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M135i real world fuel economy

30K views 93 replies 34 participants last post by  MattParker 
#1 ·
What MPG and miles per tank are M135i owners achieving?

Anywhere near BMW's claims?
 
#2 ·
Mine's achieving fantastic results at present, as it sits with presumably zero miles on it still awaiting delivery.

(sorry, couldn't resist) :lol2:
 
#3 ·
In 150 miles of central London crawl, the OBD says I've averaged 18.4mpg. And that's not in Eco-Pro mode. So, I think that's pretty good. Mind you, compared to the 7-9mpg I got out of my last car (an E60 M5) around town, I would say that!!
 
#4 ·
Ours is still bedding in (600 miles or so..)

Remys normal commute (back roads and town driving) of a 20 mile round trip gets her 27mpg so far

I took it to work Friday - 120 mile round trip on Motorways and town start / stop traffic and got 35.5mpg

Happy with that!! :)
 
#5 ·
After 1700 miles mine has averaged 29.72mpg according to my iphone app.
On a relaxed moptorway cruise on Saturday I actually got the trip up to 40. I spent yesterday trundling round town in it and the trip has dropped back to 29.7.

I am using a mix of sport comfort and eco pro mode.
 
#6 ·
What petrol are you putting in your pride and joys, I mostly used Shell v power in the Alp but compared to ordinary wasn't really noticeable performance wise as too much power for normal driving conditions and suspect this will be the same as the M135.
I'll be using v power in the M135. The Alpina (6 speed auto) had more or less the same consumption as those mentioned above (27 town and 33 motorway) so M135 not as efficient as I thought it would be.
 
#7 ·
Mostly Tesco momentum 99 in mine. It has had a couple of tanks of V Power in it.
 
#9 ·
Sainsburys Ultimate mostly as its 5 minutes away (Sainsburys use BP fuel as they have a contract to use there products)

When I had my Scirocco 2.0TSi - Tesco 99 use to run through it like water - I stopped using it because fuel economy dropped considerably and I got no real benefit.

Haven't put 'standard' petrol in yet though..
 
#11 ·
It seems to me you are all just wasting money, Top Gear done a test on all the different types of fuel and it found no significant difference in any of them in power or mpg, in some cases the super duper petrols were worst than ordinary unleaded. There again imagination is a wonderful thing.
 
#13 ·
I haven't tried to compare any of these fuels yet. But I have stuck with non-supermarket 95RON so far. The fuel filler cap specifically says 95RON, so I am less bothered about going any higher than that at this stage.

I seem to remember older cars, e.g. Golf GTI Mk5, stating 97RON on the filler cap, but I may be mistaken.
 
#14 ·
JohnM said:
I have always used Shell V power or Tesco's 99 no point having a high performance car with a turbo engine and putting in normal stuff, but each to his own.
Even if it makes no difference ????
 
#15 ·
johnboyblue said:
It seems to me you are all just wasting money, Top Gear done a test on all the different types of fuel and it found no significant difference in any of them in power or mpg, in some cases the super duper petrols were worst than ordinary unleaded. There again imagination is a wonderful thing.
Don't believe everything you see on TV or everything you read in the papers. :wink:

I tried normal fuel, and the higher octane stuff and found I'd get an extra 30 miles per tank in the TTS. The V power wasn't worth it for me as it was an extra 10p to 15p per litre (I can't remember exactly how much), but the Tesco 99 was only an extra 5p(ish) so it worked out better for me.
 
#16 ·
dogpatch said:
I haven't tried to compare any of these fuels yet. But I have stuck with non-supermarket 95RON so far. The fuel filler cap specifically says 95RON, so I am less bothered about going any higher than that at this stage.

I seem to remember older cars, e.g. Golf GTI Mk5, stating 97RON on the filler cap, but I may be mistaken.
In the use manual it says 97 is recommended. I think the 95 filler cap is left over from the 116-125 cars?
 
#17 ·
johnboyblue said:
It seems to me you are all just wasting money, Top Gear done a test on all the different types of fuel and it found no significant difference in any of them in power or mpg, in some cases the super duper petrols were worst than ordinary unleaded. There again imagination is a wonderful thing.
Never seen the top gear view of Super not working...cant you post a link pls?

Fifth gear and lots of other dyno's have proved Super UL adds power (or maintains its as normal UL can reduce power)

brucealmighty said:
Don't believe everything you see on TV or everything you read in the papers. :wink:

I tried normal fuel, and the higher octane stuff and found I'd get an extra 30 miles per tank in the TTS. The V power wasn't worth it for me as it was an extra 10p to 15p per litre (I can't remember exactly how much), but the Tesco 99 was only an extra 5p(ish) so it worked out better for me.
+1 although i never go near supermarket fuels. So its BP Ult or V power 98 usually for me
 
#18 ·
johnboyblue said:
It seems to me you are all just wasting money, Top Gear done a test on all the different types of fuel and it found no significant difference in any of them in power or mpg, in some cases the super duper petrols were worst than ordinary unleaded. There again imagination is a wonderful thing.
For N/A engines yes I agree, the gains are marginal, but for forced induction engines you're totally wrong. The compression ratio of an engine determines the required octane rating. Low octane fuel can handle the least amount of compression before igniting, so when a high performance engine has a higher compression ratio it benefits from a higher octane fuel. Octane rating = burn rate. A burn rate that matches performance will give a better over performance. Also Ultimate and V-Power use patented additives that clean the engine.

