04 325ci gas mileage

[sub006]

We already have three Bimmers in the family; '80 320i 230,000 miles, '84 318i 195,000 miles, '98 318i 75,000 miles. '98 is for sale.

Now that the kids are older my wife wanted to get back into a two-door, so we just bought a CPO '04 325ci with 10,000 miles, warranty through October 2010! Automatic, sport package, luxury package, the works. We were offered a comparable 330ci for about the same money, just over $30K, but both our salesman and the president of the local BMW club chapter warned that the 330s gulp fuel compared to a 325.

She says the car seems to use fuel quickly. I know the six should use more than the '98 four cylinder, but she really drives conservatively. What kind of numbers are you other 325 automatic owners out there getting in surface street (not freeway) driving?

Also, she says the manual calls for 91 octane. The '98 engine management computer would adjust for any grade of fuel you put in it. I find it strange that BMW would drop this feature. It has been my experience that use of higher octane decreases mileage noticeably. Any comments?

Thanks!

[Antiburn]

your car should get around 19mpg city and 27mpg hwy. The 330ci gets the same mileage. The convertables get around 18city 25 hwy.
And the manual 325 and 330's get 20-29 and 20-30 for the 330. All these numbers are tanken out of a book published by BMW themselves so they are all correct.

So over all the 325 and 330 waste the same amount of gas. And just because the displacement is .5L bigger doesnt mean anything, excet more power.