Gas Price ....Gas Type
 

With current gas price, I am thinking about changing from 91 octane gas to 87 for my '03 X5. With BMW recommend 91, will there be any downside? What gas are you pumping these day?

You are better off sticking with 91....however, if you have to downgrade, then only downgrade to 89, not down to 87.....

Do a search as this issue came up before. You should really go with what the factory asks for as that is what all the timing and fuel mixtures are based on....

Look at picking up a daily driver 4-banger to save on gas.

IMO, look at it this way...an extra 600.00 a year for premium fuel over poo-poo fuel - OR - $10,000 for a new motor to be installed.

Towne BMW here in Buffalo recommends the mid grade, or 89 octane, to all their customers except the M cars and S Minis. We have driven both our cars a total of 70,000 miles on 89, and there has been no problem at all. Even Towne's top tech, who is an award winner, uses 89 in his own X, which is a 4.4 . . .Notwithstanding BMW's official recommendation, 89 seems to work well, and there is little, if any, power loss. Certainly not enough for the average driver to notice it.

In the final analysis, however, it's up to you. Good luck.

I would use what is recommended. Putting cheap gas in a $50k BMW is like buying a $10k top of the line Plasma TV and then using an antenna to get your signal because you don't want to pay $30/month for cable. If you can't afford the gas, get a less expensive car.

I agree that "you wanna play, you gotta pay." If you buy an 50K+ car, don't complain about how expensive for maintenance or replacement parts...it's not a Kia.

My problem is the recent price gouging on gas prices. We got our X5 when it was @ $2 a gal. Now is almost 3.50!!! This much inflation is outrageous. I know in Euro, these prices are a deal. I'm not gonna get into politics.

It's people who'd say "If you can't afford the gas, get a less expensive car." is what these refineries would like to hear. I mean c'mon $400mil for Arco or was it Exxon CEO's pension(I wish I was him...work 15 years and get that much from the company)!! We pay the gas because we need to get to places. Something needs to be done...we'll see how Bush's price check pans out.

These f'ers are gouging and they use every lame ass excuse to validate there "so called shortage" issues....

California has so many fuel taxes its a joke!

What about Octane boosters that you add to your fuel tank?

I always find it funny when people complain that the oil companies are "price gouging". We have a free market economy, which means you can charge what you want for what you are selling.

I keep hearing the conservative talk show hosts a la Rush Limbaugh saying "there is no evidence of price gouging". What I have yet to hear is a definition of "price gouging". If it means charging an excessive price, then who is to judge what is "excessive". One look at Exxon-Mobil's record profits for last year (approx $36 billion - most ever for a corporation) would tell you that they are profiting more per gallon of gas sold than ever before. But they have the right to do that. If you do not like it, buy from someone else, or don't buy at all.

This is the system we have. It's called capitalism. Any hint that the government should be involved in regulating prices is a step towards socialism.

I'm being a bit sarcastic here, beacuse I myself am a socialist and I think the oil industry should be nationalized. But either it should be nationalized or private. One or the other. And if it is going to be privately owned and run, then the owners are going to do whatever is in their power to maximize profits, including "price gouging", artificially controlling supplies, and even heavily influencing politicians to alter foreign policy for their benefit (i.e. going to war, imposing sanctions, etc.) That is the way the game works.

If you don't like the system, then vote for politicians who propose changing the system. But within the current system, there will be nothing more than cheap talk among the politicians. Any of them who were to actually take steps towards doing something would quickly find themselves out of office, or even possibly dead.

Actually I think fuel needs to go a little higher. I know thats not popular but we have far to many commuters in this country. The only reason we have so much traffic is because we have to many cars on the road getting to and from work.