[Nezil]

As most people know, California pump gas is about the worst available in the country, maybe even the developed world.

With that in mind, I've been trying to think about what might be a good plan of action to improve things. I'm putting my thoughts below, and would appreciate feedback from other Californians on what you're doing, and why.

At the risk of sounding rude, if you don't have experience not being able to get decent gas, please hold back your comments. I believe Nevada and Arizona residents may be in a similar position, but people in many of the East Coast states can get Ethanol free 93 or even 94 AKI in many stations... I'm envious!

Option 1 - Octane Booster

One option, of course, is to use Octane Booster, something like BOOSTane. This contains MMT, which if used incorrectly can cause excessive orange deposits on the inside of the engine / turbo / cat / exhaust. BOOSTane claim that their proprietary carrier prevents the active ingredients from coming out of suspension, and it's this dropping out of suspension that causes traditional MMT based octane booster products to result in the excessive orange deposits.

I've seen some CA based forum members use BOOSTane (or similar) with every tank, and some CA based forum members that say they used one time, and they had orange colouration on every part they looked at where the BOOSTane would have gone.

Cost wise, if using BOOSTane Professional, you'd need 2.22oz to take 13 gallons from 91 to 94. If you buy a single quart bottle, that works out to just over $2 / tank. If you buy a 5 gallon pail, it's only $1.20 / tank!

Option 2 - Race Gas

The other option, is to use Race Gas. I found four locations in the SF Bay Area that sell Race Gas, none of them what I would call local, but less than a 30 minute drive.

• Two of these stations sell Sunoco 100 AKI at the pump, and other options in 5 gallon pails
• One sells Torco 100 AKI, and mixtures with regular 91 and this to other octane ratings at the pump, as well as other options in 5 gallon pails
• One sells VP Racing 101 AKI at the pump; I've not visited so I'm not sure what else they have available

I believe if it's sold at the pump, it has to be street legal, which would mean that the Sunoco 100 is their SS100 fuel, which has a 9.5% Ethanol content.

The Torco 100, if it is really 100, would be their un-oxygenated product, containing no Ethanol.

The VP Racing 100 would be AKA Street Blaze 100, which is 'oxygenated' (contains Ethanol) at a 3.6% of Oxygen by weight, which is slightly more than the Sunoco SS100 (3.5%), so presumably a slightly higher amount of Ethanol, maybe 10%.

I'm not really sure of the need to reduce Ethanol content, though it probably would reduce the demand on the HPFP that our cars seem to have as a bottleneck.

Whatever Race Gas you choose, you'd need to mix with 91 at a ratio of 3:1 in order to acheive 93.25 Octane. 3.5:1 gives you 93 exactly, but you might want some headroom. A full 13 gallons in the tank would require 9.75g of 91, and 3.25g of 100.

Current gas prices would put this at a approximately $63.90, a difference of $13.33 over a tank of regular 91; not insignificant, and you have to factor in filling up 5 gallon cans!

Option 3 - Do Nothing

Of course, the most simple option is to do nothing. Research and feedback on this forum has shown that running on CA E10 91 AKI results in not just a reduction in performance potential, but actual measurable performance on a stock tune. In summary, our engines are octane limited from the factory, and they were designed for 93 AKI...

That's not to say that running on 91 AKI pump gas in California isn't an option. If you feel that your car is fast enough and responsive enough on this fuel then great.

tehboost was able to get a custom tune from proTUNING Freaks that netted him around 400whp on the dyno, all on CA 91 pump gas - impressive indeed.

[Gimmethecash]

I’ve been taking the race gas route (close-by 76 station has 100 octane VP). I have a local hand car wash that does too, but it uses the same hose as the other gas, so a hose full of the 87 octane everyone else buys comes out first and I leave a hose full of my $9/gallon gas for the next car when filling is complete. I just stick to the 76 and wash my own car, better for it anyway.

I started out mixing in 91 with the 100, but I fly to work every other week & work from home the rest of the time, so I’ve been enjoying the luxury of straight 100 lately, given that I only drive for pleasure and an errand here & there.

[Mdkcrf250r]

I’m running the BM3 93 octane stage 2 map. I have a Catless downpipe and was previously mixing 100 octane with 91 to reach 93 but I found a station near Pleasanton that sells 116 octane (it’s leaded so you have to be catless) so mixing 1.1 gallons of 116 with 91 gets you to the 93 minimum. It ends up being cheaper as well. My grand plan is to go water/meth injection so I don’t have to worry about octane anymore.

