Doid23

You may believe that different brands of gas are different, but the thruth is that they are not. Fundamentally, the gas that you get at Chevron, Shell, Mobil, Texaco, etc. is the same, and more often than not, exactly the same from exactly the same source. Refineries refine crude into finished gasoline, which is then transported via pipeline, barge, truck, etc. to a terminal. Many competitors may share terminals (I can't think of a terminal in the US that isn't shared by multiple brands) the only difference being that they must have their own additive (which "brands" the gasoline) rack at the terminal. While additive packages make for good advertising, they again are not fundamentally different between major brands, and certainly not to the tune of 4-5 mpg difference. They are basically detergents to keep the engine clean, and do not impact octane or any other fundamentals of the gasoline.

Also (to another post in this topic), the fact that Shell is the recommended brand of BMW means absolutely nothing. BP is the recommended brand for Ford, Mobil is the factory oil fill for Porcshe, etc., just advertising, that's all. And I don't know who concocted this whole "Top Tier" brands list, but it is just advertising as well.

I've been in the industry for 20 years, and one of the rules that I always follow is that the best gas comes from the best gas stations, as in cleanliness, customer service, etc. Most of the problems with gas quality (especially when Ethanol is involved) come not from the supply source, but rather from poor onsite operating procedures, such as the operator not checking for high water levels in the tanks, sediment, contaminents, etc. Usually, if they take the time to have good landscaping, keep the place clean, etc., the're doing the other unseen things right as well. It always makes me shake my head when a guy with a$70K car goes into a crappy looking station to save 3 cents a gallon.

lawguy

Excellent information......thanks!

jtp1947

Does anyone know what brand of gas Costco has? Their gas is usually 10 to fifteen cents cheaper per gallon. Only down side is you may have to wait 5 or so minutes if you go on a week end.

Doid23

Costco, as well as other companies such as Sheetz, Wawa, Sam's Club, etc, do not use a specific brand of gasoline, rather, they procure their gasoline from different suppliers. They do this for a few reasons, the foremost being that they don't own any direct supply themselves (pipelines, terminals, trucks, etc.) They buy what's called unbranded product, which is basically the excess product that refineries produce/ terminals hold and need to find a buyer for (which doesn't contain any specialized detergency additive, just a basic detergent). They use different companies mostly in order to assure supply. This is not done daily, but rather through contracts with suppliers.
As for the lower prices, they do that for a few reasons. One, the main reason that they have gasoline at their sites is to help them attract more customers to join their clubs and shop in their stores. It certainly isn't to make profit on gasoline, but it does serve the purpose of adding to a locations revenue figures, which Wall Street loves. Also, depending upon what the market is doing, they at times may have a much lower buying cost than their major competitors, but the increasing price volatility is negating some of that advantage over the past few years. I'm not sure where you live so I can't comment directly on the 10-15 cpg cheaper, but for the most part they tend to be 6-7 cpg cheaper over a period of time. Hope that helps.

tom_hou

Absolutely agree w/ Doid23. I recently retired from one of the majors and was reading the thread to the end to add a similar comment. Get your gasoline from the busiest, cleanest station at the "major" you like best. Don't ever buy at a station when the delivery guy is dropping a load.

Remember that 20,000 miles a year at 20 mpg means about 1,000 gallons of gasoline a year. Even if you can save 10 cents a gallon (which is huge) it's about $100 a year.... Seems like a small prize to risk a $5000 engine!

heezy545i

The car did feel a bit sluggish that night, but it was probably just in my imagination as everyone else had faster cars. The 100 octane may not have helped me, but to say that it slowed me down just doesn't compute. If anything the extra octane was just wasted away.

For stock, naturally aspirated cars, I just don't think the price for 100 octane is worth it, as the benefits are minimal if anything.

It's true that when we did our prior runs, that you started to slightly pull/creep at the beginning or the middle of 4th gear. Up to that point however, our cars were exactly even. Sure some of this could be related to the higher octane gas (you were running a 95.5 mix and I was running 91), but I think other factors should be considered. Other factors such as wheel weight, the m-tech kit and the possibility that your engine is stronger and just breathes better up top.

My car is completely stock. The OEM 124s weigh 31lbs front and 32lbs rear. The weight of my tires are 24lbs for the front and 29lbs rear.

At the time you were running OEM M5 wheels with Toyo T1Rs. The wheel weights are 27lbs front and 27.5 rear. Tire weights are 24lbs front and 26lbs rear.

This results in a reduction of 23lbs of unsprung weight in your favor.

The M-tech kit should also be considered as it's an OEM product and would hopefully be wind-tunnel tested by BMW. One would assume that there is a slight reduction in the coefficient of drag and if anything would have a slight affect over 100mph.

As an aside, from my "drive" this weekend, I found that my car begins to die or slow down prior to 5K RPM in 4th gear. Shifting to 5th at this time yields better acceleration to the electronic limit. Not sure if this is true for all V8 e60s or just in my car.

vegastrashed

heezy,
I still think it was the mixture of the 100/91 octane gas that enabled me to pull on you back in January. The first time we ran, you beat me easily. I blame that on not shifting at redline. I will credit you with adding to my knowledge of our cars. The tips you have given me made our ensuing runs more competitive. Let's not forgot to mention that your 6 speed owns me from a dig.