K-A

I haven't been putting much attention in my MPG on this car, but I do know it's showing up on the read-out as a good 2-3 lower than what my W211 was getting.

Interestingly the sticker shows that it's rated to get a bit better than the W211 (same motor, so dunno what they did).

I'm crediting this to the fact that this car has under 1K miles and my old E was already broken in by the time I got it?

Another thing to note, which I forgot to include in my F10 VS W212 Thread. Is that the 535i with it's Twin-Turbo's, and 300 zippy HP, gets 29 MPG Highway (34 real world) listed on its sticker, which of course is better than M-B's 350. MY '12's will obviously have much improved HP/MPG of course.

amdeutsch

I'm sorry. But I can't tell which of the 3 cars (based on your recent posting history) in your sig is the one you currently own.

K-A

Haha. I'm keeping the W211 there for a little homage time, and I just wanted the Malibu to feel cool next to the Benzes.

Ninjaryder

This is my third brand new vehicle and each one started out with weaker gas mileage than the window sticker estimated . I recall it taking several thousand miles before the mileage improves to "normal". No worries till gas hits $5+/gallon for me. I wonder if those Prius owners are saying the same thing when they're only getting 45MPG @ first?

chokaay

Part of it could also be because the W212 sedan is a little heavier than the W211 sedan...

sosh

My W212 gets almost identical mileage as my 05 E320 W211 did. Thats from day one.

K-A

Hmm, my W211 always got freakishly good Mileage for what it was rated to get.

LaicepsYdobon

That's exactly what it is. Your engine is in its infancy. You will not see your gas mileage improve until you reach between 5,000 ~ 8,000 miles. Then once you have your Service A and you get the factory oil out and put fresh oil in you will finally see the true numbers. Hang in there, you've got some ways to go !

sosh

I am not so certain about that. Its been my experience that the MPG stays about the same from day one on. And thats been on the past 6 MB's I have owned. Perhaps in a diesel it will improve slightly but all of my MB's (gas) have remained the same. In any case these numbers of maybe 1 or 2 MPG are insignificant.

El Cid

Have gotten as high as 32 MPG with cruise on 65-70 on interstate with A/C on. Car had about 3,500 on ODO at time. It does seem to average in the high 20's on secondary and interstate mixed driving with some going through very small towns.

YYZ-E55

You'll definitely get better mileage with the 212 - 7-speed gearbox verus 5-speed in the 211 (assuming your habits haven't changed).

535i is single turbo.

K-A

Actually the '06+ W211's had the 7-Speed too. Basically identical drivetrain as my W212.

Ahh, I remember hearing that about the 535i motor, I just thought it hadn't applied yet.... interesting.

We'll see how the MPG gets. So far it's definitely a slight bit lower. If MPG is indeed worse on a newer car, an interesting little factor in the "New VS Used" debate is that you'll end up spending a smidge more $$ on Gas (VS identical car with a broken in motor) during the break in period.

YYZ-E55

My bad, thought you and an '05.

mg-E550

I have been reasonably impressed with my E550's mileage. readout said 25.7MPG driving from home to work (westchester NY to midtown manhattan) the other day. Consistently has been doing 24+ on my commute and I am certainly not babying it

Mine is at 13K miles now and took till 10+ to start really seeing improvements.

emilner

Seems like you have to wait an exceptionally long time to get reasonable mileage. I turned my car in with 4k miles and I never was able to break 20mpg on the highway in cruise control (2010 E550). I took a pic after 3 miles in cruise at 75mph and I was at 19.9 on the LIE (dead flat and I reset the clock while in cruise to see what hwy mpg I was getting).

It was no where near my 211. I would average 27 on the highway and 17.5 around town...

chokaay

IMO, MPG is a tricky thing to measure because not only does it differ from model to model, but it also differs from individual car to individual car.

I have 2 x 2009 E350's that are virtually identical in every way except for the color and one has parking sensors. The one with parking sensors was manufacturered in 1/2009 and consistantly gets around 2mpg BETTER than the other one manufacturered in 6/2008 (tested with same gear in car, same driver, all meters reset, full tank of gas to empty, etc). Hard city driving yields around 15.9mpg vs. 17.5 mpg. Mild city driving yields around 17mpg vs. 18.5 mpg. Cali highway driving yields 21.6 mpg vs. 23.5 mpg. Long highway "cruising" can yield 27.9 mpg vs. 32 mpg... or over!

Another difference is that the one with parking sensors also sounds "throat-ier" sort of like a mustang while the other car sounds more "silent" like a luxury car... don't ask me why there's a difference, but there is!

K-A

WTF, yeah that's weird.

Both are California cars?

LaicepsYdobon

You've just scientifically proven that parking sensors increase fuel efficiency and make the car growl more !

