330i N53 pinking on normal fuel

[nitrodave]

I'd ask the BMW forums, but they only seem only interested in stickers and body kits, so thought I'd ask here first.

I have an e92 330i with the N53 engine and it's pinking when I use normal octane fuel.

I ran it to empty, filled up with shell v power this morning and the pinking has disappeared completely.

I get a slight rattle at very low rpm in a high gear. It's not terrible and can be controlled with light throttle, but it certainly isn't right.

At least my fears of big end worries have gone and it's most certainly a problem with ignition timing.

I've got no error codes or warning lights either. I filled up with v power today and the problem has gone.

Has anyone else experienced this and got a solution? I don't want to go to a main stealer as they'll just swap parts until it's fixed costing me a fortune and from what I've read, others with this problem have been fobbed off with being told it's normal or it's the injectors. I don't buy that.

Could it be knock sensor? Is there any way to reliable diagnose this?

[steve_bmw]

Had this issue on several 6 pot Bmw over the years, e39 e85 all pink on regular fuel in the hot weather unless I use super.
Never caused any problems so I didnt investigated it.
this question has popped up before and I don't think an answer was found

[Spuffington]

Can't help specifically, but if you look at the fuel filler, BMW always suggest using 98RON fuel. Perhaps this is the reason?

[RocknRollOutlaw]

Spuffington said:

Can't help specifically, but if you look at the fuel filler, BMW always suggest using 98RON fuel. Perhaps this is the reason?

This is not true, inside the filler flap on my 325i it says "RON 91, 95, 98, 100 or higher". I'm sure the 330i is no different. High octane is snake oil.

[Spuffington]

RocknRollOutlaw said:

Spuffington said:

Can't help specifically, but if you look at the fuel filler, BMW always suggest using 98RON fuel. Perhaps this is the reason?

This is not true, inside the filler flap on my 325i it says "RON 91, 95, 98, 100 or higher". I'm sure the 330i is no different. High octane is snake oil.

Fine on the RON requirements but I think High RON fuel being snake oil is a bit off-track. We might argue the benefits of various cleaners in the fuel or the actual major performance benefits, but 98 RON fuel will burn better than 95 RON - nothing snake oil about that.

But I agree, what it won't do is turn a Corsa into Ferrari, whatever a Corsa owner might profess.

[BGarside]

My E36 has been pinking recently on 95 octane. It has been chipped though, probably rather pointlessly, and 99 octane shut it up so it's not merely snake oil.

I did wonder why my knock sensors didn't seem to be doing their job though...

[nitrodave]

I checked my fuel cap and it does only say 98 ron fuel, nothing else. It should run fine on 95 though, albeit with unnoticeably less performance.

I rang A1BN in stevenage and they really know their stuff, but refused to speculate on what it is without a full diagnosis.

It could be injectors, but mine have all been change by BMW under goodwill for the later uprated versions.

It could also be carbon build up, which is not out of the question as it's D.I and got 100k+ on the clock. However I got no stuttering and it drives smooth as a gravy sandwich, which suggests it's all pretty clean.

If money was no object I'd send it in for a walnut blast, but at nearly £600 I could do without that. My hunch is knock sensor on this one though as the high octane fuel totally cures it.

I'm heading abroad for a few months soon, so maybe when I get back. For now I'll just enjoy some v power and live with it.

[Spuffington]

I'd suggest that if 98 ron is sorting it, then keeping filling up with that is probably cheaper than any kind of mechanical or sensor intervention.

Both my E46 330Ci and my E60 550i had "98RON only" written on the fuel filler.

[Sohlman]

Have you tried the Italian tune up!

On your 98 Ron fuel a couple of runs up to the limiter to clear everything out.

[tomic]

nitrodave said:

I checked my fuel cap and it does only say 98 ron fuel, nothing else. It should run fine on 95 though, albeit with unnoticeably less performance.

Just out of interest, what year is yours?

My 2008 E92 330i N53 says 95-98 RON on the fuel filler cover, with something about 91RON minimum below that in small font.

[stuart-b]

I run my N54T on 98. I did notice a difference but turbos and boost are involved. My friend runs 98 on his N52. I find the MPG increase offsets the extra cost. Having said that I only pay £1 per litre

[gizlaroc]

RocknRollOutlaw said:

This is not true, inside the filler flap on my 325i it says "RON 91, 95, 98, 100 or higher". I'm sure the 330i is no different. High octane is snake oil.

Snake oil?

Most cars from around the mid 90s from the German marques all have knock sensors, they are designed to run as their specs on 98 ron fuel, if you put lower fuel in them they will retard the timing and should run on 95 ron, but not as well, you will loose power and get reduced MPG.

My mapped 335i lost over 40bhp on 95 ron.

It is far from snake oil.

[gizlaroc]

I meant to say, my 1998 2.8I Z3 sounded pretty poor on 95 ron, but after two tanks of 98 ron it would sound like a sewing machine again.

[rb5er]

RocknRollOutlaw said:

High octane is snake oil.

[themanwithnoname]

rb5er said:

RocknRollOutlaw said:

High octane is snake oil.

Have another



Would you bet a melted piston on it, chap? I've got a Subaru that would disagree with your statement...

[3795mpower]

How long had the engine pinked for ?
What's the mileage ?
These engines do suffer from deposit build ups and it may well benefit from a long hard run
On good fuel with a dose of injector cleaner for good measure.

You say you have no warning lights up but I would still highly reccomend getting fault codes read.
With modern Bmw management systems many not so serious faults are stored in memory but will not
Illuminate the engine warning light.

I would start with a code read and go from there.