F15 X5 40d SE Amazing MPG...

[wildwhiffy1]

[align=center][/align]Hi folks,

Well, I was a bit sceptical about the official MPG claims for the new X5, especially after reading some of the blogs by owners. A couple of weeks ago, my car arrived with its superb 40d motor and nice quadrilateral exhausts.

So after familiarising myself with the controls, I was ready to take it abroad. My plan was to go from Eastbourne to Evian in the French Alps, stopping for a couple of days in Belgium where my wife has family.

Now I wanted to see what the car is capable of economy-wise, so I drove carefully, not forgetting to select EcoPro mode each time after starting the car (EcoPro mode doesn't stay selected). I didn't do any burning up of the tyres at the lights, and didn't exceed any speed limits which is mostly 110km/hr on French motorways.
The overall trip has it's fair share of hills and dales especially as the Alps are approached.

Well, I was to say the least, absolutely astounded at the result. Upon driving into Evian, the trip computer was showing 45.7MPG !!! We have a holiday home situated higher up the mountains at 3000ft and by the time we reached there, the reading had dropped to 45.2MPG.

Compared to my Freelander which averages 35MPG for the same trip, that's a full 10MPG better... absolutely astounding for a car which is so much heavier. I arrived here with well over half a tank left after topping up in Luxembourg where the fuel is cheap.

All I can say is that I am absolutely chuffed... I am very economy conscious, but I do love a big car, and the two do not always go together. However, this time, I feel I've made a good choice, and I have to say, 'Well done BMW'.

Of course, I DO understand that a lot of folk will be using their X5 for urban driving and the consumption is obviously going to be very different in those circumstances. Also, not everyone is going to want to drive gently the whole time, especially when they own a powerful car. However, this wasn't by any means a perfectly flat run and the trip was punctuated with some short 'urban' trips, and I am very impressed.

When I return to GB early next week, I'll monitor the trip again and see what the car achieves in the opposite direction. I'll add the results here.

[X5Sport]

That's better than we struggled to get with our Mini Countryman!  That was supposed to do 65mpg!

I notice now that BMW are 'qualifying' their figures as being only for the basic car with basic engine & transmission.  Which I read to mean that the moment you add an option your economy will suck... >:(

Richard

[wildwhiffy1]

As promised, I'm indicating the MPG of my return trip from Evian back to Eastbourne.
This time it was 45.5 MPG and my overall average since I've had the car after about 1700 miles is 43.5 MPG.

I am curious to hear if others are getting such good fuel economy from this latest X5...
Although quite a lot of folk have looked at this post, there's been only one comment so far.
So let's hear from y'all...

[petert]

All I can add is that even in a 4 year old 35d cruising at 110 kM on the motorway gives a significant improvement in economy over even gentle urban driving.  Not as good as your figures (6 speed box etc...) but probably 15% improvement if not more.
Have had around 1100 kM from a tank on a long steady cruise spread over two days.
Peter T

[stevee]

45mpg seems good. I can get low 40's in my E70 30d if I drive very carefully and have no passengers!

BTW, you can code your car to start in Eco Pro. You can also code Sailing (also called coasting) which would improve your mpg even more. Unfortunately BMW have disabled this for the UK market. I've coded both on my F21.

[pcdee]

[quote="stevee"]
45mpg seems good. I can get low 40's in my E70 30d if I drive very carefully and have no passengers!

BTW, you can code your car to start in Eco Pro. You can also code Sailing (also called coasting) which would improve your mpg even more. Unfortunately BMW have disabled this for the UK market. I've coded both on my F21.
[/quote]
Wow low 40's on E70 3.0d.....I normally get about 34.

[DoubleD]

Seems the MPG and CO2 emissions have just gotten even better, at least on paper. See my other forum posting:

http://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,9969.0.html