[Nezil]

Added a poll to see how this stacks up... I expect the majority of CA forum members just live with it, but perhaps not the majority of CA forum members that read the Tuning sub-forum...

[NO_USER_]

Do nothing!!!

As you know, I made impressive power on 91 octane! JET FUEL BRUH!

I did use BOOSTane for LITERALLY half a tank, when I removed the downpipe, catback, and O2 sensors...they were BRIGHT ORANGE. How the hell lol. I know others have ran it for a while, but there is no way that orange by-product is not affecting something. There has to be something negative going on, whether it be the spark plugs, O2 sensors, or something more serious. Also, I had MANY logs with 91 octane, 93 octane (3 gallons of 100 octane + 91 octane), and 91 octane + BOOSTane...PTF, SeanWRT, and a few others mentioned the 91 octane might be the one to go with. Although I was able to get more timing out of the BOOSTane tank, it is not consistent...I saw more knock events with it vs. plain old 91 octane. Also, I saw some of the worst timing pull ever with BOOSTane...and sometimes the greatest timing. It is simply not consistent.

With the BOOSTane and 100 octane, I ran V4 and V5 Stage 2 OTS, 93 Octane maps.

I used VP Racing 101 Race Gas (100 octane) and did some logs, totally not worth $10/gallon lol.

I say just stay with 91 octane, or throw in 1-3 gallons of that SWEET CORN JUICE! E85, it does wonders, I did not try with my M2 (but I have a lot of experience with it, FBO WRX)! Just not sure if the M2 HPFP will hold up, I say increase the mixture slowly and get a custom tune.

But if you want to stay safe and headache free, just stick to good ole' jet fuel, 91 octane.

Use Octane Booster at your own risk, every now and then might be fine (I don't recommend it) but definitely not every tank. Do NOT believe their mixing charts or their BS marketing haha. Yes BOOSTane stays in suspension apparently (I've done the test in the light like their video), but everything turns orange...this is with LITERALLY 115ish miles of BOOSTane haha.

If proTUNING Freaks or SeanWRT remembers my logs they can chime in, I sold my BM3 license so all of my logs are gone as well (I think I deleted them tbh).

But as someone who has done it all (apart from meth, but that's another headache although pretty cool)...stick with pump or get a new car lol!

Good luck sir.

[SeanWRT]

In addition to what Tehboost said above, I think good quality race gas is a good option if getting it every time is no hassle for you.

Everyone has a reality to be faced with. With 91 you're missing out 10-20whp, but won't change the fact M2 is still a powerful and fun ride.

[NO_USER_]

Pictures do not lie, stay away from octane booster. This is with ~115 miles of BOOSTane. Inconsistent. Smells like hell as well


These pictures are from MY O2 sensors and Catback exhaust

O2 Sensor:



Catback Exhaust, downpipe mating side:



While I don't have pictures, if the individual who purchased my Catless downpipe sees this, he can also tell you that the downpipe is BRIGHT orange lol

My exhaust tips had a rust/orange tinge to them as well, pretty sure after a full tank or 2, they would be orange.

ALSO my turbo was BRIGHT ORANGE, like no other...it's not just a coating, it literally builds up.

[eeyang92]

Wow! I was considering boostane, glad I didn't go through with it!

@tehboost what was the difference between 91 and 93 (or higher) on your setup? Since you're already getting 400WHP on 91 that's pretty impressive!

[NO_USER_]

Originally Posted by eeyang92

Wow! I was considering boostane, glad I didn't go through with it!

@tehboost what was the difference between 91 and 93 (or higher) on your setup? Since you're already getting 400WHP on 91 that's pretty impressive!

Never dyno’d with 93. Although the 93 maps felt pretty strong, I don’t think it’s worth it. BUT if you can use E85 to run the maps safely then it’s 100% worth it to get the power boost!

[GerardzM]

Not sure if you considered this but methanol injection does wonders..and you don't have to worry about hitting the ceiling with fuel pumps on stock turbo.

It's not as scary as people make it seem.

