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      06-09-2013, 02:03 PM   #1
traabil
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"Right" use of ECO PRO

Under what driving conditions will you get the best value of ECO PRO? I'm thinking urban with much stop and go, but I haven't read anything official on this

Petrol heads will have me excused
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      06-09-2013, 02:10 PM   #2
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I found the best use of eco pro for me is on the highway/parkway. City type/stop and go, I use comfort mode since there was 0 difference in MPG between the 2 modes in that type of driving. On the parkway in Eco I was seeing very good increases in MPG's. In that mode the car tells you exactly what your added MPG is.
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      06-09-2013, 02:17 PM   #3
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Eco pro after installing PPK now seems very sluggish to me, I promise you I think I will have a hard time out accelerating a Corolla. Anytime I have the kids in the car I use eco pro, no matter where I am. I also use it when I have like 50 miles left on my tank and want to delay going to the gas station. My graphs normally register in the 30-45mpg zone once I am in eco pro

I will only use eco pro with the eco pro displays on the nav screen, this way I can feel good about the fuel savings. I find it actually influences my driving during the time its in eco pro mode, as I will be trying to get those graphs as high as possible.
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      06-09-2013, 02:36 PM   #4
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Much like 1bad335, I too use mine in ECO pro mode on the highway where I see the most gains in mpg. In the city with stop and go traffic, the engine start/stop shuddering is too annoying and to accelerate quick enough to feel i'm not driving a Civic, negates any benefit of the feature (for me anyway).

But I've gotten as high as 40mpg in ECO pro on the highway. I use the cruise control to maintain and adjust my speed. I've been very impressed.
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      06-09-2013, 02:55 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by giggity317 View Post
Much like 1bad335, I too use mine in ECO pro mode on the highway where I see the most gains in mpg. In the city with stop and go traffic, the engine start/stop shuddering is too annoying and to accelerate quick enough to feel i'm not driving a Civic, negates any benefit of the feature (for me anyway).

But I've gotten as high as 40mpg in ECO pro on the highway. I use the cruise control to maintain and adjust my speed. I've been very impressed.
I agree 100%. I had the Auto start/stop coded off or as BMW says "remember last setting" which for me is off. Just don't like this feature at all. If you do go to Eco pro you have to turn the A.S.S feature off again since the car will default to A.S.S in eco mode.
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      06-09-2013, 04:12 PM   #6
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I use eco pro basically everytime unless i want to have fun.

Anyone no does bmw get there fuel economy numbers thru eco pro mode or normal mode?
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      06-09-2013, 05:00 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan_335i View Post
I use eco pro basically everytime unless i want to have fun.

Anyone no does bmw get there fuel economy numbers thru eco pro mode or normal mode?
I tried that for a week to see what the numbers would be. Wound up lasting 2 days before I could not take it anymore. The car is such a slug in Eco Pro around town. Honestly, for me if I was super concerned about fuel economy I would not have got a 335. I would have opted instead for the 328I which has better mpg numbers. Driving in Eco Pro all the time just wasn't enjoyable in this car at all and in 2 days time the numbers were not that much better around town anyway. Like I said earlier, Hwy is a definite win in Eco pro.
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      06-09-2013, 05:09 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1bad335
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan_335i View Post
I use eco pro basically everytime unless i want to have fun.

Anyone no does bmw get there fuel economy numbers thru eco pro mode or normal mode?
I tried that for a week to see what the numbers would be. Wound up lasting 2 days before I could not take it anymore. The car is such a slug in Eco Pro around town. Honestly, for me if I was super concerned about fuel economy I would not have got a 335. I would have opted instead for the 328I which has better mpg numbers. Driving in Eco Pro all the time just wasn't enjoyable in this car at all and in 2 days time the numbers were not that much better around town anyway. Like I said earlier, Hwy is a definite win in Eco pro.
I don't think the issue is to get Prius type gas mileage, it's to get more mileage than you would ordinarily get from your normal driving. Be it a 328 or 335

For example I had not used Eco pro mode on my current tank. I had to go to church with the kids so I started the car in Eco pro since I did not have time to go to the gas station before getting to church. My tank had about 50 miles to go and church is 25 miles away. I got to church and my tank still had 50 miles to go. On my way back I drive about 15 miles before filling her up and the tank at that stage had 42 miles to go. I was driving in the slow lane at about 60mph the whole time.

My graphs were mostly in the 40mpg zone, this is how I have fun in Eco pro mode, just watch those graphs go up. Speed is not even my concern, even though it feels like a corolla.

I am sure same goes for everyone who uses it, if not in the mood and would rather engage in other things like a conversation with friends or kids, just throw it in Eco pro mode, get better gas mileage as a bonus . There are plenty of instances in life when sport or sport+ can be used
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      06-09-2013, 05:30 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by traabil
Under what driving conditions will you get the best value of ECO PRO? I'm thinking urban with much stop and go, but I haven't read anything official on this

Petrol heads will have me excused
Eco pro sail mode is awesome! It totally validates Eco pro.

