My windshield cracked the other day, so I brought the car in to have it fixed. While it was there, I had them look into why my Cooper S was only getting 20 MPG, mainly highway driving. Here is Lauderdale BMWs explanation, straight off of the invoice...

"Customer states that gas mileage is poor. Found that customer has aftermarket air intake. Also found that customer has aftermarket pulley on supercharger, which is causing over power usage which causes poor gas mileage."

I only had my pulley installed 2 weeks ago, but have had the car for almost 6 monthes. Why can no one figure out why some of our cars get such horrible gas mileage? I know its a performance car, but some of you guys with S's are getting 30 MPG easy on the highway. (And yes, I am calculating gas mileage myself, not with the onboard computer.) Oh well. :(

 

It must be really hard to keep your foot "out of it" with a pulley and CAI. I'm not modded yet, but it makes a huge difference keeping below 4500rpm during the daily commute. Every once in a while I'm stomp on it coming out of the toll booth and I can almost watch the needle move towards E.

 

i have also noticed that i get no more than 250-275 miles per tank...but i have no aftermarket mods and have been observing 22 mpg. but i also drive about 12 miles to school, and it takes like 40 min. i know its city driving but sticker says 25 city mpg i think
let me know if im wrong

 

I agree with RedBaron. I have an '05 S Convert and when I drive "spiritedly" around town I get horrific mileage - in the midteens at best. When I drive on the freeway around 70 I get in the high 20's, when I motor on the freeways, i.e. 75-90, I get closer to 25-26.

That said, 20 on the highways under 90 mph sounds low. Dealers will always take the easy way out if you have aftermarket mods. Find a good service guy or maybe take it to a Mini shop to determine if you have a problem.

Good luck,
Mike

 

In my first 17K miles, I consistently got about 22 mpg in combination driving. Once I hit 17K, I began to get slightly better mileage, coming in around 23-24. Now at around 34K, I'm getting about 25-26 average. Some of it is the way I drive - having become more used to the car, paying attention and driving a bit slower, and attempting to use 6th gear more all help bring the mpg down. I've also heard some say that easing into launch helps conserve the gas. Some of my better mpg could be that the car is now fully broken in.

The best mileage I have gotten recently was about 28 mpg, which I believe was the result of limping along in the slow lane, in 5th or 6th gear, at about 55 mph while waiting for others to catch up to me. (I had gotten on the freeway a few exits ahead of them - long story). I think I did that for about 15-20 minutes. Then went on to a day of spirited driving later that afternoon. It's amazing how much gas the SC sucks up to create the power we all love.

I have an intake, but no pulley mods.

 

If it is taking you 40 minutes to drive 12 miles then you are sitting still a whole lot, engine still running. That's ZERO mpg while sitting still.

Take a days trip and drive 2-300 miles in non-traffic conditions and see what milage you get.

Also, don't forget that the government MPG sticker uses unrealistic testing procedures. No car ever gets the mpg listed on the sticker in normal driving conditions. There is a push in the US to update the testing to give a more realistic MPG rating but so far, its going nowhere.

On the freeway in my MCS at 70-80 mph, I can get 29 mpg if I drive conservatively. I normally get 24-25 mpg with city driving in Orlando (some traffic). A lot of it has to do with your foot. If you like to floor it and shift at 7000 rpm, you will get noticably lower gas milage.

Jerry

 

I can't help but think it would've been better for you to wait for the MPG issue to be resolved, if at all possible, BEFORE installing high performance aftermaket mods. MINI dealer shops are notoriously finicky about such things. However, that being said, I have no mods on my car at all, but still find my dealership (Niello MINI of Sacramento) to be VERY difficult to work with when there are problems. I may end up having to go to East Bay MINI, which is 200 miles away from me!

Good luck with your warranty issues.

 

Sorry about the mileage figures. I've had 2 MCS (03 & 04" both w/ Works & aftermarket intakes) and the mileage has been excellent.
-My O4' Work car w/ Dinan intake and some very light weight wheels gets 32-34 MPG on the highway and averages 27-28 combined. I drive fast most of the time.
-05' car MSC's have different gear ratios (final drive as well) and may be contributiung to the bad MPG figures.
-Get out on the highway and put in some long distance driving. It may get better.
Good luck

 

Do you have On-Board Computer?
If you do, what is your average speed?

According to the latest issue of Car and Driver, the EPA city cycle results in an average speed of about 20mph. Since the EPA rating is tested in a lab with no air resistance, it is unlikely that you will achieve EPA ratings under normal driving. (yes, the article in C&D did mention a 10% adjustment factor, but I'm sure most of us drive spritedly, with AC/headlight/defrost/radio on. Plus, our MINIs have the aerodynamics of a brick)

 

With 1860 miles, my 05 S is averaging just over 29 mpg with very spirited and mixed condition driving. My OBC reported this and verified thru basic pump math. On a recent long trip--with many extended 80-90 mph sprints (mostly in 5th and 6th) I averaged just over 32 mpg.

But then I rarely run the engine over 6,200, and am conservative when starting from a dead stop. Jimbo

 

I have a lot of mods and I get what I get in the MPGs. I love my car and don't worry about the MPGs.

One thing I have noticed ever since the cars started coming with stickers say xxx in town and yyy on the highway I have found I get the xxx (town millage) on my overall driving and I do mostly freeway (that is until I got my GREAT MCS, now I do the back roads).

Earl

 

Don't forget that gas quality can make a difference too. Here in Cali, they put additives in the gas that are supposed to reduce pollution, but they reduce mpg so you end up burning more gas which counteracts the intent! If you're in a state that puts additives in the gas, you may be getting less bang for the buck...

 

well mine wasnt the best when the car was new but it had greatley improved over time as the engine wares in im getting close to 34 to 36 miles per gallon now with 80,000 on the clock and in perfect flat terrain it caculates to about 38 to 40 no lie