V-Power for 540i?

[steve911 0]

Being lazy I could probably search fo this however....

 

Just picked up a new 540i sport touring and filled it with V power. Whats the general consensus with this engine is there any noticeable improvement with V power or do most stick with standard? 

 

The motorbike runs far better with vPower however having had diesel cars for the past 15 years not sure if its worth it with the car. I'm sure over the next few days pointless trips for milk and bread will allow me to drain the tank and try standard very soon :)

[535i Andrew 3,263]

It’s better for the injectors and that’s about it on direct injection engines.

 

My E60 gave better mpg on it no noticeable performance improvement though. I don’t notice any difference running the F10 on super from ordinary petrol, mpg nor performance but psychologically (placebo) its doing its thing keeping my injectors healthy. 

[Carrman2018 21]

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/technology/under-skin-difference-between-regular-and-super-unleaded-fuel

[Runningman 19]

24 minutes ago, Carrman2018 said:

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/technology/under-skin-difference-between-regular-and-super-unleaded-fuel

There's zero useful information in that article!

[Johnyboy 38]

On 26/09/2019 at 18:41, Runningman said:

There's zero useful information in that article!

 

You're being generous.

[mobilejo 77]

I have noticed improvements with V Power in previous petrol cars, but they were all remapped. On those cars, the remap actively attempts to advance timing so the higher RON was actually recommended.

 

But on my 540i, even with a JB+ installed, I don't see any improvements personally. Perhaps with the car being new (had it from 0 - 15,000 miles) and everything working at close to 100% still, there is less benefit to be seen. Or perhaps as standard (and even with the JB+ which doesn't actively alter timing but may do so as a byproduct of increased boost, I don't know) the car just doesn't stand to benefit as much as my previous ones and I am just not noticing it as the improvement is not as marked.

[sjak92 259]

Pretty sure that when I was 17 and had my Astra G 1.8 SRI the V-Power that I spent all my left over money on from the colossal monthly insurance added at least 35bhp! 

 

 

[c00lh4nd 19]

I see no difference what so ever in my Tesla 3 aside from a wet foot and a strong smell of petrol. <huh>

[davey 0]

The dealer told me that they always use 95 RON on their cars, even the M cars

[sjak92 259]

On 14/10/2019 at 14:39, davey said:

The dealer told me that they always use 95 RON on their cars, even the M cars

 

Because its completely adequate. Think only stuff like ferrari, lamborghini etc will advise to use Premium at all times. 

[duncan-uk 2,795]

Things like the M3 and Z4M ask for 98 Ron though, my m3 felt better on shell V power.

[Back2Beemer 41]

7 hours ago, duncan-uk said:

Things like the M3 and Z4M ask for 98 Ron though, my m3 felt better on shell V power.

a lot of high-revving naturally aspirated  performance cars prefer it - my Honda S2000 was night and day different running on 99 to 95, as was my E46 M3. 

[sjak92 259]

8 hours ago, duncan-uk said:

Things like the M3 and Z4M ask for 98 Ron though, my m3 felt better on shell V power.

mate you sure? My old e46 M3 certainly did not say 98 octane only on it. M2 I recently drove was the same case.

[duncan-uk 2,795]

E36 m3 had a sticker in the clocks saying 98 Ron only so yes. Pretty sure the later s54 is the same.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[sjak92 259]

11 hours ago, duncan-uk said:

E36 m3 had a sticker in the clocks saying 98 Ron only so yes. Pretty sure the later s54 is the same.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

It might be, i barely did a 1000 miles in mine and sold it to fund a flat deposit so was at the petrol station a handful of times. One thing I do know is that the first gen R8's are good to run on 95 but V10 models are 98+. Iirc the Evo X was the same.

 

Think general consensus is that if its a performance car you have or something with pedigree that warrants keeping for a long time, you're likely to pump the better stuff in. 

[duncan-uk 2,795]

I was thinking more the RON rather than the quality ie you can run more advance and more power?

[Matthew Ashton 779]

It’s all down to the compression ratio (CR) of the engine rather than  specific performance or pedigree. 

 

Higher CR engines require higher octane fuel. The older Audi v8 had a lower CR than the v10 which is 12.5:1.

 

The higher the octane, the more capable the fuel is in its ability to prevent ignition when the fuel is under pressure. If you use lower octane fuel in a high CR engine the fuel will ignite when under pressure in the cylinder before a spark occurs. 

 

The engine management system

in modern engines use knock sensors to retard timing to

prevent knocking (pinking or pre-ignition). 

 

The B58 in the 540i (CR 11.1:1), works fine with 95 octane - which is good up to around 12 CR. Above this you’d need 98 Octane. 

Edited October 22, 2019 by Matthew Ashton