[verbs]

Arizona gas stinks. I have access to E85. Was just wanting something closer to a 93 octane equivalent.

Thoughts?

[SWMOChris]

Per the manual (pg 174 for me):

Do not refuel with ethanol E85
Do not refuel with E85, i.e., fuel with an
ethanol content of 85 %, or with Flex Fuel, as this
would damage the engine and fuel supply system.

So, I would say it's not worth it, even if it's a 5% mix IMO.

[Cup o' Joe]

Fuel in the US is usually already 5-10% ethanol. Unless the engine was designed to handle various ethanol concentrations (such as the Chevy Flex Fuel engines), I wouldn't put E85 in my car.

[verbs]

Originally Posted by SWMOChris

Per the manual (pg 174 for me):

Do not refuel with ethanol E85
Do not refuel with E85, i.e., fuel with an
ethanol content of 85 %, or with Flex Fuel, as this
would damage the engine and fuel supply system.

So, I would say it's not worth it, even if it's a 5% mix IMO.

And yet people are using E85 with their tunes for extra boost....which is why I was asking.

[martyp]

My F30 (328), once in a while, makes a jerking movement (this is the best way I can describe it) under heavy acceleration. I brought this to the attention of the dealership and they told me to not use fuel with an ethanol mix. I tried it for a few tanks and it's still doing it. I'll be bringing to the dealer in the next few weeks for proper diagnosis. Anyone else experiencing this?

[64-bit]

Originally Posted by martyp

My F30 (328), once in a while, makes a jerking movement (this is the best way I can describe it) under heavy acceleration. I brought this to the attention of the dealership and they told me to not use fuel with an ethanol mix. I tried it for a few tanks and it's still doing it. I'll be bringing to the dealer in the next few weeks for proper diagnosis. Anyone else experiencing this?

Yes!
Owned 2 335i in the past and they had carbon buildup, same symptoms on both of them, I had to do walnut shell blast thru BMW dealer, seafoam WILL NOT FIX THE ISSUE.
Check e90 forums... Normally on direct injection cars u need to do every 50k miles, but can be early due bad gas.

[gnosis8]

Have you cleaned with Techron additive already? Maybe try their stuff for fuel injectors for this issue, who knows.

[jelecroy]

On direct injection motors, no amount of detergent (Techron, SeaFoam, etc) in the fuel will have any effect on carbon build up on the intake valves. The carbon deposits on our intake valves comes from oil vapors/mist in the engine crankcase ventilation flow entering the intake manifold with the clean air. On port injection engines fuel and additives spray on the valve stems on the way into the combustion chamber, and tend to scrub valves clean. On direct injection engines, there is no fuel entering the ports, and carbon can build up on the valves. Our best hopes are that blow-by and valve guide leakage are minimized on the N20, so there isn't so much crankcase vent flow, and that BMW's design to separate oil mist from the ventilation flow is effective. I'm not sure any oil choice (dino vs synthetic) will make a big difference once entrained oil contacts hot valve stems and undersides.