sidespar

recently there has been sort of a gurgling sound/feeling rather than the smooth sound/feeling coming from the car. it is similar to a problem around 3000RPM. When the engine hits 3000, there is a strange, gurgly unsolid feeling and sound - and the car seems to get a boost of power when this happens, it is more prevalent at lower gears and this has happened since i got the car at 133000, t's 145000 now. Any idea what's causing these problems? maybe the gas -- i upgraded from 87 to 89 because the engine was knocking, and that seemed to stop it.

thanks,
matt

bmwslayer

shouldnt u be using 91 octane in the first place? does it happen when the engine is warmed up or just cold? BMWSLYR in WA.

Ben's e//S2

definitely use 91 octane all the time! better performance, better mileage. is the noise kind of tinny and rattly? if so, the noise could be play in the distributor shaft. there is a fix for this on 20v.org, but i don't think it's all that serious of a problem.

sidespar

they don't even sell that here. There is 87, 89, and 93 with a 10 cent difference between them. 93 is expensive, would its benefits outweight its cost? the noise happens both warm and cold, more prevalent when cold.

thanks,
matt

bmwslayer

i ran 93 oct in chicago....

QCRAZY

....93 octane is too expensive then do a cost-analysis on it. Many people go with cheaper fuel because the 10 cents/gallon seems like a lot to swallow.

Unforuntaly, most of them don't realize they (MAY) save 10 cents/gallon on gas but lose 12 cents/gallon on fuel economy (JUST AN EXAMPLE). To them it seems like there saving 10 cents/gallon but it's actually costing them 2 cents/gallon more to run the "cheap" gas!!

Do a cost-analysis on 93 octane for a few weeks and see how you come out. Your (all but) guaranteed an increase in performance with the higher octane anyway!!
---
Andrew
90 80q
91 90
95 90q

bmwslayer

and the fuel laster longer too...well for me it does..maybe something to do with higher oct.

QCRAZY

YEP, that was in there with my "fuel economy" statement!!! ;-)