04-10-2016, 09:58 PM | #24 |
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I use Shell, Chevron or Mobil. All have top tier gasoline and are close to my house. Chevron is the cheapest. Followed by Shell and then Mobil. I always avoided Arco but now they have top tier gasoline per their claim. All are 91 octane. It's the highest we have in California.
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04-10-2016, 10:58 PM | #26 |
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I usually use BP. The cheapest top tier fuel in my area. I don't think that there is much difference in top tier brands.
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04-11-2016, 04:01 AM | #27 |
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I use Shell V-Power. In my area if you go to the right station it is as cheap as most of the off brands. Also, the guys at the Porsche forums swear it's the best.
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04-11-2016, 04:49 AM | #28 |
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The base gasoline sold at all stations in an area is the same. It will come from the same storage tanks at the same depot. The difference comes from the additive package added to the fuel in the distribution truck, which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. I tend to use Shell, but change to a different brand every 10,000 miles for 1000 miles just to run a different cleaning package through from time to time.
All that being said, direct injection engines such as the N55 in the M235i will still need walnut blasting of the intake valves from time to time (50k miles or so) to remove carbon buildup. As there's no fuel flow over the intake valves, carbon inevitably builds up, regardless of the brand used.
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04-11-2016, 06:56 AM | #29 |
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I think the other bigger issue is that the cheap gas stations (regardless if they sell 93 octane or not) do not properly maintain their underground tanks. Therefore you begin to get small amounts of sediment or water in the gas as well.
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04-11-2016, 09:03 AM | #30 |
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Unfortunately, we left coast folks are stuck with a max of 91 octane
To make matters worse, if you live in mountain states, like SLC, and use regular, the octane is 85. Supposedly you need less octane at high altitude so the refineries "do you a favor" and sell you crap gas at the same price as lower elevation folks pay for their 87 regular.
As for brands, I've always used the cheapest name brand all my life with never an issue. However, with the stories of carbon build up on direct injection engines I've changed to top-tier only. I've read somewhere that California law requires ALL gas sold meet a BMW cleaning spec, although I forget which one, so even no name gas is as good as top tier. |
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04-11-2016, 09:18 AM | #31 |
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Shell V-Power (91 octane) for my bimmers - contains no (zero) ethanol.
.. http://www.shell.ca/en/products-serv...power/faq.html
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Last edited by bimmerfile; 04-11-2016 at 02:28 PM.. |
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04-11-2016, 10:14 AM | #32 | |
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gas
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I’ve always used it with my past bimmers! |
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04-11-2016, 10:16 AM | #33 |
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Oil
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04-11-2016, 11:07 AM | #36 |
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Shell V-Power when I can get it; no stations nearby (all are 12 or more miles away). Chevron and BP are closer.
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04-11-2016, 11:21 AM | #37 |
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Not true for the US. Very very very few stations in the US use pure gasoline and if you do find it, the stations make it a point that it's ethanol free. Depending on the grade and vendor (i.e. Top Tier, Costco, grocery store stations), ethanol content can vary. The cheaper non-top tier stations tend to use higher volume ethanol gasoline thus your MPGs with those fuels will be marginally worse.
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04-11-2016, 09:55 PM | #38 | |
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Well, it seems most of you like Shell more. I am going to try them for awhile.
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