HAD TO BUY 87 octane DUE TO GAS SHORTAGE!! WTD?

[rrtec]

What should I do.. Locally we have had a HUGE (made National News) gas shortage. After two weeks they have shipped gas back into the Nashville Area, BUT it is regular unleaded only, and they cannot tell us when we will be recieving more Premium or Mid Grade.. What Am I supposed to do?I was thinking of adding octane booster.. I had always heard that stuff was "snakeoil"... Is it worth adding to the gas? I just want to do as right as I can under the current situation..

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=160818&stc=1&d=1222048363

[rcrobbin]

HAHA yea all the gas stations around here are selling the shake and schwag too. I just keep an eye out for stations without post-its on the pumps, usually its BP here. Good luck.

[PhilipWOT]

Personally, I would dump a bottle or two of octane booster into each tank.

[der BMW]

You may experience some engine knock but I don't think using regular for a little while is going to harm the engine.

[v33_n0d3]

One or two tanks of 87 octane won't do anything to your car.

[DNRC]

I had to use regular yesterday as well for the first time, way to go Americans that panic about EVERYTHING! :p

[Pirate_copy]

Just run it and look forward to proper stuff coming in

Knock sensors are there for a reason, it will be fine

[Bimrpwr]

what pirate said. I wouldnt touch the octane booster. It is crap and wont do anything IMO.

[PhilipWOT]

what pirate said. I wouldnt touch the octane booster. It is crap and wont do anything IMO.

He's certainly got nothing to lose by trying it. Even if it has no true octane boosting abilities, the least that could happen is his injectors get nice and clean.

[LDV330i]

Just run it and look forward to proper stuff coming in

Knock sensors are there for a reason, it will be fineThere is no reason for people to be overly concerned. Mileage may drop a bit as well as power. If you read your handbook and/or the label on the gas door it says 91 RON recommended.

People here in Houston had no choice but to use regular when that was the only thing being offered in the only gas station open for miles because there was no power due to hurricane Ike. My car is yet to blow up. :tsk:

[suer]

I was lucky to fill up on Thu before Ike struck. The following week was out travelling on business and when I came back to Atlanta could not believe we were out of gas! Still 1/2 tank left, I think I'll make it to next week between car commute and working from home.

[C Sean Watts]

One tank shouldn't be any trouble but in the future...

Instead of off the shelf stuff at Auto Zoo, you can use benzene (C6H12) not the German word for gasoline - benzin. It will not hurt cats. and sensors like some other stuff will. It's an active ingredient in gasoline but it evaporates in open containers too quickly to make the EPA happy, so they favor long chain molecules over the rings.

Four oz. per 10 gallons of fuel should hold you over till 'high test' comes in.

[Jim Spence]

RON, or Research Octane Number, is not the American octane rating. Octane is (according to a few websites I just visited) .95% of RON. So a RON of 91 is about an American octane rating of 87. If you're running a chip or are sharked you're supposed to run 91/93 octane.

But as others have said, there's probably no problem with running 87 octane occasionally.

And I'd like to believe that there'd be no problem in putting some kind of booster into your system. As Phillip said, at least your injectors would be clean.

[Bimrpwr]

the gas cap will say to run 89oct on these cars and if you have a chip and run 87 it will just knock a little and wont hurt anything. It would take years of running 87 to hurt your car.

[DNRC]

the gas cap will say to run 89oct on these cars and if you have a chip and run 87 it will just knock a little and wont hurt anything. It would take years of running 87 to hurt your car.

my original cap said 89 minimum, but it went bad and I had to go to the stealer to get a new one :thumbup:

[C Sean Watts]

RON, or Research Octane Number, is not the American octane rating. Octane is (according to a few websites I just visited) .95% of RON. So a RON of 91 is about an American octane rating of 87. If you're running a chip or are sharked you're supposed to run 91/93 octane.

But as others have said, there's probably no problem with running 87 octane occasionally.

And I'd like to believe that there'd be no problem in putting some kind of booster into your system. As Phillip said, at least your injectors would be clean.

API - American Petroleum Institute - uses the R+M/2 (average of research and motor octanes) method. It's more 'real world' as to whats coming out of the pump. I'm not sure about too many other countries but Germany only uses the research index method. You'll see the pumps labeled something like, "benzin 93" "super 95" and "super plus 98" If you have a car that requires 'mid grade' and you use benzin 93 octane, over there, it will knock. The first time my father in law came to the states he drove my pick up and wanted to fill it up. He saw '87' and thought that was the same as old WWII naphtha/kerosene mix. We all got a good laugh out of that.

[SCANDINAVIAN13]

One or two tanks of 87 octane won't do anything to your car.

Just run it and look forward to proper stuff coming in

Knock sensors are there for a reason, it will be fine

Yeah, that. ^^^

You can always go a grade higher, too, if it's available.



As for the other posts, my cap says 89 is the minimum recommended.

[Pirate_copy]

Mine says 98 RON Recommended :)

[C Sean Watts]

Mine says 98 RON Recommended :)

The M3 octane requirement is the same as Europe.
It would need 'premium' or 93 R+M/2

[Vornado]

Give me a f-ing break. There was a national disaster.. trees falling through people's houses, homes flooded, lost jobs and wages.. and you're worried about putting regular gas in your 15 year old car. Wish I had such petty issues to worry about. Jeesh. :tsk: :rolleyes:

[rrtec]

Give me a f-ing break. There was a national disaster.. trees falling through people's houses, homes flooded, lost jobs and wages.. and you're worried about putting regular gas in your 15 year old car. Wish I had such petty issues to worry about. Jeesh. :tsk: :rolleyes:

Look I notice that you are in TX... So I am going to ignore your tone.. But my question was valid. Did I complain in my post? Did I act as if I was owed something? NO. I asked a simple vehicle Preventitive Maintenance question. In the fallout of the storm Premium fuels have not been available. I care about the condidtion of my vehicle and try to follow the manufacturers recomendations.

Get off your high horse.

[Bimrpwr]

Give me a f-ing break. There was a national disaster.. trees falling through people's houses, homes flooded, lost jobs and wages.. and you're worried about putting regular gas in your 15 year old car. Wish I had such petty issues to worry about. Jeesh. :tsk: :rolleyes:

Take a chill buddy. he just had a question and was concerned. I was putting a tone out like you when my entire City was flodded and no way to get in and out of the city for several days.. So take a chill and go on with life. Yeah i feel bad for all you people down there, but it is all part of life.