MPG in a 2016 BMW Diesel

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Jan 6, 2005
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North Alabama
I just finished up on my 2nd full tank of fuel in my new-to-me 2016 BMW 535d 3.0L Inline 6 Diesel. This time I made a note of my mileage. Most of my driving on this tank was 75mph on the highway/interstate, but there was some spirited driving mixed in where I let the beast out of the cage. I drove 570 miles on 15.63 gallons of diesel, for 36.47mpg. I used 1 oz of Hotshot's Secret EDT in this tank of fuel. I am very pleased!
 
Highway is where a diesel excels. My 2015 Passat tdi with the two liter four cylinder loved the highway. I put just over 62k miles on it in two years and got several 900 mile tanks out of its 18.5 gallon tank.
I hit a deer hard with it just as the diesel gate money came out with crazy buyback amount so back to VW it went. Back then though diesel was right around RUG but with the price difference today I don’t think a diesel sedan has they same value it did at least to me.
 
If your travels are mostly highway and for at least an hour, nothing really beats the FE of a diesel or the passing power of a modern turbodiesel. In my X3d my average FE was 34mpg, but if I really tried I could get up to 38mpg on long roadtrips. The GLK Bluetec we have still does about 36mpg average and can do better on those roadtrips.

Heck, even my new RAM EcoD can eek out 31mpg on the same roadtrip (WI to FL).

Those that know diesels don't really drive much else.
 
If your travels are mostly highway and for at least an hour, nothing really beats the FE of a diesel or the passing power of a modern turbodiesel...
My drive to work takes 50 minutes, and if I need to pass anybody in a hurry, the BMW doesn't hesitate. My biggest challenge so far is keeping my speed below speeding ticket levels. :cool:
 
My drive to work takes 50 minutes, and if I need to pass anybody in a hurry, the BMW doesn't hesitate. My biggest challenge so far is keeping my speed below speeding ticket levels. :cool:
Cruise control is your friend!!! A speeding ticket will negate all the money you are saving on diesel in a hurry.

Just my $0.02
 
I wonder if there is a tune that helps MPG? Although that's quite good.

The comparison above to modern, efficient 4 cylinder gas sedans is not really valid. The diesel is a far more substantial car, and makes GOBS more real world mid range power where it's needed.
 
my Ram 3500 CCDRW w/Cummins averaged close to 19 mpg( real world hand calculate figure too) on a drive from Fla to MI.
The vehicle in question weighs in above 8000 lbs and has the aerodynamics of a sail.
Yea, diesels excel at that sort of thing.
but I doubt anyone who thinks they bought a diesel to save money on fuel ever done the math
and figured out it might take 300k or more miles before the costs equailize.
 
Saving money on fuel did not play into my decision to buy this car. I just looked up everything that could possibly go wrong, and decided this was the car for me. 🤪
sort of like me... I know alot about Cummins, so when the choice which diesel truck to buy was made, it was pretty simple.
 
I can already tell that this car and me are going to have a special relationship. On my way to work this morning a rock hit and severely cracked the windshield so I have a windshield replacement in my future. Yay me!
 
Got the cracked windshield replaced, and the bubbling rear tint replaced this past week. Next up, brakes. A rotor is warped and I can't live with it.
 
Sometimes what feels like a warped rotor (steering wheel shake under braking, pedal pulsing, etc.) may not be actual rotor warp but rather improper brake bedding in performed when the last new set was installed. I've had this on both my GLK and the X3.

Before spending money on parts, which is always fun and exciting, I would first look up the procedure. Most cases it involves about 8-10 moderate to hard braking from about 60 to almost zero, but never quite stopping. By the 7th or 8th time you'll start to smell the brakes. Also by the 8th or 9th you should be initiating ABS in the last 10-20ft. Obviously safety around you is important, so do this on a country road less travelled. Once your 10th time is over, the idea is to get on the highway and just cruise for about 15-20min to let the brakes cool off. Don't stop, don't park the car, just cruise along without touching the brakes.

In most cases, this procedure will remove unwanted brake disc deposits on the rotor(s), creating a new disc-to-pad surface and should eliminate the wobble under braking. I know it did for me and others I've read from.

If it doesn't help, then you may just need new parts. Be sure to bed those in properly or they too will wobble in time.
 
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