E34 540i/6spd average mpg?

[530transam]

i know i know, if i have to ask i shouldnt be looking at a v8 6 speed. But i drive 84 miles one way to work, and i drive 3 hours to school once a week. I need to figure this out. I googled it and come up with answers from 22 all the way to 27. 27 would be nice, but my 325is barely gets that. Granted there is a 6th gear, and my Trans Am gets around 28, but still. I am looking at this car to DD and i dont really want to shoot myself in the foot.If it gets around 23-25 id be happy, 22may be livable. What are you personal experiences? I have searched and searched and couldnt find anything 40i specific.

[yaofeng]

All highway 22 to 23 is achievable. That has been my experience. Once stop and go city and town driving is mixed in the mpg comes down. Do not delude yourself, 17 to 18 is the realistic mixed driving mpg.

I should also add I am grinning ear to ear doing 17 mpg.

[535ipower]

Driving light footed around tow i can manage 19.. high way i can manage 26ish if i keep my speed at 65 and use my foot smart. This is an automatic you should be able to get a bit better than me, if i remember correctly garret said he managed 22mpg with his on light city driving.

[crazyrobbery]

19.3 mixed driving w 3.15lsd

[yaofeng]

Driving light footed around tow i can manage 19.. high way i can manage 26ish if i keep my speed at 65 and use my foot smart. This is an automatic you should be able to get a bit better than me, if i remember correctly garret said he managed 22mpg with his on light city driving.

I just have to laugh. If you drive so lightfooted feathering the gas pedal why own a 540i or 540i/6?

[530transam]

yea i should have said, work is 100% highway i literally leave my house and get on the highway and dont stop until i get to work and i also keep it at 65, i have had 9, NINE speeding tickets lmao i dont ever want another, lol maybe i dont need that 8 cylinder. What am i talking about i need it, and i need a supercharger once my Trans Am and E36 sells :)


I just have to laugh. If you drive so lightfooted feathering the gas pedal why own a 540i or 540i/6?
Hey in his defense, or at least this is my thinking, the 540i is one of the most well rounded vehicles you can buy meaning you may commute in it one day, that being the lightfootedness, and you might autocross it the next. You may load it up with people and take a road trip, or go drag race it. 4 doors 5 passengers 290hp 6 speed, theres nothing you cant do with it honestly!!!! Plus, its fucking classy ;)

[yaofeng]

You are deluding yourself. If you have gotten nine speeding tickets there is no way in 'ell you are going to stay 65.

[530transam]

You are deluding yourself. If you have gotten nine speeding tickets there is no way in 'ell you are going to stay 65.
LOL!!!! I have managed to keep my record clean for the last 3 years, for the first time since i have had my license, my record is clean!!! WOOOTT!!!!!So awesome. i drive with the traffic on populated roads,i work at midnight so if im on the road by myself, i do 65 because cops are bored an looking for a reason to stop you. Busier parts i do 70-80 with everyone else. Im hoping this car is somewhere between my e36 and my ws6. The e36 is comfy but rather timid as to where the ws6 is raw unbridled power i just want to floor it all the time lol i love watching those rpms's climb!!! LOL LOL i hope this car is fun, but not such a rocket that its addicting like my ws6. but then i'll probably supercharge or turbo it too. LOL!

[Layne]

My e34 touring with 4.0 and 6spd swap got 22mpg consistantly on the long highway trip home. I'm hoping to improve on that a bit since my 740iL with automatic (weight: 4400lbs) get's 22 easily, and sometimes 25 on the highway. The 7 gets only about 12mpg in stop and go though, and the touring is much better (not sure exactly, the OBC is in imperial gallons). My friends M5 gets 26mpg! on the highway (not heresay, I checked it myself), and that's with a 3.91 diff and 5 spd. The revs are very high at a cruise, but I guess that's where the engine is efficient.

[BamBamE34]

I have an auto 540i... The best i got was 18MPG, the worse being 14MPG. I'm not really easy on it. and my numbers are off a fuel app on my phone, i log in the mileage, cost of fuel and amount of gallons i put in (full tank usually) and it tells me my sad numbers.

[BuckNaked]

19 mpg mixed.
Trans AM gets 28?
I had to laugh at my '07 Explorer 13.7mpg... 3.0 liter V6 and thats the best it can do? Winter blend petrol must be bad this year cuz I drive it like my grandpa drove.

[gfycorp]

with the way I drive (lead foot) I was getting 17ish in town and 23ish highway before the supercharger

now I get like 19 in town and like 27 highway. Seemed odd to me to pick up MPG with a SC but my friends who are actual mechanics all looked at me like I was an idiot for thinking that. Dunno, maybe I should read more about how that works :shifty

Also, I can't remember who it was but every time I click "Go Advanced" I can't help but remember you saying you feel like

http://images.memegenerator.net/Fuck-Yeah/File/87698/Fuck-Yeah.jpg

when you click it. Now I do too >_<

[barry8108]

Im averaging 19.9 right now. On long trips i have averaged 24 at 75 mph, around town usually 18.

[KyleCleveland]

I average 16 in town and about 23 highway. My foot is rather heavy. Yours will be too if you've had 9 tickets in the past.

[HE53]

I can get up to 29 with mine on the highway, but I rarely keep track of the mileage as its a weekend car and sits most of the time. It usually gets horrible mileage because my foot is in it most of the time.

[T444E]

Driving light footed around tow i can manage 19.. high way i can manage 26ish if i keep my speed at 65 and use my foot smart. This is an automatic you should be able to get a bit better than me, if i remember correctly garret said he managed 22mpg with his on light city driving.

