What Petrol To Use

What Petrol To Use

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bad company

Original Poster:

18,640 posts

267 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
Hi all.

I run a 2017 540i x-drive. I’ve been running it on Shell 95 Ron as I thought the V-Power was a waste of £’s. In today’s Telegraph Honest John column he’s recommending V-Power for a guy with a 2 litre Jaguar XE. It’s in the paper today but not yet online.

Any thoughts?

bad company

Original Poster:

18,640 posts

267 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
quotequote all
I just filled up and couldn’t bring myself the extra 10p per litre or £5.50 in total. I use the car for motorway runs and locally just for shopping etc. I do love the power though.

I always put V-Power in my TVR Chimaera 500.

bad company

Original Poster:

18,640 posts

267 months

Monday 24th September 2018
quotequote all
gizlaroc said:
Here you go, rolling road on 335i with 95 vs 98ron.

Also shows it when mapped too.

That looks pretty conclusive.

bad company

Original Poster:

18,640 posts

267 months

Tuesday 25th September 2018
quotequote all
gizlaroc said:
The fuel company can't claim more power though, only the car manufacturer can do that.

You will only see gains if your car is set up for 98ron.

This isn't snake oil, it isn't some myth, if the car is set up to take advantage of 98 ron you will see a drop off in performance and mpg if you run it on 95ron.

Your car will lose around 30hp if you run it with 95ron.
This is discussed at length on the German forums, mainly because they can get 102ron over there too, all the tests show that 102ron quietens the engine and smoothes it out more, but unless you have a custom map to take advantage of it (often sold by race tracks where custom maps can take advantage) there is not power or MPG gain, like the jump from 95 to 98 ron.



The confusing thing is often the UK websites don't say the car is set up for 98 ron.
My E350 is a good example, UK site says unleaded, German site says Super Benzin Plus (89ron).
So how do I know if my car is set up for 98 Ron?

bad company

Original Poster:

18,640 posts

267 months

Tuesday 25th September 2018
quotequote all
aeropilot said:
bad company said:
gizlaroc said:
The fuel company can't claim more power though, only the car manufacturer can do that.

You will only see gains if your car is set up for 98ron.

This isn't snake oil, it isn't some myth, if the car is set up to take advantage of 98 ron you will see a drop off in performance and mpg if you run it on 95ron.

Your car will lose around 30hp if you run it with 95ron.
This is discussed at length on the German forums, mainly because they can get 102ron over there too, all the tests show that 102ron quietens the engine and smoothes it out more, but unless you have a custom map to take advantage of it (often sold by race tracks where custom maps can take advantage) there is not power or MPG gain, like the jump from 95 to 98 ron.



The confusing thing is often the UK websites don't say the car is set up for 98 ron.
My E350 is a good example, UK site says unleaded, German site says Super Benzin Plus (89ron).
So how do I know if my car is set up for 98 Ron?
All the EU spec *40i engines are by design.
Thanks. It would have been good to have known this from the start. Why on earth is not made clear by BMW uk?

bad company

Original Poster:

18,640 posts

267 months

Tuesday 25th September 2018
quotequote all
Wills2 said:
It should say it on the inside of your fuel filler panel, 98ron then underneath 95ron minimum.

Weirdly 98ron isn't available in the UK it's either 95, 97 or 99.
Here it is.


bad company

Original Poster:

18,640 posts

267 months

Tuesday 25th September 2018
quotequote all
Pica-Pica said:
That label seems similar to what my previous E36 petrol I-6 handbook said. It said something like..
‘Engine can be run on 91 to 98 RON, quoted power and fuel consumption is based on 95 RON’
With regards 98 RON not being available, when Shell bought out their original high RON, it was 97 or 98. Now most high RON fuels are now 99, AFAIK.
Nothing there or in the handbook to indicate that the car would run better on 98 RON.

bad company

Original Poster:

18,640 posts

267 months

Tuesday 25th September 2018
quotequote all
Wills2 said:
bad company said:
Nothing there or in the handbook to indicate that the car would run better on 98 RON.
My F80 M3 says 98ron at the top and 95 as a minimum, the handbook states all performance data achieved with 98ron fuel, I would have though the 340i would be the same, but clearly not.

Looks like it's not tuned for it but of course can run on it.
Mines a 540 not 340. Think they call it a G30.

bad company

Original Poster:

18,640 posts

267 months

Wednesday 26th September 2018
quotequote all
Ahbefive said:
You'd have to be mad to run a modern turbocharged petrol car on the cheap crap. The improved economy of premium fuel pays for the additional outlay.
Even if it’s not tuned for the higher octane?

bad company

Original Poster:

18,640 posts

267 months

Wednesday 25th November 2020
quotequote all
I used V Power rather than unleaded for a couple of months in my BMW G20 340i but didn’t notice any difference in performance. According to the cars computer there was no difference in consumption so I went back to the cheaper fuel.