15.5mpg urban, so how do people claim 17-18mpg?

[BMWZ4MC]

I reset my OBC on my Z4MC about 2 weeks ago.
In that time I have only driven the car 50 miles.
The breakdown of that is 8 journeys to work (2.5 miles each way) and 4 journeys to the golf club (1 mile each way). All journeys where the top speed gets no where near 30mph.

OBC mpg : 16.5

The poor car, no wonder it's taken to drinking so heavily!

 

[BMWZ4MC]

I now get 42mpg in my 320d on my normal Surrey commuting route but I got 23-24mpg in my Z4M R which is somewhat quicker than the 320d when allowed !! .... I actually think the Z4M is pretty good for what it is ... even in heavy traffic I never got under 20mpg

I average only 17-18mpg commuting in traffic, but always have the sports button pressed and have a bit of a heavy right foot. My E46 320d will easily reach over 45mpg on the same journey (West to East across London, then 10 miles of 50-70 mph dual carriageway), and 50mpg if I'm not late for work

On a recent roadtrip in France I averaged 25mpg over 1500-2000 miles on a combined route of motorways, around town, and through/under/over the Alps. I drove without consideration for economy but didn't distress too many of the locals either.

I saw only 9mpg on my last track day in the ///M.

 

[cornishrex]

can some-one please help me in simple terms (i'm a girl).

I have a 2.5 l si z4. I drive about 300 miles a week to and from work. 60 mile round trip, half is dual carriageway, the other half is single track open roads going at between 30 and 60 mph. I fill up the tank about once a week and pay £55ish for a tank, depending on where petrol prices are. No-one overtakes me on the dual carriageway. But I don't beast the car.

I need to change my car for a lower mileage. I want another z4. I have come across a 2008 z4m which looks rather nice. And I rather like the power under the bonnet. But I'm worried about how much extra the car will cost to run, especially given the miles I do every week.

Given the above info, is anyone able to give me a roughish idea of how much exta I might be paying in petrol per week. This business of 15 -23 mpg scares me and makes me wonder if I should stick to a 2.5l for economy's sake. i love the car and will push out the boat to buy one, but I have to have one eye on on-going running costs over and above the 2.5l. :?

 

[Hark]

As I started the thread... I've had it a week and so far I'm getting around 19mpg, so the estimates above were about right.

 

[MyNamesNotBob]

can some-one please help me in simple terms (i'm a girl).

I have a 2.5 l si z4. I drive about 300 miles a week to and from work. 60 mile round trip, half is dual carriageway, the other half is single track open roads going at between 30 and 60 mph. I fill up the tank about once a week and pay £55ish for a tank, depending on where petrol prices are. No-one overtakes me on the dual carriageway. But I don't beast the car.

I need to change my car for a lower mileage. I want another z4. I have come across a 2008 z4m which looks rather nice. And I rather like the power under the bonnet. But I'm worried about how much extra the car will cost to run, especially given the miles I do every week.

Given the above info, is anyone able to give me a roughish idea of how much exta I might be paying in petrol per week. This business of 15 -23 mpg scares me and makes me wonder if I should stick to a 2.5l for economy's sake. i love the car and will push out the boat to buy one, but I have to have one eye on on-going running costs over and above the 2.5l. :?

Why do you need to change your car for one with lower milage just to add on 300 a week? Company car rules or something?

If you are not creeping through town you will get well above 20mpg, I regularly do up to 1000 miles some weeks and get about 30ish out of it, pretty much all motorways. Regularly get over 350 miles out of each tank, but if I am crawling through a jam or playing on a country road you can get down to the low teens. The M engine seems pretty frugal for it's size when cruising, but when really going for it it does like a drink. For a trip of 30 miles I would plan on 25mpg personally, but you may get much lower if your trip has more stop start in it or you are going for it.

Work out if you can afford it at 15mpg (so double your petrol bill you pay today) and if you can then you have money left over, if you can't afford it at that level will the extra cost of servicing (double over a non M I believe) and tax etc be an issue also? Or just save the money to get a slightly older M and put that money towards petrol, no point spending all your cash buying the thing and having to scrimp on running it and end up resenting it.

 

[cornishrex]

Thanks. I think that's put me off. I don't need around 346 bhp and a built in sat nav in exchange for potentially doubling my running costs. I guess I'll have to keep looking for another 2.5l, which I potter around in quite happily (although there was some Lamborghini thing on the road the other day which I couldn't quite keep up with. I think I ended up eating his fumes).

Real shame though. This car is only 40 miles away from me, and fit ALL my spec requirements (age, mileage, extras, colour, electric seats, price (just), at least 2.5l - not sure about cup holder tho, was going to check that out tomorrow: big issue for a girl), save that it was an "M". All the other cars from dealers (I need to part ex) I see that fit my spec are either black, 400 miles away on the border of Scotland, or a 2 litre, which just doesn't cut it for me. I have a Phoenix Yellow one now, which I happen to love (and unfortunately I know I won't find another yellow 2008 model on spec). I just want something with a bit of colour in it ......

Why change - well I've got 65,000 miles on the clock now. I either run it into the ground and end up with a worthless car (and then can't afford the jump back to a 20k model), or I change it now and pay less to upgrade back to where I started off 2.5 yrs ago.

I'll leave you z4m owners to it and scuttle back to the "basic z4" forum I think.

THank you for your comments "MynamesnotBob".

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201045372580048/sort/priceasc/usedcars/price-to/22500/engine-size-cars/3l_to_3-9l/maximum-age/up_to_2_years_old/body-type/convertible/model/z4/make/bmw/radius/1500/postcode/dt73es/page/1/image-id/1505515127?logcode=p

 

[Andy]

See my thread here about Range after a fill.. I think this is a quick way of summing up previous economy & I think it's based on a set amount thats longer than a tankful, so gives you a better. idea of what you're getting.

Just reading & when I wrote that fuel was under a quid a litre...

anyway - track day refills were about 120miles, max on megaslow motorway ive had is 325ish, but with a fair mix of thrasing im happy with about 260.

 

[Hark]

Why change - well I've got 65,000 miles on the clock now. I either run it into the ground and end up with a worthless car (and then can't afford the jump back to a 20k model), or I change it now and pay less to upgrade back to where I started off 2.5 yrs ago.

Not really.. ^^

Run your current Z for now (presuming it's paid for) and put the money you would be paying out in lona payments in to the bank.

In 2-4 years time you'll be ready to change, but you'll have that cash + interest, rather than taking a loan out and paying interest on it.

 

[Booner]

With mixed driving 32mile return trips daily to work for 5 days a week with the occasional spurt of sport, looking at 21-22mpg average since I've owned it.

I've done ~28mpg average on motorway journeys.