Motor84

I have now bought a 2003 3.0 petrol Quattro. 1 owner from new, 58k miles! Having had 15 plus BMWs, I have to say the ride in this car is sublime! So smooth and light on the steering. Huge load space. What a wagon! But, I'm getting 15mpg around town. I know I should expect poor mpg, I've had a petrol X5 before and still own a 540i (V8) so I'm no stranger to filling cars with petrol. But my V8 gets 20mpg around town. Anyway, is 15 around town normal? looking at the figures I was hoping for at least 19-20 as I'm doing 40-50 on dual carriage ways a bit as well (London). I wonder if there is something wrong with it. I am thinking about a remap, that should improve it a bit.

Any input very welcome!

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johnkk

I think you should be getting better mileage. My 2.7 gets 21 around town and closer to 30 on highway. Check for vacuum leaks. Scan for codes.

Motor84

Great thanks for that! I was thinking around 20 should be right. I'll get it checked out. Any thoughts on a remap? I know the gains are not huge on non turbo cars, but I guess every little helps.

Harleyguy

Should probably get better numbers than that but I wouldn't expect a massive increase. Mine was a '04 A6 sedan Quattro with a 4.2L V-8. I normally got around 18 in city numbers and 23-25 on the open highway. GEt the scan down to see what it tells you. Also I would go ahead and check the spark plugs to see how they look. Good quality plugs can be had for $6-$8 dollars US. A couple of years ago when I change my plugs I gained 1.5 to 2 mpg and the engine got a little more peppy right away. It had not been running poorly at the time but I checked the plugs out of curiosity and they showed wear indicating they were due. Also it was such an affordable maintenance job I figured "What could it hurt?" Worth having a look.

dwengi

My 2.7 gets around 18 city and up to 27 highway. As others have mentioned check codes and vacuum leaks. I would also check O2 sensors and temp sensor since these will both have a real impact on fuel consumption.

Personally I would skip the remap. The car delivered a reasonable combination of performance and economy from the factory so I would try to get back to that point first.