Seriously, the way the car has be driven during the break-in period has a lot to do with it also. Search any car board and you will find people having these long discussions about the "correct" way of driving a car during the break-in period. Some people swear by the "drive it like you stole it" method from day one while I prefer the "let's baby the car the first 1,000 miles".

It could be that your two cars were broken in differently. I had a BMW once that I didn't car too much about and didn't baby the car from day one. That particular car didn't have that good gas mileage and it drank significantly more oil then my other ones. I'm pretty sure it's because I didn't let the engine settle in correctly before driving it. The break-in period is important because it shapes how things work together in the engine for the remainder of the engine's life. I remember having this conversation on the board with a member from England who was a mechanic and his explanation was pretty clear. I'm sure you can find it if you search for it. If the break-in period was not important they would not have devoted an entire chapter to it in the manual. And the manual also clearly states that your break-in period effects the future performance of your engine.

I also believe that the true gas mileage of the car doesn't come out until after your first oil change. When you get a new car with the factory oil and run it for the first year all the metal shavings from the new engine collect in it. By the first oil change all your seals and rings have settled in and that should yield the best result for your MPGs. I use Fuelly to keep track of my cars from day one and I when I compare the cars consumption during its first year and after its first year its fuel economy is better. Also, weather and the different kind of gas you put in your car can effect it also.

K-A

That definitely makes sense.

From what I hear, you're not supposed to take long Highway trips when you first get a car/break in the motor? Due to "not letting it idle at the same RPM speed for too long".

Not sure how true that is, hope it's not, 'cause I took my car on a 600 Mile round trip before it had even 100 Miles.

I've also witnessed the debate of how to properly break it in. When I was into Mustangs, a lot of guys swore their "drive it like you stole it" mentality gave their cars a much edgier and quicker stock performance over those that were babied. Idk, I don't drive fast (and can't, in my areas traffic), so naturally this thing is being completely babied during the break in period (and probably after).

chokaay

Yup, both from same dealer in CA.

Honestly, the difference was felt from the very beginning, so I took the lower mileage one in to the dealer to have a fuel consumption analysis done. Apparently it was "within specs" so nothing was done about it.

And both vehicles were broken in pretty much the same way (since I'm usually at the wheel 70% in both vehicles)... although the non-parking sensor one was driven more (right now has 13K on it vs. 8.9K).

One thing that could have contributed was that 1 month after purchasing the vehicles, the non-parking sensor one had its "Service A" warning go off, so I took it into the dealership and they gave me a free oil change and reset the "Service A" light. 7 months after purchasing the vehicles, the parking sensor one had its "Service A" warning go off... but since I didn't want to hassle with bringing the car in (and the dealership said this time they would charge for the oil change), I didn't bring the car in until it was REALLY due for Service A (1-year after purchase). However, the gas mileage and sound difference was there BEFORE both vehicles were taken in for "Service A"...

LaicepsYdobon

It's not the distance you need to look out for but rather the RPMs. It's not advisable to keep the RPMs the same for an extended period of time during the break in period that is why they discourage you to use the Cruise Control. Speeding up, slowing down keeping the RPMs variable on the highway is what they recommend. My wife recently get a new C-Class and to break the car in we drove to North Carolina and back as the break-in for it. So far so good

220S

That's pretty much the idea.

You need to vary the driving so that the rings seat well and not in one range. I drove my E63 for 1k+ in city traffic being sure to hit a wide range of rpms.... on surface streets and then onto the freeway for short runs, etc.. Plus you want to bed the brakes properly and also allow the tranny to shift thru gears, etc.. And I never hit high rpms for any extended length or high speeds until much later.

My motor stopped using oil at 7-8k and now is tight as a drum. I recently did a Blackstone analysis at 16k and my oil was perfect; they even said they were surprised by the low amount of silicon (from new engine seals) and metal particles.

If you're planning on owning the car for many years, then just vary the engine speeds (rpms) while breaking in. Otherwise, don't worry about it.
K-A, you're renting your car so there's no need to be so concerned.

As far as mpg, mine has been the same since day one.

p.s., fwiw, I find someone getting 24-26 mpg on the 550 V8 while driving to and in Manhattan (and "not babying it") a bit hard to believe. Instead of using the car's computer, one needs to really measure mpg by distance and gallons.

K-A

Yeah, I made sure not to use the CC, but obviously I couldn't keep playing with the throttle, so it definitely settled into an solid RPM zone for some time.

Either way, I'll treat the car as good as I can (I even put in Premium Gas! I should be rewarded "The Good Citizen" Award ), but yeah, due to it being a Lease, I'm not too worried about the nice "Highway break-in".

220S

K-A, when you give the car back, you need to post the VIN here so somebody looking for a rare non-abused and pampered lease return can track it and buy your car

K-A

LOL, I will most definitely do that.

Actually, we should have more Members doing that as a Service to other Members..... I.e DO NOT buy this car, or BUY this car.