94 Octane gas

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11-06-06, 05:39 AM

#16

dreyfus

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Macklin

Well, then what is the better choice....89 or 93? The two or three stations I frequent all carry 93, which is what I have been using.

As was said earlier, no engine will benefit from a higher octane gas than it was optimized for. So at 93 you're wasting money. With 89 your engine will perform just fine.

I just passed 7,000 miles on my ES350. The last 5,000 miles have been on 87 octane with no discernable differences from my first 2,000 miles running on 91 octane only.

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11-06-06, 05:49 AM

#17

ES350Bob

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One of my friends, Joe, swears by pumping 10 to 15 dollars of 89 octane and then topping that off with 10 to 15 dollars of 93 octane and the average of the two is 91 which is not available here.

And he also does this with 87 and 93 and nets, according to him, 90 octane darn close to the suggested 91 and better than the acceptable 87 or 89.

When gas prices were over 3.00 dollars for 93 octane he was saving money.

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11-06-06, 05:19 PM

#18

Gumball

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumball

I'm not sure this applies here but I am trading in a BMW 545i for a ES 350 because my Beamer has been a big headache. It only has 4500 mile but has had its computer system reprogramed about 7 times and has had its engine removed and new headers and fuel injectors installed at BMW's insistence. After my last service call, the service rep showed me a BMW bulliten stating that the engine clatter and 'eccentric motion of engine parts' was finally found to be due to the US premium high octane formulation (93) fuel and that using intermediate grade premium would solve the problen. They were right. I bought my car new in 2004 and the bullitin was issued in May 06. I haven't quite figured out who to put a voodoo hex on as yet.

I guess what I'm saying you might try intermediate premium if you haven't already.

The boys back in Bavaria said that the 330 hp BMW engines didn't like the American high octane gas or the additives that are ini it. Add to this that the fuel formulations vary from region to region in the US and this may make the clattering and dieseling worse. My BMW did sound better on intermediate grade fuel. It was the worst car I ever had. My ES 350 has so far not had any of the problems outlined here on CL