philk 0 Report post Posted June 24, 2012 Hi I'm interested in what has been used and the results. I recently brought a 1997 540i M62 I have put 95 Octane in it but have been told that these can run on 91 well? as they were designed from factory to go to Japan and USA where they run a lower octane 87 and 89. Is this true? What would happen if you run it on 91 octane? Also what is your fuel consumption like? km/l I get about 7km/l round town and a little bit of open road driving Cheers Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M5V8 337 Report post Posted June 24, 2012 I'm interested in ppl's comments on this thread also. I always run 98 however there was a point where I was forced to use 95 because of location. I can't say I noticed too much difference. So I'd like to know what i'm paying for? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zl2cq 1 Report post Posted June 24, 2012 I have an NZ new manual E36 328is M-Sport M52 engine, 195k, Mileage - 3174km - 95 octane with 1 x Envirotab Octane pill per fill km - litre l/100k 546 41.26 7.55 568 45.9 8.08 476 39.14 8.22 529 46.6 8.81 600 48.77 8.13 455 39.74 8.73 32 to 38 mpg - includes track time My 318 Compact always averaged 6.7 to 7.3 l/100km - driven hard Pays to keep an eye on the figures, Regards Paul - E36 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
philk 0 Report post Posted June 25, 2012 (edited) I have an NZ new manual E36 328is M-Sport M52 engine, 195k, Mileage - 3174km - 95 octane with 1 x Envirotab Octane pill per fill km - litre l/100k 546 41.26 7.55 568 45.9 8.08 476 39.14 8.22 529 46.6 8.81 600 48.77 8.13 455 39.74 8.73 32 to 38 mpg - includes track time My 318 Compact always averaged 6.7 to 7.3 l/100km - driven hard Pays to keep an eye on the figures, Regards Paul - E36 Great to hear I should note what I put up is 7km/ltr which is about 14.2 ltr/100km (mixed driving) I've never heard of the Envirotab I take it increase in octane? what is it like without it? cheers Edited June 25, 2012 by philk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zl2cq 1 Report post Posted June 25, 2012 http://www.envirotab.com/Home.htm check the site, it does work, its more than just an octane thing - used it in 4x4 diesels and 3 x BMW's and certainly got better economy over not using it. 97 octane plus a pill IS noticeable ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
philk 0 Report post Posted June 25, 2012 Had a look at envirotab looks good, quite expensive I thought though? Wonder if it pays off in fuel mileage for the 540. I may give it a go next pay day lol Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jamez 2147483647 Report post Posted June 25, 2012 I use 91 in my e34 540i for town driving, get around 14.4L/100km. Found using 98 made no difference for city driving. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1rotty 40 Report post Posted June 25, 2012 i use 95 or 98 in mine but tbh notice no difference....yep 91 is fine according to the factory..must try it next fill Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Allanw 1071 Report post Posted June 25, 2012 Hi I'm interested in what has been used and the results. I recently brought a 1997 540i M62 I have put 95 Octane in it but have been told that these can run on 91 well? as they were designed from factory to go to Japan and USA where they run a lower octane 87 and 89. I understood Japan had higher Octane fuel generally. The US rating are NOT the same as here, their 89 is like 93 or 94. 87 is 91 or 92ish. They don't trnaslate exactly, but they use a different rating system. A lot of manuals say you can use lower octane fuels, but usually it says you can lose power and economy by doing so. 1 tank isn't enough to compare, unless you reset adaptaions etc. I only run the E39 on 95, but I had a 2004 Pulsar new, which I ran on 91 for 20,000Ks, getting about 450 kms a tank. The service manager at Nissan said my car was gutless, did I use 91 or 95? I changed to 95, and then got 600kms per tank! Also gained a lot of midrange torque from the more advanced timing. Higher octane doesn't make more power in itself, but it allows more efficient running through more timing advance (better power) and leaner running (before knock occurs) on "complicated" engine management systems, because the higher octane is less likely to "knock". I have a mate with a 540i Touring who gets better economy from 98 than 95, but he has a lead foot! He averages about 13.5 last I spoke to him - but drives Glenfield-ish to Silverdale each weekday. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
huff3r 347 Report post Posted June 25, 2012 http://www.envirotab.com/Home.htm check the site, it does work, its more than just an octane thing - used it in 4x4 diesels and 3 x BMW's and certainly got better economy over not using it. 97 octane plus a pill IS noticeable ! 7.7c per litre better? Cos that to me seems pretty pricy! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
turbolizard 38 Report post Posted June 25, 2012 I understood Japan had higher Octane fuel generally. The US rating are NOT the same as here, their 89 is like 93 or 94. 87 is 91 or 92ish. They don't trnaslate exactly, but they use a different rating system. The US pumps display AKI (Anti Knock Index) which is also called "Pump Octane". AKI is (RON + MON) / 2. RON is the research octane number, as displayed on pumps in NZ, and is obtained by a test under pretty favorable conditions. MON is motor octane number and is obtained by a test under tougher conditions that simulate higher load and hotter conditions. The MON test number is therefore quite a bit lower than RON. AKI, being the average of RON and MON, is therefore a lower number than RON for the same fuel. The MON is often about 9-10 octane numbers lower than RON, so as Allanw states above, the AKI comes out about 4-5 numbers lower. (Our 98 would probably sell 93 in the US). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RustyItalian 11 Report post Posted June 25, 2012 http://www.envirotab.com/Home.htm check the site, it does work, its more than just an octane thing - used it in 4x4 diesels and 3 x BMW's and certainly got better economy over not using it. 97 octane plus a pill IS noticeable ! To me that website absolutely screams snake oil. The wording on their "technical" page is pure marketing trite. I'd avoid anything like this like the plague unless you see evidence of their claims performed on a proper metered test engine against testing standards by an independent test facility or university. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
westy 614 Report post Posted June 25, 2012 I use 91 in my e34 540i for town driving, get around 14.4L/100km. Found using 98 made no difference for city driving. No difference here either. Probably because it's a big slug of an engine that's never (almost never) put under any high load. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yng_750 247 Report post Posted June 26, 2012 ive used a range of different fuels in my e39 540i generally havent noticed a change in economy usually go for shell 95 as its a good price for the octane bp98 if im going to drive it hard have tried gull force 10 a few different times seems to drive fine on it but everytime it goes in the car it gets a rough idle as soon as i use another fuel the idle goes back to normal Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
philk 0 Report post Posted July 1, 2012 Well here are my results so far I tried 91 put $40 in was ok idled a little rough when cold economy was ok too, but not fantastic. Tried the gull ethanol E85 felt good if giving it a bit, but very rough idle when cold and took ages to smooth out poor economy Put $60 Mobil 95 nice smooth idle nice and responsive and good economy bar far the best so far. Am going to try BP 98 and Gull force 10(98) and see how they go I get about 9.5 km/ltr open road on the 95 around 7km/ltr round town Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
