need H---e---l----p----V ERY POOR GAS MILLEAGE -- ABOUT 17 MPG 50/50 ROAD-HIGHWAY

[feelstyl]

i got 17 mgp in normal driving. MY CAR : 1995 318TI AUTOMATIC. 1.8L
I ALWAYS USE SUPER (93 OCTANE) IT COST ME ABOUT 65$ TO FILL THE TANK AND MAKING 350 KILOMETERS (NOT MILES) WITH MY GAS TANK.

-------I changed OR ADD--------

OIL FILTER,
spark plugs(bosh 4 platinum !!!!!!!!!),
PUT A COLD AIR
PUT A SEAFOAM PRODUCT IN MY GAS TANK, VACUUM LINE AND ENGINE.
CLEANING MY MAF(MASS AIR FLOW) WITH MAF cleaner
I'M ON 15'' WHEEL WITH PIRELLI P3000 TIRES

I GOT POOR GAS MILLEAGE AND A VERY BIG LACK OF POWER WITH MY AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION...
WHAT CAN BE MY PROBLEM

option 1 : (DONE) vacuum hoses are fixed and IAC VALVE CLEANED !

option 2 (DONE) flashing codes with the pedal trick. (no codes stored) so my sensor are all okay

option 3 : changing fuel filter ( this weekend )

option 4 : ?????? get a transmission flush and brand new oil and filter..... ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________ THANKS YOU VERY MUCH

[3DGE]

steady foot, dont take off like a rocket, and reset your mpg computer thing.

[feelstyl]

THE MPG COMPUTER ( BY PRESSING BUTON ON THE CENTER CONSOLE ) ? I DID IT... I KNOW I DONT HAVE A GOOD GAS MILLEAGE...................... HELP ME SOMEONE PLZZZZZZZZZZZ !!!!!!!!!!!!

I DRIVE NORMALLY.

[Bluebimma]

Dont clean an AFM with brake cleaner, you can damage it. When was the last time your fuel filter was changed? How about the o2 sensors?

[1996 328ti]

No need for high octane gas and please don't type in all CAPS.

[ATF]

Any CEL's? Is your cold air intake sucking in nothing but hot air?

[q2driver]

Hello,
What is your temp gauge reading? Does it go up to almost halfway in the first 5-10 Minutes of driving? If not, your thermostat needs changing. Easy job; If it is not working, you get exactly what you have described. Good luck...
DB

[feelstyl]

my cold air is sucking some cold air :) and my temp gauge is reading half in about 5 minutes of driving. PLEASE I NEED SOME SERIOUS HELP it COSTS me 65 $ a tank to make 350 km (not miles!!!!)

[feelstyl]

I JUST CLEANED MY IAC VALVE AND CHANGED MY VACCUUM HOSES ( 3 WERE CRACKED, AND THE OTHER ONE was pulled off. It gaves me a little more response from the throtte, but my mpg is still between 15 and 18 !!!!!!! its ridiculous !! its supposed to have an average of 25- 30 mgp !!!

[feelstyl]

many BMW DEALER TOLD ME TO PUT SOME 93 OCTANE ........ 89 IS FOR cheaper PEOPLE THEY TOLD ME :) nad my 02 sensor is okay beacause i have no code on my computer !

[M3_KILL3R]

many BMW DEALER TOLD ME TO PUT SOME 93 OCTANE ........ 89 IS FOR cheaper PEOPLE THEY TOLD ME :) nad my 02 sensor is okay beacause i have no code on my computer !

why are you so angry? maybe its because your car is just getting old...how long since you had an oil change? check your tire pressure you might be running on really deflated tires.

[feelstyl]

tire pressure are 32 in rear and 29 in front and my oil change is every 4500 km !

[feelstyl]

i take care very much of my ti .. but GAS PROBLEME Consumption, ... ... someone really knows about theses problems ? thank you all !!!!!!!!!!!!

[dkerchner]

Why don't you ask what other peoples gas mileage is like? Everyone? I'm guessing I get somewhere around 300 miles to the tank. I get about 70-80 miles to the quarter tank. How big is the 318ti gas tank anyways? 15 gallon?