It is brilliant. It is so much fun to sail downhill.

You can tell when you are sailing. The tach drops to idle speed.

It is seamless when it shifts to neutral. Then you sail, unrestricted!

Now, you tap on the brake and the system shifts back into gear seamlessly.

But, sailing is so much fun to see how far you can go. It is really a challenge and it is a totally different way to drive.
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      06-09-2013, 05:34 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 300hp View Post
I don't think the issue is to get Prius type gas mileage, it's to get more mileage than you would ordinarily get from your normal driving. Be it a 328 or 335

For example I had not used Eco pro mode on my current tank. I had to go to church with the kids so I started the car in Eco pro since I did not have time to go to the gas station before getting to church. My tank had about 50 miles to go and church is 25 miles away. I got to church and my tank still had 50 miles to go. On my way back I drive about 15 miles before filling her up and the tank at that stage had 42 miles to go. I was driving in the slow lane at about 60mph the whole time.

My graphs were mostly in the 40mpg zone, this is how I have fun in Eco pro mode, just watch those graphs go up. Speed is not even my concern, even though it feels like a corolla.

I am sure same goes for everyone who uses it, if not in the mood and would rather engage in other things like a conversation with friends or kids, just throw it in Eco pro mode, get better gas mileage as a bonus . There are plenty of instances in life when sport or sport+ can be used

I agree with you there. But it really does depend on where you live too. For me Eco pro is a slam dunk win on the highways and long drives. But around town on LI with the constant stop and go traffic it is just horrible. The car just feels so sluggish to me and around town I have found that comfort mode and Eco mode pull the same numbers and comfort mode feels much better on acceleration. It really does depend on where you are and what you want. Gas mileage is very important these days with the cost at the pumps up so high but if the MPG's are a tremendous concern then Eco pro is not the answer and maybe a Prius would have been for some.
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      06-09-2013, 05:40 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1bad335
Quote:
Originally Posted by 300hp View Post
I don't think the issue is to get Prius type gas mileage, it's to get more mileage than you would ordinarily get from your normal driving. Be it a 328 or 335

For example I had not used Eco pro mode on my current tank. I had to go to church with the kids so I started the car in Eco pro since I did not have time to go to the gas station before getting to church. My tank had about 50 miles to go and church is 25 miles away. I got to church and my tank still had 50 miles to go. On my way back I drive about 15 miles before filling her up and the tank at that stage had 42 miles to go. I was driving in the slow lane at about 60mph the whole time.

My graphs were mostly in the 40mpg zone, this is how I have fun in Eco pro mode, just watch those graphs go up. Speed is not even my concern, even though it feels like a corolla.

I am sure same goes for everyone who uses it, if not in the mood and would rather engage in other things like a conversation with friends or kids, just throw it in Eco pro mode, get better gas mileage as a bonus . There are plenty of instances in life when sport or sport+ can be used

I agree with you there. But it really does depend on where you live too. For me Eco pro is a slam dunk win on the highways and long drives. But around town on LI with the constant stop and go traffic it is just horrible. The car just feels so sluggish to me and around town I have found that comfort mode and Eco mode pull the same numbers and comfort mode feels much better on acceleration. It really does depend on where you are and what you want. Gas mileage is very important these days with the cost at the pumps up so high but if the MPG's are a tremendous concern then Eco pro is not the answer and maybe a Prius would have been for some.
Agreed your circumstance will drive your selection of drive modes.
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      06-09-2013, 09:28 PM   #12
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I use it for peak hour stop/go traffic and highway use if there's not too much traffic and the road is flat.
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      06-09-2013, 10:36 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by giggity317 View Post
Much like 1bad335, I too use mine in ECO pro mode on the highway where I see the most gains in mpg. In the city with stop and go traffic, the engine start/stop shuddering is too annoying and to accelerate quick enough to feel i'm not driving a Civic, negates any benefit of the feature (for me anyway).

But I've gotten as high as 40mpg in ECO pro on the highway. I use the cruise control to maintain and adjust my speed. I've been very impressed.
Except Eco pro's greatest benefits come in city driving.
ON the highway there isn't much that it does other than alter the AC compressor's level of operation, and slows throttle response. If you're the type of driver who's always on the throttle like an on/off switch, then it might help a bit.
Other than that I don't see what it can actually do on long highway drives, as there isn't anything different in Eco as there would be in comfort.
Seeing 40mph as an instant read on the highway, even I've seen that in my 335i Msport when driving at the speed limit with steady throttle, and in comfort mode.
I can achieve that as well in sport mode, but I have to manually shift to 8th gear as sport mode won't get to 8th until at least 100mph.

