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2Addicts | BMW 2-Series forum BMW 2 Series (F22) Forum BMW 2 Series Coupe and Cabriolet (F22/F23) General Forum What octane rating do you use?

View Poll Results: What octane do you use?
89 9 3.54%
93 153 60.24%
91 (I take it you live in NJ if you pick this) 74 29.13%
Other 18 7.09%
Voters: 254. You may not vote on this poll

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      11-22-2016, 11:10 AM   #67
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'Cheap bastards' is so judgmental; perhaps they are saving their money for the new pistons they'll need. The real surprise is that nobody has posted to ask if running 89 octane means you should use a different type/weight of oil.
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      11-22-2016, 09:17 PM   #68
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Quote:
Originally Posted by P2 View Post
From my manual
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maynard View Post
'Cheap bastards' is so judgmental; perhaps they are saving their money for the new pistons they'll need. The real surprise is that nobody has posted to ask if running 89 octane means you should use a different type/weight of oil.
As the manual states that 89 is the minimum fuel grade and that by using it there is no effect on engine life, can you please explain to me why you feel using 89 will destroy the pistons?


Obviously 89 will not damage the engine, otherwise BMW would not allow it's use. I am looking to know why they recommend 91. From what I have read, there is no performance advantage by using higher octane fuel (beyond the point at which premature ignition is eliminated). Is iy simply to eliminate the risk of slight knocking when starting at high ambient temperatures?
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      11-22-2016, 09:33 PM   #69
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Car is tuned to run on 93+meth around town (Map 3). For shits and giggles, I run Map 6, which requires me to run 98-100 octane (mix VP's MS109 and Shell 93 or Sunoco 260GT Plus and Shell 93).

Love Map 6, peels wheels at 80mph. :-)
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      11-22-2016, 09:35 PM   #70
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Quote:
Originally Posted by harma24 View Post
As the manual states that 89 is the minimum fuel grade and that by using it there is no effect on engine life, can you please explain to me why you feel using 89 will destroy the pistons?


Obviously 89 will not damage the engine, otherwise BMW would not allow it's use. I am looking to know why they recommend 91. From what I have read, there is no performance advantage by using higher octane fuel (beyond the point at which premature ignition is eliminated). Is iy simply to eliminate the risk of slight knocking when starting at high ambient temperatures?
This seems pretty straightforward to me. 89 is the minimum octane at which the engine management system can protect the engine under any and all conditions. Sometimes, you could probably get away with a lot less - light loads in bitter cold, for example. But under heavy load on a 110F day, the system can still keep damage from happening on 89 octane gas. BUT, you won't get anywhere near all the performance you paid for either - the system will retard the timing, reduce boost, and probably even richen the mixture as needed to prevent and limit damaging detonation. If you are a gentle driver, you might not ever notice the difference. Of course, you should also be driving a Camry and doing something else with the money you wasted on a BMW...

Using the recommended 91 octane should allow the engine to make the rated horsepower under all conditions. Some cars can take advantage of higher octane ratings - for sure turbo Saabs with APC back in the day would build more boost with higher octane gas, but I have no idea whether BMW does this or not. I generally use 93 in my cars, but that is because the couple of stations that have it near me are usually $.25/gal cheaper than everyone else's 91 octane gas. If I have to put 91 in, I don't sweat it.
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      11-23-2016, 08:21 AM   #71
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Quote:
Originally Posted by harma24 View Post
As the manual states that 89 is the minimum fuel grade and that by using it there is no effect on engine life, can you please explain to me why you feel using 89 will destroy the pistons?

Obviously 89 will not damage the engine, otherwise BMW would not allow it's use. I am looking to know why they recommend 91. From what I have read, there is no performance advantage by using higher octane fuel (beyond the point at which premature ignition is eliminated). Is iy simply to eliminate the risk of slight knocking when starting at high ambient temperatures?
OK, perhaps I'm a bit hyperbolic - I should have said "saving their money for the pistons they MIGHT need". Even if the systems can adjust to knock, they are reactive - knock sensors can't stop the first few hits. Preignition is a very forceful, destructive event, albeit one that has to happen many times to cause "noticeable" issues (broken parts; magnaflux will show damage sooner, if you look). Most of my engine experience is outdated, and can't say exactly what this does to our modern motors, but I'm quite sure it isn't helping anything (that water injection on the racing M4 isn't for show). Keep in mind that our motors have max torque across the rpm band and with max torque comes max cylinder pressure and knock-risk. This magnifies stresses at lower RPM; it isn't like the old days when this only applied to max RPM and high temp situations (winter air is cold, but also very dense, so probably not just a summer issue).

And 120hp/liter requires knock prevention from higher octane. No way your ecu will give you full rated power without it, pulling spark and boost pressure, adding fuel to correct. Otherwise they would certainly advertise that they made full power on regular gas, just like other makers used to (before power got to this level; some still do stick with regular gas, but they aren't in this arena).

Between the obvious performance decrement, and the potential for damage, I don't see the point (why spend for the car, then turn it into a Camry for $.40 a gallon). I am, however, less worried about that first gallon coming out of the pump at 87 octane.
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      11-23-2016, 11:43 AM   #72
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91 here in CA
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      11-23-2016, 12:05 PM   #73
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Quote:
Originally Posted by krhodes1 View Post
This seems pretty straightforward to me. 89 is the minimum octane at which the engine management system can protect the engine under any and all conditions. Sometimes, you could probably get away with a lot less - light loads in bitter cold, for example. But under heavy load on a 110F day, the system can still keep damage from happening on 89 octane gas. BUT, you won't get anywhere near all the performance you paid for either - the system will retard the timing, reduce boost, and probably even richen the mixture as needed to prevent and limit damaging detonation. If you are a gentle driver, you might not ever notice the difference. Of course, you should also be driving a Camry and doing something else with the money you wasted on a BMW...

