2014 BMW 640i - What can I expect? EPA 20/24 mpg

[NickZee]

Hey guys,

I recently bought a new BMW 640i Gran Coupe rated 20/24 US MPG. It has a 3.0 litre trubo 6 cylinder. It still has a tight engine, having only covered 1,800 miles. It weighs 3,860 pounds.

The EcoPro mode of the car has got me into hypermiling despite the fact that this is a fantastic performance car. This eco mode has some great features:

- eco instrumentation showing throttle positioning instead of revs, with a blue zone indicating the most efficient level of acceleration;
- reduced throttle sensitivity to allow more accurate manipulation of the accelerator;
- the transmission is an auto 8-speed with an eco mode that provides early double and triple shifts instead of sequential shifts;
- a coasting mode that automatically allows the car to coast in neutral at speeds above 35mph;
- eco operation of the air conditioning and seat heating;
- a navigation system that identifies "eco routes" and provides alerts about upcoming hills and bends;

So what consumption figures would you expect yourself to achieve in a car like this?

I have thus far been able to achieve a combined city/hwy/fwy number of 27mpg with some basic coasting, 48 psi and traffic reading. But I have continued to drive at the speed limit. Before I discovered hypermiling, the EPA figures seemed slightly optimistic.

[NickZee]

Just a quick correction, the 24 mpg EPA figure is combined, the highway number is 30mpg.

[Draigflag]

Hi welcome. Is this gas or diesel? The huge 6 series is only available with the 3.0 diesel here, with a 0-60 time of just 5.5 seconds, it's a really fast economical car for its size. It's rated at 56 highway here, very optimistic, I would guess people get 35 to 40 MPG, maybe more on long journeys.

Are there any other on fuelly to compare it too? Fuelly has probably the largest real world figure database on the Web.

[NickZee]

Mine has the gas engine that also appears in the 535i. The fuelly database for both cars seems to indicate that people are getting about 26mpg combined. Even though that is better than EPA, it is not the sort of number that suggests people are hyper icing this car.

[OliverGT]

NickZee,

Personally, I would turn that ecomode off and enjoy the car for what it is.

All my cars listed here are SLOW cars, that's why I drive them the way I do, there is no point trying to go fast in a slow car.

I don't imagine there are many 640i owners who are hypermiling their cars.

Enjoy it.

Oliver.

[NickZee]

It's not a bad idea Oliver, but this thing graphs fuel economy in 5 minute intervals, all the information is very addictive! Maybe I will do it with a few tanks and see how things go.

[Draigflag]

I'm kind of with Oliver, if you want to drive a fast car slow, get a slower more efficient car lol. I did that. If you do turn into an eco nut like us, maybe consider the diesel and see if you can crack the 60 MPG barrier! I was reading some of BMWs eco tech, it's impressive the details they develop in fuel saving efforts

[OliverGT]

NickZee,

Agreed on the addictive nature of feedback, it becomes like a game and beating your high score.

Maybe you could treat it like a Jekyl and Hyde car, one day, turn the eco mode off and go mad, and then on other days, just enjoy.

I've had a few 6 cylinder BMW's, 535i was my favourite about 15 years ago, I keep promising myself another one as those engines are simply some of the best in the world for smoothness and sound, especially at 6-7k rpm.

Oliver.

[NickZee]

The other reason I don't drive the car hard is that inner Melbourne is turning into a high density city and that means very low average speeds and no space to have a red hot go. So you can either be aggressive and slow or economic and slow!

I'm starting to think I bought too much car. A 528i or 520d would have suited me just fine.

[Draigflag]

Do they sell the 1 series or 2 series there? The diesel versions of those are very fast and very efficient too. My friend has a petrol 2 series, brand new, think he has about 400 bhp, it's a really fast little car!