AdBlue intervals and costs on your 730/40d?

[Pelo Cat]

Had to top up my adBlue today and was wondering what other people are paying and getting for mileage out of a refill on the stuff?

I'm just over 34k miles on my 730d (16 reg) and am getting around 10k miles on a tank of adBlue. My local dealer is the easiest option for me as they charge £30 to fill up (regardless of amount of adBlue needed) which in my case is usually around 15.5l before the warning comes on (and 10k miles)...

I have found adBlue at dealers in bottles or at Shell but they are all more than £2 / litre so this still makes the best sense for me (outside of ordering online which may be cheaper).

What are you getting out of yours and how often do you need to fill the adBlue up?

On a secondary note, the warnings for the adBlue are bloody annoying, every time you unlock the car and stop the car it warns you...(with a reserve of 1000 miles left to go it seems triggering it). I have read about being able to disable it in the manual but luckily just filled up quickly...

*for those wondering what I'm on about: AdBlue is the additive to diesel engines to allow them to get lower emissions and meet Euro 6 standards, petrol engines need not apply!

[FastLaneJB]

Originally Posted by Pelo Cat

Had to top up my adBlue today and was wondering what other people are paying and getting for mileage out of a refill on the stuff?

I'm just over 34k miles on my 730d (16 reg) and am getting around 10k miles on a tank of adBlue. My local dealer is the easiest option for me as they charge £30 to fill up (regardless of amount of adBlue needed) which in my case is usually around 15.5l before the warning comes on (and 10k miles)...

I have found adBlue at dealers in bottles or at Shell but they are all more than £2 / litre so this still makes the best sense for me (outside of ordering online which may be cheaper).

Mmm. BMW have a link saying it's £1 a litre including labour. Might be worth showing them this as seems they are charging you too much?

https://www.bmw.co.uk/bmw-ownership/...our-bmw/adblue

Where to get AdBlue®.
Drivers are encouraged to visit a BMW Centre and have an expert technician recommend the appropriate solution and then fill up the tank. The good news is that it’s more cost effective than ever before, with AdBlue® tank refills only costing £1 per litre. Clean driving costs less than you think.

*Price includes AdBlue®, VAT and labour. Maximum of 25 litres per refill.

Still if you had my car's bloodlust type thirst for fuel, you'd not notice the difference as it still feels like your bank account has sprung a leak with the money flowing out

[Pelo Cat]

Originally Posted by FastLaneJB

Mmm. BMW have a link saying it's £1 a litre including labour. Might be worth showing them this as seems they are charging you too much?

https://www.bmw.co.uk/bmw-ownership/...our-bmw/adblue



Still if you had my car's bloodlust type thirst for fuel, you'd not notice the difference as it still feels like your bank account has sprung a leak with the money flowing out

Thanks FastLaneJB, I also came across that link when googling where to get some and so was also surprised when the price of a bottle of the stuff was above £2 / litre, no doubt its in the small print that bottles are exempt!

In any case, mine was below the £2 / litre including labour as it needed 15.5 l and I paid £30 total. (just would have been a drag if you only needed 5 l say as the price was a fixed price (or maybe all adBlue tanks indicate it needs topping up only when 15 litres are gone...)

You at least have one benefit with yours regarding topping up...it rarely gets above 16 C here in the UK (last bank holiday weekend notwithstanding!) and so you are getting the full litre when you top up...have some sympathy for poor Arturo_Spain as IIRC you lose about 0.5 l over a full tank if you tank up in temperatures above 26 C (due to heat expansion and the pumps)....so you get yet another break with yours by living on the island!

thanks for the comments, safe travels.

[FastLaneJB]

Originally Posted by Pelo Cat

You at least have one benefit with yours regarding topping up...it rarely gets above 16 C here in the UK (last bank holiday weekend notwithstanding!) and so you are getting the full litre when you top up...have some sympathy for poor Arturo_Spain as IIRC you lose about 0.5 l over a full tank if you tank up in temperatures above 26 C (due to heat expansion and the pumps)....so you get yet another break with yours by living on the island!

