horrible MPG

Have you replaced the air filter yet? And how about checking the tire pressure?

i put a K&N Typhoon intake on about 2 1/2 months ago, and how does the tire pressure affect what type of gas mileage im getting?

Low tire presure will result in higher rolling resistance, requiring more power - more power requiring more fuel. Air filter and tire pressure are the right things to start with. (Start with the cheap fixes.)

What do you mean by "sure it's the oil"? As long as you've got oil, I wouldn't expect mileage to be bad.

CNred said:

...and how does the tire pressure affect what type of gas mileage im getting?

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Underinflated tires increase resistance and thus lower your gas milieage. I believe I read somewhere that properly inflated tires can boost your mileage by 2-3%.

Three questions.

1. What speeds do you normally drive? And in what gear?

I know from my own experience that if I drive at 75-85mph (not that I would ever actually do that on the public highways) I only get in the low 20s. If I drive at 60mph I get 30-35mpg. Speed is also important.

2. Have you changed the oil yourself and used something other than factory spec oil?

If you have substituted a non-synthetic oil or an oil of a higher viscosity you could cause a drop in fuel milage because of increased internal friction in the engine.

3. When the K&N filter was installed, are you sure that it was done correctly and no restrictions were introduced into the intake system?

Intake was installed correctly because everything was fine, all this start about 2 weeks ago. Ill clean and reoil that tommorow, check tire pressure. My driving is mixed. Sometimes its easy crusing and sometimes its hard driving. but lately i have been doing medium driving 4th-5th gear, doing about 50-60 mph. Im guessing i should be hitting around 23+ mpg but im getting like 17-19 mpg according to the computer.which i do not know how accurate it is.

I get 34mpg if i stick to 65mph...sometimes i round town i can get as low as 20mpg. I haven't gone above 4000rpm as of yet. I remember my Mums auto used to get UNDER 20mpg sometimes!

-Rob

CNred said:

Intake was installed correctly because everything was fine, all this start about 2 weeks ago. Ill clean and reoil that tommorow, check tire pressure. My driving is mixed. Sometimes its easy crusing and sometimes its hard driving. but lately i have been doing medium driving 4th-5th gear, doing about 50-60 mph. Im guessing i should be hitting around 23+ mpg but im getting like 17-19 mpg according to the computer.which i do not know how accurate it is.

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Doing 50-60 in 4th gear won't help much, either...

The computer is never quite right, though ours tends to be optimistic. The only way to really know for sure is to measure distance and total fuel burned. If you're filling up twice a week, that should be easy - just keep track of the miles on each tank.

I would try the tires and filter first. Most of the other stuff should cause an engine fault light to come on if there's something wrong inside.

We get 27-34mpg(US) city-hwy, in a standard Cooper, if that helps.

-Eric

I'm guessing your air filter is crudded up......and you haven't checked your tires. Follow the air filter instructions on cleaning/oiling TO THE LETTER.
I would counsel going back to the OEM set up but I am sure I'd be flamed.....

Hyia
In my 05 Cooper I am getting approx. 29-30mpg & fill up once a fortnight (I do use car everyday).
This is better than the mpg I was getting on my 01 ONE.
As everyone has said - follow your car maintainence to the letter, have you always had the regular servicing? Also check that your wheels are aligned properley, from what I can gather this also affects fuel consumption. Always get BMW to do any work on your car too whenever possible.

Just gor back from my first long trip, 400 miles. Got 34 MPG. And I only have 540 mile on the car.
combination town and highway driving 28 MPG.
I'm happy so far. And it can only get better from here

Remember the difference in UK (imperial) mpg to US mpg in these discussions.

1 UK mpg = ~1.2 US mpg

e.g. someone in the US saying 30mpg is actually about 36mpg in the UK.

Does that mean I'm getting horrible MPG aswell then?

no scoobydoo i don't think u are =D

I'll be pleased when my 2003 Cooper goes back in a couple of weeks. Consistently getting no more than 60 miles from £10 of petrol. Not driving especially hard, and can almost see the fuel gauge dropping while driving along! I make that very low 20s mpg. It's only recently its been so poor, haven't a clue what's going on!

Just hoping my new Cooper will be better when it arrives!