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BMW 5-Series (G30) Forum Mechanical Maintenance - Break-in, Oil, Fluids, Servicing Which petrol 95 or 99

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      03-21-2018, 11:34 AM   #1
RamboUK
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Which petrol 95 or 99

Hi all,

I have my first petrol car for many years and was wondering what is the main difference between the RON95 standard unleded with the super RON 99?

I have a G30 530i but was wondering if someone could explain the benefits or cons of having both please?

Is it worth using the RON 99 and make much difference or RON95 ok?

Thanks
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      03-21-2018, 12:04 PM   #2
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I have a 540i and posted a similar question last year.
My take on it is stick with 95 and save your money. Whilst 99 may give some minimal increase in power I really only think you would notice this under racing conditions.
I have tried 95 and 97 and can't tell any difference.
Higher octane fuel may give a very small benefit in fuel consumption but the extra cost of the fuel wipes it out.
The premium fuel may offer some extra cleaning benefits so perhaps worth a try from time to time as regards that but in summary my view is to stick with 95.

I think there is a lot of imagination taking hold when evaluating these fuels , any comparison would have to be undertaken under laboratory conditions to be of any meaning.

I now await a raft of follow ups with different views!
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      03-21-2018, 01:21 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AP View Post
I have a 540i and posted a similar question last year.
My take on it is stick with 95 and save your money. Whilst 99 may give some minimal increase in power I really only think you would notice this under racing conditions.
I have tried 95 and 97 and can't tell any difference.
Higher octane fuel may give a very small benefit in fuel consumption but the extra cost of the fuel wipes it out.
The premium fuel may offer some extra cleaning benefits so perhaps worth a try from time to time as regards that but in summary my view is to stick with 95.

I think there is a lot of imagination taking hold when evaluating these fuels , any comparison would have to be undertaken under laboratory conditions to be of any meaning.

I now await a raft of follow ups with different views!
Hi mate

Thanks for that its a difficult one some people say its good for cleaning the engine and you can get some extra MPG out of it.

Say if i did go for the 99 RON try it a couple times and see if there is any difference if not there is no issue going back to RON 95 wont mess up the engine in any way because going from a high octane to a lower?
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      03-21-2018, 01:55 PM   #4
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No problems whatsoever.
The manual states Ron 91-100 (uk)
You can mix and match as you like
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      03-21-2018, 02:50 PM   #5
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I would completely agree with AP as well... I have used 95 and 97/8 in previous petrol cars (ford focus RS) and can't say that higher octane makes any noticeable difference at all. I spoke to the dealer about this for my 540 and he said the same - unlikely to be anything tangible in it. What I plan to do is run a couple of tanks of high octane through it every now and then though as I have heard that there are some better cleaning additives in the higher octane fuel, for the most part though I will stick with 95.
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      03-22-2018, 06:26 AM   #6
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Cheers guys

i will do that then from what you both have said. i will probably run a couple tanks every so often with the higher octane and then go with the lower.

I am planning to go on a long trip soon say if i have 1/2 tank left of the ron 95 and then top up with the ron 99 is this fine or is it worth just waiting till i completely fill up again to use the high octane?

Thanks
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      03-22-2018, 08:55 AM   #7
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Perfectly fine
Mix and match as you please . No issues whatsoever
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      03-22-2018, 11:39 AM   #8
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Quote:
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Perfectly fine
Mix and match as you please . No issues whatsoever
sweet thanks
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      03-22-2018, 12:54 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RamboUK View Post
Cheers guys

i will do that then from what you both have said. i will probably run a couple tanks every so often with the higher octane and then go with the lower.

I am planning to go on a long trip soon say if i have 1/2 tank left of the ron 95 and then top up with the ron 99 is this fine or is it worth just waiting till i completely fill up again to use the high octane?

Thanks
I'd say run the tank low before you stick the higher octane stuff in - because if you mix say 50/50 95 and 99 the car will default to the lower setting (as far as I know). My plan is to run my current tank almost to fumes and then stick some higher octane stuff in it. Managed to get 130 miles from 1/4 of a tank though so not bad at all thus far! I genuinely saw 36mpg at the end of my commute yesterday - not at all bad for a 540, although clearly I'm not using it properly yet...!
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      03-22-2018, 02:42 PM   #10
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I'd say if you mix half a tank of 95 and half 99 you get 97.(assuming it mixes up in the tank!)
The engine doesn't care, it will continuously monitor and adjust timing as required
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