Supermarket Fuel, Facts Please

[mick8186]

Just bought a 2012 640d and I have to say I am very impressed with its build quality and standards inside the cab. The 3ltr twin turbo diesel is the best diesel I have ever driven. Plenty of performance and loads of torque.

Now, as this is a 'high performance' diesel does it matter what quality of fuel goes in the tank?

Supermarket fuel, does it damage a highly tuned lump like that in the 640d?

Do I need to seek out and spend that little more on the specialty fuels offered on the forecourts of BP/Shell and the like?

Bloke down the carwash recons his mates turbo went because of supermarket fuel.

Just after some good advice from the sages of this wonderful site.

[Ninja59]

As I have a 640D then I do have some experience.

Being an oil burner it is definitely quieter on Shell's Nitro diesel variant over the others that I have tried (BP and when I was tight some Tesco).

Do they make much of a difference in terms of MPG a little I would say, but then it is currently 16p a litre for me at the local Shell....

Having experienced a non DPF car I did see a lot less soot from Shell fuels than others, so you may be extending the life of the DPF from that aspect as well as increasing the intervals between regenerations, if that is your thing.

[anonymous-user]

diesel and petrol all comes from the same refineries. they add additives that are blended to the relevant spec. (only real difference is biofuel added)

if it makes you feel better to buy it branded as shell etc then do it.

[anonymous-user]

a friend of mine runs a garage and he says that people who fill up at Tesco provide most of his business.

[DuraAce]

Thornaby said:

a friend of mine runs a garage and he says that people who fill up at Tesco provide most of his business.

Garbage. You need back that up with more facts/evidence. What faults? What vehicles?

My employer has several thousand company cars which all use supermarket fuel. Some almost exclusively, some occasionally.

Quite obviously I don't have intimate mechanical knowledge of the history of every one of them but I am not aware of any failures that are attributable to the origin of the fuel source.

My own diesel cars (about 20 I guess over the years) have used lots of supermarket fuel, again to no ill effect.

[KTF]

Thornaby said:

a friend of mine runs a garage and he says that people who fill up at Tesco provide most of his business.

Really. What business do they provide then?

[Deesee]

Was taught by my garage owing uncle to purchase the best fuel,lubricants & parts I could afford when I got my first set of wheels.

A nice motor like that needs shell/bp only.

[anonymous-user]

Thesprucegoose said:

diesel and petrol all comes from the same refineries. they add additives that are blended to the relevant spec. (only real difference is biofuel added)

if it makes you feel better to buy it branded as shell etc then do it.

Tried to explain this on pistonheads time and time again, I used to do some work at a fuel refinery in fact, but alas people think that shell and bp use wizzardry to make there fuel better and this thread will almost instantly by tomorrow drag into a arguement.

[Mr2Mike]

Thornaby said:

a friend of mine runs a garage and he says that people who fill up at Tesco provide most of his business.

[Monty Python]

Given that all fuel sold has to meet BS standards, I can't see how supermarket fuel would cause problems a "premium" fuel wouldn't.

[Cyder]

KTF said:

Thornaby said:

a friend of mine runs a garage and he says that people who fill up at Tesco provide most of his business.

Really. What business do they provide then?

Manager of a Tesco filling station?

[Rawwr]

Thornaby said:

a friend of mine runs a garage and he says that people who fill up at Tesco provide most of his business.

[anonymous-user]

The facts are that if you spend your life worrying about the brand of fuel you buy, your lifespan will be 10% shorter yet feel 25% longer.

Plenty of things to worry about ahead of the colour on a forecourt canopy.

[Zippee]

My wifes Evoque is a 64 plate Diesel and runs pretty much exclusively on Tesco Derv - Absolutely no issues at all.
Same goes for my 2016 Grand Cherokee.
My TVR is run pretty much only on Tesco 99

[anonymous-user]

Believe what you want. He tells all of his customers to not fill up there. He doesnt own a petrol station so doesnt gain from it.

I'm assuming its blocked fuel filters. We had a lot of our work vans have this issue when filling up at Morrisons.

[eybic]

Rawwr said:

Thornaby said:

a friend of mine runs a garage and he says that people who fill up at Tesco provide most of his business.

[Tyre Smoke]

The facts?

I'm sorry, I have none. However, as others have said, all fuel comes from the same refineries. It all has to meet certain standards - it's on the pumps, if you care to look.

Just think about this for a moment...

If supermarket fuel really did cause engines to self destruct, don't you think simply by the sheer number of cars filled up daily on it, our roads and motorways would be littered with the internal combustion part for literally thousands of vehicles every day?

This one is up there with swans breaking your arm, and too much wking sends you blind.

[eybic]

Exactly, we've been filling our daily runners up at Tesco and Asda for years and had no issues at all, we must be lucky

[chris4652009]

Haven't you seen a powerfully built swan filling his Octavia at tesco?
engine will go pop and he'll break your arm lol


it's BS

[Eyersey1234]

I usually get supermarket fuel and have never had any problems either