Okay, so to preface this, I thought I'd point out that I know people in the USA with E36 3-series BMWs seem to run the stuff without issue; not that many have much choice in the matter.
The difference is in Australia, at least in my state, E10 is only sold through one chain of fuel station (United Petroleum) and has an Octane Rating of 94RON (90AKI for our US posters). This meets the octane requirement for my '93 320i (although its worth noting this engine has a stock compression ratio of 11:1).
I don't have major concerns about the cleanliness of my fuel system - it gets a run of injector cleaner at every oil service and generally doesn't sit around much. The fuel filter is to be replaced shortly after an indeterminate amount of time in service.
But, after 24yrs, I'm slightly concerned experimenting with E10 after a steady diet of local Premium fuels could wreak havoc. Is my suspicion justified?
My "experiment" would be running a several tanks of E10 to ascertain the cost v. average economy and whether it would be a feasible choice compared with 95RON or even 98RON. Given the vehicle's compression ratio, I now realise why its sensitive to bad knock sensors, even with 98RON (U.S. 93AKI), so obviously this endeavour would take place after replacing those.
The difference is in Australia, at least in my state, E10 is only sold through one chain of fuel station (United Petroleum) and has an Octane Rating of 94RON (90AKI for our US posters). This meets the octane requirement for my '93 320i (although its worth noting this engine has a stock compression ratio of 11:1).
I don't have major concerns about the cleanliness of my fuel system - it gets a run of injector cleaner at every oil service and generally doesn't sit around much. The fuel filter is to be replaced shortly after an indeterminate amount of time in service.
But, after 24yrs, I'm slightly concerned experimenting with E10 after a steady diet of local Premium fuels could wreak havoc. Is my suspicion justified?
My "experiment" would be running a several tanks of E10 to ascertain the cost v. average economy and whether it would be a feasible choice compared with 95RON or even 98RON. Given the vehicle's compression ratio, I now realise why its sensitive to bad knock sensors, even with 98RON (U.S. 93AKI), so obviously this endeavour would take place after replacing those.