Beyond octane:
How additives in gasoline are affecting your BMW's performance.
What you should know about what goes into your tank
What is Ethanol?
Ethanol is a type of alcohol which is combined with gasoline, primarily to reduce engine knock.
In combustion, ethanol provides less energy than gasoline, resulting in reduced feul economy. When
ethanol burns inside the engine, it tends to form a weaker mixture that may cause misfire, rough idle
and cold start issues in your vehicle. In addition, engine components may deteriorate over time
when in contact with ethanol
Consequently, commercial gasoline is limited to a maximum of 10% ethanol. As stated in your BMW Owner's Manual, fuels containing 10% or less ethanol will NOT void the applicable warranties covering defects in materials or workmanship.
Coming clean on gasoline:ethanol, additives and how fuel mixtures affect your engine
If you think all gasoline is the same, try telling that to your engine.
There are significant differences in the fuel quality offered by different manufactures in the US. The quality of the fuel is determined by the level of detergent additives.
Depending on these factors, your vehicle's performance and fuel efficiency can be affected.
Detergent additives and how they affect fuel quality.Detergent additives have been required by the EPA in gasoline since 1995 to control the formation of engine and fuel system deposits. Lower quality gasoline is formulated with less effective and less expensive detergent additives. Over time, even occasional use of this gasoline robs your engine of its power, performance and fuel efficiency.
What gasoline does BMW recommend?BMW recommends using TOP TIER Detergent Gasoline with a minimum octane rating of AKI 91. This gasoline also complies with the 10% or less ethanol requirement. It's a higher standard with enhanced fuel detergency that helps to avoid driveability problems. Please see www.toptiergas.com for the latest participating retailers.
Get better performance from a cleaner engine with BMW Group Fuel System Cleaner Plus
If TOP TIER Detergent Gasoline is unavailable in your area, how can you make sure your BMW gets the full amount of
detergent it needs to burn cleanly and run smoothly? For optimum cleaning, use one bottle of BMW Group Fuel
System Cleaner Plus every 3,000 miles when refuling. This will help keep your BMW's fuel injectors and intake
valves clean, to get the most performance, Fuel efficiency - and fun - from every mile.
BMW Group Fuel System Cleaner Plus (20 fl oz)
Part Number: 82 14 0 413 341