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.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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!!!

 

i use 87 cheaper and my car feeld better i think

 

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

 

Always the best! 93+.

 

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.

 

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

 

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!

 

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

 

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!

 

I always use 95. We currently have 98 yet, but that's too expensive!

 

What, prices are high in Cali??? What's expensive?? I'd pay € 4.46 a gallon. In $ it is about 5.50!! issed2

 

San Diego is the worst. Most Chevrons have 91 at $2.47+ (which I normally prefer), but I found a Shell close-by with 91 for $2.33 and so far the gas feels good (and I still get 375+ miles on a full tank).

Where the heck do you guys live to buy 93 octane? Consider yourselves very fortunate - I haven't even seen 92 in CA in years.

 

those gas prices are insane...here in iowa premium is 1.79 at BP ( i just filled up the volvos)

 

I fill up with Sunoco half tank 94 and half tank 92, so I possibly have 93?. I have a Dinan chip. If I wasn't into performance, my bimmer would probably be using 89.

 

325's have anti knock sensor, so if you were to downgrade to 87, it will be fine. You will lose high end performence and suffer loss of hp and torque though. Also, if you decide to run tha car on 87, drive normally and don't beat on it. That means no higher RPM's than 5k on 87 octane. Your car's redline is 6.5K, but that is with 89 or higher octane.

 

use 89 in my 325i with a conforti chip and I've had no problems at all...

 

Yes, you can use 89 or even 87, but why would you want to? You could also drive an '87 pinto, but why would you want to? Most of us are here because we like (and drive) nice cars, so take care of them. No, 93 isn't going to make your car last another 100K or make it .03 sec. faster to 60mph, but it is the best most of us can buy at the station, and at a nickel or dime more a gallon, why not?

 

Originally posted by bimmerfan620@Mar 27 2004, 02:07 AM
use 89 in my 325i with a conforti chip and I've had no problems at all...

That completely defeats the purpose of getting a chip. It could also damage your motor. You're not getting any pinging?

Bry

 

nickel or a dime more? Not here it isn't.. try .25 cents more in Michigan for premium. and this is my daily driver. what do I care about using premium right. Now my vr4 gets minimum 93, but often sees the blue stuff.

 

Can you folks who advocate a higher octane level explain why that increases the performance of the car?