[Chuckyarla]

Due to the current situation (ie lack of long journeys) I'm going about 3 months between fuel fills. Is there a danger of the fuel going bad? Should I think about putting a fuel stabilizer in the tank with every fill?

[ztx84]

I don't think you'd have an issue with 3 months between fills - at the moment I am filling my car up every 3-4 months and haven't experienced any issues at all. i just make sure I take it out once a week for a drive (15-20 miles) and that's it.

[LogicalApex]

The 530e has a pressurized fuel tank to maintain fuel quality for prolonged periods. I wouldn't worry about it.

[Chuckyarla]

That’s good to know - cheers!

[ted99]

I still had 1/3 of the original tank of fuel at the end of a year. I put another 1/3 in it just to "refresh" the fill. As was mentioned, the tank is pressurized, so there is less chance of air/moisture degrading the fuel. BMW only does this for it's PHEV's for the very reason you (we) are concerned. The i3 REX had a small SS tank, but all the other PHEV's have a polymer tank, so there is little chance of corrosion products. I only use Shell V-power, a tier 1 fuel with a higher load of additives as further safeguard. I also wondered about using a fuel stabilizer but decided against it because I don't know what kind of interactions might occur between it and the V-power. For your case, I think you are fine with what you are doing. You fill more frequently than I do. My i3 REX would automatically start every two weeks, or so, and run for 10 min if I had not used the REX engine in that period. An abundance of caution on BMW's part? Or, a function of the REX engine being a small scooter engine. For my part, I decided that I would run my 4-cyl ICE engine in my 530e when it was a long enough run to get the whole system up to full operating temperature. I'm in the situation where almost ALL of my mileage is short in town trips with home charging, so I have to deliberately find opportunities to run the engine--which I think is a necessary thing to do periodically. As a consequence, I don't use much fuel.

In the olden days with carbs, I had a Chevy van that was in winter storage while I was elsewhere and I had to clean the carb jets before it would run properly. I then took to putting a fuel stabilizer in the 30 gal tank( kept it full to minimize condensation), which took a LOT of stabilizer. Later, when I did this with a fuel injected car, the storage didn't seem to cause problems with "varnish" from evaporated fuel clogging the carb jets.

I think you have a valid concern, but I'm suspecting that 1) fuel injection, 2) better fuel additives at the pump, 3) pressurized tank, and 4) better fuel system components because of more stringent emissions regulations and inspections make our fuel concerns one that was based on the "olden days" and no longer a concern. I'm more worried that the engine needs to be run periodically to circulate the oil, coat the bearings and lubricate the seals. How often? I wish BMW would give us some guidance.

[LogicalApex]

Originally Posted by ted99

I still had 1/3 of the original tank of fuel at the end of a year. I put another 1/3 in it just to "refresh" the fill. As was mentioned, the tank is pressurized, so there is less chance of air/moisture degrading the fuel. BMW only does this for it's PHEV's for the very reason you (we) are concerned. The i3 REX had a small SS tank, but all the other PHEV's have a polymer tank, so there is little chance of corrosion products. I only use Shell V-power, a tier 1 fuel with a higher load of additives as further safeguard. I also wondered about using a fuel stabilizer but decided against it because I don't know what kind of interactions might occur between it and the V-power. For your case, I think you are fine with what you are doing. You fill more frequently than I do. My i3 REX would automatically start every two weeks, or so, and run for 10 min if I had not used the REX engine in that period. An abundance of caution on BMW's part? Or, a function of the REX engine being a small scooter engine. For my part, I decided that I would run my 4-cyl ICE engine in my 530e when it was a long enough run to get the whole system up to full operating temperature. I'm in the situation where almost ALL of my mileage is short in town trips with home charging, so I have to deliberately find opportunities to run the engine--which I think is a necessary thing to do periodically. As a consequence, I don't use much fuel.

In the olden days with carbs, I had a Chevy van that was in winter storage while I was elsewhere and I had to clean the carb jets before it would run properly. I then took to putting a fuel stabilizer in the 30 gal tank( kept it full to minimize condensation), which took a LOT of stabilizer. Later, when I did this with a fuel injected car, the storage didn't seem to cause problems with "varnish" from evaporated fuel clogging the carb jets.

I think you have a valid concern, but I'm suspecting that 1) fuel injection, 2) better fuel additives at the pump, 3) pressurized tank, and 4) better fuel system components because of more stringent emissions regulations and inspections make our fuel concerns one that was based on the "olden days" and no longer a concern. I'm more worried that the engine needs to be run periodically to circulate the oil, coat the bearings and lubricate the seals. How often? I wish BMW would give us some guidance.

I think BMW did give us the guidance on the ICE portion. It is the same as the ICE version of the car. If you didn't use the engine for a year you're asked to change the oil out and that's it. Yes, there are other things we don't have to worry about like making sure the 12V battery has a trickle charger attached to it, but that's all it requires is an oil change to swap out oil that is wearing out.

If the ICE required anything else (such as running periodically) then the car would manage it for us similar to your i3. And they'd want to do it right a many of these parts are warrantied up to 15Y/150K miles in CARB states so they'll be paying warranty claims if they don't manage it well for the long-term.