Why are European BMWs so much for fuel efficient? Especially the diesels!

Question

Gasoline powered BMW 3 series range from 47.9 to 31.0 miles per gallon in Europe, while in the United States they range from 28 to 25. Not to mention diesels, which in Europe get from 60.1 to 42.2 miles per gallon. This is acoording to BMW's UK website at: http://www.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/pricesandspecifications/0,,1156_181173019__bs-Mw==@bb-M0xJ,00.html

Why are European cars so much more fuel efficient? Why aren't they in the United States? Who wouldn't want to buy a BMW with great fuel mileage?

Answer 1

european cars have stricter emission standards then America.

America has the lowest in the world and Japan is the highest and is like 4x more  

Answer 2

Europe cars emmisions are more fuel economy oriented, while in the US emmisions are more tail pipe exhaust content oriented and have to run the engines with more fuel in them to meet the proper amounts of stuff in the exhaust

Answer 3

Americans wouldn't want to buy those cars, thats why they aren't offered.  We do too much highway driving and those cars are underpowered for that.  If you look they are all tiny 4 cylinder engines.  My 1988 325I came from the factory with more power than any of those.  They do that because their gas prices are high.

And those specs are right, it is Miles Per Gallon.  The other user was also right about the options.  Those cars will have cloth interiors and almost nothing with be powered, that reduces a lot of weight and most of them will probably also not come with air conditioning.  They also have different differentials.  I have a differential that is German spec and it has slower acceleration off the line but at highway crusing, the engine is barely working, reducing engine noise and gas consumption.

Answer 4

Another reason, besides all of them mentioned here, is that the US EPA tests the cars under harder driving conditions than the same car subject to the European Imperial tests.  So, basically a BMW 335i (top-end 3series) gets the same mileage in Europe as it does here, their MPG results just say otherwise because they test the cars differently there.  You may have noticed that all 2008 models in the US get worse mileage than the same model in 2007.  It's because the EPA revised it's testing to more "real-world" standards so people wouldn't be disappointed at their gas mileage upon buying a new vehicle.

Answer 5

The cars that are available both in the US and in Europe use the same amount of gas. If anything, the ones in Europe are slightly MORE powerful than the ones here, not less.  Look at the 335 or the M3, they have slightly more power, they are not more efficient in Europe. The market in the US does not support the smaller very economic cars at this point. Years ago, there used to be a big power difference, further debunking the theory that they are more efficient in Europe. The M3 used to have 240HP here, and 321 there. Can't imagine that extra 81HP getting significantly higher fuel mileage numbers than we get here.

One reason is the EPA tests differently than in Europe, just like they come up with different horsepower numbers also, even if the engines are identical. My M3 has 333HP. In Europe it's 343. Same engine, but the cats sit closer to the engine in the US. That accounts for 5. The other 5 is the testing method. They test a little bit colder than we do, and the engine makes a tiny bit more power. In reality, if they tested the same way there as here, the E46 M3 would have 338HP in Europe. Same if they tested the same way here as in Europe, it would have 338.

The main reason, which accounts for 20%, is the fact that an imperial gallon is 1.2 US gallons. Bigger gallons mean more mileage per gallon. Tank volume is the same though, the car will go just as far in either country before running out.

Answer 6

because European gas prices are almost twice as expensive as ours, so that forces the automobile companies to invent and develop newer and more fuel efficient cars. Unlike US, we waste our gas because people are still buying these dumb trucks and hummers, who get like 15 mpg. US is about 10 years behind Europe when it comes to fuel efficiency.  

Answer 7

another reason is the BMWs that are shipped over here (most) are optioned to the hilt adding a lot of weight. Also I think the safety requirements are different.  Adding a whole lot of weight.  I don't think they are more efficent they just weigh less

Answer 8

The EU sites will list the gas milage in KM or kilometers not Miles and if you take the Gas powerd BMW in EU and compare them you will get the same MPG. Diesel on the other hand is a whole diffrent story and BMW will start selling Diesel BMW cars in the US starting in 2009 with the 325d and the X5 d.