What type of gas do you fill up with?

My wife had my car last weekend on a road trip and she filled up with regular gas. Haven't noticed any decrease in performance--if anything, the car runs smoother. But there is a noticable drop in MPGs. I'm back to premium at my next fill up.

Jungle juice.

Recent customers at the Marathon gas station at 2275 Buford Highway near Atlanta were treated to a fill of diesel from the premium pumps

Originally Posted by laser

Recent customers at the Marathon gas station at 2275 Buford Highway near Atlanta were treated to a fill of diesel from the premium pumps

Oooooh, that's gotta smart.

That's one expensive insurance claim for that distributor.

That's why I don't use marathon or Thorntons
Shell for me all the way!

Hmm may be its just me... for some reason Shell is a big no no for me... BP get the best out of my cars!...
I tested them again in my F10 same thing... may be its just a placebo effect i dont know but with BP it runs very smooth and responsive ... too much jerky feeling with shell

Thanks for the feedback. I ll try BP and see how it works

You guys do realize that all the gas is the same, it's just got different detergents in it, right?

Originally Posted by Needsdecaf

You guys do realize that all the gas is the same, it's just got different detergents in it, right?

With some detergents better than others?

I always put Shell V-Power (91). I notice the fuel door actually says minimum 89. My previous X5 said minimum 91 on the fuel door.

I used to put Sunoco 93 (now Petro Canada) in my X5, but turns out that the extra octane rating is derived from adding ethanol. Shell V-Power has zero ethanol. I find that the BMW engines run better with fuels that have no ethanol.

I just thought it would be interesting to see what BMW says about it in the manual and I was surprised.

Take a look at the attachment.

Originally Posted by Baquir

I just thought it would be interesting to see what BMW says about it in the manual and I was surprised.

Take a look at the attachment.

Hmm thats interesting! So its not just my placebo effect?

That is very interesting. No BP in Canada so do not know their fuel makeup. I wonder how much if any ethanol BP has in their fuels and if that is why BMW recommends BP. Shell in Canada says zero ethanol for V-Power right on the pump.

I will check the Canadian car manual and see if there is a similar recommendation.

I've been using Costco 91 gas in my 335i since August and felt the engine getting progressively worse over time. Switched over to Chevron 91 a few days ago... and I'm convinced that it's much superior to Costco 91. The engine is quieter when idling, and the engine's much smoother on the freeway. The reason I switched is because the car would shake quite a bit at startup. Read on here that gas could be the problem. The shaking has gone now too.

Originally Posted by Sanjaygb

I've been using Costco 91 gas in my 335i since August and felt the engine getting progressively worse over time. Switched over to Chevron 91 a few days ago... and I'm convinced that it's much superior to Costco 91. The engine is quieter when idling, and the engine's much smoother on the freeway. The reason I switched is because the car would shake quite a bit at startup. Read on here that gas could be the problem. The shaking has gone now too.

My partner and I noticed the same thing. I went with two tanks of the Costco fule and we noticed the power response was different. Totally drivable and it still delivered acceleration, but just not as much pep. Switched to Shell and BP and pep was back. I won't go to Costco anymore for fuel.

Originally Posted by Baquir

With some detergents better than others?

Of course. But detergents won't make a difference in momentary running.

Originally Posted by binone

That is very interesting. No BP in Canada so do not know their fuel makeup. I wonder how much if any ethanol BP has in their fuels and if that is why BMW recommends BP. Shell in Canada says zero ethanol for V-Power right on the pump.

I will check the Canadian car manual and see if there is a similar recommendation.

Adding ethanol or other oxygenates is not related to any specific manufacturer. It is related to the region in which it is sold.

my real world test results, just did full tank with 87 recently and I get exact same mileage as with 89 and 91... I also don't notice any difference in power, nothing is knocking, everything runs as smooth as it can be... draw your on conclusions

I buy the cheapest gas I can find using my GasBuddy app. Gas is gas!

Originally Posted by dpwr

my real world test results, just did full tank with 87 recently and I get exact same mileage as with 89 and 91... I also don't notice any difference in power, nothing is knocking, everything runs as smooth as it can be... draw your on conclusions

Do you have a N52 528i or N20 528i?

If you have a N52 528i, I can believe you. The 328 loaners are the dealer always are filled with 87 and they seem to run fine.

The high compression, turbo 2.0T though? Runs like **** on 87

You can feed it 91 and above and be perfectly fine.
There are knock sensors that will retard your timing
and do some other things when they sense pre-ignition ( knock)
when you use lower octane gas. But don't use 87 !
In a naturally aspirated motor you can feed it almost anything and
with knock sensors it will be fine .
However when you do this you lose power and have to push the
motor harder negating much of your savings by using the lower grade
87-89 octane gas.
HOWEVER in a TURBO - I would not use anything below 91.
Your power production will suffer dramatically and you just don't want
today's high compression turbo motors struggling with less octane than
they need. Back in the day before computers et al a turbo motor would have
a low compression ratio 7 or 8 to 1 on average. Today
the compression ration is pretty high- which is why we are seeing
such high power being wrung from these relatively small turbo motors.
Bottom line -no less than 91 for a turbo motor. If you chose to drive
a turbo BMW- feed it what it needs to get what you paid for from
the car. Cheers

turbo 4

Originally Posted by AutoUnion

Do you have a N52 528i or N20 528i?

If you have a N52 528i, I can believe you. The 328 loaners are the dealer always are filled with 87 and they seem to run fine.

The high compression, turbo 2.0T though? Runs like **** on 87

Originally Posted by dpwr

turbo 4

If you lease your BMW, then who cares, let the next owner worry about it. If you plan to keep it for a long time, use the factory recommanded octane.

I use either Mobil, Sunoco, BP or Gulf 93 octane here in NY. I had to put one tank of 87 in the car (actually half) as a result of the Sandy nonsense, but now we're fully back on a 93 octane diet. I notice very little difference in performance.

Merry Christmas all.

I ran a 2000 Jetta for 140,000 miles and tried different grade fuels with no perceptable change - a dealer mechanic said it was a great idea because he would get paid to clean my injectors - never happened. My Harley calls for 93 - it burns 87 fine. The BMW doesn't seem to know the difference - we put 70K on it. If a modern vehicle with electronic systems can't adapt to different fuels (winter grade, summer grade, etc), fix it, jumk it or trade it.