[Dynamic_m235]

Just want to know if anybody has ever used it for their m235i and how it was. All I know about flex fuel is that you can switch back and forth from 93oct and others to e85.

[VIN240i13]

I would not dare put this in my BMW, from what I have seen first-hand from my neighbor who used it in his 2017 F250 and according to him, his truck has never been the same. He provided this link for me to read so I am sharing… the “disadvantages part” I think would throw up a red flag on a decision to use this as an alternative fuel.

https://www.carsdirect.com/green-car...-disadvantages

[TajoMan]

As far as I know, Flexfuel vehicles must use different seal material because the ethanol can eat regular seal material. (don't know exactly what the regular material is)

I would never put E85 to any car that's not Flexfuel specific vehicle.

[Dynamic_m235]

Thanks guys I’ll stay away from it lol

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by VIN240i13

I would not dare put this in my BMW, from what I have seen first-hand from my neighbor who used it in his 2017 F250 and according to him, his truck has never been the same. He provided this link for me to read so I am sharing… the “disadvantages part” I think would throw up a red flag on a decision to use this as an alternative fuel.

https://www.carsdirect.com/green-car...-disadvantages

Sorry, but that article is a joke.

Originally Posted by Dynamic_m235

Just want to know if anybody has ever used it for their m235i and how it was. All I know about flex fuel is that you can switch back and forth from 93oct and others to e85.

Lots of BMW owners run a e85 mixtures and have been doing it for years. You can't run full e85 on the factory fuel system though.

You can mix normal pump gas with e85 to dilute the e85. Will work fine. Almost all gas in the US has some ethanol in it (~e10).

I run e33-e35 usually. Keeps the engine clean and lots more power if you tune for it. Luckily I have a gas station that has 91oct, e85, and 101oct about 15min from my house.

[morphomeman]

I have never found 101 octane fuel available in the NY metropolitan area, though admittedly I have not looked very hard.
And the thought if trying to accurately mix three fuels from three pumps while filling the tiny tank in a 2 series is beyond my tiny brain's comprehension.
So I will stick with the 93 that God/Exxon gave us. I would use 91, as recommended, but again it is as rare as hen's teeth around these parts.

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by morphomeman

I have never found 101 octane fuel available in the NY metropolitan area, though admittedly I have not looked very hard.
And the thought if trying to accurately mix three fuels from three pumps while filling the tiny tank in a 2 series is beyond my tiny brain's comprehension.
So I will stick with the 93 that God/Exxon gave us. I would use 91, as recommended, but again it is as rare as hen's teeth around these parts.

You only have to mix two fuels. I usually only mix 91+e85. Sometimes I'll mix 101+e85.

FYI: e85 is equivalent to 105oct

Either way I use an app on my phone to do the mixture. Takes 15 seconds and is the difference of ~50hp.

[bryan_G01]

Originally Posted by morphomeman

I have never found 101 octane fuel available in the NY metropolitan area, though admittedly I have not looked very hard.
And the thought if trying to accurately mix three fuels from three pumps while filling the tiny tank in a 2 series is beyond my tiny brain's comprehension.
So I will stick with the 93 that God/Exxon gave us. I would use 91, as recommended, but again it is as rare as hen's teeth around these parts.

A few pumps on LI have 100 and 110, and down by Atco, they have the same. You can also buy cans of VP Fuel from any race supply shop at 90$ for 5 gallons. Any race track also carries usually 93/100/110.


Most folks run 2 gallons of E85 with a full tank of 93, anymore and your fuel pump will throw a CEL. Then you need to upgrade the LPFP.

Than if you run too much E, they car will run like shit and stall.

[morphomeman]

Where on the RPM curve do these increases in HP emerge? If at the very high end, then they are not very useful except on the track.
And paying close to $20. per gallon is pretty steep, especially when I have to run round Robin Hood's barn to find "any race supply shop" or "any race track."
Have a great Christmas and drive carefully. Keep those RPMs down!

[Maynard]

Anthony, do you have a tune or piggyback, or is the HP boost with the stock ecu?