Yeah over 26C isn't a common issue here though with the humidity that's for the best as it isn't the most comfortable. I'd say 40C in Texas is more bearable than 30C in the UK, at least until the point my pale white skin gives in and I burst into flames

[Pelo Cat]

Originally Posted by FastLaneJB

Yeah over 26C isn't a common issue here though with the humidity that's for the best as it isn't the most comfortable. I'd say 40C in Texas is more bearable than 30C in the UK, at least until the point my pale white skin gives in and I burst into flames

Very true, although we get quite a high ambient wind as well that works as a cooling effect in addition to the 'relative' humidity issue.

Up to 20 C the amount of water that saturated air can 'hold' is relatively little, after that the absolute amount of water that warmer temperatures can hold goes up exponentially and hence why temperatures above 30 C can be quite uncomfortable with higher humidities (relative to that temperature as the name indicates)...A better single value to use is 'heat index' which is something similar to 'wind chill' but for warm temperatures.

Well, that's my good deed for the day, now to go out for a drive and cut someone up to balance things out

[FastLaneJB]

Originally Posted by Pelo Cat

Very true, although we get quite a high ambient wind as well that works as a cooling effect in addition to the 'relative' humidity issue.

At least until mankind kills off the gulf stream

Originally Posted by Pelo Cat

Up to 20 C the amount of water that saturated air can 'hold' is relatively little, after that the absolute amount of water that warmer temperatures can hold goes up exponentially and hence why temperatures above 30 C can be quite uncomfortable with higher humidities (relative to that temperature as the name indicates)...A better single value to use is 'heat index' which is something similar to 'wind chill' but for warm temperatures.

Well you learn something every day I probably find it a bit uncomfortable before it hits 30C, maybe 25C or so. My house is only about 5 years old which means it's one of those very energy efficient homes to heat, however vs our older house it also means it's hotter in the summer as well...

I do wish we had AC in our homes like the USA. A good air to air source heat pump I'm lead to believe is quite efficient, if you add in solar panels you'd be cutting the amount of grid electricity you need as well.

The only catch is it doesn't heat hot water so any house I find with a heat pump in this country uses an air to water system. That means underfloor heating and radiators normally on the second floor plus hot water. Just those systems can only heat, they don't cool.

Maybe one day I'll get a plot / house before it's built to be able to specify the system. But I figure something like the air to air source heat pump with ducting like in the US. Then solar panels for electricity with a battery for storage. Finally some solar water panels to heat the hot water and an immersion heater to cover gaps which can use your solar power where possible to minimise pull off the grid.

Probably after all of that I might bring my carbon footprint to only about 600% more than everyone else with my V12, down from 1000%

Also I'm only an IT Architect, not a house architect so probably some reason homes like this don't exist here I'm not seeing. Though maybe it's simply cost and most people don't see the need for AC in UK homes. However as our homes hold heat in better, I think it's becoming a bit more required to be honest. Especially when I'm working from home and have quite a bit in my office that generates heat. My portable AC struggles once it goes over about 25C.

Originally Posted by Pelo Cat

Well, that's my good deed for the day, now to go out for a drive and cut someone up to balance things out

That's only a tiny bit evil, it's like decaf evil. You need to try harder

[Pelo Cat]

Originally Posted by FastLaneJB

At least until mankind kills off the gulf stream

True enough, we have already moved it just a tiny bit which is somewhat responsible for the change to the UK weather we see more and more (less drizzle and more intense storms all year round)

Originally Posted by FastLaneJB

Well you learn something every day I probably find it a bit uncomfortable before it hits 30C, maybe 25C or so. My house is only about 5 years old which means it's one of those very energy efficient homes to heat, however vs our older house it also means it's hotter in the summer as well...

I do wish we had AC in our homes like the USA. A good air to air source heat pump I'm lead to believe is quite efficient, if you add in solar panels you'd be cutting the amount of grid electricity you need as well.

The only catch is it doesn't heat hot water so any house I find with a heat pump in this country uses an air to water system. That means underfloor heating and radiators normally on the second floor plus hot water. Just those systems can only heat, they don't cool.

