I thought I'd might be able to get some ideas from the R60 crowd about the gas mileage for a new R60 owner.

I've had this car for about 550 miles now, purchased new, and on my 2nd tank of gas.

My first full tank (from the dealership) yielded me about 27mpg. Not bad, and nothing strange at all for being a new car.

But I've since gassed up and I'm currently on my 2nd tank now, and am only averaging a lowly 12-13mpg so far. Something crazy is going on. I've only driven about 120 miles and the fuel meter shows that I only have a half a tank left.

Any ideas on what could be happening? I see no visible leaks and believe my gas cap is on correctly (wouldn't I get a error code if I didnt?).

Anything else I can check?

 

Did you double check your math? Did the tank get filled completely? Not sure how you came up with the 27mpg, so the 12/13 is suspect in my mind.

 

Yes, the tank was filled completely and it was a full tank from the dealership too. I got the ~27mpg for the first tank and by dividing how many miles I had driver by the number of gallons I had to fill up with. Sure, its not super exact, but the rough math is good enough for me.

But what is startling now, is that my 2nd tank is running low really really quickly. I even plugged in an ODB device that will track my gas mileage and it still comes up in the 12mpg range. There is a considerable difference in the gas level that more than makes up for any type of normal variable (driving conditions, hwy/street in my situation).

Any how, is there anything else I can check on the car that might explain such a difference?

 

Did you use a top tier premium fuel ? 87 or 89 wont cut it in these cars if you want power and mileage. You need to use 91 or 93 and a good brand.

 

If you are actually getting 12-13 mpg then there is something wrong. Take it in.

 

Just got my 2015. Not the best gas mileage either. On freeway coasting at 60 mph im lucky to get 27-29...city driving im around 19-21...using 93 shell gas. It feel like im going through gas every other day with this and combination of small tank.

These are worse numbers than my inline 6, 1 series (got a constant 31-32 on highway). Does milaege improve with miles? Thoughts?

 

My 2011 is getting 28-29 MPG combined per the computer in my manual S. If I saw a 15% change in MPGs without an obvious cause (highway/city mix change, mountain driving, etc), I'd definitely take it in and get it checked out. Something is wrong.

The sticker in the gas door says 89 min, so I pump 89. I never thought much more of it than that. Maybe I should reconsider?

 

My tank only holds 10 gallons, so half a tank for 120 miles is about 24 mpg, which could be about right. I usually get 29 in mixed driving during the summer on non-ethanol gas. Once late fall hits, I drop down to 26/27 as they add the ethanol to the gas.

 

drop to 26-27?! I don't understand how you guys are getting such great mileage. Normal city driving and Im close to and sometimes under 20 mpg just driving it normally. Freeway id be at 30+ going downhill only!

you getting 29 mixed means you are getting 33-34+ on the freeway at least

 

I picked up an used 2013 R60 back in May and was alsoexpecting gas mileage to be like in the high 20s or low 30s but I understandsome of the factors and BS they put on sticker with the mpg.

Your R60 S? All4? What wheel/tire setup youhv? Tire pressure? Got bike rack/racks? Style of driving and mainly city? Type of gas (also many/all mix ethanol in +winter time mileage goes down)

I hv All4 with bike rack and getting around 22-23mpg withmainly city driving and this is with both stock 17s and also with bigger wheels/tires too

 

it's just regular stock countryman S. Automatic.

no accessories or crazy wheels. 60/40 mix of highway to city. 91 chevron gas. tire pressure--I don't know as the car is super new, and the sensors aren't going off.

I'm not doing anything crazy or abnormal. But my 2nd tank is way different from my 1st tank

 

My 2012 ALL4S auto with 42k. Megan racing cat back, K&N panel filter, JB+ and non runflat bridgestones at 40psi. I get around town 25 mpg in sport. On a trip at 70-80 mph I get 29-32 mpg. I only use 93 octane.

