Just picked up the car today... BMW says to use premium, salesperson says mid-grade is fine... I have been driving a 2000 323Ci for the past 7.5 years and have never used anything but regular and it always ran fine and weak performance was never an issue.
Would my performance be noticeably compromised if I used regular rather than mid or high grade? I'm not racing in the car or anything like that, so getting it up to ridiculously high speeds is irrelevant.
2007-08-10 12:45:55 · 10 answers · asked by Josh 3 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Car Makes ➔ BMW
I've experimented with all three grades. Regular is poor performance and gas mileage. I currently use mid-grade, it seems to do pretty well on mileage and the performance is just fine. I did notice a little better mileage on premium though. Depending on the price of gas, mid-grade is my choice, if gas takes a small dip, I'll go high test.
2007-08-10 13:36:16 · answer #1 · answered by jay 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It will run best on premium as designed, it will run OK on mid grade with reduced mileage, and worse on regular. The reduced gas mileage will make you use more gas, and offset most of the savings. I own 3 bimmers and an A4, premium goes in all.
Depending on where you live, it will cost you $3 - $6 more PER TANK to use premium. If you can't afford this you should not have bought a car that requires premium.
2007-08-10 15:52:27 · answer #2 · answered by kirboidz 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
2007 Bmw 328 Xi
2016-11-11 00:08:20 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This engine was set up for 95 octane European fuel, will run fine on 92-93 premium, If you run regular there will be some preignition which the computer will pick up and retard the timing, even though you might not hear any pinging the engine will always be at the point of predetonation, this I think will severely shorten your engine life.
2007-08-10 13:23:09 · answer #4 · answered by cimra 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
your bmw engine has a lot hotter spark than most domestics and high performance ignition system,87 octane wont allow this to happen and eventualy foul things up.It's like if you ate fast food every time your hungry you will be seeing a doctor a lot sooner than if you ate food that's good for you.please take pride in your bimmer and give it what it NEEDS!
2007-08-11 07:16:05 · answer #5 · answered by kootenay78 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would put in what the manual says if you drop the octane it might cause you to have a tune -up sooner than later, hope this helps.I know lots of people that are smarter than engeniers.
2007-08-10 12:52:12 · answer #6 · answered by JT B ford man 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Please use recommended fuel and other lubricants on BMW cars,this will give best performance and minimum breakdowns.
By using regular u will loose power,and consume more and u will regret hearing the knocking noise thereafter.
Take care
2007-08-10 16:51:35 · answer #7 · answered by george.m 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
shop your $$ & get a extra least costly experience. In Boston. AWD or 4x4 is a extra powerful selection. bypass with a SUV 4x4 rather. 4 runner includes techniques & has good resale fee once you compromise directly to go directly to some thing nicer.
2016-10-14 22:04:44 · answer #8 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the engine was designed with a certain octane rating in mind... if you think you are smarter than all the BMW engineers, do whatever you want.
if i was too cheap to pay for 93 octane(like you are) i sure as **** wouldnt have bought a BMW.
2007-08-10 12:49:13 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
read your owners manual and see what octaine rating for this car. do not go under you will mess up the car and the few cents saved at the pump will be several hundred dollars to fix the motor .
2007-08-10 12:53:26 · answer #10 · answered by Michael M 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