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Unleaded or Super

2003 - 2009, roadster, coupe, facelift
gazoff
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Unleaded or Super

Post by gazoff » Sun Feb 22, 2015 8:14 am

Hi

Ok its time to fill y tank for the first time :cry:

As a new owner I want to look after my little coupe, so what should I put in ? I am more interested in what is the best for the engine rather than power gains.
Engine is 3.0 N52

Super Unleaded.
Unleaded.
Alternate between both.
Or does not make any difference.

Cheers
Gaz

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nfbr
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Re: Unleaded or Super

Post by nfbr » Sun Feb 22, 2015 8:42 am

Technically speaking your engine is equipped with what it needs to adapt to either fuel and there isn't really one better than the other.

A higher octane fuel simply will allow you to get the best out of the engine allowing the ignition timing to be run more advanced without knock (I.e. free power)

A lower octane fuel will be seen by the knock sensor which will retard the timing slightly so it won't feel quite as crisp, but this won't do the engine any harm.

In general, higher octane fuels give a slightly better mileage return, so despite being more expensive, it'll probably work out somewhere similar when measured up as pence per mile.

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Re: Unleaded or Super

Post by Stu Boy » Sun Feb 22, 2015 9:01 am

I run everything on super inc the mower :lol:
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Re: Unleaded or Super

Post by MHZ4C » Sun Feb 22, 2015 9:02 am

Hi Gaz,

I use 99 Ron. I also have the N52 3.0.

People on here run on all types of fuel (supermarket 95, 99, v power etc.) and report good performance. I only use 99 Ron as the particular fuel 'claims' to have the most detergents to keep everything clean in the engine (Shell V Power Nitro).

I do so few miles that the cost difference is minimal, esp as I take the car out each week, and the Shell garage is on a nice drive from my house. Win win. It could all be advertising hype. But when I filled up my tank for the first few times with v power, I definitely noticed the idle getting smoother over the first few hundred miles.

I was in a similar situation to you, I had just picked up a lovely silver grey Z4 coupe. Great looking car. Enjoy!

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Terryvision
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Re: Unleaded or Super

Post by Terryvision » Sun Feb 22, 2015 9:09 am

This has been discussed before in many posts in detail.. :cry:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20487

Do a search gazoff, you will find that the answer is ..... "its your car and you put in what you think is best for it" :thumbsup:

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Re: Unleaded or Super

Post by Ewazix » Sun Feb 22, 2015 9:34 am

I know the weather probably makes as much difference as the RON rating but I still use V Power, I've had a tiny hint of the the 'tinkles' under load (pinking) if I use cheapo fuel and the V Power gives an extra mpg or two so it evens out as others have said. Try a couple of consecutive tanks of both and see what you think or if you can tell the difference particularly at idle or foot down under load up a hill.
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Re: Unleaded or Super

Post by Bing » Sun Feb 22, 2015 10:13 am

I used normal unleaded in my 3.0, no issues at all. Mainly for reasons of cost. I did try a few tanks of v-power back to back but tbh didn't really notice a difference, IIRC. I use v-power only in my current car because of what it is, and it's only ever been fed v-power. Given the way petrol prices have dropped of late cost is less of an issue now I guess.
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Re: Unleaded or Super

Post by Dewi » Sun Feb 22, 2015 12:10 pm

Personally I run mine on 98 RON as that is the first suggestion in the owner's handbook, and the key here for me is that it states, "The engine of your BMW is *designed* to run on superplus / premium plus petrol, octane number 98 RON" followed by "You can *also* run the engine on premium grade unleaded petrol, octane number 95 RON". I take that to mean the preference is for 98 but you can use 95 if you have to.

The bike (also a BMW) runs on super unleaded too, but mainly because it runs like a bag of spanners on anything less, it lacks power and vibes really badly. The car, I only ever ran on 95 unleaded once and it ran ok but I did notice over the tankful there was a decrease of a couple of MPG over the Super unleaded.

Bottom line: your car your choice. :)

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Re: Unleaded or Super

Post by paulgs1000 » Sun Feb 22, 2015 12:33 pm

Hasn't there been some suggestion on the forum that 98 Ron has led to warning lights through over sensitive sensors?

Someone tell me different as I don't want to be alarmist. . . .

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Re: Unleaded or Super

Post by JayEmm » Sun Feb 22, 2015 12:49 pm

paulgs1000 wrote:Hasn't there been some suggestion on the forum that 98 Ron has led to warning lights through over sensitive sensors?

Someone tell me different as I don't want to be alarmist. . . .

:driving: :thumbsup:
I would be surprised if it did seeing as 98 is exactly what BMW specify for their cars.

If you check the manual or specs basically the car is designed/measured around using 98 RON fuel but it is perfectly capable of using 95 octane - and probably lower for short periods but it won't be happy.

This topic has been done umpteen times on many motoring forums. General consensus seems to be with a modern BMW there are definitely benefits to using Super - but they are subtle. Generally unless Super is much more money than regular then Super is all I will use.
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Re: Unleaded or Super

Post by Swiftly » Sun Feb 22, 2015 12:55 pm

I never put anything but Super in the tank, preferably Shell Ultimate or Tesco Momentum :D :driving: :thumbsup:
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Re: Unleaded or Super

Post by Adamski » Sun Feb 22, 2015 1:10 pm

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Re: Unleaded or Super

Post by jan_tekin » Sun Feb 22, 2015 1:19 pm

I mix with mine but tend to use super a lot more then normal. I remember when i was in Germany last year and they had 102 Ron which I had to try it out :D
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Re: Unleaded or Super

Post by gordongecko500 » Sun Feb 22, 2015 1:20 pm

I don't think it makes much difference between premium or super but I personally always fill with super from Esso or Shell.

I have the 3ltr coupe too - once filled with Tesco Momentum - Now that did make a noticeable difference :D

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Re: Unleaded or Super

Post by Longtallhowie » Sun Feb 22, 2015 1:23 pm

Super in mine :driving:
Z4 2.5si black 07 ;)

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