Which fuel?

E5 in my Z3, you’ll notice the difference after a couple of tanks. I don’t do many miles so higher price is marginal ..plus I get money off VPower with my Shell card
 
I've been filling up with E5. I haven't notice a marked difference, but I believe my engine will thank me in the long run… ;)
 
E5 in the Z4 and I'm sure it makes zero difference other than in my head but whatever makes you happy eh :happy:
 
E5 for me, better throttle response and sound. E10 costs less per gallon, but E5 is more energy dense, so cheaper on £/mile basis (is my understanding)

Plus, the handbook recommends using higher octane
 


This old 5th Gear video clears it up, higher octane = more power in higher BHP cars.

Forget the Imprezza as it's a turbo, the GTi is the benchmark as it mirrors the Z3 2.2. More is more, science fact ;)
 
E5 no question - savings far out weigh the costs, even without the additives and extra performance.

Fuel economy for E10 is approx %10 less - when E5 only costs around 5% more = actual cost saving. But folks just see the pump price and want to pay less.

E10 is a foolish route to go down even if its a basic car tbh. Since the introduction of E10 sales have increased of E5 gradually. - after speaking to some garages near us that sell it :cool:
 
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Toby said:
E5 no question - savings far out weigh the costs, even without the additives and extra performance.

Fuel economy for E10 is approx %10 less - when E5 only costs around 5% more = actual cost saving. But folks just see the pump price and want to pay less.

E10 is a fooish route to go down even if its a basic car tbh. Since the introduction of E10 sales have increased of E5 gradually. - after speaking to some garages near us that sell it :cool:
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I was out over the weekend on my bike, my mate's 28 year old Honda CB500F doesn't get by on E10, runs awful.
 
Definitely need E5. My local garage stopped selling VPower a few years ago so I swapped over to Tesco momentum aA couple of weeks past and car did not run at all well. Called at a mates garage and we checked it all — all was ok. Just as we going to start digging deeper he commented had I changed fuel Changed back to VPower and as I worked the Tesco out of system all well good again. We drained out quite a bit first. He find his big motorbikes don’t like any fuel except BP or Shell best I also run X1 20i on VPower improved mpg pays the extra cost
 
Forgot to add - mines always been on high octane since new, mostly V Power, but the occasional other E5.

Our local, Morrisons and I would think others too, started selling E5 last year as they have realised the demand.

Ironically we shouldnt be needing to switch to E10, as EV usage increases emissions would lower - however the farming lobby wouldnt be getting
revenue boosts then. It does seem foolish to be using land to grow fuel stocks instead of food stuff

American farmers were the ones lobbying their Gov. for ethanol to be added to their fuel, so they could increase corn growing :cool:
.
 
Toby said:
Forgot to add - mines always been on high octane since new, mostly V Power, but the occasional other E5.

Our local, Morrisons and I would think others too, started selling E5 last year as they have realised the demand.

Ironically we shouldnt be needing to switch to E10, as EV usage increases emissions would lower - however the farming lobby wouldnt be getting
revenue boosts then. It does seem foolish to be using land to grow fuel stocks instead of food stuff

American farmers were the ones lobbying their Gov. for ethanol to be added to their fuel, so they could increase corn growing :cool:
.
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That's interesting 🤔
 
E5 in mine as our other car is an oil burner.

Tony.
 
andyglym said:
E5 for me, a much crisper drive and power delivery across the range, same for my bike too :thumbsup:
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Thought your Zed ran on special octane fuel from Autoglym? :whistle:
 
All the older BMW engines are optimised for 98 octane fuel, even though they will run on 92 octane for the Americans. Use of lower octane fuel means that the advance curve is restricted by the knock sensors. A lot of owners do not realise that the 1.9 litre M44 - for which 95 octane gives its rated power of 140 bhp - will improve by about 10% on 98 octane. This is clearly stated in the owners handbook, but very few owners seem to check their consumption accurately.

I use 98 octane in everything, from my 2.8 Z3 to garden machinery, In the garden machinery 98 octane stores well over winter, whereas 95 E5 gives starting problems in Spring.

I find that (in France) 98 costs about 3% more, but gives about 10% better fuel consumption. I use local supermarket fuel, which gives about 35/36 mpg at an 80 mph cruise, being almost as good as total Excellium (40 mpg), and streets ahead of Shell V-Power (28 mpg) which I bet has an overdose of Ethanol to boost its octane rating.

It seems that supplies of 97 octane in the UK can be hard to come by, particularly in the SW area, but even in rural France all petrol stations sell 98 octane for sensible prices.
 
I use Esso E5 which in fact E0.

It's pricey though. If not I'll use E10 muck with Millers anti ethanol treatment.
 
Since we've been shocked by the introduction of E10, I will just let this sink in: since the 1970's, the Brazilian government has mandate a mix of between 10% and 27%(😱) ethanol to petrol (gasoline). Brazil also has, arguably, the highest fleet of cars running on E100…

Right now, most cars sold in Brazil have FlexFuel engines that can run on E100, E25, as well as a mix of both.

This thread sent me down a nice rabbit hole...

History of ethanol fuel in Brazil
 
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