Yep :D 6th gear at 30 is a wonderful thing. Unless you need to pass someone or speed up :(


19 mpg mixed.
Trans AM gets 28?
I had to laugh at my '07 Explorer 13.7mpg... 3.0 liter V6 and thats the best it can do? Winter blend petrol must be bad this year cuz I drive it like my grandpa drove.

That's bad, my Rover gets 16. But the whole clutch system helps with that I'm sure.

[Hodge]

My OBC average in the 525 M50 right now is 16.3 :mad

In defense, I drive like a total of 15 miles a day, with stop and go traffic being 90% of the journey.

[jehu]

I get under 15 mpg with my bad cylinder

[94530inh]

20 on the highway, including a large amount of traffic every day.

[xatlas0]

I usually get ~25 on the highway with a set speed of ~70.

[AZChris]

Expect about 17 in town with normal driving and a few short bursts of spirited driving.

At 65, expect around 24.

That's about the norm for these cars, give or take a couple.

[sfgearhead]

I've hit 30 MPG in our M50 touring. Find a 525i/5 and you'll be happier. Not as fast, but with the manual it's still fun.

[535ipower]

Hey in his defense, or at least this is my thinking, the 540i is one of the most well rounded vehicles you can buy meaning you may commute in it one day, that being the lightfootedness, and you might autocross it the next. You may load it up with people and take a road trip, or go drag race it. 4 doors 5 passengers 290hp 6 speed, theres nothing you cant do with it honestly!!!! Plus, its fucking classy ;)


Exactly the way i think, most of the time im commuting and theres no need for me to be racing around. I do have fun with my car trust me, but you asked about mpg and what we could manage and i answered. I managed 12mpg on the way to cars and copters if that makes you happy :buttrock

[mpaganr34]

With a B30 5 speed, I average 18 and that's half freeway, half city. Just out of curiosity, where are you commuting to from Yuba?

[530transam]

OK so you guys are all in about the ballpark id be happy with. I think im going to pick this up tomorrow. I am so excited i could shart myself.





With a B30 5 speed, I average 18 and that's half freeway, half city. Just out of curiosity, where are you commuting to from Yuba?
I live in North West Yuba, Tierra Buena if you're familiar with it. I commute to Redhawk Casino, which is about 10 miles outside of Placerville/Pollock Pines. I got so school in San Francisco at The Academy of Art University of San Francisco, for car design and TV Producing/Writing/Acting?directing in case you were going to ask! So yea, i like cars :)

Where are you at? Never heard of your town

[DUDMD]

best i have gotten on the freeway was about 25mpg on a b40 swap with b30 drivetrain and a 3.23 LSD. If you really want to save gas on the freeway, get up to 60mph and set the cruise control there, i just don't know how many BMW owners would actually keep their bimmer below 70-75mph on the freeway.

[E34nication]

With the supercharger, 30# injectors, 6-speed + 3.15diff, 13.5-13.8 afr's on cruise I was getting roughly 25-26mpg @ 80mph... which was exactly what I was getting pre-sc with the same diff.

Normal mixed driving would be in the 16-17mpg range... me driving like a maniac and it would be around 9-11mpg.

[JantzenRX8]

i've got 27 mpg if its 100% highway driving. I average about 20 mpg in my commute which is mixed city/highway driving.

ps- bone stock 540/6

[DUDMD]

With the supercharger, 30# injectors, 6-speed + 3.15diff, 13.5-13.8 afr's on cruise I was getting roughly 25-26mpg @ 80mph... which was exactly what I was getting pre-sc with the same diff.

Normal mixed driving would be in the 16-17mpg range... me driving like a maniac and it would be around 9-11mpg.
dang, if you can only pull 7-8% of fuel out on crusing, that would bump up your MPG quite nicely.
On a side note, what WHP are you at with the 30# injectors.

[toyotahachiroku]

14.3L/100km so 16.4mpg. currently 90% city with a 3.15.

i have achieved average of 9.3L/100km (25.3mpg) on 90% highways before on the old 2.93.

[gfycorp]

With the supercharger, 30# injectors, 6-speed + 3.15diff, 13.5-13.8 afr's on cruise I was getting roughly 25-26mpg @ 80mph... which was exactly what I was getting pre-sc with the same diff.

Normal mixed driving would be in the 16-17mpg range... me driving like a maniac and it would be around 9-11mpg.

still better MPG and faster than the 535...definitely going to stop being hesitant/lazy and do my diff swap.

[prash]

25mpg (hwy) doing 80mph all day long. I have 2.93 gears & like most guys here it's chipped as well.

[E34nication]

dang, if you can only pull 7-8% of fuel out on crusing, that would bump up your MPG quite nicely.
On a side note, what WHP are you at with the 30# injectors.

haven't had it on a dyno... I'd guess somewhere around the 320whp mark. Car went 12.7 in the 1/4 with a high trap of 113. I currently have 42# injectors in the car and an 803 MAF... either at the end of this year or the beginning of 2012 I'll intercool it and bump the boost. Want to get it in the 370-380whp range... I think that'll be about perfect for tracking it.


still better MPG and faster than the 535...definitely going to stop being hesitant/lazy and do my diff swap.

Diff swap makes a big difference for sure... the MPG tradeoff is minimal. I had a 3.64 diff years ago and it affected my gas mileage a lot. I think at that point I was getting 22-23 on the highway.

[530transam]

Update. I bought the car. Had the clutch and flywheel replaced. I am giddy with this car!!!!

Last night was my first trip to work. avg 27 on the way to work, and on the way home it was at 32 until i hit the city then by the time i got home it had dropped to 29.4. The first 15 miles or so from work are all downhill but still,i reset it at work and didnt touch it until i got home. I think its accurate because i only used a little more than a quarter of a tank!