Thread: Which is more economical - Prius or BMW 5 series?

This would seem a silly question. How can one compare the fuel consumption of a lightly built hybrid with that of a 1.6 tonne conventionally powered luxury 5 seater with all the trimmings?

The Daily Mail made just such a comparison on a run from London to Geneva. It wasn't a high speed race, but an economy run at moderate speeds, so, given that Toyota claim 65 mpg for the Prius, it should have romped home about 30 mpg better than the big and heavy Bimmer.

But the BMW 520dSE returned 50.3 mpg overall while the Prius managed 48.1 mpg.

Toyota Prius proves a gas guzzler in a race with the BMW 520d review | Used Car Reviews | Driving - Times Online

The Prius is just status symbol for all the greenie wannabe's wankers. Apparently it's the car of choice for all the people who are truly ignorant about it's real long term negative effect on our environment.

All I know is it better be the Bmer you're picking me up for our date, in.

If you can afford the BMW the price of gas shouldn't be a concern.

I just bought a beamer the other day! It's a beauty, 4 dr 735i, jet black 3.5L 6cyl.

Believe it or not got it for my 22 yr old son, his toyota was falling apart and this was a deal. I hope he lets me borrow it from time to time.

The mileage savings claimed with the Prius are only realized during city driving, short start and stop trips where the electrical engine is engaged most of the time, during highway driving it relies on it's conventional, not so economical gasoline fired engine. I also suspect that the high mileage numbers you posted are due to the fact that English gallons are larger than American gallons.

Originally Posted by Pragmatist

I just bought a beamer the other day! It's a beauty, 4 dr 735i, jet black 3.5L 6cyl.

Believe it or not got it for my 22 yr old son, his toyota was falling apart and this was a deal. I hope he lets me borrow it from time to time.

Prag, you should adopt me.

My post was not an exercise to show how economical BMWs are (they are quite economical for high performance, luxury cars, but not the most economical cars available in Europe,) but simply to point out an interesting and unexpected comparison.

I have read several European reports of the Prius' economy being misrepresented. Toyota claims 65 mpg overall (town and country) which few, if any, owners in Europe/Australia seem to manage. The average is between 45 and 50 mpg, which is excellent, but matched and surpassed by a number of diesel cars such as the Golf 1.9TDi (55 mpg), and the BMW320d (59mpg) which uses most of the Prius' tricks, like regenerative braking and engine shut down at rest.

So are you picking me up for our date or not?

Originally Posted by Dubyas-Twin-Sister

So are you picking me up for our date or not?

Well, am I going to get lucky or not? :whistling: