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Originally Posted by Easy Rider
Are you talking about the Beemer here.....I hope.
Sounds like you got a European manual.....as someone else has pointed out.
I'm sure it wouldn't be TOO hard to get the straight skinny from BMW. :roll: :biggrin:
I had a Nissan Maxima for a while. It didn't "require" premium but ran a LOT better with it.....both performance and mileage. That computer did a good job of adjusting.
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Yup, the Beemer. GZ isn't that sophisticated, as we all know. The manual was printed in Germany, but is in English only, and all the specs, including torque specs, are in the US system first (inches, pounds, quarts, gallons, etc.) with the metric equivalents second in parentheses. Since England went metric years ago, I have to believe that the manual is a special one for the US market. The fuel octane system is probably an oversight.
Yeah, try to get anything out of BMW USA or BMW Corporate. Lousy company to deal with - even the dealers say so if they're talking to a long standing customer they feel comfortable with. If I want information about my bike, I can go to Max's BMW in North Hampton, NH, or to the BMW Owners of America website forum. I have to have been on the forum long enough to know who's blowing smoke and who knows what they're talking about. BMW doesn't even publish consistent information on fuel requirements. If you look different places you get different specs on the same bike!
The best information I have is that if I run regular my HP will drop from 109 to 97, mileage may or may not suffer, and I will not risk damage. The engine detunes itself with lower octane fuels. To be truthful, I would welcome some loss of raw power. I don't use half of what it has, and less power would make it easier to manage. The throttle doesn't have a lot of throw, and with all that power it's kind of jumpy. I'm getting used to it, but I don't need or want it.
Your Maxima is an unusual case. As a rule, vehicles run best on the fuel they're designed for, as has been stated here before.