Using the recommended 91 octane should allow the engine to make the rated horsepower under all conditions. Some cars can take advantage of higher octane ratings - for sure turbo Saabs with APC back in the day would build more boost with higher octane gas, but I have no idea whether BMW does this or not. I generally use 93 in my cars, but that is because the couple of stations that have it near me are usually $.25/gal cheaper than everyone else's 91 octane gas. If I have to put 91 in, I don't sweat it.
Great explanation, thanks!
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      12-08-2016, 07:03 PM   #74
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kolyan2k View Post
So to sum it up, out of 127 people we got 5 cheap bastards who put 89 in the car ))
Not cheap just going by what the manual says. It's hard to find 91 in CT so I'm left with 89. LOL The way I see it anyone putting greater than 91 in their car if they have the choice of 91 or 93 is foolish. But what do I know I'm just following the owners manual. In the end to each their own and it's not my money they are burning in their engines so I couldn't care less.
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      12-08-2016, 07:10 PM   #75
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DMB228 View Post
Not cheap just going by what the manual says. It's hard to find 91 in CT so I'm left with 89. LOL The way I see it anyone putting greater than 91 in their car if they have the choice of 91 or 93 is foolish. But what do I know I'm just following the owners manual. In the end to each their own and it's not my money they are burning in their engines so I couldn't care less.
BMW recommends 91. Usually states that have 91 dont have 93 and vice versa. In all the shit holes that I've been in New England, I've never seen gas stations offers nothing above 89. I think many older German and Jap cars recommend minimum 91
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      12-08-2016, 07:23 PM   #76
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kolyan2k View Post
BMW recommends 91. Usually states that have 91 dont have 93 and vice versa. In all the shit holes that I've been in New England, I've never seen gas stations offers nothing above 89. I think many older German and Jap cars recommend minimum 91
I either have to buy 89 or 93. 93 is at every gas station I have ever been to in CT. 91 is really only at Shell or Sunoco, maybe both but those stations are not really in the places I drive. Manual states 89 as minimum so I'm ok with that grade.
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      12-08-2016, 07:36 PM   #77
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i'd buy 91 if it was offered, but I can only get 93. bought the m235 for the performance, not about to sacrifice some to save 6 bucks at the pump to get the 89.
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      12-08-2016, 07:40 PM   #78
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DMB228 View Post
I either have to buy 89 or 93. 93 is at every gas station I have ever been to in CT. 91 is really only at Shell or Sunoco, maybe both but those stations are not really in the places I drive. Manual states 89 as minimum so I'm ok with that grade.
89 retards the timing, thats why its not recommended by BMW. I dont understand why you would use 89 when you have access to 93. Basically BMW tells you its ok to use 89 if you dont have 91+ anywhere.

We got 6 cheap bastards out of 152 now.....must tell you something.
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      12-08-2016, 08:11 PM   #79
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Well I have my first oil change scheduled in a couple of weeks so I'm going to see what a BMW tech says about this.
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      12-08-2016, 08:35 PM   #80
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i am forced to run 91. I would prefer to run 93 but i have one station that sells it and they are about 50 miles away.
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      12-09-2016, 01:16 AM   #81
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The highest they sell in Hawaii is 92. Thats what I use
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      12-09-2016, 09:06 AM   #82
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Strictly Sunoco 93. Unless I'm caught up in a jam.
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      12-11-2016, 02:24 PM   #83
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I found a Phillips 66 close to me that sells 91 no ethanol. Would you guys suggest i run that? Majority of the stations here sell 91 with "contains up to 10% ethanol" To buy no ethanol is a bit higher per gallon but just curious on your guys thoughts.
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      01-28-2017, 09:33 AM   #84
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I've run 94 exclusively in my turbo'ed Subies for years, not about to cheap out on a BMW.

91 is the worst I'll use.

"Minimum" recommendation is just that. Cloth seats and hard plastic steering wheels are minimums as wheel. I think the Camry comments nailed it.
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      01-28-2017, 10:37 AM   #85
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jettison View Post
I found a Phillips 66 close to me that sells 91 no ethanol. Would you guys suggest i run that? Majority of the stations here sell 91 with "contains up to 10% ethanol" To buy no ethanol is a bit higher per gallon but just curious on your guys thoughts.
The only thing I use non-oxy gas in is my small engine equipment and my BMW when I store it for the Winter. The reason being that ethanol enhanced gas degrades and turns to varnish faster even,I assume, with preservative in it. If you drive your car a normal amount of miles this isn't a factor. Oxygenated gas has been around for a long time. The car manufacturers have learned how to deal with it. The advantage of non-oxy gas in a car is slightly better gas mileage.
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      01-29-2017, 06:59 AM   #86
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OK add another frugal Scottsman to the list. I can't seem to run short of horsepower very often so 89 is enough.

Anyone else up to being flamed?
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      01-29-2017, 02:55 PM   #87
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+1 for 93 octane. Either Shell or Sunoco
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      01-29-2017, 04:08 PM   #88
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ny176 View Post
+1 for 93 octane. Either Shell or Sunoco
Shell

Sunoco

Sunoco is not top tier...less than desirable detergent additive package.

http://www.toptiergas.com/licensedbrands/
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