Chevron? Shell? 76?

[salvo]

Does anyone have strong preference for a specific oil company...I think BMW suggests Chevron and Shell. Do you think it is important to be consistent? Is mixing types bad? I ask because i mixed gas type with my brand new 330 and experienced the service engine light, but quickly turned off the engine and restarted again to fix.

 

[codex57]

BMW suggests a brand? I know they do for oil cuz they have a contract, but I never heard anything about gas. I wouldn't trust it if you heard it from a dealer. A lot wouldn't even know what size engine a car has even though it's listed on the badge on the back of the car.

Personally, I use Chevron. I think any name brand one is pretty much the same. I pick Chevron cuz it's the cheapest of the name brand ones around here, the gas stations are always cleaner than the others, there are lots of them everywhere, and they came out with that Techron cleaner stuff first I think. Got in the habit of going to them, see no reason to change.

 

[mscoins]

I use Shell 93 octane, mainly because of it's convenient location. Any major brand should be fine as long as you use the minimum recommended octane for your area.

 

[Tom]

Mainly Chevron, but I do occasionally use Shell.

 

[vlad]

Since Chevron uses Techron, and that's what BMW bottles as their fuel injector cleaner, I use Chevron whenever possible.

 

[Harman1]

I use what ever is less expensive, let me tell you why. I use Wal-Mart gas and it is usualy less then the name bran gas around. My Father use to own a convienence station that sold the off brand gas, and it comes from the same place that all the major brand name gas comes from. As a matter of fact sometimes they will come to fill the tanks and only have 93 octane and would put it in all the tanks, so when you would use the 87 octane pump you would be getting 93 octane. So save you cash and buy the less expensive gas, that's my two cents worth.

 

[tablet]

Chevron

 

[salvo]

Thanks...looks like Chevron is the winner. Granted it all comes from the same place, its the additives that make them a bit different...the only question is whether it is a gimmick or not...most likely it is all a marketing ploy. Also many of you mention 93 octane...I live in So Cal and never see it!!?

 

[jonnyz16]

I use what ever is less expensive, let me tell you why. I use Wal-Mart gas and it is usualy less then the name bran gas around. My Father use to own a convienence station that sold the off brand gas, and it comes from the same place that all the major brand name gas comes from.

same here out in hawaii.Its all the same gas and the different trucks come and pick it up ..Costco out here is the cheapest . 1.97 for 91 oct.

 

[Tweet227]

Mobil 93

 

[wood_e]

Gas is gas......... no matter to me as long as its above 90 octane. Never had any issues with any specific company.

 

[codex57]

In So Cal, I really only see 91 too. But, if you really want, certain 76 stations carry 100 octane race gas.

 

[donmbmw]

I use shell but only because they pump the gas for you at the same price as the self serves. On two occassions they ran out of 93 octane, once with my wifes 325i and once with my 330i. On both occassions I filled with the 89 ocatane and neither car experienced any problems at all. No knocks, no loss of power... nothing. Makes me wonder why I spend the extra $$ for the premium??

 

[RedShift]

Something that never seems to get mentioned is that the mom and pop cheap @ss stations don't always do the tank maintenance as the name brand stations do. My brother used to fill up at a cheapo station until his motorcycle started running crappy. Pulled the plugs and guess what? They were RUSTY! Yup. Water in the fuel. Started getting name brand gas and no more rust. You guys can trust your $30K < BMWs to cheapo gas to save a couple of cents but my baby only gets Chevron premium.

One more thing, donmbmw. Why do you think that BMW recommends 91 octane fuel or better? You may not think there was a difference in performance in different octane ratings, but you can bet there is. I had a high performance vehicle before (440 Hp Lightning) and fuel octane makes all the difference in the world. Because my truck did not have the advanced fuel management that BMW uses, it was not possible for me to run anything but premium. Even then I had to buy racing gas at the track to make sure my truck didn't ping at WOT.

 

[Unit74]

I go to ARCO and save at least 8 cents a gallon.


The gas is all the same according to a friend who is a gas truck driver. He picks up from the refiner and goes wherever.......Why spring the bucks on the high dollar names?

 

[RedShift]

I go to ARCO and save at least 8 cents a gallon.

The gas is all the same according to a friend who is a gas truck driver. He picks up from the refiner and goes wherever.......Why spring the bucks on the high dollar names?

The reason Arco is so cheap is that they mix 10% alchohol in all their different gasses. Just switch to a good brand and you'll see your gas mileage go up. I used Arco in a Jeep Grand Cherokee a few years ago and it ran so crappy I took it into the service department. They agreed it was running crappy but couldn't tell me why. A buddy turned me on to the fact that Arco really is bad gas so I switched to Chevron. Guess what? No more running bad. I was sold. I won't even put Arco in my lawn mower much less my 330Ci.

 

[jonnyz16]

My dad used to say that shell would turn his spark plugs yellow. He drove corvettes and raced open wheel for a better part of his life so I never knew if he was serious or just messing with us ..

 

[Average Jae]

On both occassions I filled with the 89 ocatane and neither car experienced any problems at all. No knocks, no loss of power... nothing. Makes me wonder why I spend the extra $$ for the premium??

you don't hear the knocks because the knock sensor drops the perf of the car so the engine won't be as hot and thus you can't hear the knock.

i put in 93 shell. no chevron in michigan, so i never tried it.

 

[codex57]

Arco is 2 cents less than the Chevron I go to. For that price difference, I'm not gonna take the chance with Arco. Plus, I'm not sure they take credit cards which is what I always use.

 

[salvo]

My dad used to say that shell would turn his spark plugs yellow. He drove corvettes and raced open wheel for a better part of his life so I never knew if he was serious or just messing with us ..

When I used to work at a gas station (76) the mechanics also told me that the spark plugs of a vehicle using Shell Gasoline would look like crap! I just figured that they were badmouthing the station across the street...but i never used Shell after that. Your dad was probably right.