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Haha yes I wondered if you were living in the UK using the phrase SWMBO.
The OBC on these petrol E46s does seem to be very accurate from people who post on the BMW forums. I've not done a proper brim to brim test but on longer trips the consumption on long stints matches the amount needed to fill up. You know on these cars, it is not recommended to fully brim the tank, as it damages the evaporative emissions system with fuel that overflows and soaks into it, it is recommended to fill to the 1st click only, just thought I'd mention it.
Yes the savings from a grill block would probably be quite small for you, it's a cheap mod though and every little helps as they say.
I don't use the soft top enough to be honest, I enjoy driving the car regardless of being a soft top, and when I'm driving on faster roads I prefer the roof up. I have had it down at around 12-13 Celsius ambient, and the heaters did a good job keeping the cold out.
I guess the hard top helps to protect the hood from snow in winter in Finland, it's not quite so necessary in the UK, as we usually get around a week of snow every year. I like the fact you can use an E46 convertible year round in such a cold climate though.
I think the best way to get really decent fuel economy from these would be to use pulse and glide with coasting in neutral for the glide phase. I think late 40's mpg UK would be possible (about 40mpg US) on longer runs at around 60-65mph with this technique. I tried pulse and glide using the cruise control, with the car in gear, at about 60-67mph, but it seemed to slow too quickly on the glide phase with the car in gear, even though the revs were only about 2000rpm (6th gear). I might try this again as it's a really easy technique, set the cruise for say 67mph, press the button to turn cruise off, then at 60mph press the resume cruise button. The acceleration on cruise seems to be about 75% of maximum, so will be in a good BSFC zone for the engine.
Anyhow, enjoy the summer in your 325!
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