2011 328i Sedan Fuel Economy problems

[amanag1988]

Hello all,

I recently purchased a 2011 BMW 328i Sedan with Premium Package and am loving the car.

The only issue is that the fuel economy that I get with 75% highway driving is 20-21 mpg. The car has 1350 miles on it right now. If i drive only in the city I get around 16. Haven't yet gone 100+ miles constantly on the highway though until now. The car specs say that I should get 28 on the highway though which I dont see happening.

My driving style until now has been very normal, never do I push the throttle completely and never do I put in sports mode. Only once, the first day when I bought the car I drove three times on sports mode with 5-6k rpm on the entry to the freeway ramp and then back to normal. Never did that after that.

Is this normal ? Or is there some problem with the car ? What is the practical real world fuel economy that others get ?

[MartzMimic]

Wow. Highway my 328 gets 30 mpg (often more) and 24-25 in town.

[mryakan]

That is low, I get 27-28 mpg on the highway even aggressive (MT though) and 18-19 in town when I have lots of stop/go or hard launches.

Check your tire pressure, tire condition, alignment, etc. Then take it from there to check engine related components.

[amanag1988]

Thanks for your replies. My tire pressure is about 3-4 point above normal and tires are new as it is a new car. I took to BMW dealer and had a checkup and they said that it is behaving normal.

Does the fuel economy improve over time ? My car has now passed the break in period and has 1400 miles on it.
How many miles does your cars have ?

[mryakan]

Thanks for your replies. My tire pressure is about 3-4 point above normal and tires are new as it is a new car. I took to BMW dealer and had a checkup and they said that it is behaving normal.

Does the fuel economy improve over time ? My car has now passed the break in period and has 1400 miles on it.
How many miles does your cars have ?
Around 21k miles. It does improve after breakin.

[Remphoto]

Thanks for your replies. My tire pressure is about 3-4 point above normal and tires are new as it is a new car. I took to BMW dealer and had a checkup and they said that it is behaving normal.

Does the fuel economy improve over time ? My car has now passed the break in period and has 1400 miles on it.
How many miles does your cars have ?

Mileage on my 2009 328xi(a) definitely improved as mileage increased. Mine now has 28,000 miles and is getting around 25 in our small town and 30+ on highway burning middle-grade fuel. Still your mileage seems a little low initially.

[amanag1988]

I too feel the same. I should take my bmw on a long highway drive and check the mileage.

I also mentioned that I did put the car on sports mode on the first day thrice and accelerated hard on the highway ramp when the rpm went to about 6k. Does that mean that I harmed the engine in some way ? (might be a sill thing to ask, as I dont think that BMW engines shall get affected like this, but just to ensure. I am a first time BMW owner)

Again, thanks for your all comments :)

[MartzMimic]

How many miles does your cars have ?

68k and doing just fine.

You didn't hurt your engine a bit - provided that you were near normal operating temperature. You need to blow out the cobwebs from time to time. Seriously.

[gsbeto]

How do you switch the Highway MPG at? Mine has only view to the City MPG at 18 - 19.

Lou.

[dvx_movies]

Might be a silly question, do you use Prem. gas? if you use lower grade gas it messes up the mileage big time.

[02325]

are you figuring your mog by using math or using the cluster. if using the cluster, reset the system. I will tell ya my 02 325 cluster mpg is low compared to what i get when i use math.

I use 89 octane, have roughly 85k and it gets 31 on the hwy and avg of 28 in town. And i drive my car. no puttin puttin for me.

[amanag1988]

I use the Chevron Premium 92 octane fuel. I did the math once and it was somewhat close to what the cluster showed. I would probably keep an eye on it more from now and also do the math for the mpg next fuel refill.

Thanks for all the replies..

[Kredithai]

The old N52 is good for 31 on the highway in my experience. And that was with city driving beforehand, a filled trunk and 4 people in.

[dvx_movies]

I guess the best way is to manually track the mileage, on my 06 330i after changing oil and air filter, soft reset the service lights, the estimate KM's on a full tank was 640km based on 8.6KM/L

Last night I replaced the battery (took 30min) and all computer data was flushed out. I filled up the tank and said 740KM based on 9.7KM/L!

So, maybe don't trust the computer and use the manual tracking method :)

[racermp]

06 330i sedan sport manual - i usually get 320-340 mi to 16 gallon fill up. mixed city/highway. that's about 20-21mpg.
i also do floor it a few times during my drive. i'm not a light slow driver. and not a full throttle aggressive teen. plus i think the auto gets better mpg. BTW my dash says 21.5-22 mpg. so don't rely on your dash.

if i drive all freeway, i could see getting 25mpg or so. maybe a bit more. i haven't' taken a long trip yet.

[mryakan]

No the auto does not get better mileage, but it all depends how you drive it, and other conditions.