So took the 330i out for a run today :)

[Philip Foglar]

I finally got around to taking my E90 out for a decent drive - four up we left Durbanville mid morning and drove out to Montagu. Filled up just before we left and overall consumption is shown as 8.7 ltr/100 km - iirc average speed was around 87 km/h. I "mostly" stuck to the speed limit (plus a few short of 10 kays over) but let's be honest, there were a few good opportunities for some liberal use of the right foot, and performance and fuel usage put a smile on my face!

Also made good use of the cruise control which is also a pleasure to have on those long straight bits. The Conti run-flats are a pain though - the front set are noisy and while the handling is good the tyres do tend to make the car a directionally unstable on varying surfaces. Mostly at low speeds but even on the open road the car tends to want to go where the tyres take it - means lots of correcting and inevitably some lateral motion which isn't pleasant. I have heard lots of complaints regarding run-flats in general and for that matter the Conti run-flats as well - also that this directional behaviour as being a characteristic of the run-flats with their harder side walls. Anyway, will have to investigate my options - am going to be getting the space-saver and ultimately ditch the run-flats.

So 8.7 ltr/100 km and the trip was roughly 352 km - fuel gauge is now just slightly over half remaining! When we arrived in Montagu the fuel consumption was on 8.4 ltr/100 km but we did buy a few boxes of wine and I was sticking to a higher average speed.

All in all, a great day out!

Philip

 

[jaunef]

Hi Philip, I've got a 2004 E60 530i and I got 6.9l/100km driving from Jozi to Durbs inside speed limit/+- 10kmh over. I know it is downhill, but I get around 7.9 on flat roads long distance. I am going to the west coast in September from Jozie, and I am looking forward to what it will give me then. I am also considering a software upgrade from BMW as appearantly this will give you better consumption and slightly better performance.

---

Sorry man, it was a 6.8 down to Durbs.

 

[Philip Foglar]

That's very impressive! I think if we drove a longer distance two up and with less slow bits in between the consumption would be close on that sub 7 l/100 km - most of the time on the flat bits it was sitting on about 6-7 according to the econometer. Go down a hill and of course can even go down to zero from closed throttle. Up a hill it climbs fairly easily though but, for every hill one climbs there's another that goes down...

The E60 530i, that has the same motor as the E46 330i?

Philip

 

[Twinz]

8.4....for a 3 liter non diesel car is very impressive. :thumbsup:

 

[Philip Foglar]

8.4....for a 3 liter non diesel car is very impressive. :thumbsup:

That's my feeling too! And for what it's worth it is quite a bit better than my double cab diesel bakkie which is a dog in terms of performance. The bakkie tends to use about 10-11l/100 km regardless of if it is town or open road driving, whereas the 330i is fairly light on the open road - it eats in town driving, but still far better than I expected. But then even my old Corolla was capable of using 11 l/100 km from mostly town driving and on the open road probably a litre or so less less per 100 km, so in my books not bad for a 3 litre!

 

[naushad]

guys cumon, if u want economy, get an uno, bmw are luxury pieces of beauty and refinement, just enjoy the drive!!!

 

[jaunef]

Just another small thing to make the drive all the more luxurious and enjoyable. Coming up from Durbs to Jozie 9.3l/100km averaging 127km/h on the computer mostly drove 160kmh and at stages 180-200kmh. Took me 4:40 for the 585km. BMW 6'ers are the bomb!!!

 

[Philip Foglar]

Don't get me wrong, when I bought this car I knew that I wasn't buying an Uno in terms of economy or anything else for that matter, but was hoping for "reasonable" fuel consumption which this is!