[ChexBMW]

I'm going to pick up an X7 at the manufacturing plant in South Carolina later this month. I've bought nothing but Lexus vehicles for the past 28 years. In my GX460 SUV, I use 87 octane. In my GS350 sedan, I use 89 octane. Both drive without any sluggishness or issues.

Wondering what others use in the X7?

[Auricom]

Interesting this topic pops up with new owners. Placard next to the fuel filler recommends 91+.

91+ on all my BMWs since 2000. Both 2020 G05 and M550i (both under 1800miles) have been fueled with 93 octane since PCD delivery.

[Paultattoo]

For all it's worth...

My 2018 Audi Q7 calls for 91 octane. Since day one I've put in the cheapest gas I could find. Usually 89 octane. Never had a problem and saved a fortune in the 55,000 miles I have so far.

I know purists hate this. Sorry, I just never cared. It's just a car to me.

On a side note, my friends think CarFax should have a spot to denote if I've ever owned the car before you buy it 😂

[jmciver]

Check the placard and the manual as the recommendation vs minimum required will vary by BMW model. My M3 has 91 minimum w/93 recommended. My wife's X3 has 89 min w/91 recommended. All M vehicles will have 91 as the minimum required (not sure about the M50 though since it does not have an M engine in it IIRC).

You could always put in less octane than recommended and the ECU in the car will adjust. But your engine will not operate at its optimal performance level since it was factory tuned for higher octane fuel. I am as frugal as the next guy, regardless of income bracket. But if you can afford a vehicle like this, why not put in the "good" stuff to get the max potential out of it? That said, I would not spend $9+/gal for 100 oct in it either....

And BTW, there is a difference between top tier gas and the really cheap stuff. But that can be a discussion for another day....

[crackerjack15]

Its not about putting in the "good stuff". 93 octane isnt better than 89, it's more knock resistant and has additives that cost money. When you run a lower octane than recommended, you will get knock in high load or hot days and the computer will pull timing back, which reduces power and efficiency. Will it kill the motor, not likely, but obviously not recommended. Just remember when the computer detects knock in order to retard timing, the knock has already occured.

[iconoclast]

Originally Posted by ChexBMW

Wondering what others use in the X7?

BMW recommends top tier 91. We put Shell93 in everything.

[like2short]

Originally Posted by ChexBMW

I'm going to pick up an X7 at the manufacturing plant in South Carolina later this month. I've bought nothing but Lexus vehicles for the past 28 years. In my GX460 SUV, I use 87 octane. In my GS350 sedan, I use 89 octane. Both drive without any sluggishness or issues.

Wondering what others use in the X7?

X7 owners manual or gas gap (can't remember) says 91, but 89 the bare minimum.


But geeze, if I wanted to save money, would have just saved a lotta money and gotten a Kia telluride.

[JFU]

https://www.caranddriver.com/feature...dodge-charger/

TLDR:
1) Higher octane generally produces more hp
2) Higher octane generally has higher mpg, except in the M5, where the lower octane had higher mpg.

Not a perfect test - but interesting piece of information

[iconoclast]

Originally Posted by like2short

But geeze, if I wanted to save money, would have just saved a lotta money and gotten a Kia telluride.

Premium vehicle, premium clothing, premium phones, premium restaurants, premium foods, premium wine, premium spirits, premium coffee, but premium gas is where some people draw the line. I never understood this.

[like2short]

Originally Posted by iconoclast

Premium vehicle, premium clothing, premium phones, premium restaurants, premium foods, premium wine, premium spirits, premium coffee, but premium gas is where some people draw the line. I never understood this.

Originally Posted by iconoclast

Premium vehicle, premium clothing, premium phones, premium restaurants, premium foods, premium wine, premium spirits, premium coffee, but premium gas is where some people draw the line. I never understood this.

Yep!

The Nav system does a nice job of finding nearby fuel prices and can help mitigate the cost of using premium or you can use gas buddy app. Now of course this a rounding error vs the total cost of ownership which is mostly depreciation.

[like2short]

Originally Posted by Paultattoo

For all it's worth...

My 2018 Audi Q7 calls for 91 octane. Since day one I've put in the cheapest gas I could find. Usually 89 octane. Never had a problem and saved a fortune in the 55,000 miles I have so far.

I know purists hate this. Sorry, I just never cared. It's just a car to me.