[feelstyl]

65 liters 65 $ to full
and yours ????????????????????everyone plz !

[Kaliimc]

I have been wondering about my car too. Just picked it up a week ago and the fuel gage really moves. I have a 540ia too and that (at this point) seems to get better gas mileage. I hope its just either in need of more highway miles or just the fact that its a smaller gas tank and not what we're used too.

My car is a 1996 base model with 37k on the odometer, yep, only 37k (its a Hawaii car...).

[trickiekid]

Is that $65 canadian or USD? I am using 93 octane and I am getting about 300-350 miles to the tank. How are your driving habits? Do you floor it at every light? Also, is the majority of you driving on surface streets or on high ways?

[Bobbak]

the ti has a 13 gallon tank on the 1995 model (1.8) not sure if it's different with the other years but anyways i get a good 365 miles on one tank running 91 octain, my Ti is stick BTW

[cooljess76]

many BMW DEALER TOLD ME TO PUT SOME 93 OCTANE ........ 89 IS FOR cheaper PEOPLE THEY TOLD ME :) nad my 02 sensor is okay beacause i have no code on my computer !
I know it's an old thread, but your o2 sensors could be going bad and just not throwing a code yet. 99% of the time poor gas mileage is associated with a faulty o2 sensor. If you haven't replaced them yet, it's probably long overdue. If and when you do replace them, don't expect immediate results. It took my car about a week to settle in and it gets very good gas mileage now. I do alot of city driving, but on long road trips I've noticed quite an improvement. As for actual MPG, nobody really knows what they're getting unless they have an OBC or drive through an entire tank at a consistant speed until they run out of gas. The guage isn't a precision instrument that tells fuel level, and I'm sure there's inconsistancies between individual vehicles and drivers. Some people run there cars lower on gas before filling up. While one guy might fill when the light comes on, he may still have 1 or 2 gallons left in his/her tank. The next guy might fill up at the very last minute and running on vapors. That's over 70 MPG that gets averaged into one's calculation. Change your o2 sensors! You said it yourself, gas isn't cheap. I spent $168 bucks on a pair of o2 sensors from KOperformance and I think it was well worth it. How many tanks of gas have you went through because of poor gas mileage? I'm guessing you've spent more than 168 bucks.

[Kaliimc]

I think my mind may be playing tricks on me because I think I smell gas when I'm in the car. Could be a leak around somewhere but the engine and hoses look tight to me.

Before I purchased this car a couple of weeks ago I took it down to a local shop where the guy put the computer on the car and found no faults with the engine. Could the sensors if bad, go unnoticed by the diagnostics from a professional non-dealership BMW shop?

My car has been sitting for years (1996 with only 37k miles) and I'm going to change out the regular tune-up items but don't want to spend on oxygen sensors unless they are known bad. Anyone have logic/experience on this?

Right now at just over 1/2 tank remaining, we have driven the car just over 100 miles of mixed city/hwy. My style of driving is very conservative and my wife is not too far from that so we don't mash the pedal at all.

Please spread your knowledge of these cars to a first time E36 owner.

[Kaliimc]

^^^

Thanks to everyone for the helpful inputs requested in previous post. J/K!:biggrin:

We're on our second tank as new owners of this '96 ti and it is now showing about 70 miles for the first quarter tank used. This sounds close to a previous post on this thread, does it sound pretty accurate with others here?

If anyone knows the Oahu surface roads and freeways, this car does mostly freeway miles with a light foot.

TIA.

