XSeries-forum

Turks
Glad I am not the only one!
Funnily enough, my reason for starting it in the first place was exactly the same as yours.
I break even on the X, and make 1 or 2 p per mile on the SLK....

Do you claim your mileage relief on your tax return?


Turks.

I went for full payment and set up a sole trader to do so. All my insurance, tax, fuel, servicing, parts, add-ons etc all tax deductable and no P60 liability as it is on the sole trader company. 25% of the value is tax deductable each year as well, with a limit of about 5k per year from memory.

The Ltd company, I do not put any car stuff through as that would cause a liability.

[quote=""Turks""]Do you claim your mileage relief on your tax return?


Turks.[/quote]
Yes, I do Turks. Makes a big difference!

I always struggled to do brim to empty tests, I found myself on the verge of running out of fuel too many times as I always seemed to be miles from a petrol station at the wrong time. I found it quite a faf.

However, I did find the limit to the tank. Once I had 30 miles on the range, then hit some very heavy stop start traffic, station was about 15 miles away. But with the traffic the range plumited. It got to 0, stayed at 0 for about 3 miles, then you just get 2 dashes, it was like that for another 5 miles. I made it to the station! But it just goes to show, its hard to completely drain the tank without risking being stranded, even with a range of say 10 miles, you still actually have about 30ish I reckon. Plus, isn't it bad to have the tank on empty? muck getting pumped through the engine etc?

For some reason which has become hazy with the mists of time I was advised a long time ago that running a car right down to completely empty could damage the cats, cause fuel flow problems (grunge from the bottom of the tank) and mess about with fuel consumption - I have always tried to fill up when between half and quarter full, only ever use the highest octane fuel available and touch wood, my cars have been very reliable engine wise..........

[quote=""bwg""]I always struggled to do brim to empty tests, I found myself on the verge of running out of fuel too many times as I always seemed to be miles from a petrol station at the wrong time. I found it quite a faf.
[/quote]

You don't need to run to empty to do the test. All you do is fill the car up, run it down to half or quarter of a tank and then fill the car up to the top again, log the miles and the litres you have had to replace to fill it back up again and then you have all the figures you need to do an accurate calculation. I try to use the same pump in the same petrol station just so I know that it should cut off at roughly the same point.

RE: Running the tank to empty - Fuel filters have come a long way and so has fuel process so fuel getting to your engine should be cleaner than that of 10 years ago. Also, remember that fuel is pumped from the bottom of the tank anyway so you will never totally avoid settled crap at the bottom of your tank going through your fuel system. Oviously though, the more fuel there is in the tank, the less chance there is of disturbing any settled crapness. I try not to run mine too low just because you never know... I do however run it right down just before a service so that any loose crap in the tank is caught in the filter and the filter replaced a very short while after - not sure if that is stupid or not


Turks.

Doh!! That makes sense Turks. There I was running on vapour at the end of my consumption test! So You fill up again when the needle hits the half way?

I think my journeys are so random, theres no pattern so its hard for me to do a proper test.

[quote=""bwg""]Doh!! That makes sense Turks. There I was running on vapour at the end of my consumption test! So You fill up again when the needle hits the half way?

I think my journeys are so random, theres no pattern so its hard for me to do a proper test.[/quote]

You can fill up at any time...

Here's the process:

1) Fill the X5 'up'. I normally go to the first 'click' on the nozzle. The important thing is that when you come to refil (see later) you fill to the SAME point
2) Reset your mileometer before leaving the garage.
3) Drive as far/short/fast/slow/regulalry/randomly as you like. I would suggest you do at least 100 miles....but the point at which you actually decide to refill is up to you (bearing in mind, of course, that you do not want to run-out!)
4) Refil the tank back to the same spot (ie one click on the nozzle)
5) Pay for the fuel and get a receipt
6) Write on the receipt the miles you have travelled (and then reset the mileometer before leaving the garage if you want to repeat)
7) convert litres on the receipt to gallons by multiplying the number of litres used to refil the tank by 0.22 to get Imperial Gallons. For example, 50 litres x 0.22= 11 Gallons
Divide the number of miles you travelled (on receipt) by gallons used - and there is your MPG for that tank. For example, 85.46 litres = 18.8012 gallons. Travelled 520 miles on that tank. Therefore MPG = 520/18.8012 gallons = 27.66MPG

Doing this you will get the 100% real-world consumption for your X for that particular tank of fuel. Its interesting to compare a tank of fuel used for mostly motorway/longer journeys compared to being mostly used round town and stop start journeys....

Hope that helps!

Thats maybe how I should have explained it

Remember to drive how you normally would... to drive differently because you know you are testing yourself would maybe give you a better result but you would be kidding yourself if your driving style is different. That said, it is interesting to see how your consumption improves if you just be careful and think about how you drive... like not flooring it from the lights, anticipating traffic ahead and generally being lighter right footed!


Turks.

internet places like autotrader and parkers quote about 30mpg combined and 35mpg urban
what are people getting on a steady 70-80mph motorway run and are you getting a combined of 30+?

Anyone use fuelly.com ? online MPG, price, miles tracker.

doing a steady 70mph on a very long motorway return trip i covered 700 miles before bottling it on the yellow fuel warning light and heading for the next fuel station, but im sure there were another 30 miles to empty. with a 20 gallon fuel tank thats 36.5 mpg.

Get it remapped!!!

29mpg before - Motorway and a bit of around town.

After remap - 34.8mpg - Still motorway and a bit around town.

Jason @ B&W is all you need!

with rising fuel costs, how much does it cost to fill up a tank and average miles to tank?

other though which offer spaces but no 4wd system is the 530d touring, which offers better average mpg due to less weight and size

does anyone drive the 3.0d mainly around urban areas?

what's the worst mpg, miles to tank you guys have had?