On a side note, my friends think CarFax should have a spot to denote if I've ever owned the car before you buy it 😂

Let's see, 55,000 miles at 20 MPG is 2,750 gallons and save 20c a gallon with 89, that's 550 bucks or 22.91 per month with 55k miles over 24 months.

Or 0.78 percent on a $70,000 vehicle.

If I wanna go cheap ass mode, I can think of many ways to save $550 a month on transportation and still drive a decent new car.

[Paultattoo]

Originally Posted by like2short

Let's see, 55,000 miles at 20 MPG is 2,750 gallons and save 20c a gallon with 89, that's 550 bucks or 22.91 per month with 55k miles over 24 months.

Or 0.78 percent on a $70,000 vehicle.

If I wanna go cheap ass mode, I can think of many ways to save $550 a month on transportation and still drive a decent new car.

To each their own. I drive a lot. But I am either doing 75 with the cruise control on or sitting in bumper to bumper traffic. Car drove fine. It's all in how you look at it. The gas station I go to has a car wash. I take the savings and run it through the wash. I'm happy.

The few times I decided to see if anything was different I filled up with the best fuel they had. Never noticed anything. Same MPG. Same power. No knock.

Maybe $550 ain't that much to you. I can just do better things with it, that's all. If it would make you feel better, I can PM you my address and you can send me a check.

[univ0298]

Originally Posted by ChexBMW

I'm going to pick up an X7 at the manufacturing plant in South Carolina later this month. I've bought nothing but Lexus vehicles for the past 28 years. In my GX460 SUV, I use 87 octane. In my GS350 sedan, I use 89 octane. Both drive without any sluggishness or issues.

Wondering what others use in the X7?

Originally Posted by ChexBMW

I'm going to pick up an X7 at the manufacturing plant in South Carolina later this month.

We're doing PCD on 2/18 in SC. Can't wait

[iconoclast]

Originally Posted by Paultattoo

The few times I decided to see if anything was different I filled up with the best fuel they had. Never noticed anything. Same MPG. Same power. No knock.

You would not feel or hear a knock unless you're driving a car from the 70's otherwise nearly every vehicle on the road has a knock sensor which will work in conjunction with ecu and timing etc. These will all adjust according to what your vehicle is doing. That being said if you want your real world experience to match what is advertised in terms of MPG and HP etc. then it would be best to use the fuel in which they designed the vehicle around.

[Wild Blue]

Yes, if you use lower octane, the ECU will retard ignition, and the engine will run fine.

You may feel like you're getting the same performance, but you're not. If you put your car on a dyno, you'll see the quantitative reduction in performance.

I put nothing less than Super Unleaded in my Bimmers.

[Resjudicata]

it's been said here, but again you will save only a few pennies from regular to premium gas. it's a tiny fraction of a % of the cars price tag. Want to save money? get the i6 instead of the v8 turbo. Don't get the heated seats, or any other option. almost every single upgrade and option on the BMW from paint to Leather will cost more than $500 you're going to "save" with cheaper gas.

Basic gas will damage your engine over the lifetime. it may not happen at mile 5 or 7000 or 20000, but between 0 and 200,000 miles - it will hurt your engine at some point. I don't want to play Russian roulette with a $60k - $100k car SUV.

That said, if you want to save money and still drive a BMW and still use premium without the big cost; you can get the Costco credit card which gives you 6% back on premium gas which is usually 20% cheaper than premium gas in our area. Net, net with 3 premium vehicles we save about $1,000 per year over the price of Shell or other premium gas.

[jmciver]

Originally Posted by Wild Blue

Yes, if you use lower octane, the ECU will retard ignition, and the engine will run fine.

You may feel like you're getting the same performance, but you're not. If you put your car on a dyno, you'll see the quantitative reduction in performance.

I put nothing less than Super Unleaded in my Bimmers.

Originally Posted by Resjudicata

it's been said here, but again you will save only a few pennies from regular to premium gas. it's a tiny fraction of a % of the cars price tag. Want to save money? get the i6 instead of the v8 turbo. Don't get the heated seats, or any other option. almost every single upgrade and option on the BMW from paint to Leather will cost more than $500 you're going to "save" with cheaper gas.

Basic gas will damage your engine over the lifetime. it may not happen at mile 5 or 7000 or 20000, but between 0 and 200,000 miles - it will hurt your engine at some point. I don't want to play Russian roulette with a $60k - $100k car SUV.

