[stactum]

X3 owners, what octane grade gas are you using on your X3?

I know manual says you should use premium, and it's better for many reasons, especially for turbo, however, does anyone use regular? Also do you own or lease your x3?

[Want the thrill]

I use Shell premium and own my 35i.

[Chris55]

I would use low octane/regular in a rental only.

[paul386]

Originally Posted by stactum

X3 owners, what octane grade gas are you using on your X3?

I know manual says you should use premium, and it's better for many reasons, especially for turbo, however, does anyone use regular? Also do you own or lease your x3?

Although a lower grade gasoline may work it is a huge risk on a $40-$50k vehicle to take. BMW recommends 91 AKI with a minimum rating of 89 AKI. I use 93 AKI which is the highest available around me. I have been on road trips where 89-91 AKI is available only (in mountains and such) and the car ran fine.

BMW recommends premium fuel in the naturally aspirated vehicles as well. I think it is a much lower risk to use 89 AKI in those engines.

[Polar_Bimmer]

I always use premium and I own my 28i

[Nahoa]

I use premium and own it. If I could find a fuel around here with Techron, I'd buy that. Calculate the savings of the cheaper fuel. For me 15 gal, twice a week, saving 0.12 cents a gallon for 12 months is $43.20 dollars saved in a year. There's no way I'd risk going against the manufacturer's recommendation and potentially causing damage to the car that would certainly cost more to repair to save $43.20 dollars.

For businesses and professional drivers who consume a lot of fuel I can see a concern about small differences in fuel costs. I'd guess that for most of us here, it's really not much of an issue. Much talked about, little real impact.

[greg2step]

always premium - around here that's usually 93 octane. If i see 91 I will use it, but not lower, would seem to risky esp even w/ a turbocharger.

[mibmwx3]

I own my 35i, and use premium (93 octane) - mostly Mobil and sometimes BP.

[pokerface]

Premium on the n52. I did notice that the recommended for the n20 engine is 89 octane on the new cars. Would you do it???

[jsbos]

I use only Premium on my 28i N52. I own it. The difference in price vs lower grade for a tank of gas is very little.

[Lucky13]

Nahoa, you may want to use a calculator. 30 gallons a week times 52 weeks is 1560 gallons times .12 is $187.20 not $43.20.

[Nahoa]

Originally Posted by Lucky13

Nahoa, you may want to use a calculator. 30 gallons a week times 52 weeks is 1560 gallons times .12 is $187.20 not $43.20.

Lucky, your number is right -- I'd gone too fast and did 30 gallons a month instead of 30 gallons a week. For me the savings of $187.20 still isn't worth the risk.

And thanks for pointing out the error in such a nice way, your momma would be proud.

[tuco44]

I own it, 91 or higher always.

[KingX]

I don't have the X3 35i as yet but when it arrives next week it will be using the same as all my other vehicles: Shell premium

Will own it as well.

I don't see the point of putting lower grade gas to save a dollar or two. I would probably waste a lot more than that on car products anyway

[gareth12468]

Originally Posted by Want the thrill

I use Shell premium and own my 35i.

Same here.....

[kskpsu]

Always Shell 93 Vpower, own my car. Only time I will ever deviate is if I find gas without corn in it. Not an option where I live in good ole corrupt IL, but a mini road trip to Wisconsin will yield Quick Trips that have ethanol free premium...they are Tier 1 gas provider as well.

[roundtree]

I lease my 28i and only use 93 octane. All of the fueling stations I've seen here in Texas have ethanol blended, so I can't say if that makes a difference or not. I can say that I didn't have a choice once and had to put in a small fillup of 89. The X3 ran, though it was less than 19mpg compared to 25mpg the tank before. Promptly filled up with Chevron 93 afterwards.

Definitely not worth the risk, given the slight cost increase. Less than 10% difference here in price.

[paul386]

Originally Posted by pokerface

Premium on the n52. I did notice that the recommended for the n20 engine is 89 octane on the new cars. Would you do it???

The minimum approved on the N20 and N55 is 89 AKI, with a warning that you may experience engine noise and roughness that isn't a cause for concern (yeah.... right). The recommended is 91 AKI and above.

Originally Posted by jsbos

I use only Premium on my 28i N52. I own it. The difference in price vs lower grade for a tank of gas is very little.

You are probably pretty safe on the N52 running 89 AKI and certainly 91 AKI. Without a turbo the cylinder pressure is much less and the fuel is much less likely to auto ignite.

[Fryguy29]

Originally Posted by kskpsu

Always Shell 93 Vpower, own my car. Only time I will ever deviate is if I find gas without corn in it. Not an option where I live in good ole corrupt IL, but a mini road trip to Wisconsin will yield Quick Trips that have ethanol free premium...they are Tier 1 gas provider as well.

Where in Wisconsin do you find ethanol free premium? I can only find corn free regular here.

[JSY]

This is my third X3 lease and I always use 93 as well. I lease with possible intention to buy it at the end of the lease, but the last two times I opted for a newer model. But because I think one day I'll just keep it - I treat it as well as I could.

Also, I don't recall seeing 91 octane in recent memory. It always seems to be 87, 89, 93... I usually use BP.

[kskpsu]

Originally Posted by Fryguy29

Where in Wisconsin do you find ethanol free premium? I can only find corn free regular here.

It would help if I spelled it correctly in my original post....Kwik Trip, my bad.

Here is a good resource for you as well:

http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=WI

[Fryguy29]

Originally Posted by kskpsu

It would help if I spelled it correctly in my original post....Kwik Trip, my bad.

Here is a good resource for you as well:

http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=WI

Thanks so much for the link!
Now a question for the entire group. Which is better for the car? Ethanol free 91 octane or 93 octane that contains ethanol? Many of the places that are ethanol free are listed as only having 91 octane. Any thoughts?