topless 13 Report post Posted October 24, 2005 My brother is thinking of buying an E34 in either 525 or 535, must be auto, is for his wife. Anybody out there owned one and can give me an idea of fuel consumption around town? That is where it will do 99% of its mileage. His investigations indicate that the fuel consumption for the 535 will be considerably higher than the 525 in town driving, around 17-18 litres/100kms for the 535 and about 14 litres/100km for the 525. My earlier versions of 535 I owned all were much lighter than this but my cars were all manual. I would have expected them to have similar consumptions, with the 535 maybe even lighter than the 525, but with a human driving, not me... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kiwi535 538 Report post Posted October 24, 2005 no doubt about it,525,when i bought my car it was a resident of Auckand central,the guy lived in Parnell and worked somewhere near the sky tower,the obc read 17 l 100k and its a manual Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kiwi535 538 Report post Posted October 24, 2005 i think an m50tu would be the one Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle 1680 Report post Posted October 24, 2005 (edited) I get around 11-14 litres to 100km in my 535i auto. Hamilton isnt too bad for traffic Edited October 24, 2005 by Eagle Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BM WORLD 1286 Report post Posted October 24, 2005 i have 90 535ia with 3.64 diff gets about 15-16L per 100km (YUK) . my 1988 535i manual with 3.25diff gets about 12-13L per 100km when going good both around town . on a trip about 10-11 L . my wifes 1986 e28 535ia with 3.07 diff gets around 13-14L per 100km town . my M535i does 11-12L town and 9-10 on a trip . BUY the manual SAVE THE PLANET . why buy a auto . costs more to buy originally . costs ore to run . costs more to service . costs heaps more to fix, and only last about 200,000km done 470,000 on my manual gearbox . and auto's takes away the driving dynamics . DAMM THOSE silly NEW BMW buyers listening to the carsales man BULLSHIT "why buy a manual , auto's are much better they change gear for you" they should have insisted on getting the 5spd manual. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nic325i 0 Report post Posted October 24, 2005 "why buy a manual , auto's are much better they change gear for you" Sorry for OT, but it is even worse than that - they spend half their sales pitch telling people that the resale on manuals is worse! Most annoying thing is that they tricked mum into believing it :banghead: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bezzal 1 Report post Posted October 24, 2005 1990 535is Manual. With around town in Auckland for a tank and a drive from Auckland to CHCH, OBC reported, 10.4l/100km. Sitting on a "good" speed most of the way. Around CHCH at the moment I'm getting 13-14ish & Loving it! My readouts though wont mean much as they are not over a long period. Just as an aside, how accurate is the OBC? I haven't put enough gas through it and taken note of the K's to suss it out? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Andrew Report post Posted October 24, 2005 Sorry for OT, but it is even worse than that - they spend half their sales pitch telling people that the resale on manuals is worse! Most annoying thing is that they tricked mum into believing it :banghead: it is. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Andrew Report post Posted October 24, 2005 Both our 525s - m20 and m50 are pretty bad on gas. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BM WORLD 1286 Report post Posted October 25, 2005 Just as an aside, how accurate is the OBC? I haven't put enough gas through it and taken note of the K's to suss it out? pretty good . have done tests , within 0.1L normally Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
topless 13 Report post Posted October 25, 2005 Thanks for the input guys, car needs to be an auto as she-who-needs-to-be-obeyed-at-all-costs doesn't want manual... Also doesn't want huge fuel consumption, current is around the 17/100 in their MPV, being one of the main reasons for getting rid of it. Can't win them all. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jazzbass 1 Report post Posted October 25, 2005 My e39 528 usually averages 12/100 for town-only driving and 9.6/100 on a trip. Mixed mode driving is usually between 10-11/100. It has an automatic gearbox and I usually adhere to the speed limits and only accerate briskly when I really have to. Due to my ancient years, I find litres/100km almost totally meaningless and tend to think in terms of mpg. Converting my figures to mpg gives: about 24mpg around town only and about 30mpg on a trip, with an overall average of about 28mpg. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
topless 13 Report post Posted October 25, 2005 Due to my ancient years Jazz, I'm sure I'm older than you but will not consider myself ancient until I have to bang my gums together to eat..!!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
topless 13 Report post Posted October 25, 2005 right, brother dear has read all the remarks about auto and it seems there is a change of heart... has found this manual 5 series on TM... any comments as I don't know these cars at all, motor is the M20?? 520 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BM WORLD 1286 Report post Posted October 25, 2005 looks ok . yes will be M20 with motronic . a bit under powered , but will still cruise ok, and get good ecno. if you can find 525i 5spd that would be better . same engine weight but more power. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Andrew Report post Posted October 25, 2005 looks ok . yes will be M20 with motronic . a bit under powered , but will still cruise ok, and get good ecno. if you can find 525i 5spd that would be better . same engine weight but more power. william - have black 525i m20 manual for sale - red leather - good service hist. $5000 - pm if interested. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rxsumo 33 Report post Posted October 26, 2005 This seems to be getting a little off topic, with all the "buy a manual" talk, when its fairly obvious that an auto is actually required. To add my 50c worth, I would recommend an auto for the likely use, as the manual isnt really that nice around town. The driveline has a tendency to shunt quite badly, and the clutch is as heavy as hell.....typical commuter traffic in Wellington aint that much fun in our 535. Get it out on the open highway or a windy back road (or the track)....and the car transforms. Fuel economy....14-16 MPG around town, and the only time I have seen better than 20MPG on a trip is on the Canterbury plains.....so they are thirsty. Does 14-16 MPG with the race car on the towbar, which is the same as my 4.1 Falcon Ute (just quicker) This seems to be a common trait amongst the "big sixes", as my E3's perform about the same. I'd be guessing that the late E34 525 with later engine would be the pick for fuel economy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Andrew Report post Posted October 26, 2005 Our manual 525 has no driveline shunt - clutch is super light - and it chugs along in 2nd gear on idle rpm. Its easy as to drive round town. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kiwi535 538 Report post Posted October 26, 2005 e 34 is an pretty heavy car,id guess that a 520 would be workin pretty hard to accellerate,if half the time you are stopped or idling or sorta rolling might be ok...pure conjecture on my part,and to reinforce darryls point,the original poster specifically saidauto .... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jazzbass 1 Report post Posted October 26, 2005 rxsumo - good post - glad someone finally said that. All that bollox about manual/auto gets very tiresome. :banghead: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
E30_318i 0 Report post Posted October 28, 2005 I got about 150km off $30 gas last week. Works out to about 13l/100km. I would think an auto would be a sh*t load more. My 525 manual has a bit of driveline shunt, but ya learn to aviod after a while, and if light clutches are your preference, go for an economy car :gay: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jazzbass 1 Report post Posted October 29, 2005 Just got back from a drive to Rotorua with a friend. He was in an e36 325 manual and me in my e39 528 auto. We both filled up in Palmy and again in Rotorua. Guess what - he used almost 6 litres more than me for the trip!!! I was rather surprised, 'cos I thought the 5 would guzzle a bit more. I was wrong. We were in convoy the whole way, so the drives were identical. I averaged 10.1 l/100km on the way, according to my OBC. Always learning. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kiwi535 538 Report post Posted October 29, 2005 even travvelling at the "same speed" the driver can make a lot of difference Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aliluya 0 Report post Posted October 29, 2005 Yes it does make a big difference .. due to way they accelerate/slowing down etc ... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jazzbass 1 Report post Posted October 29, 2005 (edited) You're absolutely correct. I'm older and 'squeeze' the accelerator, he's younger and still 'stabs' it! Makes a big difference. Edited October 29, 2005 by Jazzbass Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