[horsepower_and_hounds]

All MMT additive products do the orange thing. I have used Lucas a bit, it is one one the most tested additives on the net and have shown dependable octane increases test after test. No fouling or negative effects but it turns shit orange. I did most of my logs with some in the tank and BM3 guys loved the log results...... Just say'n. The stuff has been around for years

Now i have started playing with the E30 map and corn. If I stay with E85 I have a case of the lucas to sell

[GerardzM]

Originally Posted by m2ruder

All MMT additive products do the orange thing. I have used Lucas a bit, it is one one the most tested additives on the net and have shown dependable octane increases test after test. No fouling or negative effects but it turns shit orange. I did most of my logs with some in the tank and BM3 guys loved the log results...... Just say'n. The stuff has been around for years

Now i have started playing with the E30 map and corn. If I stay with E85 I have a case of the lucas to sell

I have found no orange coatings on my plugs and stock downpipe. Don't know if the methanol helps keep it clear but Lucas Octane Booster does what it says....bump 91 octane to around 94.

Indeed helps timing that much more.

[horsepower_and_hounds]

Originally Posted by GerardzM

I have found no orange coatings on my plugs and stock downpipe. Don't know if the methanol helps keep it clear but Lucas Octane Booster does what it says....bump 91 octane to around 94.

Indeed helps timing that much more.

Yea maybe..... The Lucas worked awesome for me I used it with 93 to prevent knock and timing pull when I was pushing. Now doing E blend..... maybe it will clear things out because I'm sure my shit is orange

[Nezil]

Originally Posted by tehboost

BUT if you can use E85 to run the maps safely then it’s 100% worth it to get the power boost!

Originally Posted by m2ruder

Now i have started playing with the E30 map and corn. If I stay with E85 I have a case of the lucas to sell

Now this is interesting... There are just about as many E85 pumps as Race Gas pumps in the bay area, but the E85 is cheaper than regular gas, whereas the Race Gas is nearly double the price.

I'm really interested in seeing how m2ruder gets on with the BM3 E30 map. Can you start a separate thread for it?

Water and / or meth injection is interesting, but it is also more complex. I'm interested, and my FTP charge pipe has the fittings for it, but probably not enough to actually do it. I'm following the recent thread about it though!

I'll see if it's possible to add a couple of additional options to the poll...

Right now, I think what I'm most likely to do, is get a custom tune for CA 91 AKI pump gas like tehboost did, and then compare the performance of the custom tune to the OTS tunes for 93 AKI and E30. If there are any worthwhile benefits, and since I'm not competing, that really means 'butt dyno' benefits, then I'll use those maps when I have E85 or Race Gas available, and use my custom 91 map when I don't. BM3 makes swapping maps really easy, so that's at least not a concern.

[Nezil]

So I've been running the BM3 91 AKI OTS Stage 2 map for a few days now. I've been keeping an eye on IAT because I don't yet have my CSF FMIC installed... Ordered a couple of weeks ago, but still hasn't shipped apparently. Looking at the IAT data, temperatures creep up over 100 degrees pretty quickly with the stock FMIC, so I've been making sure not to do pull after pull after pull.

Today I needed to fill up, so I put 3.5 gallons of 100 AKI Sunoco Race Fuel in, and topped up with Chevron 91. Whilst still in the gas station, I flashed the BM3 93 AKI OTS Stage 2 map, and went for a drive.

The butt dyno difference is significant... especially at the top end. As promised, the 93 AKI Stage 2 map targets 17 psi at high revs, and you can feel it. Just as SeanWRT has said before, having power at high revs is so rewarding.

I tried to get some datalogs of 3rd gear pulls in DSC Off, but I'm having some difficulty getting logs consistently. I'll hit start logging, and then stop a bit later. When I check the log, it seems to be from a different part of my drive. I had a great 3rd gear pull to redline tonight, but the log shows no 100% Accel. Pedal %. Fortunately I did get a log of some WOT, but it was at a point where I had to stop the pull at 5,000 rpm because another car pulled out in front of me. Later I got another longer pull, but I thought the same thing was going to happen, so let off the gas for a short period of time.

So I know this log isn't great, but here it is for feedback:
http://www.bootmod3.net/log?id=5afd0e84d10b435e87b2dc0e

Timing seems to deviate from cylinder to cylinder under hard load, and IAT rises quickly obviously given I'm still running the stock FMIC. HPFP seems to hold up too; is there anything here to worry about? How do these logs look?

[Anthony235]

I'm lucky to have race gas and E85 pumps within 10-15 minutes of me.

My daily is a e35 mix with 91oct which equals just over 95oct.

Sometimes I substitute the 91oct and use a race gas/e85 mix.

[Nezil]

Originally Posted by Anthony235

I'm lucky to have race gas and E85 pumps within 10-15 minutes of me.

My daily is a e35 mix with 91oct which equals just over 95oct.