[VIN240i13]

Originally Posted by Anthony235

Sorry, but that article is a joke.

Thank you for your journalistic opinion... but you know what they say about "opinions" right?

I found the content quite accurate, and lots of other sources out there with similar of not exact information. If you want to put that ethanol slop in your BMW then that is your choice. That fact that all gas now has some level of ethanol is irrelevant.

When there is a legitimate reason to use flexfuel in my M240i, I may consider, for now its 93 with a tad of that added corn stuff.

[bimmerfile]

Originally Posted by Anthony235

Sorry, but that article is a joke.



Lots of BMW owners run a e85 mixtures and have been doing it for years. You can't run full e85 on the factory fuel system though.

You can mix normal pump gas with e85 to dilute the e85. Will work fine. Almost all gas in the US has some ethanol in it (~e10).

I run e33-e35 usually. Keeps the engine clean and lots more power if you tune for it. Luckily I have a gas station that has 91oct, e85, and 101oct about 15min from my house.

The owners manual (page 170) makes it pretty clear that you should not use any fuel which contains more than 10% ethanol.
I only fuel with ethanol free high octane gasoline (e.g. Shell V-Power) in Canada. Better mpg and better for your car. I know that stateside you may not have that option --- sad...

[VIN240i13]

Originally Posted by bimmerfile

The owners manual (page 170) makes it pretty clear that you should not use any fuel which contains more than 10% ethanol.
I only fuel with ethanol free high octane gasoline (e.g. Shell V-Power) in Canada. Better mpg and better for your car. I know that stateside you may not have that option --- sad...

ethanol free gas choices are limited here in the US, as a boat owner ethanol free high octane gasoline is preferred and available at most marina's but you will pay a significant premium. When I can find it for the boat, I will always use ethanol free gas over E10, E85 is avoided completely or both boat and cars. There is an app for the iPhone that lists gas stations that have ethanol free high octane gasoline:

https://www.pure-gas.org/

One of the core reason to avoid E85 for boats is mentioned here, it deals with storage periods when a boat is not in use.

https://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvis...nol-Fuel-Myths

I would think that this scenario may also apply for those who store there fun summer car away for the winter...

[bimmerfile]

Originally Posted by VIN240i13

ethanol free gas choices are limited here in the US, as a boat owner ethanol free high octane gasoline is preferred and available at most marina's but you will pay a significant premium. When I can find it for the boat, I will always use ethanol free gas over E10, E85 is avoided completely or both boat and cars. There is an app for the iPhone that lists gas stations that have ethanol free high octane gasoline:

https://www.pure-gas.org/

One of the core reason to avoid E85 for boats is mentioned here, it deals with storage periods when a boat is not in use.

https://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvis...nol-Fuel-Myths

I would think that this scenario may also apply for those who store there fun summer car away for the winter...

Maybe you guys should encourage your pro-deregulating POTUS to make gasoline great again..

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by VIN240i13

Thank you for your journalistic opinion... but you know what they say about "opinions" right?

I found the content quite accurate, and lots of other sources out there with similar of not exact information. If you want to put that ethanol slop in your BMW then that is your choice. That fact that all gas now has some level of ethanol is irrelevant.

When there is a legitimate reason to use flexfuel in my M240i, I may consider, for now its 93 with a tad of that added corn stuff.

OK, let's go over the disadvantages listed in the article:

Disadvantages:

Sole use.The use of ethanol can be considered a disadvantage as well because any crops that are made available for fuel production cannot be used for any other use. This could lead to higher prices for products like animal feed that could otherwise be derived from them. Corn, in particular, is a labor intensive crop to cultivate and is prone to drought, bad weather conditions and disease.

A ridiculous argument. The same could be said of fossil fuels or any other resource in existence.

Engine damage.Ethanol can also unfortunately cause corrosion and damage to the engine, mainly because it absorbs dirt easily.

