What grade of gas?

[frank3]

I've been using mid-octane (89) in my 325i and it's running fine. Given the price of gas in cali, I'd like to drop down to regular (87). What are you guys using in yours?

[infared21]

I use Premium... forgot wat octane that is.. but premium feels the best... to me atleast... I tried the others a few times before.. just didnt feel good.

[Furious]

i dont use anything under 91 octane and i cant find anything higher than 94 so its either 91, 93, or 94

[felt7916]

I used regular up until a couple weeks ago when I put my chip in. Premium feels much better.

[Scarface]

I have always ran 93, under my fuel gauge there is a white sticker that says premium unleaded fuel only...

[Andrewsd1985]

93 here, have to with a chip, but feels better to use it even if you don't.

[jllphan]

Always 93. Never used anything else. I also use an octane booster every third tank. And sometimes i just dump a bottle of PGA in there... just as like a treat, on Friday nights only of course!!!

[alanh]

i use 87 cheaper and my car feeld better i think

[infared21]

eww 87.. 93 all teh way! i currently pay 2.07 - 2.19 a gallon for that stuff.. lol gg gas prices!

[Mattitjah]

Always the best! 93+.

[El Presidente]

A magazine, either car and driver or motortrend, I dont remember which, did a test comparing how different vehicles performed using various grades of gas. The cars tested ranged from honda accords to m3s. The cars were fed 87 for two weeks and then dyno tested, and then switched to 93 and dynoed again 2 weeks later. With the exception of one car, they all performed better with the higher octane. The accord did better with 87, but even honda admitted that it was probably a fluke, and the minium the accord should have is 89. The article also discusses how even if a car needs to run 91, as it ages it is better to upgrade to 93 to compensate for wear.

In sum, 93 is the best, and should be had all the time, espcially if you have high miles.

[///M Power]

Damn so many people not int he states. all we have is 91. I use 89 (ok shoot me) lol but my dad dusnt knwo it. I am trying to get a chip so he will be forced for allowing me to buy 91 hehe

gas prices here in south cali are as follows:
87-2.13
89-2.21
91-2.33

those are todays prices at ICKY arco. i prefer chevron


i hear shell is the worst. They wtaer theirs down a hella bunch. chevron is da best apparently. heh gotta love dat techron lol

[Scarface]

Man the prices in Cali are through the roof!!!!! In Alabama I am paying 1.79 a gallon for 93 and thats considered high here!

[WickedBimmer]

i use 93 now.. partly b/c of the dinan chip now, but i hear its way better for your car anyway

[frank3]

Replys are all interesting. Everything I've ever read indicates that you should use the octane recommended for the car...period. Higher octane shouldn't improve performance as its only benefit is to control early combustion in higher compression ratio cars and it doesn't provide more power (i.e., if you want to make a bomb, only use super unleaded 'cause it packe a bigger wallop? I don't think so!) . If you're supposed to run on regular and your car is older and only running well on super, then you've probably got carbon on your heads that's heating up the cylinder too much (or it's out of tune, or someother fixable item to bring the car back into spec).

My BMW owner's manual says you should use 89 octane, but you can also try 87 and if works well, then stay with it.

Wondering if those articles that ran the tests on the different grades of gas actually measured a substantive improvement in performance or was it only something like .0000001% better?


Also the comments re: different brands of gas and which is better always amuses me. If Shell watered down their gas don't ya think we'd read about it in all the papers and magazines rather than via rumors. I love urban legends!!


P.S. - Messrs Ridge and Ashcroft, if you're reading this, the bomb comment is only illustrative. I'm really really a proud American!