[cooljess76]

With the price of gas these days, I very rarely fill my tank. I've been taking my friend to work for the past couple of weeks and with 1.5 gallons, I get roughly 55-60 miles. That's mostly highway driving and I'm not 100% sure because I haven't actually ran out of gas. The needle ends back up in the same place after taking him to work, going to school and coming home. As I mentioned before, the fuel gauge isn't a precision instrument, so it can't be relied on as an accurate method of calculating mileage. 1.5 gal moves the needle about an eighth of a tank on my car, so to answer your question, 70 miles to a quarter tank seems kinda low. Of course it also depends on your driving though. I cruise at about 75-80mph but the drive along the coast isn't exactly flat. Plus I remember when I used to fill the tank all the way, it took about 30 miles for the gauge to even start moving. Gunny(Kaliimc), you should try to find out when or if your o2 sensors have been replaced. If they're going on 100k, I'd replace them. I bought mine from a vendor here on this site (KOperformance) and they were pretty cheap (IIRC $168) for both OEM Bosch sensors. They installed pretty easy, took about 20 minutes and about a week of light driving for my ECU to adjust. Prior to the install, I ran "seafoam" and shortly after I took my car in for it's emissions test. Here's a link to the thread in case you're interested:
http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=16181&highlight=seafoam

[Kaliimc]

cooljess76 thanks for the information, with our car we really don't take it over 65mph and do not go heavy on the gas at all unless we are going uphill. . . I drive my 540 so that it gets 19.6 mpg and it has lots of Dinan mods on the engine.

The 318ti is a '96 but only has just over 37k miles on it. It sat in someones garage/yard for years apparently before the owners turned it in to a dealership (it sat next to an F-car that a friend of mine bought).

I have been researching anywhere I can on the internet about oxygen sensors and other possible solutions. One note on this car, it does have quite a noticeable idle where if you are sitting at a light the car shakes to the point that you know something is not quite right. CCVV maybe?

[cooljess76]

hmm, with only 37k, that pretty much rules out the o2 sensors. The CCVV could be a culprit of the rough idle, but I would look into other items that might link to fuel consumption issues. It's really hard to say without being there and seeing first hand. How does the rubber intake boots and the spark plugs look? It could be running on a rich fuel mixture, or maybe if it sat for a long time without fuel stabilizer, the fuel filter or injectors might have gotten clogged. You mentioned that this is your second tank of gas since purchase, so it might just need to be ran a little. IDK, I wish I could be a little more helpful. I love these little cars, but every now and then they could be a real PITA. But once you sort things out, you remember just how fun they are to drive. I'd start with running some seafoam through it, it couldn't hurt and if there is moisture or varnished fuel clogging things up, it'll definitely help clear things up.

[Kaliimc]

IDK, I wish I could be a little more helpful.

I think you're being very helpful based on all of your posts that I've read over the past couple of weeks!

I know my E39 and my E28 engines better than this M44 but that'll change soon. :cool:

[Kaliimc]

The Seafoam process has begun on my 1996 ti, 37,300 miles on the clock. The car has been sitting for a long, long time. If this does not improve mileage, I'll look into the oxygen sensors.

Poured 1 pint of Seafoam in the fuel tank with approx. 1/2 tank remaining.

After reading the directions on 318ti over and over, plus others' experiences, I chanced the intake with approx. 1/2 pint. I had to go back to work from my break but will leave it until it gets dark which is 1 1/2 hours from now.

Still have not poured the rest into the crankcase out of fear of the unknown. Where is the oil filter on these cars? I cannot see it. How easy is it to change oil on these with no jack stands, ramps, garage, creeper, etc.? Can a 195lb non-fat person fit underneath a base model ti? Guess there is only one way to find out! Gotta get dirty!

[cooljess76]

The oil filter is a paper type located just forward of the intake manifold, to the right of the alternator. It's accessed through the top of the engine bay and has "25 Nm" imbossed on the top. Your oil filter housing should have a plastic cap. If so, you'll need a tall/skinny filter and a "B" oil filter wrench:

http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q122/cooljess76/2ca45844.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q122/cooljess76/e749d4f8.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q122/cooljess76/3eb8eade.jpg

The oil plug can probably be accessed by cranking the steering wheel to the left, lying down next to the passenger's side of the car and reaching under with a ratchet and extension. Our oil pans are made of aluminum, so be careful not to overtorque the drain plug. You looked pretty tall in your photo gallery pics, so I'd imagine that you could reach it no problem. The new filter should come with 3 new o-rings for the filter and a crush washer for the drain plug. If by chance, your oil filter housing has a metal cap, you'll need the shorter/fat filter used on the earlier model BMWs. I was skeptical about adding seafoam to my oil at first, but after researching and speaking with many other seasoned mechs, I heard nothing negative, so I went ahead and did it.

