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Thread: Fuel economy tips

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2019
    Location
    Fallbrook
    Posts
    26
    My Cars
    2006 E60 530i N52

    Fuel economy tips

    Each car usually has a few tricks the forum members know of to maximize economy. On our 06 530i I've done a few things to help, but looking for more suggestions. My girl drives this car and she drives the heck out of it! I put a drop-in K&N air filter in and removed the charcoal filter in the box lid. We have AAA service, so I removed the spare tire and tools to lighten it up. I've also found that bimmers tend to wear the outside tread of tires out much faster than the inside so I've been running 40psi front and 42psi rear. Been watching and the tires wear more even and last longer like this and the higher pressure helps for fuel economy too. I accessed the throttle and gave it a good cleaning. This was all about a year ago now. I was considering changing the muffler to a Magnaflow 16551 cat-back or just a weld on muffler with a straight through design if the oem pipes flow fine. But we don't want to hear any noise from this car. I was thinking an exhaust might lighten things up a little more and help the engine breath. But not if it will make the car noisy. She doesn't want that. Any suggestions on this or other things I can do that are specific to these types of cars?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Monroe, CT
    Posts
    423
    My Cars
    2007 530xi 6 spd.manual
    What is the gas mileage you're getting?
    2007 530xi, Black Metallic Sapphire, 6 speed manual, Sport package, Cold Weather Package, Premium Package, Premium Sound Package, Sirius Satellite Radio, MTech front bumper, Replica Style 166 wheels

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2019
    Location
    Fallbrook
    Posts
    26
    My Cars
    2006 E60 530i N52
    I'm not sure exactly, I don't drive it. I know it isn't suffering for what it is. In fact I'm betting it probably gets better than a good percentage of the E60s out there. I keep it in good tip top shape mechanically. She came from driving a 2013 Sentra to this though and she complains about the fuel economy. Go figure. I told her it would't be as efficient but this is the car she wanted lol. Either way, I do what I can to help it out is all.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Monroe, CT
    Posts
    423
    My Cars
    2007 530xi 6 spd.manual
    How does the saying go? If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there. How will you know if all these measures you're taking have any effect if you don't track the mileage? The E60 is a far cry from a Sentra in so many ways, so you can't expect the mileage to be comparable.
    2007 530xi, Black Metallic Sapphire, 6 speed manual, Sport package, Cold Weather Package, Premium Package, Premium Sound Package, Sirius Satellite Radio, MTech front bumper, Replica Style 166 wheels

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2019
    Location
    Fallbrook
    Posts
    26
    My Cars
    2006 E60 530i N52
    Obviously they are not comparable, hence why I laughed at the idea. The things I'm doing are no brainers for fuel economy. And asking what people do to their E60s is a good way to take from who's been there already and apply it. For example, my C5 vette can be programmed with the factory computer to run leaner than the very fat factory tune. This can be done with with free downloadable software. In the DSM world, there are 4 or 5 things you can do to a stock GST/X and get both power and performance absolutely free. This is from fixing intake restrictions, properly circulating bov pressure, boost solenoid restriction adjustments, throttle blade/cable adjustments.. I was wondering if there are things like this that BMW owners know of that can be done for these sorts of gains. Weight reduction and int/exh flow are no brainers. But what may be specific to an E60 is not something I know about.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Ca
    Posts
    6,981
    My Cars
    2001 525it
    I'm sure the Sentra got way better mpg than the BMW, maybe she wants the old car back or something similar. Getting good mpg is a great thing

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Coquitlam, BC, Canada
    Posts
    226
    My Cars
    2003 530i
    Trade it in on an i3?

    Sent from my LG-H915 using Tapatalk


  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2019
    Location
    Fallbrook
    Posts
    26
    My Cars
    2006 E60 530i N52
    Oh she loves the car. I put all new bilsteins and tires on it first thing with new front lower control arms and anything loose I found. The car is smooth, comfortable, quite, and stylish. The Sentra was efficient but other than that, as basic as a car gets. I'm tying to provide her luxury and to make it as efficient as it can be. I understand it will never be close to a lighter weight 1.8l cvt trans Sentra. But it is a worth while upgrade for sure.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Charlotte, NC
    Posts
    28
    My Cars
    98M3,99 Z3Coupe,07 530i
    I run Regular gas in my current N52 and for the 75k miles I put on my previous N52. No problems at all. That is a pretty big increase in MP$

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Monroe, CT
    Posts
    423
    My Cars
    2007 530xi 6 spd.manual
    Quote Originally Posted by 984drm3auto View Post
    I run Regular gas in my current N52 and for the 75k miles I put on my previous N52. No problems at all. That is a pretty big increase in MP$
    That's perfectly okay. You just won't get the acceleration performance the car is capable of. But that may not matter to you.
    2007 530xi, Black Metallic Sapphire, 6 speed manual, Sport package, Cold Weather Package, Premium Package, Premium Sound Package, Sirius Satellite Radio, MTech front bumper, Replica Style 166 wheels

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Charlotte, NC
    Posts
    28
    My Cars
    98M3,99 Z3Coupe,07 530i
    Quote Originally Posted by JayArras View Post
    That's perfectly okay. You just won't get the acceleration performance the car is capable of. But that may not matter to you.
    Yes, I am not big on WOT acceleration so it works for me. I get a lot more enjoyment from the curves.

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