Hey all,

01 3.0X5 110k miles. I am somewhat of a materials engineer. My two cents.

1. Decarbon your engine. This is done with kerosene in kerosense based cleaners added to your oil. Add a quart to a warm engine. Yes your crankcase will be overfilled for a few minutes. Run engine for 5-10 minutes. Then change oil. Kerosene dissolves carbon pretty well and quickly. This is an old farm trick which is valid for all gasoline engines. Just read the ingredients on that $9.00 quart of internal engine cleaner/oil additive---90+% is kerosene.
2. Had a BMW tech tell me the fuel issue is about the sensors associated with the fuel injectors. Each injector has a sensor. It is the sensor which collect deposits easier than the injector. If the sensor is dirty then it thinks that cylinder has fuel so it takes it out of the firing sequence which makes the engine run rough and have no power. Poor grade gasoline varnishes the sensors faster than higher grades. Fuel additives are the fix here.
3. Gasoiline.....with todays orchestrated crisis you never know what you are getting. My uncle owns a gas station and has said that it is worse to buy gas when his tanks are near empty (crappy deposits more concentrated in what remains to be sold) and for a few hours after his tanks are filled ( filling stirs up the sludge in the bottom of his tanks). This seems logical to me. Newer pumps have better filters but no owners are religious about their maintenance.
4. Its also not a smart idea to ride around with your gas guage light on. It might conserve you a few dollars in the short term but it will eventually cost you in the end.
5. All BMW owners should realize that these engines are fussy, overengineered and beyoned the knowledge of your average shade tree mechanic. It is the price we pay for superior performance and that egotistical cool factor we publically deny but secretly smirk about....heheh.

Drive safe....drive often.....it is a right the greenies long to take from us....and makes us into Euro loving tree huggers crammed into smart cars.

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Well I guess this ain't gonna be easy.......