BMW X3 and BMW X5 Real World MPG

tidester · August 2006

Report them here!

tygger · May 2006

What type of gas mileage are you guys getting? Also note which engine you have... Thanks!

nyccarguy · May 2006

My Dad gets about 20mpg on 85% highway 15% City driving mix.

'04 X5 3.0iA

chchoi · May 2006

3.0. Mix city/highway 15mpg. Best 19mpg in all highway. BTW I like to speed.

kypreosx5 · May 2006

My 2004 3 litre petrol (25000km ) gets about 17 mpg (imperial) for general driving mainly city, and about 25mpg when on country running.
I think the imperial gallon is about 10% larger than the US gallon?

sanjab_x5 · August 2006

:mad:

Hello All

I am new to these boards, but have enjoyed reading many of your posts. I recently purchased (2 weeks ago) a new BMW X5 4.4i (2006). I love the car, HOWEVER, I am concerned about the gas mileage I am getting with it. On the window sticker it shows the mileage as "16 / 22", however every time I fill up (24 gallons of premium petrol) I am only able to drive 290ish miles, before the yellow fuel tank indicator light goes on. I drive for maybe 10 miles, then refuel, (it takes another 24 gallons) and the same thing happens.

I live in Los Angeles, and at least half of the miles I drive are on the freeway with a average speed of 65 - 70 MPH. I know I should be getting at LEAST a good 450 miles per fillup, and I don't know what I should do.

I am spending oodles of $$$ every 4 days putting fuel in the car, and I feel that BMW has not truthfully disclosed this car's fuel efficiency. If I would have known that I was going to get 13 miles per gallon I would have not bought the V8, and would have settled for the V6.

Can someone please tell me what my options are, and what I should do? Shall I go to the dealership, and if so, what should I say? No joke, this care is costing me a lot of money.

Any help would be appreciated,

Sanjab

teamyonex · August 2006

I have an '05 6000lb Range Rover with the 4.4L engine and get 16.5mpg in mainly town driving. I'd think an X5 4.4i would do better.

div2 · August 2006

2004 X3 2.5 Steptronic 32,000 miles
Low: 16.74
High: 22.33
Average: 18.50

driver100 · August 2006

I have a 2004 X3 2.5 Canadian version. Just drove to Ellicottville NY and back and I got 25 U.S. miles per gallon. I was surprised! My low is usually 18 MPG in winter/city driving and has dipped to 16 with lots of warm up and cold weather. Average mixed driving is between 22 and 24 MPG (U.S.).

Overall, I think it is great mileage for a car with this much power and weight.

jrynn · October 2006

X3 3.0(auto) -

High: 23.27 (pure highway)
Low: 14.29 (pure city; typically mid/high 15's in-town)
Avg: 16.66 (HEAVILY weighted toward city/suburban driving)

softerik · December 2006

Hi everyone!

I am a owner of a 2004 X3 with 2.5i Aut. Trans. with 33.000km, Canada model.

Since (around 3 weeks), my fuel consumption has inreased! It pass to a average of 10L/100km to 14L/100km !!

Can it be caused by;

Cold weather ?

Tune-up is needed ?

Dealer adjustement or recall or something else relate with engine computer ?

Also note that Last month i went to my dealer to check the Onboard computer for the in dash average fuel consumption L/100km because after a while it seem to freeze, i alway have to reset to putting back on !!! Dealer say that its normal !! Weird !

Is there someone having similar experience ?

Your help will be apreciate

Erik

jrynn · December 2006

From a Chevron corporate website:

*****

Climate

Winter weather conditions can combine to lower fuel economy 20 percent, compared with the summer. In cold weather, a richer fuel-air mixture is required to start and warm up the engine. Also, much of the warmup may be done at idle (zero fuel economy) because of the need to defog or defrost windows. (During defogging/defrosting, many vehicles not only heat the air but use the air conditioner to dehumidify it.) More energy is required to overcome the resistance created by the higher viscosities of cold lubricants  engine oil, transmission fluid, and differential lubricant. Head winds increase air resistance; rain necessitates windshield wiper use; water or snow on the road increase tire-rolling resistance; and bad weather in general requires slowing to less fuel-efficient speeds.

