E39 523i owners
Printed From: Bavarian-Board.co.uk - BMW Owners Discussion Forum
Category: Technical & Model Specific Forums
Forum Name: BMW 5 Series
Forum Discription: This forum will deal with any issues on the BMW 5 Series (E12, E28, E34, E39, E60 & E61)
URL: http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=23934
Printed Date: 26-April-2024 at 05:28
Topic: E39 523i owners
Posted By: 523 iAN
Subject: E39 523i owners
Date Posted: 06-November-2005 at 10:58
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ive had a look about other post, but i'm more interested in what other 523 owner's have to say. what mileage are you getting? i don't mean what the computer read out say's i mean: from petrol light to petrol light? i tend to put in £15 as soon as the light come's on and average around 60-65 mile's (average driving about town) before the light come's back on. just trying to find out if ive a problem or if i'm getting about normal miles ------------- 2003-530i SE 
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Replies:
Posted By: Andrew Rolland
Date Posted: 07-November-2005 at 03:20
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Ian Manual or auto? Can't answer you directly as I don't let my tank go that low for risk of sucking in some gunge from the tank. I get on average 30 mpg out of my 523i Steptronic on my commute to work which is mostly motorways but if I am toodeling around town going to parents etc I get as low as 24 mpg. If you have a manual you should get better gas consumption than me. But.... £15 at say 92 pence per litre round where we stay = 16.3 litres = 3.585 gallons for 60-65 miles which equals 17.4 mpg which is bad regardless of town driving. You either have a heavy right foot combined with high tyre and brake wear Andrew ------------- Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series! Current '13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto Previous '04 04 E60 545i SE Auto '03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen) '98 S E39 523i SE Auto |
or I would say you do indeed have a fuel consumption problem as it sounds a bit excessive to me.Posted By: 523 iAN
Date Posted: 07-November-2005 at 03:37
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mine's is an auto/steptronic also, not pushed the car since i bought it. (average speed on computer for same amount of fuel used is alway's about 15.5-19 mph) ive never owned an Auto before and from what i can tell it drive's faultless, wonder if ive got Cat-converter trouble? anyone stay local to me with the same car?? meet up and compare the drive? i wouldn't think you'd need worry about dragging up gunge from the tank, as when the light come's on they still have about £10 worth of fuel in them
Thank's for the reply Andrew ------------- 2003-530i SE
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Posted By: 523 iAN
Date Posted: 07-November-2005 at 03:40
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also....ive changed to 18" wheel's 235/45/18, could i just be getting a false display in both mileometer and computer? ------------- 2003-530i SE
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Posted By: Andrew Rolland
Date Posted: 07-November-2005 at 04:07
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Hmm Sounds like you might have a problem. The 18" wheels shouldn't affect the fuel consumption like that though. You say the average speed is 15.5-19 mph but what is the computers mpg reading? That is a slow speed right enough my average speed is nearer 40 mph so yes you will burn more juice than me but not that much I wouldn't have thought! 18" wheels may have changed your rolling radius significantly and may have implications with all sorts of electronic gubbins that feeds from the wheel sensors as for any given mile your wheels will be revolving less, anything from cruise to more worryingly expensive things like the gearbox. Your speedo and mpg swingometer will be wrong with the larger wheels. Andrew ------------- Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series! Current '13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto Previous '04 04 E60 545i SE Auto '03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen) '98 S E39 523i SE Auto |
Posted By: Exharper
Date Posted: 07-November-2005 at 04:41
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Hi, ive been thinking that im getting C**P miles per gallon recently too. I put £10 in the tank the other day, when it was pretty much empty and got only 35miles and then i put £15 in and got about 55MPG and i was driving really carefull to see what i could get out of the tank!! My trips are only 7 miles to work (14 day) averaging about 30mph, though im sure last year i was getting at least 55-60MPG (On computer), though fuel increases may have to be taken into account. (94.9 round me). Would issues with a cat cause bad fuel consumption as i think mine is on its way out as a few weeks ago the car was being really restrictive and would not let me go above 60 on the motorway. cheers ------------- Beemer dan 523i SE 1997 (184K) Canyon Rot Red, auto. 330 CI Msport Convertible, blue 51K. |
Posted By: kbannon
Date Posted: 07-November-2005 at 04:47
