Texarkana anyone?

[PropellerHead]

Bad fuel in Hope, AR nets me a stay over in Texarkana, AR. Anyone live here and able to drop some sorrows?


Pulled fuel line and drained into a bottle. Looked like kerosene. .

[X5chemist]

Ouch, sorry. A little to far away from Austin.

[workingonit]

Originally Posted by PropellerHead

Bad fuel in Hope, AR nets me a stay over in Texarkana, AR. Anyone live here and able to drop some sorrows?


Pulled fuel line and drained into a bottle. Looked like kerosene. .

Normally, I will frequent small shops, just to help out some small businesses, but NEVER buy gasoline from Mom & Pop roadside convenience stores, if I can help it. I've had two bad tanks over the years that made me skittish; once in the 1973 gas crisis (when stranded at a lake house in West Texas), and the last time, in 1990 after midnight, in the rain, in Seguin Texas, trying to get home in time for work in Dallas. Both stops were at Mom & Pop operations.

Because of those experiences, on most trips, back when I was drag racing out in the boonies, I'd carry at least 10 gallons extra of gas for the tow vehicle, as well as 10 more for the drag car. For our daily drivers, we never had a problem finding gas, but when I was racing, or my wife was using her truck & camper for her insurance business trips, we plotted our stops ahead of time, to be assured of "national brands" gas quality.

I haven't made any long trips in the X5, yet, but rest assured that I will have premium gas enough to handle it (and maybe some StaBil 360 ethanol treatment and fuel stabilizer, to add if the gas is of questionable quality).

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by workingonit

I haven't made any long trips in the X5, yet, but rest assured that I will have premium gas enough to handle it (and maybe some StaBil 360 ethanol treatment and fuel stabilizer, to add if the gas is of questionable quality).

Believe me, no amount of dry gas, pure alcohol, or Octane boost is gonna undo this crap tide.

I was so thrilled to a full ass tank of ethanol free gas that I didn't mind the $4.60/gal price. Until I got a lil sample of what was coming outta the pump. It didn't even SMELL like fuel, much less LOOK like it!

THen there's the stuff that *sorta* smelled like gas, but it did'nt Quite have that... What is it? "Sex Panther" grunt to it. Yeah.. "Sex panther"

And then, there's the sh!t crapper kerosene that has alll the good stuff at the bottom...

[PropellerHead]

Well, 2 days and a ~$1500 trip to glorious Texakana later, I am back home. I will say that the X5 had new tires- runflats of all things! I always hated run flats, but ya know? I kinda like these. Paired with the alignment, the X5 ran like a freakin new car. I cannot wait till I install the Turner solid core kit. It's going to feel like my dear old 3.0!

[haigha]

Glad to hear you made it home safely. Sorry about the expense. I appreciate you posting your experience. A reminder to be careful where to fill up.

A friend just got back from a trip to Durango, Mexico in his Armada. He needs a new fuel pump. That may be related to poor quality combustible

[Bottomfeeder]

Just got home from a Texas -> North Carolina and back road trip last week (~ 2600 miles total) in my 2005 X5 3.0 and saw this. I nearly crossed paths with you, got as close as Shreveport. Sorry to hear of your woes. My trip was relatively uneventful aside from a hood emblem that decided to come unglued and project itself toward my windshield. Otherwise smooth.

Glad you made it back OK and sorry to hear of your woes. Travel is always an adventure.

Chris

[AV8R4AA]

What was your overall MPG.

[Bottomfeeder]

Originally Posted by AV8R4AA

What was your overall MPG.

Not sure if this was meant for me or the OP, but I have to admit that I slacked and didn't pay attention to MPG. The fillups were painful, though, with 93 coming perilously close to $5/gal in many places.

The car turned 44K miles on this trip, so hopefully still a lot of life left. As long as I can continue to afford the maintenance costs. :-)

Chris

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by Bottomfeeder

Travel is always an adventure.

Truths. This was the 1st time I have had my X5 on a tow in ~11 years of ownership. It had 11k when I bought it, and I'm hunting 170k on this trip.

Though I have spent on maintenance roughly once again what I paid for it with so few miles in 2011 (maybe I've paid 3x with the damn 315's lasting only 15K miles or so.) We've been to both coasts a number of times, all 3 9/11 memorials, 25 or so National Parks, both borders, And even Standing on a Corner in Winslow, AZ. (Like 3x's) I'd reckon I've paid a number of municipalities restitution for various shenanigans, but- oh wow.. I owned a Mazda when I was jailed in SE Georgia for speeding.

I realized I'm only a few hours (in the opposite direction) from both BMW PDC in Spartanburg, AND my favorite bike shop in Andersen, SC. I may just stop over there before the run home. What's another 800 miles or so? Except that, these days, that answer adds some financial weight.

In case the question ab gas mileage is informed by the share, I will add that I have averaged around 15.2 on what's ended up being 2,300 miles *so far*. Andersen, SC may just round out the 3K mile trip total I was looking for.