I’m after some real life economy figures. Autotrader is quoting the following for a 325i 2009 plate.

Fuel consumption (urban) 28.8 mpg
Fuel consumption (extra urban) 49.6 mpg
Fuel consumption (combined) 39.2 mpg

I’m pretty confident that 49.6 will not be achievable even at a constant 50mph on the motorway… Nonetheless, the figures are better than my 2.0 petrol 04 passat and the 3.0 bmw is a hell of a lot faster and cheaper to tax too.

Any owners out there?

Is that the BMW 6 cyl 3.0l petrol?

If it is, it seems a bit ambitious. I have a 2005 3.0l Z4, the same engine I think and the car is a lot lighter. That tends to average about 34mpg overall, I have had 39 – 40 but that has been on deliberately gently motorway runs at about 70. It may be mapped differently mind.

I reckon it could probably achieve 42 at a constant 50mph, but who would want to do that? (Awaits STW green mob with pitch forks).

Thanks for the info winston. Yep its the 6 cyl 3.0 petrol. Its 220 bhp in the 325 as oppose to 270 bhp in the 330. Think it is just a re-map though.

Average of 34mpg overall is pretty good. I’m averaging a lot less in my current car. TBH even on a long motorway journey I only get 35mpg if driving 70ish.

The quoted figures are always ridiculous but this gives me a good idea of real world numbers.

The more recent BMW 6 cyl engines are way more efficient than they used to be. The old 325 drank petrol, you would be lucky to get 25mpg out of it.

With the reduction in BHP for the 3 series, I reckon that combined figure won’t be that far out. 36 maybe?

If you want power and fuel economy then BMW diesel is the way to go though.

I always find that ‘urban’ is the most accurate/honest real-world figure.

My 320d struggles to do the Combined figure above although if I pussyfoot up the A9 I can get over 50mpg so doubt it’s achievable in the petrol.

Why bother with the 325i?

The 330i has almost identical fuel consumption figures and very similar CO2 emmisions and has a chunk more power.

I’m looking for a 330i myself but they are like hens teeth unless you want a coupe (which I don’t)

Cheers guys. I had considered the diesel but the premium over the petrol is chunky – a good few thousand. Plus, given that my work mileage is paid for at a decent rate a lot of my social miles get paid for out of the “profit” I make on it….

Additionally, my worry with diesels is there is more to go wrong: DPF’s, turbo’s, EGR valves easily clogged. etc.

Doesn’t the honestjohn website run a real world fuel economy assessment? You could try there.

Is the 330i a simple re-map or are there hardware upgrades too? Question is M-Sport or SE flavour for the sleeper look…

I’m after saloon version but as the folding seats are a £300 option when new they are as rare as the 330 in anything other than coupe

Cheers Sidney – will check that out

http://www.fuelly.com/car/bmw/325i

Is the 330i a simple re-map or are there hardware upgrades too? Question is M-Sport or SE flavour for the sleeper look..

Well the N53 engine is direct injection so I think the 330i will have different injectors as its unlikely you would get a 50hp increase in an NA engine from a simple remap.

If I had my choice I would take the SE version as the M-sport’s ride is pretty uncomprimising

Thanks Robin. Some pretty horrific figures reported in that website…. 18.1-25mpg avg. on 2009 models! They are all auto’s like but still unlikely to make a huge difference.

Cheers Rich- thought 70 hp was a lot without a turbo!

The more recent BMW 6 cyl engines are way more efficient than they used to be. The old 325 drank petrol, you would be lucky to get 25mpg out of it.

Really? I’m averaging 29.7 from my ’52 330.

I always find that ‘urban’ is the most accurate/honest real-world figure.

+1

I use to get 25mpg average from my 1998 535i (3.5i V8), so low-mid 30’s sounds right for a newer 3.0i V6 one.

A mate had an E90 shape 325 auto. Seem to remember him saying it was a weird compromise as it was neither fast or economic (vs the 330 or the 318/320).

I have an E90 330i saloon, its the 2006 model before efficient dynamics came in. I think its accepted that the numbers you quote will be difficult to achieve but…

If I set my cruise control to 70 and don’t get in a hold up I can achieve 39-40 from mine, a standard motorway journey with stop start and some sections around 80 will return 34mpg generally

Around town, 20, you’ll get nowhere near 28 for sure.

As has been said above its worth getting the 330 over the 325 as its just a detuned version.

All in all its been a very reliable car, servicing costs are lower than my old octavia, primarily due to the fact it has 20K service intervals, no DPF, turbo etc etc to worry about.

Tyres, tax, insurance and petrol are all more so its total cost to own is about 37p per mile vs 27p for my diesel octavia.

Tremendous fun when you apply WOT on a clear country road…

I had a 1989 E30 325i SE in Dolphin Grey years ago. I got 18mpg.

Hope this helps.

Those figures have got to be for the diesel.

I had a 325i track car that got used as a runabout too, and we were generally in single digits…!

The best I got on a gentle poodle was around 25-30mpg. It was an E36.

The 2007 and later 3 series models use the BMW N53 Alu/Mg Engine which is both incredibly light and efficient. I owned a 2008 330i Coupe and would regularly get around 42mpg on the motorway at 80mph. around town it’d be doing low 30s. When it was working it was wonderful, but the engine is horribly unreliable, I had numerous injector and coil pack issue, which were all fixed under warranty, but non-the less. I now have a 2005 E46 (earlier model) 330i Touring which is solid as a rock and easily returns around 28 in mixed driving and 35-38 on a run at 70mph.

Talking of the old ones I used to have a G reg E30 325i Tourer.

Fantastic car. Bit scary in the wet though. Best I ever got was 33mpg by sitting behind trucks up the M5 and M6.

The noise (was pre cat) was worth the terrible mpg 😀

…under warranty, but non-the less. I now have a 2005 E46 (earlier model) 330i Touring which is solid as a rock and easily returns around 28 in mixed driving and 35-38 on a run at 70mph.

See? Without the depreciation the old ones are betterer. Mine’s a semi auto too. Want to buy it?

Some interesting information – thanks all.

The E30’s are sweet. My pal had one when he was 19 and it was the coolest thing anyone our age had!

I’m leaning towards a 330i now but they really are very rare in the post 09 facelift model in saloon (M-Sport or SE). Seems to be a lot more 325’s kicking around…

I guess the bottom line is that a 325i will still be more efficient and a LOT faster than my rusting passat. The extra 50hp would be nice with not too much of a hit too mpg’s but 220bhp will feel fast compared to my current 130 in a heavier car (I hope!)

If you can bring yourself to ignore the Internet ramblings on injectors etc I wouldn’t discount even a 320i.

I have an E92 (coupe) in 320i SE flavour and it’s pretty nippy (0-60 in 8 sec) but will do 46mpg on the motorway at 70 and around 30 mpg at a crawl around town.

I’ve done 9000 miles on my 2008 and haven’t had any hint of a problem. The best bit is that it’s condition based servicing wotsit tells me it’s another 9000 miles until service!

I had a 2007 325i Coupe and think that 30mpg is a realistic average if you drive it in a spirited fashion. It will creep up to 35mpg+ on a steady m-way cruise and drop to 25 mpg around town.

The best improvement you can make is to ditch the runflats – I found that they would throw the car off line quite badly if you hit a bid bend ridge in the road with them.