mpg

No.

And before anybody else comments, OP (probably) meant the 'long' gallon (judging by his e-mail domain name).

DAS

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it barely gets warmed up at 4 miles! lol

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Regardless, the OP has no idea what mileage his car is getting. The engine is never even reaching full operating temperature in 3 miles.

Not really.

Our 5 year old 318i Auto Touring gets around 23mpg (UK) doing the school and shopping run.

While I'd agree the oil won't be up to full temperature, the coolant certainly should be after much less than this if in town. So the fuel consumption should be at its 'normal' for those traffic conditions by the end of the journey.

Consumption on an MPG basis is truly horrendous when first starting on a cold day, but should be approaching 'normal' after a mile or so.

very short trips, cold weather, commute [probably in heavy traffic].

20mpg IS quite good in these circumstances, and the coolant probably hasn't reached operating temperature (but this depends a bit on just how slow his 3 mile trip is).

I know that my coolant will not have reached full temp (needle straight up) by the time I travel the ~3 miles from my home to the highway, and that is all on back roads (35mph speed limts) with stop signs, etc.

But again, none of this will even matter, assuming that fuel mileage is being measured as an average consumption of trips over a tankfull (not the instantaneous display on the dashboard)

One of my regular work journeys is about 3 miles and through town. But at about 0700 and heading out of town, so pretty clear. Even on a 0C day the gauge will be on normal about half way there (E39 528 auto)

20 mpg in city driving with a clod motor is probably nothing to be alarmed at. I think that driving 3 miles to work and back is not enough to heat the motor properly, and you need to take the long way home a few times per week to warm the motor.

A cold motor will run rich (extra gas), which causes low mileage or high fuel consumption -- depending on your perspective.