The "absorbs dirt easily" is irrelevant to our cars or any other modern fuel system. If you have dirt in your fuel system you have larger issues to deal with. Also to state it causes corrosion and damage to the engine is false. Written by a person that doesn't even know what an engine is apparently. In fact ethanol "cleans" the combustion chamber (tops of pistons, valves, fuel injectors, etc). Also, if you would have quoted my whole comment you will would seen that I'm only talking about a low concentration. Which makes most of that article irrelevant.

Expense. Ethanol is also not as economical as gasoline, in that it does not provide the same level of fuel efficiency. Suppliers of ethanol may not be as numerous as those who supply gasoline, so flex fuel stations may be fewer and farther between than is presently the case with gasoline stations. In fact, there are currently only a few stations nationwide that supply ethanol.

The value of ethanol will vary depending on normal fossil fuel prices. Here in California the gas prices for 91oct over $3.50 a gallon. E85 is ~$2.50 a gallon here. So even though ethanol gets less MPG it can still cost you less. Again, in my context of mixing the fuel the MPG aspect is a non-issue. There are many e85 to fossil fuel cost calculators online that will show you if it's a money saver for you based on e85 and fossil fuel prices. It also states there are only a few stations nationwide that supply ethanol. What is a few? Great article.

Little actual research or thought was put into the article. The issue is not as simple as it is made out to seem.

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by morphomeman

Where on the RPM curve do these increases in HP emerge? If at the very high end, then they are not very useful except on the track.
And paying close to $20. per gallon is pretty steep, especially when I have to run round Robin Hood's barn to find "any race supply shop" or "any race track."
Have a great Christmas and drive carefully. Keep those RPMs down!

Would be through the whole RPM range, but minimal unless you tune the car for it.

If you're not someone that is looking to do that (as most naysayers here probably) it won't be worth it.

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by Maynard

Anthony, do you have a tune or piggyback, or is the HP boost with the stock ecu?

I run my own custom tune thought JB4 (piggy back).

You would not get much of a boost on stock ecu; if any.

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by VIN240i13

ethanol free gas choices are limited here in the US, as a boat owner ethanol free high octane gasoline is preferred and available at most marina's but you will pay a significant premium. When I can find it for the boat, I will always use ethanol free gas over E10, E85 is avoided completely or both boat and cars. There is an app for the iPhone that lists gas stations that have ethanol free high octane gasoline:

https://www.pure-gas.org/

One of the core reason to avoid E85 for boats is mentioned here, it deals with storage periods when a boat is not in use.

https://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvis...nol-Fuel-Myths

I would think that this scenario may also apply for those who store there fun summer car away for the winter...

I've used an ethanol stabilizer from Lucas Oil before. You might want to look into it

Originally Posted by bimmerfile

Maybe you guys should encourage your pro-deregulating POTUS to make gasoline great again..

Well he is opening up Alaskan oil again

[VIN240i13]

Originally Posted by Anthony235

OK, let's go over the disadvantages listed in the article:.

We can go back and forth with this topic for days, I can find info that trumps your logic and I am sure you can find the same in reverse... it's like politics, Republicans and Democrats yapping to each other, both right and both wrong depending on who's point of view your focusing on at the moment.

Bottom line, enjoy using e85

For me, there is nothing anyone can say to me that will convince me to put e85 in my BMW.

As for my boat, "the twins" are always fed an ethanol free formula.

[cxp213]

I'm not sure what there is to debate...

Much of what Anthony said is correct. Any caution about the use of E85 mainly applies to older engines and their hoses. The newer cars, especially at lower concentrations of ethanol (i.e., E30 mix) can handle the additional alcohol content without any detrimental effects as long as the engine is tuned for the difference in how the fuel combusts.

[VIN240i13]

Originally Posted by cxp213

I'm not sure what there is to debate...

Correct there is no more debate..

Not going to waste any more time providing info on the negatives of using e85, it's all out there.. Google it.



For those that use it, enjoy.... I won't.. end of story...

[Questofthetune]

Um I use 5 gals of it evrey tank with my 98oct. It’s what evreyone running a jb4 or similar tune is running. Go to N45 board amd look