MPG issue, really LOW Whats up?
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Super Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 561
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From: Sacramento California
2007 S550 (S65 Package)
MPG issue, really LOW Whats up?
hey i have been reading up on what some here have had on the mpg on the E500 and i seem to be having a really low mpg. i get 13.5 city and im not sure on the highway. i do have 2 drop in K&N air filters, and my exhaust setup is in my sig. anybody know what might be the problem, oh and i just got my radiator and transmission changed but not sure if that does anything.
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Joined: Aug 2004
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From: Silicon Valley, CA
1999 C280 Previous / 2008 E350
hey i have been reading up on what some here have had on the mpg on the E500 and i seem to be having a really low mpg. i get 13.5 city and im not sure on the highway. i do have 2 drop in K&N air filters, and my exhaust setup is in my sig. anybody know what might be the problem, oh and i just got my radiator and transmission changed but not sure if that does anything.
A few members have gotten 15city and 22-24mpg on hwy for that model. Is the vehicle currrent on its maintenance schedule.?
Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 561
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From: Sacramento California
2007 S550 (S65 Package)
i dont floor it everyday, but there are SOME times when i do. and i do need to go and get an oil change soon in about 100 miles. other than that the only service is the E and i just got my brake pads installed for that. the car has 85000 miles on it as of today.
Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 561
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From: Sacramento California
2007 S550 (S65 Package)
I drove the car about 1700 miles so far after the new tranny, ima reset the trip miles and see what happens after about a week and then do a tune up to help my case. il post back up later.
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From: South Orange County, CA
4 wheels
hey i have been reading up on what some here have had on the mpg on the E500 and i seem to be having a really low mpg. i get 13.5 city and im not sure on the highway. i do have 2 drop in K&N air filters, and my exhaust setup is in my sig. anybody know what might be the problem, oh and i just got my radiator and transmission changed but not sure if that does anything.
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Out Of Control!!
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Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Jul 2007
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From: Sacramento California
2007 S550 (S65 Package)
i reset the odometer trip yesterday and drove through the city and im getting around 16 mpg and to tell the truth i did push it about twice 
. after i get it serviced with and everything ill see what happens
. after i get it serviced with and everything ill see what happens
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 60
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From: Seattle, WA
2004 E-500
Mileage
I think it is mostly the way you drive. If you do short trips (couple of miles in town) you cant get more than 13 or so, I have seen it with soft driving. If you did 40 (driving like a old lady that is 
) for more than 10 miles you should get about 22, if you did 60 to 70 for about 30 miles, you should get about 24 to 25. I got 27.5 when the car was new and had stock tires, my mileage dropped to 25 (for the same smooth highway drive) after changing the tires. I am not sure if the tire has anything to do with it but I did not worry too much. I had a sub installed in the back and one of the battery cable was loose (DIY job). All of a sudden my smooth highway drive dropped to 21 mpg. Every time I opened the car (after more than one hour of parking, triggering brake self test?) I would get all sorts of grinding, groaning, patting, metal clanking sound from the front wheels. Passenger power seat would not work, room light would not work. I would also get message like "brake failure, stop vehicle" etc... I knew my lazziness had exceeded the limit and it was time to fix the loose battery cable. All problems went away and surprisingly my mileage came back up to 25 mpg. I have no idea what the heck the battery cable connection had to do with my mileage, perhaps the brakes were malfunctioning all along.
) for more than 10 miles you should get about 22, if you did 60 to 70 for about 30 miles, you should get about 24 to 25. I got 27.5 when the car was new and had stock tires, my mileage dropped to 25 (for the same smooth highway drive) after changing the tires. I am not sure if the tire has anything to do with it but I did not worry too much. I had a sub installed in the back and one of the battery cable was loose (DIY job). All of a sudden my smooth highway drive dropped to 21 mpg. Every time I opened the car (after more than one hour of parking, triggering brake self test?) I would get all sorts of grinding, groaning, patting, metal clanking sound from the front wheels. Passenger power seat would not work, room light would not work. I would also get message like "brake failure, stop vehicle" etc... I knew my lazziness had exceeded the limit and it was time to fix the loose battery cable. All problems went away and surprisingly my mileage came back up to 25 mpg. I have no idea what the heck the battery cable connection had to do with my mileage, perhaps the brakes were malfunctioning all along.