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To be honest, I don't count mpg as if I did then I would be contacting autotrader promptly. @ Exharper - you are doing shortish trips and for most of this your car will be cold and therefore running a bit rich which therefore decreases your mpg ratio. ------------- Current: 2009 E60 520d "Sport" tractor Previous: 1989 E30 320i SE 1997 E39 523i 2003 E39 525i Sport Individual |
Posted By: David 87M3
Date Posted: 07-November-2005 at 04:59
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I put £42.50 woth of fuel in the car last week @89.9 per gallon £42.50/.89 = 47.75litres, 47.75/4.54 = 10.51 Gallons
I have so far done 250 miles and according to the display I still have 120 still to go (display is usually quite accurate) So assume the computer display is +or- 10% wrong I have about 100 miles to go So in total I shoud have done about 338 for my £42.50 that gives 338/10.52=32.12 per gallon I think the display was showing about 40 miles still to go! the only true way to work out MPG is to fill the car drive round and fill again and work it out that way. I also dont have much faith in the low fuel light. I have seen this light come on when I first start up and then once engine has warmed up it go's out. I think its triggered by range rather than a switch. |
Posted By: Exharper
Date Posted: 07-November-2005 at 05:10
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Cheers for that, I also filled the tank up (£60) when going to london @89.9pl and i was motorway driving all day. The computer was reading about 35-36mpg but i only got about 400 miles from £60, is this what i should be expecting at motorway speeds?- as i think i should get slightly more. And yes you are right, the fuel light is some what wrong sometimes, my light used to come on when i had 60 miles left and now it comes on when i have 45miles left. Wierd!!!! ------------- Beemer dan 523i SE 1997 (184K) Canyon Rot Red, auto. 330 CI Msport Convertible, blue 51K. |
Posted By: Dergside
Date Posted: 07-November-2005 at 05:13
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Mine is a manual so not an entirely valid comparison, but the obc on mine is showing an even 34mpg for the past few thousand miles or so. I always brim the car, so I spot check it once in a while and typically it works out about 32.5-33 so its not a million miles off. Most of my driving is a 40 mile commute on clear open roads and longer runs, with little enough town driving. As regards the low fuel light, mine tends to come on when there is 60-65 miles left according to the obc. If you start from cold and the range drops below these figures the light will come on. As the car warms and the range increases the light will go out when it passes above these figures. ------------- Now: BMW 523i SE '00, 318i SE - e91 '07, 325i Coupe '93. Prev: e46 328i SE Touring, 330Ci, 318Ci. e39 523i SE. e36 325i Coupe *2, 323i SE, 316iSE. e30 325iSE 2dr, 320i Conv, 320i 2dr, 316i. |
Posted By: gtmoore
Date Posted: 07-November-2005 at 05:15
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I have a 2001 525 Auto so pretty similar setup. On motorway driving I
normally average low 30's . However, recently during a week off, I used
the car literally for just nipping to the shops, up the road to friends
etc - probably just 5 or 10 minute journeys for the week. OBC was
showing 13.9. If you're doing lots of short stops with cold starts then
I don't think it's too unreasonable. If it's any consolation, my previous car was an E34 530V8 and under similar circumstances, that was into single figures at times. By the way, my schoolboy maths, if it's right tells me that the diameter of your new wheel and tyre setup is 15mm greater than my standard 225/55 16. I'm not sure if this is a lot or not. I can tell you that the difference between my setup and a 5 running 245/45 17 (which is standard on the sport I believe?) is less than 1mm (and the same for the older spec 225/60 15's). This would imply that your computer will be under reading as each wheel revolution takes you further along the road than the car thinks it has gone (in your case nearly 50mm). All the above could be wrong of course - I was never good at this stuff  Gavin |
Posted By: 523 iAN
Date Posted: 07-November-2005 at 05:54
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just checked my tyre size as i thought i might have posted wrong....i did they are 235/40/18 & not 45's so they should be a close match to the standard 16" wheel's. i also took out my air fillter and found quite a few leave's in the air box (worth while 5 min check)...so going from what most have found then i'm probably getting about right mpg as i mostly do short run's O well i can live with this
------------- 2003-530i SE
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not as if it's not worth it!
Posted By: Henners
Date Posted: 07-November-2005 at 06:14
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Another suggestion may be worth trying. I have recently sold my 840csi and bought a march 2001 540i touring so my advice is based on the 840csi. I found that the best fuel consumption for the 840 was superunleaded from a branded (BP Esso etc.) garage. (on a full tank I got 350 miles), then their normal unleaded, worse of all was super market unleaded(on full tank 300 if lucky). I also agree that if you are doing short trips your car is cold and using extra fuel. I'm going to try the same experiment with the 540, so will let you know later.
Best regards Henners ------------- Best Regards Henners |