Sometimes I substitute the 91oct and use a race gas/e85 mix.

What ratio do you use to get your e35 blend, and what tune do you use with this? No issues with over lean AFR and/or HPFP capacity?

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by Nezil

What ratio do you use to get your e35 blend, and what tune do you use with this? No issues with over lean AFR and/or HPFP capacity?

I previously was running my custom map 6 using JB4. But a few weeks ago I went BM3 and am using OTS e30 map. Running e85 would have no effect on AFR.

No issues with HPFP to redline even with 5th gear pulls (m235i 8at). Been running e35 for about 2 years daily. On track days I just run race gas from the track as I'm unsure how the pumps would hold up to the extra heat and use of a track day with e35.

I calculate my mix at every fill up. On a completely empty tank you would mix:
91oct (e10) - 9.13 gallons
E85 - 4.57 gallons

You should use an e85 calculator each time. Takes 15 seconds using a phone app.

[Nezil]

Originally Posted by Anthony235

I previously was running my custom map 6 using JB4. But a few weeks ago I went BM3 and am using OTS e30 map. Running e85 would have no effect on AFR.

The fueling is different between the 91/93 Stage 2 OTS and the E30 OTS maps, so I do think the E85 affects fueling. Perhaps it's not significant enough to cause issues, but Ethanol effectively leans out your fuel mixture because more is needed for the same burn.

How are you finding the BM3 E30 map? There is another thread here where someone requested tips for running it, and I believe he ended up having to run E20 to get the engine to run smoothly.

I'd like to try the E30 map because I have somewhat easy access to E85, and it's far cheaper than Race Gas! I'd like to know a reliable blend that people are using with CA E10 91 AKI fuel with that map though.

No issues with HPFP to redline even with 5th gear pulls (m235i 8at). Been running e35 for about 2 years daily. On track days I just run race gas from the track as I'm unsure how the pumps would hold up to the extra heat and use of a track day with e35.

That's comforting to here.

I calculate my mix at every fill up. On a completely empty tank you would mix:
91oct (e10) - 9.13 gallons
E85 - 4.57 gallons

You should use an e85 calculator each time. Takes 15 seconds using a phone app.

I'm familiar with the e85 calculators, and I get the same values as you for an E35 blend if I had a completely empty tank... That usually isn't the case though, so how do you go about estimating the amount in your tank? Are the markings on the gauge good enough, and you try and fill up at 25% or similar or are you using something else?

I've looked at the BMW Connected app, and it will tell you how many Gallons you have, but I'm not sure of the accuracy of this app either.

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by Nezil

The fueling is different between the 91/93 Stage 2 OTS and the E30 OTS maps, so I do think the E85 affects fueling. Perhaps it's not significant enough to cause issues, but Ethanol effectively leans out your fuel mixture because more is needed for the same burn.

How are you finding the BM3 E30 map? There is another thread here where someone requested tips for running it, and I believe he ended up having to run E20 to get the engine to run smoothly.

I'd like to try the E30 map because I have somewhat easy access to E85, and it's far cheaper than Race Gas! I'd like to know a reliable blend that people are using with CA E10 91 AKI fuel with that map though.

That's comforting to here.

I'm familiar with the e85 calculators, and I get the same values as you for an E35 blend if I had a completely empty tank... That usually isn't the case though, so how do you go about estimating the amount in your tank? Are the markings on the gauge good enough, and you try and fill up at 25% or similar or are you using something else?

I've looked at the BMW Connected app, and it will tell you how many Gallons you have, but I'm not sure of the accuracy of this app either.

Well AFR should only be effected if your trims are maxed out. Yes, that's easier to do with e85. What is the trim listed as in BM3 logs??

E30 OTS has been running fine for me with an e35 mix. I may bump it up to e40 on my next fill up since it seems the BM3 flash is giving me more headroom. I don't have an analyzer, but my buddy does and it's always been e85 that comes out of my local pump. Though I think my next mod will be an ethanol analyzer.

From what I've read 1500psi in the BM3 logs is when the HPFP crashes. Is that the consensus??

I use the markings on my fuel gauge when using the e85 calculator. Each mark is 5%. To be safe I use the markings plus 5%. So if the gauge says I'm at 25% I enter in 30% in the app. This ensures the ratio going into the tank is always e35.

The app handles the ratio and as long as the ratio is correct you will always have the correct mix in the tank. On the iPhone the app I use is "E85 Calculator". 2 series tank is 13.7 gallons.