In summer, head winds increase air resistance, and higher temperatures increase air conditioner use.

*****

Of course, the fuel consumption difference you're experiencing -- 10L to 14L per 1000km is greater than 20%. And if you didn't see a similar pattern in previous winters with your 2004, then it's hard to imagine the cause is simply weather/winter-time oxygenated fuel.

Hope you get it sorted out soon.

matrsoskin · December 2006

I have 2006 BMW X3 with auto transmission.
So far, I have put 9,200 miles on it and the numbers are:

City - 17.5 mpg

Highway - 25 mpg. On the 100 mi flat highway stretch I was able to get 26 mpg.

Matroskin

greg45 · January 2007

If somebody has this figured out, it'll save me the math. My '04 X3 2.5L gets a miserable 15L/100KM, bouncing around 14.5 to 16. I'm curious (but lazy? Maybe stupid?) and wondering what that nets out for MPG. Thanks.

ghall · February 2007

I have a 2001 X5 3.0 and get great milage on the hwy I average about 24 mpg.

nyccarguy · November 2007

This past weekend we (Myself, wifey, mom, & 13 month old son) loaded up our '07 X3 3.0si and headed from our apartment in Westchester County, NY (suburb of NYC) to Framingham, MA (suburb of Boston) to visit some friends who had recently given birth to healthy twin boys, one of whom is my godson (they made me an offer I couldn't refuse). We had to be in Framingham (usually a 2 hour 45 minute drive) by 11:30 AM, so I planned to leave early (7:30 AM) to compensate for rush hour traffic and bathroom breaks for my son. Well, things don't always go as planned. Both mine and my wife's alarm didn't go off and our son woke up at 7:00 AM (when my Mom walked through the door). So we showered, got dressed, loaded up the car, and were on the road by 8:00 AM. Luckily I had the X3's 260 horsepower N52 engine under the hood. I dropped the hammer merging onto the highway and never looked back. At one point I was doing close to 100 mph with my Mom sitting next to me! Most of the trip was spent driving around 80 to 85 mph. I made the trip in 2 and a half hours. We got to the temple BEFORE anyone else. I checked the trip computer and it said I averaged just over 73 mph & got almost 21 mpg doing it.

The trip back from Boston on Sunday was a little bit more subdued. I figured there'd be lots of cops out on Sunday so I took it easy. I set the cruise control to 65 mph. When I got home, the trip computer said I averaged just about 60 mph and a smidge over 26 mpg!

roadburner · November 2007

I wish that my wife's car had the N52; I had a 2006 3.0 loaner while the dealer was re-flashing the autobox software and it didn't feel any faster than my 2.5. I mentioned that to my service advisor(who owns a Z4 and an E36 M3) and he said that the only way he could tell a 2.5 from a 3.0 was to look at the emblem on the fender...

nyccarguy · November 2007

if you want to take a ride up to NY in before we turn the lease in, I'll swap motors & Trannies with you. They woulnd't know the difference would they?

roadburner · November 2007

I'll swap motors & Trannies with you. They woulnd't know the difference would they?

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind!

bmwadam · December 2007

Hello everyone. I just picked up a 2004 X3 3.0 with a 6psd for my wife about a month ago. It is a CPO car with right at 30k miles. We paid 28k before taxes, plus we took advantage of BMW's great rates right now, 2.9% for 4 years plus they make the first 2 payments!. As much as I would love the N52(even though it dosnt have a dipstick to check the oil) I couldnt justify spending an additional 15-17k and I dont like to lease a car.

The car is outstanding, no problems, except for a CD player issue but the dealer fixed it very quickly. We live in TN and took a trip to Nashville the other day. It is about a 2 hour drive from our city, and over a mtn. we live in Chattanooga. The car avg. about 25mpg b/w 75-80mph. Around town we are getting b/w 19-21. This really depends on hills, how heavy the traffic is, etc.