I tried using it a few times just to see and frankly it did nothing major for my mpg. I did succeed in annoying me with it's sluggish throttle.
As for ASS you can have that in any mode.
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      06-09-2013, 10:41 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1bad335 View Post
I tried that for a week to see what the numbers would be. Wound up lasting 2 days before I could not take it anymore. The car is such a slug in Eco Pro around town. Honestly, for me if I was super concerned about fuel economy I would not have got a 335. I would have opted instead for the 328I which has better mpg numbers. Driving in Eco Pro all the time just wasn't enjoyable in this car at all and in 2 days time the numbers were not that much better around town anyway. Like I said earlier, Hwy is a definite win in Eco pro.
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      06-10-2013, 12:07 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan_335i View Post
I use eco pro basically everytime unless i want to have fun.

Anyone no does bmw get there fuel economy numbers thru eco pro mode or normal mode?
BMW reports fuel economy numbers in Normal Mode.
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      06-10-2013, 03:12 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RPM90 View Post
Except Eco pro's greatest benefits come in city driving.
ON the highway there isn't much that it does other than alter the AC compressor's level of operation, and slows throttle response. If you're the type of driver who's always on the throttle like an on/off switch, then it might help a bit.
Other than that I don't see what it can actually do on long highway drives, as there isn't anything different in Eco as there would be in comfort.
Seeing 40mph as an instant read on the highway, even I've seen that in my 335i Msport when driving at the speed limit with steady throttle, and in comfort mode.
I can achieve that as well in sport mode, but I have to manually shift to 8th gear as sport mode won't get to 8th until at least 100mph.
+1

I was going to post something similar.

The common view seems to be that on the highway there is the greatest benefit, it shows it is changing the user driving style. There is more going on with the driver than the potential to save gas at a constant cruising speed. I suggest drivers are just not willing to adjust the same in city driving, because that is where the greatest gas savings would take place. Studies clearly show it is city driving and aggressive factors that use/waste most fuel, so ECO PRO in urban/city conditions has the greatest potential for any savings.

The 'sluggish' throttle response is sort of enforcing smoothness on a lot of drivers, that improves the economy. Plus I detect (and from my own experience with ECO PRO) there is a tendency to drive a bit slower (even if only a couple of mph) to see what we can get on the highway.

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      06-10-2013, 06:05 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HighlandPete View Post
Studies clearly show it is city driving and aggressive factors that use/waste most fuel, so ECO PRO in urban/city conditions has the greatest potential for any savings.
Yes and, as you point out, many drivers are unfortunately not willing to adjust.

I find eco pro works very well with city driving, and stop and go freeway driving. The gentler throttle mapping provides for easy foot feed control and a good amount of gas savings.

Hurry up and wait style driving is silly in traffic.
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      06-10-2013, 10:14 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by matt_335Ci View Post
BMW reports fuel economy numbers in Normal Mode.
Isn't comfort mode the normal mode?
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      06-10-2013, 10:21 PM   #19
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Isn't comfort mode the normal mode?
yes
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      06-10-2013, 10:33 PM   #20
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I use mine on the interstate. I dont like the jerking of the start and stop in bad rush hour traffic.
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      06-11-2013, 12:46 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HighlandPete View Post
+1

I was going to post something similar.

The common view seems to be that on the highway there is the greatest benefit, it shows it is changing the user driving style. There is more going on with the driver than the potential to save gas at a constant cruising speed. I suggest drivers are just not willing to adjust the same in city driving, because that is where the greatest gas savings would take place. Studies clearly show it is city driving and aggressive factors that use/waste most fuel, so ECO PRO in urban/city conditions has the greatest potential for any savings.

The 'sluggish' throttle response is sort of enforcing smoothness on a lot of drivers, that improves the economy. Plus I detect (and from my own experience with ECO PRO) there is a tendency to drive a bit slower (even if only a couple of mph) to see what we can get on the highway.

HighlandPete

While some of what you say may be true. It still comes down to where you're living. City does not mean the same for all of us on here. I live in NY which off the cuff would suggest to most that we live in NYC (Manhattan). But I live on LI which is the suburbs. While it is not the city, it does have the extreme traffic conditions that cause plenty of stop and go. I do not consider myself an aggressive driver at all (sometimes maybe). But there are driving modes and options in the car so, why not choose the option you like most for your particular driving. Like I had stated earlier in this post, I do not care for the very sluggish throttle response that I experience in Eco Pro for my around town driving.

That is not to suggest that I need to be weaving in and out of traffic but I do enjoy driving this car and feeling that burst every now and again. I use and benefit from Eco Pro when I drive on the highways and on trips. I love saving some money and fuel is expensive but if I wanted to wring out every last penny on every fill up, I would not have bought this car and would have opted for a Prius. IMHO, it is up to each individual to decide which driving modes suit their particular needs. It doesn't make you an aggressive or gas wasting driver it just makes you a driver who appreciates the shear driving joy and full potential of his/her BMW. BMW's slogan is, "The ultimate driving machine" isn't that why most of us bought these cars anyway.
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      06-11-2013, 03:04 AM   #22
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fuel is expensive

Come over to Europe if you want to talk expensive.
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