory is fading.

[BimmerRob08]

I didn't buy this M3 to save on gas, that's what my Saab & Renult hoopty's are for

[marwan]

Originally Posted by Sticky

Exactly 14.0 on my first tank, picked up the car with a full tank yesterday, had to fill it today . Hopefully the mpg improves, but I am having so much fun either way. As soon as I can hit 8400 rpm I will be a happy man. The car seems to be a magnet for G35's that seem to think for whatever reason that they can match the m3.

Edit: If someone would tell me how to reset the MPG and trip meter I would be happy... or I will just check the manual tomorrow. Either it is different from my E46 or my memory is fading.

i think you hold the button down on the cluster.

[mdrobc13]

I am getting about 17.5 mpg in city and combined. On the way back from the PDC I was getting almost 22mpg doing about 70mph. Has now backed down to about 19.5-20.5 on a recent trip to Hampton VA earlier this month right after my 1200 mile service was done.

In any event am happier than I was getting on my X5 4.4 so it's kool with me to fill up about every 3-4 days.

Just put the Eisenmann exhaust on her 10 days ago but am out of town on business now...am interested if that will help improve the mpg a bit as I've notice on all of my cars about 1.5-2.0 mpg increase after additions of free flow aftermarket exhausts (Borla on my old e46M3 and Remus on my X5). Will keep ya posted.

[echawaii]

When I first picked up my car I was averaging anywhere from 12 to 14 miles. As I got closer to my break in mileage, I started to see anywhere from 16 to 19 miles. This is in Hawaii where it is a combination of stop and go traffic, and depending on the time, free flowing traffic. I found my best MPGs at about 65-70 MPH in 6th gear.

[Atny286]

Not getting over 8.0mpg here in the city... I noted that the mpg meter does not go below 6.0mpg??? (Is that a bad thing that I even noticed that?)

On the highway back from Spartanburg I got an average of 20.5mpg (about 750mi)

Right now on 900mi I averaged 11.2mpg...

[!Xoible]

Originally Posted by Atny286

Not getting over 8.0mpg here in the city... I noted that the mpg meter does not go below 6.0mpg??? (Is that a bad thing that I even noticed that?)

On the highway back from Spartanburg I got an average of 20.5mpg (about 750mi)

Right now on 900mi I averaged 11.2mpg...

well u live in NY what u expect man???

for ze record my car gets over 25 mpg on freeway going 80-90 in 6th

[Radiation Joe]

Originally Posted by ///Mantis

well u live in NY what u expect man???

for ze record my car gets over 25 mpg on freeway going 80-90 in 6th

Downhill?

[positiveions]

Originally Posted by ///Mantis

M3 hybrid owner FTW yah

okay... for 8k miles yah that's wrong. i only got that once and had to take a pic of it. normal driving i cant get over 15 mpg with 70% highway

Mantis, I think they sold you a hybrid allright

[Sticky]

Got my second tank down to just about completely empty and was filling my third when the car would not take more than 14 gallons for some reason. Anyone else have this happen? I'll assume it was just an isolate issue and won't happen again but it was weird. It just would not take any more.

[ericld]

1550 miles.

14.7 MPG all the time. Air conditioner on.