 

When the 22 or so mpg i was getting was low i even did an oil and filter change since i didnt know when the previous owner did it.

Report back after you refuel with the calculation. I was bitching when i got low 20s and cant imagine if i am getting 12mpg. By chance you mess around with the reset button?

 

I was reading about the reset thing. Yes, after my first fill, I tapped and held the button on the end of the turn signal switch. It was out of habit from my last car. I would reset the trip meter every time I filled up before.

Doesnt this tap-and-hold do the same thing? Or did it reset some other thing?

 

I push the button for a sec on the tech and also reset if you have the Mini system in the center console under vehicle info etc... The simple calculation miles driven divided by gallons is the way to go. I think to me is the temp, conditions like terrain, driving style, gas (wish we hv 93)

 

Octane rating of gasoline has no bearing on the miles per gallon. Ethanol content does, the more ethanol the worse mileage.

 

If you reset the computer then it will zero everything out and make new predictions based on the most current driving style. The gas gauge is also adaptive and not absolute. In other words, the gauge is a prediction according to your driving style, it does not display the actual amount of fuel in the tank.

The only way to get an accurate mpg is to divide actual miles driven by the amount of gas you pumped into the tank. The computer will become somewhat accurate if you don't reset it and your driving style is consistent.

For example after 18,000 miles my computer estimates about 27.7 mpg and my actual is 26.4 mpg. Somewhat close.

 

So if I reset everything and essentially clear out all the past predictions, and the drive my car like a madman until the first two gas lights go out, and then immediately granny it for the rest of the tank, shouldn't the gas lights re-light up?

Because then my driving style should change so dramatically that the gas gauge should predict that my fuel will last longer than what it was predicting before.

 

Something like that. I believe that gas gauge is really a "miles until empty" gauge. I've had it the gauge increase before (without putting gas in).

 

Why wouldn't the gas gauge be like most other cars and be derived from a float level ohm reading? The miles to empty reading in the tach display should be the computer predicted.

2013 Countryman S Auto 12k miles. Just took Holiday trip from S Carolina to Louisiana. Comp was saying 27 point something Ave MPG. I thought it should be higher for highway. So I did the actual calculation with fill up and I got 27 point something. Driving 60 to 70 mph no sport mode. I used top tier gas with the "up to 10% ethanol"

 

Just a reminder that it does take a while for your computer system to learn your driving habits which likely also affects the 'predicted mileage til empty' etc. I agree with cerenkov; measure your mileage the 'pre-computer' way for a few tanks then you will have a more accurate idea of what your fuel consumption is.

Are there gas stations in the US that offer 'no-ethanol' fuel? Up here it looks like only Shell V-Power 91 is offered that way now.

 

The computer that figures gas mileage is also often wrong. I agree that you should manually figure your gas mileage but you also need to make sure your odometer/speedometer is accurate as well. Get a GPS and track you mileage and speed to see how "off" both gauges are on the Mini. I have averaged 4.8 mpg more than what the computer thinks the car is getting over the past 2200 miles.

There are plenty of gas stations that still sell 100% gas. Expect to pay about twice the price of regular but it is 93 octane. It can usually be found near lakes or at marinas. You can check pure-gas.org and they keep a fairly up to date database.

 

The speedometer and odometer work independently of each other. I can assure you that the odometer is accurate (federal law and all that) while the speedometer is purposely inaccurate (over estimates).

 

Havent driven the car for like 5 days until tonight and seems right since I hit about 105 miles or so and the fuel gauge is at half and on board show 21.1mpg and still about 170 miles left to go in tank (all mainly stop and go and city drive with short hwy, not over 45-50mph)


Did you end up fueling up yet? How did the calculation turn out.

 

So I filled up and did the final calculation. Seem likes I hit almost 20mpg. Seems kinda low, but I guess not completely out of the ordinary. Since then, I've gone on two drives and I'm averaging 27mpg, according to my Metromile device (OBD tracker). Seems normal for now