Mapped or not ????????

[chelsea]

Hi everyone,

new to this site so am saying hi, with a few questions 

I picked my new (to me) X5 d sport up Friday, it has 116k showing with full BMW history, needless to say I am over the moon with it and its good to be back in a big BMW again

I am very impressed with the mpg and cant really believe what I'm getting to the gallon, I expected sub 30mpg at best but I am getting the following figures........

Motorway driving.......over ten mile intervals at each speed.

@ 65 mph it's doing 42 mpg

@ 70 mph it's doing 38 mpg

@ 80 mph it's doing 34 mpg !

Daily commute of 24 miles round trip on easy going B roads it's hovering 34-37 mpg (dropping to 30 on hills but returns to 34 soon after)

The above even to me as I type seems silly, but the fuel I have put in is saying the figures are correct!

The last owner intimated that it may have been mapped but couldn't confirm this in his ownership of 5 years, it absolutely goes like stink when you kick down and feels not too far off my old Z3M....yes the 3M was faster but the power I am feeling under my right foot in the X5 is not that far off if you take the auto away.
I don't really want to roll it on the road to find out so am asking .... does it seem mapped to you ??

cheers for any input

[X5Sport]

MPG figures tend to indicate something may have been done as those are really pretty good.

Richard

[AW8]

Don't let a main dealer or Indy  perform an Ecu update as it may wipe what's been done assuming it may be running with a good remap.

Iirc - Pvr had mpg not far off that on his old prefacelift 3.0d auto and without any remap at that point.

[X5Sport]

[quote="AW8"]
Iirc - Pvr had mpg not far off that on his old prefacelift 3.0d auto and without any remap at that point.
[/quote]

That's because he's Captain Slow......

[SMOKEY]

I would suspect remap, often if the tuner has bumped the rail pressure by changing the resistance of the rail pressure sensor. You get improved fuel economy figures according to the trip computer, but it's just confused.

A basic tune creates power by fooling the ecu into thinking the engine is receiving less fuel, which causes the fuel pump increase flow and thus bumping up the rail  pressure.....= more power. The bi-product of that is that the engine is 'reporting' less fuel use and better economy, when often the opposite is true as you're actually using more fuel than stock.

Here is a good article explaining it:

http://www.endtuning.com/dieseltuningboxes.html

As long as it goes like you want it to and it's not smoking too hard, I'd just be happy and carry on!

[Smeeagain]

[quote="chelsea"]
Hi everyone,

new to this site so am saying hi, with a few questions 

I picked my new (to me) X5 d sport up Friday, it has 116k showing with full BMW history, needless to say I am over the moon with it and its good to be back in a big BMW again

I am very impressed with the mpg and cant really believe what I'm getting to the gallon, I expected sub 30mpg at best but I am getting the following figures........

Motorway driving.......over ten mile intervals at each speed.

@ 65 mph it's doing 42 mpg

@ 70 mph it's doing 38 mpg

@ 80 mph it's doing 34 mpg !

Daily commute of 24 miles round trip on easy going B roads it's hovering 34-37 mpg (dropping to 30 on hills but returns to 34 soon after)

The above even to me as I type seems silly, but the fuel I have put in is saying the figures are correct!

The last owner intimated that it may have been mapped but couldn't confirm this in his ownership of 5 years, it absolutely goes like stink when you kick down and feels not too far off my old Z3M....yes the 3M was faster but the power I am feeling under my right foot in the X5 is not that far off if you take the auto away.
I don't really want to roll it on the road to find out so am asking .... does it seem mapped to you ??

cheers for any input


[/quote]

From the fact that you say the calculations are done over a ten mile stretch, then Id say you must be getting the data off the onboard computer. Dont get too excited they aren't hugely accurate. They're not hugely inaccurate either but I suspect you aren't really achieving 42mpg but perhaps nearer 39 maybe.
And of course a ten mile stretch may have uphill, downhill, headwind, tailwind etc. and depends how youre driving and so on
Additionally you havent mentioned what you get around town.
The only way to check average consumption (and average is the key unless all your driving is on motorways clear of traffic at all times) is t run it low then fill it to the brim and drive til its low again then refill - the refill quantity will let you see how much petrol it has taken to do x number of miles
If you can post about town figures then we may have a better judgement on whether it has been mapped or not
 

[chelsea]

Thanks for the replies,

I have done my first 20 miles in stop start traffic today and the computer has recorded 28.7 mpg, pretty much flat-ish conditions with a couple of half mile steep hills thrown in.

The mpg figures from my original post were taken over 10 miles per speed selection on the 70 mile journey back from beyond york on the A64- M1 to sheffield, each step in speed was maintained for 10 miles each.

I still find 28 mpg very good in heavy traffic, I really expected much less so it's turning out to be a bonus,lol a work mate is getting 34mpg out of his ford focus (petrol) fgs

I am normally quite light on the right foot but am actually finding that the computer figures on the way home tonight get slightly better if you put the toe down a little more.

Q: Is it true that the auto box is a learning one and adapts over time to driving style/environment?

Hand on heart I brought this X5 because we have a caravan ( :-[) and I took a good look at other stuff on offer. I quickly eliminated the Nissans due to engine stuff and after looking at range rover/land rover I decided against quality and thirst which left me here.
I have owned a Z3M in the past so knew the quality etc with Bmw is very good (apart from Vanos) so decided to have a punt on this for 6.5k accepting fuel economy etc thinking it would not be good.

What a great car ! and although it's taken most of my savings I am enjoying driving to work again  wow!

[Smeeagain]

To answer your question - yes it does adapt but I don't think it keeps adapting if you change ownership for example.However ........ there is a reset (sorry I cant remember) and someone else will answer and tell you how to do it. Once that happens then you can sit back and let it adapt.That said if I were you I couldn't necessarily want to change anything!

[Sanj]

Ignition position 2 - don't start the engine
Floor the accelerator pedal for 30-40 seconds
Release the accelerator pedal, step on the brake and start the engine
Move forward

[Sanj]

[quote="chelsea"]
What a great car ! and although it's taken most of my savings I am enjoying driving to work again wow!
[/quote]

Newer cars are even better, but this little fella really does help open your eyes to a good era of cars to come.

Love mine too. 

[centurion]

hi Sanj,

instructions you posted is that to reset the g'box (e.g. ECU)? Ta...

[Sanj]

Not a complete reset of the gearbox, just the way it learns your driving style.

[chelsea]

Tried the gearbox minor re-set with the key in position 2 etc and to be honest I haven't noticed any difference. We went to newark country show this morning and after made a trip up to Leeds before returning to sheffield, circa 140 miles on mostly A1 and M1.....it was returning 37 mpg @75-80 mph all the way up the A1 to leeds and used less than £30 worth of diesel for the whole trip.
I must sound like a fuel miser or worse still....someone who brought a car he cant afford to run.......not at all, and just a bit gobsmacked how good this car is, wish I had got one ages ago now! ::)

[Smeeagain]

Your figures don't add up compared to your first post. At a price of  £1.28/litre (local price to me) that's around £5.80 a gallon - you say it cost you about £30. That's around 24mpg to the gallon (for 140 miles)compared to your original post claiming a minimum 34 mpg
So if the spend/distance is correct then if the computer is telling you 37mpg then it is simply wrong.
Not sure how you arrive at 37mpg for this trip ???????

[chelsea]

just done my math.......the total distance covered yesterday was 169.3 miles (sorry not what I originally posted),car used approx £25 of diesel (maybe a bit less) ....so yep it does seem a bit down on the computer  34 ish mpg.....3mpg less than it was recording.....big grin.