That said, if you want to save money and still drive a BMW and still use premium without the big cost; you can get the Costco credit card which gives you 6% back on premium gas which is usually 20% cheaper than premium gas in our area. Net, net with 3 premium vehicles we save about $1,000 per year over the price of Shell or other premium gas.

Well since we are getting into more detail on the gas discussion, in addition to the basic info in the above two posts, not all gas brands are created equal as well. The "Top Tier" brands are better than the "no name" brands because of the detergent additives that they put in the gas. Top Tier brands include what you would expect: Exxon, Shell, BP, Texaco, Sunoco, etc. No names include Raceway, or your local corner or country/back woods gas station. Some "in between" brands like Costco may be better than no name brands, but I have seen conflicting info on the quality of Costco gas.

For those that don't know, all gas, regardless of brand come from the same refinery depot sources. Gas refined and for sale in the US has to meet minimum chemical/detergent standards designed primarily for emissions purposes. When the gas is loaded into the trucks of different brands, those brands also dump their proprietary additives/detergents into the gas. These additives allow the gas to exceed the minimum govt standards of performance. Once all the big name brands get their gas, there will always be some left over. Since gas does have a shelf life, the refineries sell it cheap to get rid of it - in come the "no name" brands (or companies that buy the cheap stuff with no additives that sell it to the no name gas stations). This not to say the no name gas stations don't ever get top tier brands. The top tier brands also have some leftover gas after delivering to all of their gas stations that they want to get rid of due to the shelf life of the gas - which they also sell for cheap to some of the no name gas stations. But the gas at those no name stations is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get....

There is clearly marketing involved with the top tier brands and their "proprietary" additives they use - you see this in their commercials. However, there have been plenty of studies that show that the additives in top tier gas do allow your engine to perform better, run cleaner and contribute to a longer lasting engine with continual use when compared to no additives at all. Now which top tier brand additive performs substantially better than another top tier brand is negligible IMHO. I personally don't prefer one top tier brand over another.

People can obviously do what they want. But for those who think there is no difference between the grade of gas (87, 89, 91, or 93) or the brand of gas (top tier vs no name) when it comes to optimizing engine performance and longevity, well you get what you pay for - even if your "butt dyno" does not feel a difference. It all comes down to how much you are willing to pay now or later. I own/have owned 5 BMWs in the past 20+ years and for mere "extra" pennies on the dollar, I have always put in the highest octane, top tier brands available and specifically avoided the no name stuff for the reasons mentioned above.

[like2short]

Originally Posted by jmciver

Well since we are getting into more detail on the gas discussion, in addition to the basic info in the above two posts, not all gas brands are created equal as well. The "Top Tier" brands are better than the "no name" brands because of the detergent additives that they put in the gas. Top Tier brands include what you would expect: Exxon, Shell, BP, Texaco, Sunoco, etc. No names include Raceway, or your local corner or country/back woods gas station. Some "in between" brands like Costco may be better than no name brands, but I have seen conflicting info on the quality of Costco gas.

For those that don't know, all gas, regardless of brand come from the same refinery depot sources. Gas refined and for sale in the US has to meet minimum chemical/detergent standards designed primarily for emissions purposes. When the gas is loaded into the trucks of different brands, those brands also dump their proprietary additives/detergents into the gas. These additives allow the gas to exceed the minimum govt standards of performance. Once all the big name brands get their gas, there will always be some left over. Since gas does have a shelf life, the refineries sell it cheap to get rid of it - in come the "no name" brands (or companies that buy the cheap stuff with no additives that sell it to the no name gas stations). This not to say the no name gas stations don't ever get top tier brands. The top tier brands also have some leftover gas after delivering to all of their gas stations that they want to get rid of due to the shelf life of the gas - which they also sell for cheap to some of the no name gas stations. But the gas at those no name stations is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get....

There is clearly marketing involved with the top tier brands and their "proprietary" additives they use - you see this in their commercials. However, there have been plenty of studies that show that the additives in top tier gas do allow your engine to perform better, run cleaner and contribute to a longer lasting engine with continual use when compared to no additives at all. Now which top tier brand additive performs substantially better than another top tier brand is negligible IMHO. I personally don't prefer one top tier brand over another.

