[emmasatchi]

I've just watched the channel 5 Fifth Gear review (if you can call it that!). On it, it stated that the 330d should return in the region of 50mpg!! Is that what is really expected as I only get 32 - 34mpg. Okay, mine is not new but i'm way off suggested figure.

What is the realistic figure from others with 330D M Sport Auto around Oct 05. I do mixed driving, short school runs and around town but even on motorway stretches, mpg does not really recover.

I have not had mine long so am on the look out if I have any underlying problems that need attention whilst in warranty from dealer.

Sorry for another mpg questions, but can not seem to find answers for this model of car.

[Budgie]

Hi Emma
Do remember if its the latest programme its a new lighter aluminum engine in that 330d.It slightly more powerful and has a manual gearbox too.

I had the older 330d and it was manual and the difference between manual and auto is big.

Given you do a lil bit of allsorts driving....i would say if you could get 40 ull be doing good.Autos plus stop start and short journeys= no good.

On a long motorway run it could get in the high 40's easy.

Shouldnt worry to much.

Im sure the other 330d drivers will give u there figures

[Oil Burner]

i do mainly motorway miles and ok I don't hang about, but most of the time thr car is in cruise control at a "reasonable speed" and i am currently in the first 13k miles averaging 36.6 from the trip computer. Not as much as I would have expected, but not too horrific

though I am probably hauling more weight with the E93 roof mechanism etc, plus me

[Mark II]

Hi Emma,

It's a bit difficult to draw parallels - exact consumption's always gonna depend on a persons driving style and road conditions but bear in mind that it will always be worse in the winter, with a cold engine.

Mine's tuned but the economy still amazes me:

Around town I get 34-36mpg driving normally.
On a good run (like a few hundred miles) I can get 46-48 (bit more if I'm just going with the flow).
Average is about 40-42 but back when we had the really cold weather I was losing about 4mpg on all those figures.

I wouldn't assume anything is wrong yet.

You could try:
1) Re-set all your trip meters, tank up and do a manual mpg calculation at your next fill-up - to check how accurate your car's comp is reading.

2) Find an excuse to make a good long journey (100 -150 miles) at a sensible speed 60 - 80mph and see what you get.

3) Try another fuel - I always use Shell V-Power diesel and although I've heard mixed reviews my view is that it does keep the engine running better and give more power/better mpg depending on how I'm driving at the time.

If I've been tootling around town for a while then I find it helps to give the car a really good blast whenever I can - to clear out the cobwebs (clean the injectors). Once I've reset the trip, the avg values for the next few weeks always improve over what they were pre-blast.

If all else fails then get it booked in for a check-up.

HTH

[ed335d]

Emma

Although I've got a 335d (early '08), I get 34mpg with quite a lot of motorway, so don't think that yours sounds too bad. Correct tyre pressures can make quite a difference.

[AlanQS]

Mid thirties for a three litre six cylinder car in mixed driving conditions is pretty reasonable.

The combined official fuel consumption for the 330D is 49.6mpg which is where Fifth Gear get their 50mpg figure from. But the tests to determine fuel consumption are done by the Manufacturers themselves and the combined figure is achieved by testing the car in fourth gear at a fairly modest speed so real life figures are going to be round about 10mpg less than quoted.

On a good decent run without lots of braking and a steady speed maintained you may see figures in the forties but unless you want to drive along at 60mph on a long trip, neither accelerating hard nor braking, you won't see 50mpg easily.

For the last few months my driving has involved several two mile trips each day when the car never really warms up, interspersed with the odd 12 mile round trip. The urban fuel consumption for mine is allegedly 49mpg but I am getting 35mpg if I'm lucky and I've seen it as low as 32 and it is an efficient dynamics 2 litre diesel.

Even on long trips, it is only O.K. Glasgow to Blackburn and back when there was light traffic on the motorway, set the cruise to a marked 72mph when I got on the motorway and never switched it off until I exited the motorway, same in the opposite direction - and still I only got 50.4mpg.

Follow some of the posters suggestions made here to go on a decent trip, set your trip to zero and do a fill-up to check the accuracy of the trip computer. I don't think there is anything wrong with your engine.

[PhilR]

Emma

32 - 34 mpg on a 330d auto is exactly what I am getting with similar driving conditions to you. On a good long run I can get 42mpg. Mine has been mapped by the way. Pre Map was getting 36.6mpg

Mine is a 56 so had the stock 231ps

Get it mapped and enjoy the extra surge of power for no real drop in mpg.

[kevbhoy]

I am a town driver and am averaging 34 mpg at the moment.

On my run home from Liverpool last weekend, sitting on the motorway on the cruise control at 85 mph I got around 44 mpg.

Still better than my 320i was getting so I'm happy!

[emmasatchi]

thanks people, reassuring to know that nothing seems wrong. I already use V power diesel and keep tyres checked every 2 weeks or so by the way. Tips from previous threads already been drilled in by you guys!

[grey man]

A friend with a recent (lci) 330d gets 'a bit over 40 mpg' in normal daily use. Its a manual.

[dxb335d]

Nthing wrong with it.