Xoutpost.com

Xoutpost.com (https://xoutpost.com/forums.php)
-   X5 (E53) Forum (https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/x5-e53-forum/)
-   -   American's - how do you deal with ETHANOL in your fuel? (https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/x5-e53-forum/90846-americans-how-do-you-deal-ethanol-your-fuel.html)

albatrill 01-08-2013 01:21 PM

American's - how do you deal with ETHANOL in your fuel?
 
Hey everyone, if you live in America you may live in a state that puts Ethanol in all of its gas. I do - Texas - and its really bad stuff. What do you put into your engine to keep it clean? I want to keep my 2005 e53 for another 5 years but the engine already sounds like shit, even though the rest of the vehicle is fine.

I have read about additives (one from a boat manufacturing company) that help and clean up the fuel, what are ya'lls experiences and suggestions?

SlickGT1 01-08-2013 02:29 PM

Subscribed. And yes, we are getting screwed with this bullshit in our fuel.

motordavid 01-08-2013 02:46 PM

Not a fan of the 'farm' subsidized ethanol, aka distill food crops to mix into the gasoline...
But, have not had any "engine sounds like shit" problems in any of our cars, and 2 of them are 11 1/2 and 10 1/2 yrs old with 76k and 56k respectively...

I use a jug of Techron Plus a couple times per year, and jump up and down when I find a non-eth station. However, I run less than premo quite often on road trips.
GL, mD

upallnight 01-08-2013 02:50 PM

I find that if you put Premium gas in the car it has less ethanol then regular gas.

theblue 01-08-2013 03:00 PM

if you take the politics out, Ethanol has a bunch of pros/cons and is not simply "evil". I haven't noticed any real issues running E10 in any of my cars. E85 in a properly tuned turbo car can make a ton more power over 93.

Ricky Bobby 01-08-2013 03:09 PM

Blu sta-bil marine formula has more ethanol stabilizers and cleaners than the standard Red version, which is now outdated considering the Red formula was made pre E10 days.

My lawnmower shop actually gave me this info, because the small engines and carbs dont handle the ethanol too well. They said guys come in with shitty carbs all the time and say "well i use Stabil" and when they say its the red one the shop tells them its no longer good enough. And also to use no less than mid grade gas in mowers, 2 cycle mixes, etc, 87 octane just has too much ethanol.


For the X, if I'm not going to be driving terribly much or just want some added benefit of fuel conditioner/stabilizer, an ounce or 2 of Blue stabil in a tank a couple of times a year goes far. That, and I tend to use only 93 Shell V-power in her.

Bayerische E53 01-08-2013 03:23 PM

I've got over 150,000 miles on my car, I've never had any issues with the fuel system, and I've never used an additive in the fuel system. All the fuel system components on the car are original.

That said, I had an E60 in which the methanol ate the seals in the secondary (i.e. high-pressure) fuel pump but I haven't encountered any problems with any other of my cars.

Am I just lucky?

HPIA4v2 01-08-2013 03:52 PM

a few years back, gas-station put a lbel on the pump saying ethanol (oxygenated gas) is madatory in my state from Nove-15 until April-15. Now the sticker is permanent saying the gas contains up to 10% of ethanol. So I assume the gas always has ethanol all year long.

motordavid 01-08-2013 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theblue (Post 915546)
if you take the politics out, Ethanol has a bunch of pros/cons and is not simply "evil". I haven't noticed any real issues running E10 in any of my cars. ...

Who wrote that eth was 'evil'?

I agree that for our cars, it is/has been a non-event, other than reduced mpg.
My m'cyles, being older, are not fans of E10.

motordavid 01-08-2013 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby (Post 915549)
Blu sta-bil marine formula has more ethanol stabilizers and cleaners than the standard Red version, which is now outdated considering the Red formula was made pre E10 days.
...

Interesting. When I was in WalmartNation buying Stabil to load up my Scoots' tanks for the put away season, I noticed the Marine version, which via label comparo, has 20% 'secret ingredients' and 80% 'petroleum distillates' vs the usual 5% & 95%. My old chem lab guess is that the mfg'er jacked up the cleaner additives and 'special sauce' ratio in the Marine version. Could be good, could be marketing...dunno. Will try when I get back to the Mtn house.

I also looked at the newer Stabil Ethanol Treatment Stabil on the same shelf, but comparing that label to the 'regular'/old Stabil, showed the two labels to be identical, ingredients wise, imo. And, the 'ethanol' treatment was nearly double the price, but appears to be the same stuff. Very good marketing... :rolleyes:

Combing the web, I can't find MSDS info for that new Marine version to see what the diff might be, other than the increased ratio of chems in the Marine vs the Red Regular.

Fwiw, that 80% in Marine and that 95% in regular Stabil is:
Hydrotreated light naphthenic distillate solvent extract, which uses the same CAS Registry number for a multitude of identical/nearly identical petroleum 'distillates'.

Not beating on Stabil; I have been using it for decades in stored m'cycles and whatever car gets put to sleep. Just interesting.

Back at the FarmAid Ranch, I do not look forward to the EPA mandated E15, esp in our older cars and much older scoots...
GL, mD


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 09:58 AM.

vBulletin, Copyright 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
SEO by vBSEO 3.6.0
© 2017 Xoutpost.com. All rights reserved.