Maybe one day I'll get a plot / house before it's built to be able to specify the system. But I figure something like the air to air source heat pump with ducting like in the US. Then solar panels for electricity with a battery for storage. Finally some solar water panels to heat the hot water and an immersion heater to cover gaps which can use your solar power where possible to minimise pull off the grid.

Probably after all of that I might bring my carbon footprint to only about 600% more than everyone else with my V12, down from 1000%

Also I'm only an IT Architect, not a house architect so probably some reason homes like this don't exist here I'm not seeing. Though maybe it's simply cost and most people don't see the need for AC in UK homes. However as our homes hold heat in better, I think it's becoming a bit more required to be honest. Especially when I'm working from home and have quite a bit in my office that generates heat. My portable AC struggles once it goes over about 25C.

I know what you mean, we also bought a new build and its just coming up to 3 years old now this July. Energy efficient (band A) and CO2 band A. Was a special project that has won awards for how efficient they are (we have solar panels of course and rain water harvesting, SIP panels and a mechanical ventilation and heat recovery system as it is air tight. A few quirks with them (and no doubt some intensive costs down the road for maintenance) such as no cat flaps or letter boxes as that would be breaking the sealing of the house (which ironically causes us issues now when we want to consider putting in an electric charging point in the garden for the second car as it would mean stupid costs to do properly and seal to the same heat efficiency! We don't store the solar power though (only use it heat the water besides any immediate uses and when we're not feeding in to the grid), that may be our next move to help reduce costs further. We do love the house though, very thermally efficient and boy do we need the shutters when it is sunny or it would quickly become the goldfish bowl in the sun...The MVHR system does exhaust the hot air when the temperature and humidity are above a set threshold but it can't actively cool down below ambient...we like it hot though so no issues with that unless you drive your beast around Bristol too much...

In any case, just came back from a trip to Hong Kong and that is a different league for heat / humidity (and it's not properly hot there yet either) and even the smallest dwellings / offices have AC as they do need it.

Back on topic, I just go jump in the 7 when it gets that hot and turn on the atmosphere changer (AC)...

Originally Posted by FastLaneJB

That's only a tiny bit evil, it's like decaf evil. You need to try harder

Waiting until we meet up...then I'll do the gansta princess Dr. Evil...

Safe travels

[BMWrules7]

Originally Posted by Pelo Cat

Had to top up my adBlue today and was wondering what other people are paying and getting for mileage out of a refill on the stuff?

I'm just over 34k miles on my 730d (16 reg) and am getting around 10k miles on a tank of adBlue. My local dealer is the easiest option for me as they charge £30 to fill up (regardless of amount of adBlue needed) which in my case is usually around 15.5l before the warning comes on (and 10k miles)...

I have found adBlue at dealers in bottles or at Shell but they are all more than £2 / litre so this still makes the best sense for me (outside of ordering online which may be cheaper).

What are you getting out of yours and how often do you need to fill the adBlue up?

On a secondary note, the warnings for the adBlue are bloody annoying, every time you unlock the car and stop the car it warns you...(with a reserve of 1000 miles left to go it seems triggering it). I have read about being able to disable it in the manual but luckily just filled up quickly...

*for those wondering what I'm on about: AdBlue is the additive to diesel engines to allow them to get lower emissions and meet Euro 6 standards, petrol engines need not apply!

My stateside 740Ld (very rare bird) is an f02.


The adblue lasts the entire 10k service interval.

[Pelo Cat]

Originally Posted by BMWrules7

My stateside 740Ld (very rare bird) is an f02.


The adblue lasts the entire 10k service interval.

Thanks, useful to know, appreciate the reply, sorry for the delay in coming back to you...indeed, a diesel car at all in North America (outside of larger trucks) is quite rare...nicely done!

Sounds like 10k miles is the range to expect then and I'll need to watch that as the service interval for mine over here is around every 18k IIRC...(at least on the 730d)...

Safe travels, again, thanks for posting a response.