Today I took my 30i on a 160 miles drive up steep mountain roads mainly in sport mode and ragging it, it returned me 27.9 MPG which given the type of roads / driving etc. I thought was quite impressive. On a long motorway drive across France and Spain I got 44 MPG and in around town short distance driving I see around 22 to 24 MPG. Overall I am very impressed with the fuel consumption this old school naturally aspirated inline 6 gives. It makes you wonder just how much more efficient BMW would have been able to make future NA inline 6s if they were allowed to continue down that path. What are other owners of 30i getting?
30i Fuel Economy
- Thread starter Silverstar
- Start date
Silverstar said:
With variable valve timing & lift, disa valves, electronic water pump & fan, hollow camshafts and a magnesium engine i really don’t think bmw could make the normally aspirated engine run any cleaner. They’ve thrown everything they know at it and that’s why the turbo engines are here now.
Rob
I’ve never really checked mine but after my previous TVR I guess anything would be better! 
It looks as though France will be opening its borders next week to EU countries including the UK. We’re booked for a tunnel crossing on 3rd July and it’s about 750 miles to our home in France so I should have a good idea if I remember to set the trip computer. 
It looks as though France will be opening its borders next week to EU countries including the UK. We’re booked for a tunnel crossing on 3rd July and it’s about 750 miles to our home in France so I should have a good idea if I remember to set the trip computer. Smartbear said:
I was referring more to better MPG rather than Co2 emission although maybe the two are linked. But I don't believe small capacity turbos are the only answer, perhaps it was the quicker or cheaper options for them to get their average fleet emissions down but just take a look at Mazda's approach with their Skyactive X tech and it goes against most other car manufacturers who are downsizing and turbo charging their cars. Nothing is impossible but probably a question of counting the beans!
A
Anonymous
Guest
The official fuel consumption figures don’t seem to bear much correlation to my 3 years plus of hooning around with by now about 20 or so regular other Z4s on Forum runs.
I’ve done about 12,000 miles in their company..
My observations are...
The NA sixes in the E85/E86s seem to have the edge fuel burn wise compared to my N20 engines car..around 1-2 litres in 40-50 litre top ups..
The Z4Ms seem to drink fuel with a vengeance, with 35i being only a little behind..
Now whether it’s cause the 35i and M’s can’t resist squirting the go pedal as much as they can...
Of course where you live and your style of driving has a massive impact..
My experience is that I average overall around 35mpg...(imperial gallon, not US gallon)..
However serious hooning drops to around 27-28 mpg..
Steady cruise 55mph ish on non motorway roads / 65-75 on dual carriageways I get 40-42 mpg
A weekend crawling around s/w England had it down to 25 mpg without ever going over 60 mph..
So for Z4 Forum runs I would say that the NA non M sixes are at least if not slightly more economical than a re-mapped N20..
35i and M much thirstier..
I’ve done about 12,000 miles in their company..
My observations are...
The NA sixes in the E85/E86s seem to have the edge fuel burn wise compared to my N20 engines car..around 1-2 litres in 40-50 litre top ups..
The Z4Ms seem to drink fuel with a vengeance, with 35i being only a little behind..
Now whether it’s cause the 35i and M’s can’t resist squirting the go pedal as much as they can...
Of course where you live and your style of driving has a massive impact..
My experience is that I average overall around 35mpg...(imperial gallon, not US gallon)..
However serious hooning drops to around 27-28 mpg..
Steady cruise 55mph ish on non motorway roads / 65-75 on dual carriageways I get 40-42 mpg
A weekend crawling around s/w England had it down to 25 mpg without ever going over 60 mph..
So for Z4 Forum runs I would say that the NA non M sixes are at least if not slightly more economical than a re-mapped N20..
35i and M much thirstier..
Pbondar said:
Some interesting observations there. I have always thought that although on paper the fuel consumption figures for the turbo 4s is much better than the NA inline 6 in the real world there will be a very marginal difference between the two. Similarly my 2016 F20 118d never achieved anywhere close to BMW's stated figures. I struggled to get much more than 52 MPG (imperial) from it conversely every NA inline 6 from BMW I have had has always been pretty close to the published figures.
On the question of 3.0i fuel economy I have had an average fuel consumption of 35.6mpg over the last 4000 miles. This includes massive individual stints (back home from Marbella to Bristol via Brittany in 24 hours) and shorter hops up and
down Spanish mountains. So air con on lots. Believe it or not it’s often too hot to have the roof down - probably why you don’t see many convertibles in spain!
down Spanish mountains. So air con on lots. Believe it or not it’s often too hot to have the roof down - probably why you don’t see many convertibles in spain!
Silverstar said:
Don’t forget that Petes zed is remapped & has substantially more shove than a standard car, if he boots it around with his mates it’s going to use more fuel than a standard version. That’s probably not “real world” driving conditions for most owners
Rob
North West Surrey
I did 8,000 miles in my 1st 3.0Si and 14,000 in my 2nd and the overall average for the two works out around 33 mpg.
Although there was no commuting or rush hour travel in that I still thought it was pretty good.
I'm only 1,200 miles into M ownership but that's looking more like 26 mpg! :lol:
Although there was no commuting or rush hour travel in that I still thought it was pretty good.
I'm only 1,200 miles into M ownership but that's looking more like 26 mpg! :lol:
BERNEV said:
This is so very true, from July to around end of September I don't open the roof unless at night time or once the sun begins to go down and even then some days at night time it is just too hot to keep it open. I much rather prefer the air con during this time.
Not sure why convertibles aren't so popular here since there are plenty more days here (from October to now) where you can put the roof down than in the UK. I think it's because overall if you look at what sells here it's mostly boring family cars like Renault Meganes or Seat Leons etc. and mostly all diesels, you hardly see anything like Golf GTi or Civic Type R or BMW M2 M4 etc. anything performance related is very rare indeed.
Mr Tidy said:
But you're having way more fun right?
scootr said:
That's interesting that's pretty much what I got yesterday over 160 miles of mainly mountain roads top down in sport mode trying to keep up with an Aerial Atom and a W12 VW Touareg, around 27 MPG imperial.
A
Anonymous
Guest
Silverstar said:
Spanish men don't want their hair ruffled!
Tinker15 said:Which will be a lot more than the Touareg got!Silverstar said:
Around 10 MPG if I remember correctly what the owner told me.