People can obviously do what they want. But for those who think there is no difference between the grade of gas (87, 89, 91, or 93) or the brand of gas (top tier vs no name) when it comes to optimizing engine performance and longevity, well you get what you pay for - even if your "butt dyno" does not feel a difference. It all comes down to how much you are willing to pay now or later. I own/have owned 5 BMWs in the past 20+ years and for mere "extra" pennies on the dollar, I have always put in the highest octane, top tier brands available and specifically avoided the no name stuff for the reasons mentioned above.

Originally Posted by Paultattoo

To each their own. I drive a lot. But I am either doing 75 with the cruise control on or sitting in bumper to bumper traffic. Car drove fine. It's all in how you look at it. The gas station I go to has a car wash. I take the savings and run it through the wash. I'm happy.

The few times I decided to see if anything was different I filled up with the best fuel they had. Never noticed anything. Same MPG. Same power. No knock.

Maybe $550 ain't that much to you. I can just do better things with it, that's all. If it would make you feel better, I can PM you my address and you can send me a check.

Originally Posted by Wild Blue

Yes, if you use lower octane, the ECU will retard ignition, and the engine will run fine.

You may feel like you're getting the same performance, but you're not. If you put your car on a dyno, you'll see the quantitative reduction in performance.

I put nothing less than Super Unleaded in my Bimmers.

Originally Posted by Resjudicata

it's been said here, but again you will save only a few pennies from regular to premium gas. it's a tiny fraction of a % of the cars price tag. Want to save money? get the i6 instead of the v8 turbo. Don't get the heated seats, or any other option. almost every single upgrade and option on the BMW from paint to Leather will cost more than $500 you're going to "save" with cheaper gas.

Basic gas will damage your engine over the lifetime. it may not happen at mile 5 or 7000 or 20000, but between 0 and 200,000 miles - it will hurt your engine at some point. I don't want to play Russian roulette with a $60k - $100k car SUV.

That said, if you want to save money and still drive a BMW and still use premium without the big cost; you can get the Costco credit card which gives you 6% back on premium gas which is usually 20% cheaper than premium gas in our area. Net, net with 3 premium vehicles we save about $1,000 per year over the price of Shell or other premium gas.

The good news is Costco Kirkland is has been Top tier rated for the last few years and so is Arco. In my area there can be a $1.50 spread for 91 within a 2 mile radius. So use the GasBuddy app or the nav system for the best deals.

[Resjudicata]

yeah I always look for that top tier logo on the pump, and as Life2short said it's been on the Costco pumps for a while now.
I've never had any problems with top premium Costco gas that I'm aware of. I always use their max, which I think is 91 octane.

[mitch57]

Originally Posted by Resjudicata

That said, if you want to save money and still drive a BMW and still use premium without the big cost; you can get the Costco credit card which gives you 6% back on premium gas which is usually 20% cheaper than premium gas in our area.

What Costco do you belong to? I live in Washington state and we don't get 6% off on Premium Gas. This is what Costco says on their website about gas discounts. https://www.costco.com/gasoline-cash-back-rewards.html

[Resjudicata]

Originally Posted by mitch57

What Costco do you belong to? I live in Washington state and we don't get 6% off on Premium Gas. This is what Costco says on their website about gas discounts. https://www.costco.com/gasoline-cash-back-rewards.html

Virginia and I've been a business club member of Costco since I opened my own shop back when it was called Price Club.
I haven't checked what executive members get in 20 years. I guess it's 4% now. either way we get a big check every year.

[like2short]

Originally Posted by Resjudicata

Virginia and I've been a business club member of Costco since I opened my own shop back when it was called Price Club.
I haven't checked what executive members get in 20 years. I guess it's 4% now. either way we get a big check every year.

Originally Posted by Resjudicata

yeah I always look for that top tier logo on the pump, and as Life2short said it's been on the Costco pumps for a while now.
I've never had any problems with top premium Costco gas that I'm aware of. I always use their max, which I think is 91 octane.

This is the AAA report on Top tier gas,

https://www.aaa.com/AAA/common/AAR/f...ull-Report.pdf

yes the detergents help prevent deposit formation. The good news is these detergents also seem to work if non top tier was used and deposits have formed. The bad news for direct injection engines is that these detergents don't help intake valve deposits because only air but not fuel go thru the valve. Fuel goes directly into the cylinder head.

Use the octane recommend by your mfg and use top tier gas.