[mohaughn]

You can't rule out an O2 sensor just because the car has low mileage. You will burn out an O2 sensor much quicker by just doing short trips that never really allow the O2 sensor and the rest of the car to get up to temp. With that low of mileage on that age of a car if it has the original O2 sensors I would definitely replace them. The recommended replacement mileage assumes that the car is allowed to get up to temp which allows the O2 sensor to work properly.

This is not as much of an issue on newer cars that have a heating element inside of the O2 sensor.

[feelstyl]

Just added some new headers on the 1.9L engine :) wow !! what a sound ! and performance added :P maybe 10 hp i feel it to the pedal. now for 50 $ of gaz. i do 500 KILOMETERS ! ill put a cold air intake and a muffler too :P

[Kaliimc]

Just added some new headers on the 1.9L engine :) wow !! what a sound ! and performance added :P maybe 10 hp i feel it to the pedal. now for 50 $ of gaz. i do 500 KILOMETERS ! ill put a cold air intake and a muffler too :P

Sweet! I'd love to put headers on my car in the future, have to research first. CAI and exhaust are near the top of my list of things to do, after maintenance items have been addresses of course.

[Kaliimc]

You can't rule out an O2 sensor just because the car has low mileage. You will burn out an O2 sensor much quicker by just doing short trips that never really allow the O2 sensor and the rest of the car to get up to temp. With that low of mileage on that age of a car if it has the original O2 sensors I would definitely replace them. The recommended replacement mileage assumes that the car is allowed to get up to temp which allows the O2 sensor to work properly.

This is not as much of an issue on newer cars that have a heating element inside of the O2 sensor.

Thanks for the input. Definitely not rulling out the o2 sensors, just not jumping to conclusions when I have to budget for them, (I am married...:biggrin:).

In fact, I was thinking of replacing a few of the sensors in the engine bay here and there in the near future.

We want our daughter to attend Punahou School (same as Obama) when she is old enough so I want this car to last for a long time. I won't be able to afford another car if she is selected!:biggrin:

[cooljess76]

Another thing to look into that might prove helpful later down the road is a top side oil changer. I don't have one yet, but I'll probably end up getting one before my next oil change. Here's a thread with information about topside oil changers:
http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=14051

[feelstyl]

hehe.... you'll never get the same a s the 320 or 325 or any other bmw but who REALLY need 200, 300 hp ? no one !

[Kaliimc]

but who REALLY need 200, 300 hp ? no one !

WHAT!?!!!

I love my 540! It has about 336 hp with all the Dinan on it, never dynoed it though. But, you're right, Where can the car exercise its power? The difference in power between the 540 and 318ti is night and day but in the end, I still get to work in the same amount of time.

[feelstyl]

your car 's wheigh is very high !

[cossieturbo]

Hey mate. I wanted to address one thing. You mentioned smelling gasoline in the car. Well you were not imagining this. Behind the interior back seat, passenger side, side panel, under the side window is an array of vapor hoses and a pressure chamber. These start to leak vapor into the interior. A very common issue on 318ti's based mostly on year not mileage. I will be changing everything in there as I can not figure out where it is coming form specifically. All the best.

cossieturbo

[Kaliimc]

^^^

Thanks for the input! I'll definitely check that area real soon.

[Kaliimc]

Hey everyone I just wanted to add that my little car is now doing much better in the mpg department. I think it was mostly due to how it was treated/handled before my purchasing it. The car now has about 280 miles on this tank and it still has a little while to go before the 1/4 tank mark. This is a considerable improvement over the last tank of gas where I had to fill up again at 220 miles.

Thanks for all of the help on this "hijacked" thread and all the others that I've been reading for the past month!