I have a friend who works for the biggest fuel refinery in the UK. He says the only 'true' performance fuels are from BP and Shell. Tesco 99 is stuffed full of rubbish that although gives performance gains does nothing for your engine, and Supermarket 'Super unleaded' isn't worth the paper it's written on.

As somebody who's run Turbo charged cars for most of my life, I've always stuck with Shell or BP and it makes a noticeable difference.
 
#19 ·
kmpowell said:
I have a friend who works for the biggest fuel refinery in the UK. He says the only 'true' performance fuels are from BP and Shell. Tesco 99 is stuffed full of rubbish that although gives performance gains does nothing for your engine, and Supermarket 'Super unleaded' isn't worth the paper it's written on.
As mentioned above don't Sainsbury's buy their fuel from BP? Including Super? Is there a difference to what BP sell on their own forecourts?
 
#21 ·
Jack_is_Back said:
kmpowell said:
I have a friend who works for the biggest fuel refinery in the UK. He says the only 'true' performance fuels are from BP and Shell. Tesco 99 is stuffed full of rubbish that although gives performance gains does nothing for your engine, and Supermarket 'Super unleaded' isn't worth the paper it's written on.
As mentioned above don't Sainsbury's buy their fuel from BP? Including Super? Is there a difference to what BP sell on their own forecourts?
The basic underlying fuel is the same for all brands and supermarkets, it's the additives that go in it that makes the difference. BP and Shell add their own patented additives depending on the fuel e.g. Ultimate, V-Power, Fuelsave etc. Tesco add their stuff to 99. The rest of the the Supermarkets pump their regular fuel with stuff that in essence waters it down (but isn't actually water!), whilst their 97 'super' has more additives so the compression rate is higher.

To summarise for a forced induction car where a higher RON is key:
BP Ultimate / Shell V-Power - better MPG, better performance, cleaner engine.
Tesco 99 - better performance, better MPG, supposed to clean but not as a good as BP/Shell which has proven patents.
Supermarket Super - Marginally better performance, no increase in MPG.

:)
 
#23 ·
MAW73 said:
The Fifth Gear Petrol test is an interesting watch.

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I never see the point in the 'power run' element of these tests. Apart from the fact it can take a whole tank of fuel (sometimes two) before your ECU learns, hi RON petrols are not designed to increase power, they are designed to ensure your car is running at the optimal manufacturers settings. So if your car is designed for 97+ RON (which most high performance cars are) a higher RON fuel will ensure it runs to that level, not increase its power.

The most important thing to note in that video is VBH commenting on the noticeable increased throttle response. This is the whole point of hi RON fuels, the compression ensures the pick up is quicker thus making the car sharper.

:)
 
#25 ·
Morning everyone. I have now completed 2x140 mile return trips from Cumbria (Carlisle area) to Chester which has greatly helped to progress towards the magical 1200mile run-in "target" PLUS establish some realistic consumption figures for M-way driving. Basically it is entirely possible to exceed a 40mpg average for the entire trip which I did on Friday on a lovely sunny day with NO traffic (therefore very little slowing up and accelerating except around Preston and M56 bit), aircon and lights switched off (Using 95 RON as kindly supplied by ASDA!). I used EcoPro with cruise set at 73mph with some deviations either side of that. My average at the end was 40.4mpg on mixed terrain (some climbs/downhills and flat sections). On the way back on Sunday it was hosing down so had lights on and some use of aircon to stop the car misting up. I got mixed up in bits and pieces of Sunday traffic and did some "brisk" overtaking here and there. My overall return trip average was 38mpg. I did more or less the same journey with car barely run-in which saw figures of 38mpg (down M6) and 37 (back-up). SO...my conclusion....providing you are sensible on the M-ways, extremely creditable mpg is possible and I would expect that to creep up as the engine piles on the miles. However, let's also be realistic here, most people aren't going to stick to close to 70mph with a clear M-way so I would guess that something aroung 35mpg on a M-way trip will be the norm. Next time I do a similar trip I will up the ante a bit :D

Having said all the above I did hoof the car around a little bit at the weekend (not that I was showing off at all you understand :) !) and consumption on a mixed trip was around 30mpg. I don't want to get hung up on MPG with a 135i sitting on the drive but I don't think the horro stories of sub 25mpg fuel economy are going to prove true unless you're in town all the time or like driving to the max at all opportunities. Other people's initial impressions/comparisons would be welcome. It will also be interesting to see what happens when the winter tyres go on. I have opted for 17 inchers with run flats as just about my cheapest (but reasonable) option.
 
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