Biofuel & the Beast???? - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

slunk_23 · 26th September 2007, 18:39

I'm based in Ireland and one of the national fuel suppliers has released this
http://www.maxol.ie/e5/q&a.html

check it out and tell me what you think
octane rating of 99.2 apparently...

Nabio · 26th September 2007, 20:41

Absolutely a question for BMW Ireland. Personally I wouldn't do it though.

6spd · 26th September 2007, 22:56

Quote:

Personally I wouldn't do it though

But you are if you live in Calif

m5 deamon · 26th September 2007, 23:21

i think here in the states they blend 10% of that into our fuels

mottati · 27th September 2007, 01:33

i think the owners manual says up to 10% ethanol is ok, in california, that's what we get, no choices, generally.

The octane rating is quite good. Again, here, we only get 91, but our octane rating is calculated differetly, our 91 is about 95 RON.

Car should be fine with this.

richie_rvf · 28th September 2007, 14:01

Based in Ireland too, one of my mates sent an e-mail to BMW, this is the reply;

Thank you for contacting BMW Customer Information.

We can advise that ethanol mixed fuels have not been approved by BMW Germany, therefore we are unable to recommend that such a fuel is suitable for your BMW M3. We can therefore confirm that it is not recommended that E5 fuel be used in any BMW vehicle.

We trust this information is of use. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.
Yours sincerely

BMW Group UK
Tim Sharpe
Product Information Advisor
Ellesfield Avenue
Bracknell RG12 8TA

I sent an e-mail to Maxol, this is the reply;

Thank you for your email in which you express concerns about the suitability of E5 (95% Unleaded and 5% Bioethanol Blend) in your BMW Motor Vehicle.

I can understand the statement by your BMW Dealer in that they have not tested the fuel. From that perspective, in order to protect their warranty position, they are unlikely, until they have proved otherwise, to approve an alternative fuel.

Maxol E5 Petrol fully meets the EU specification EN 228 for Unleaded in accordance with the terms of EU Fuel Directive EC 98/70 revised to provide for biofuel content in Unleaded Petrol.

The Octane rating is 99.2, as attested to in the attached Fuel Quality Analysis done by accredited laboratory of SGS.

Maxol E5 will thus have the same fuel quality and integrity as standard unleaded petrol. However, motorists using E5 will contribute to a cleaner environment as a result of approximately 2.5% lower carbon emissions from their vehicle, and with a higher Octane than Regular Unleaded (normally 95.0 to 95.9), will experience improved performance.

I suggest if your Dealer is in any further doubt about the suitability of the Fuel, they should arrange to have it tested by SGS to see if it meets the EU EN 228 Standard.

Regards
Pat Meehan
General Manager - Commercial, Supply & Operations The Maxol Group

So, what to do??

Roadmovie · 28th September 2007, 15:37

A quote from the 2002 M5 Owners Manual:

Page 10:
"For your own safety Use unleaded gasoline only. Fuels containing up to and including 10 % ethanol or other oxygenates with up to 2.8 % oxygen by weight (that is, 15 % MTBE or 3 % methanol plus an equivalent amount of co-solvent) will not void the applicable warranties covering defects in materials or workmanship. Field experience has indicated significant differences in fuel quality (volatility, composition, additives, others) among gasolines offered for sale in the United States and Canada. The use of poor-quality fuels may result in driveability, starting and stalling problems, especially under certain environmental conditions, such as high ambient temperature and high altitude."