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Joined: Jun 2007
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From: Huntington NY
S560
You should also post your average speed, I notice my MPG goes up quite a bit the furthur I go above 30mph average. If you are only seeing 20-22 then it would be totally reasonable...
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Super Member
Joined: Jul 2007
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From: Sacramento California
2007 S550 (S65 Package)
what im going to do is drive my car until i run out of gas and then find out how many miles i put on it since i reset the mpg. then ima divide the miles by 18.6 for thats how many gallons of gas i put in there then ill get the most accurate mpg. thanks guys.
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From: Huntington NY
S560
I think it is the other way around, I have a friend with a 550i and he never gets over 15mpg local driving. Things can be deceptive with BMW's because they do offer some pretty anemic engines such as the 2.5l, MB does not have such a small engine in the E.
It is easy to do a real world estimate. Fill your tank and reset the trip ODO. drive until near empty and refill, divide miles by gallons used. If the pump is off by 1/2 a gallon it will only result in a .5-.6 difference in mileage. If you do this over a few tanks you should get a very accurate guage.
FYI- the MB MPG estimator is always optimistic, I am always 1 mpg or more lower when entering the real numbers. You can easily tell they purposely adjust the numbers just by starting your car- the readout will say something like 20.5 mpg and will begin to fall until it stabilizes. If they had any interest in being accurate they would start at 0, since when your car you are getting 0 mpg, not 20.5...
It is easy to do a real world estimate. Fill your tank and reset the trip ODO. drive until near empty and refill, divide miles by gallons used. If the pump is off by 1/2 a gallon it will only result in a .5-.6 difference in mileage. If you do this over a few tanks you should get a very accurate guage.
FYI- the MB MPG estimator is always optimistic, I am always 1 mpg or more lower when entering the real numbers. You can easily tell they purposely adjust the numbers just by starting your car- the readout will say something like 20.5 mpg and will begin to fall until it stabilizes. If they had any interest in being accurate they would start at 0, since when your car you are getting 0 mpg, not 20.5...
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Joined: Dec 2005
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From: Irvine, CA
2008 E550, 2012 GL450, 2014 GLK350, 2015 S550, 2020 GLC350e
Agreed. I have done several tests doing the calculation manually and comparing it versus the computer in the car. Its usually off by 1 mpg, so if the car says over the course of 1 tank I got 19mpg, in reality I got 18.
I think it is the other way around, I have a friend with a 550i and he never gets over 15mpg local driving. Things can be deceptive with BMW's because they do offer some pretty anemic engines such as the 2.5l, MB does not have such a small engine in the E.
It is easy to do a real world estimate. Fill your tank and reset the trip ODO. drive until near empty and refill, divide miles by gallons used. If the pump is off by 1/2 a gallon it will only result in a .5-.6 difference in mileage. If you do this over a few tanks you should get a very accurate guage.
FYI- the MB MPG estimator is always optimistic, I am always 1 mpg or more lower when entering the real numbers. You can easily tell they purposely adjust the numbers just by starting your car- the readout will say something like 20.5 mpg and will begin to fall until it stabilizes. If they had any interest in being accurate they would start at 0, since when your car you are getting 0 mpg, not 20.5...
It is easy to do a real world estimate. Fill your tank and reset the trip ODO. drive until near empty and refill, divide miles by gallons used. If the pump is off by 1/2 a gallon it will only result in a .5-.6 difference in mileage. If you do this over a few tanks you should get a very accurate guage.
FYI- the MB MPG estimator is always optimistic, I am always 1 mpg or more lower when entering the real numbers. You can easily tell they purposely adjust the numbers just by starting your car- the readout will say something like 20.5 mpg and will begin to fall until it stabilizes. If they had any interest in being accurate they would start at 0, since when your car you are getting 0 mpg, not 20.5...