We had looked at a 2.5 X3 with an auto but it was just too sluggish. The manual gearbox 3.0 is much preferable. Im not sure about an auto 3.0. My wife and I prefer manuals anyway. I have a 98 328 with a 5spd and it runs outstanding for the age and mileage (better than many new cars of other makes). Plus the car is easy to work on and very reliable. I am avg close to 30mpg on the highway in that car with the M52, the predecessor to the M54 that is in the early X 3's.
BMW makes some of the best engines in the buisness. I have owned these cars my entire driving life and can attest to that!

ledonbio · March 2008

I've had my BMW X3 3.0 (44K miles) for a couple of weeks now, and I'm wondering if I could take 87 instead of 93. Would that ruin my engine?
Thank you

achonko · April 2008

87 will not ruin your engine but you will notice the following:
1. Sluggish performance- from experience.
2. Poor fuel economy- from experience.

roadburner · April 2008

In addition if the X3 averages 18 mpg and is driven 15K miles per year, the annual savings will be all of $167- 46 cents per day. Whoopie...

roadburner · June 2008

I recently returned from a @1200 mile road trip in the X3 2.5. Loaded with 2 adults, 2 12 year old boys, and a cargo hold stuffed with luggage the truck averaged over 25 mpg at an average speed of 77 mph(according to the OBC). Cant complain about that...

jelmass · September 2008

Picked up my X5 3.0 2 weeks ago. I am driving 80% city 20% highway.
My average in the first 2 tanks 18.4 mpg. I heard it would get better after the first 1000 miles.

pp2009pp · September 2009

I have poor gas mileage on my brand new 2009 X3 AT. As with the poster from two years ago, I wonder if the transmission issues contribute to the poor gas mileage.

Since I do not know if the gas mileage is directly related to the known AT problems, I thought this deserved a separate thread.

Currently with the odometer still http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f11ffdc/30

#43 of 194
There are MANY issues with the X3 by jacqva
Jun 20, 2007 (3:57 pm)

But the main issue is the transmission. I am beyond frustrated because each time I take it in, the service folks tell me the transmission checks out normal on their computers. I am convinced that this jerky transmission and high RPMs is the reason I get horrible gas mileage on this vehicle.

I am averaging around 14.5mpg in the city and 17.5 on the highway. Now, before you accuse my driving habits for this, I do *not* have a lead foot, this is not my first BMW, and yes, I *always* put 93 octane in the car. I too have had many many passengers in my car make comments on how bad this thing shifts and how they think I should have bought a Lexus, etc.

kyfdx · September 2009

...has a lifetime fuel mileage of 21.7 mpg.. Mostly suburban commuting, with some grocery duty, etc... on weekends..

stever · September 2009

Currently with the odometer still 500 miles

That's nothing - you can't really get much of a baseline until 3,000 miles or more. My minivan didn't hit its stride until 10,000 miles and the lifetime mpg kept going up (albeit in small increments) for another 60,000 miles or so.

pp2009pp · September 2009

My 5 series' MPG dropped from about 18 on average down to slightly above 14...currently what my X3 does. It was the same from the get go, never improved but didn't deteriorate until it went well over 100K miles.

I am not expecting a significant increase in the X3's gas mileage unless I spend my life coasting and using the engine brake to slide into parking spaces like the garage.

I have a pretty good eye for just how far coasting will get me but there is this big metal post in the garage that I want to avoid hitting.

mtg2000 · January 2011

Hi, Everybody.

I have a 2005 X5 with about 86K miles on it. I'm getting about 300 miles per tank. This seems really low, lower than it's been before.

I've been noticing a trend. When I fill up, the first quarter tank nets me about 100 miles. The second quater tank 75. The third 30-50. And then the final quarter it's back up to 100.

Does this seem normal? I'm hoping to sell the vehicle soon and go into something smaller (and quicker!)

Thanks!
MTG

wademmiller · March 2011

2011 X5 35d delivered on 12/18/10. I have taken it on two long trips as part of the break in period and now have 3K miles on it. The most recent trip which was mostly hwy driving at speeds of 75-80 mph I averaged 28.5. I noticed when I kept my foot out of it and was around 55-65 mph I was seeing numbers in the 29.5-31 mpg.
The most amazing part was NOT filling up! I drove for 8.5 hours straight and still had an 1/8th of a tank! I am sold (again) on diesel and this new SAV.

BMW X3 and BMW X5 Real World MPG

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