skl1

Interesting article in the latest Porsche Panorama I just got- they say Minnesota will soon mandate biodiesel and Illinois is almost there and in fact they may be DC'ing selling TDI there.
Unfortunately the farm lobby is pretty strong around here. I don't mind them selling it, but making it MANDATORY is another thing. I don't like ethanol either and it's getting harder to put decent octane gas in my vintage cars without it and the old cars definitely don't like it.

We have biodiesel in Iowa but I can still find regular low sulfur so it hasn't become a big problem. I just hope to God our legislature doesn't cave and mandate that sh*t here too.

What are you folks with TDI's in Minnesota and Illinois doing???

redherring

I know what this Illinois resident didn't do last year because of this issue--buy the TDI. I was virtually certain I wanted a diesel SUV (thinking Touareg, M-class, waiting for the Q5 to be available) until I went to look at the M and saw that there were none on the lot. When I asked why, I heard the whole story about the 20% biodiesel requirement and how it had screwed up the engines in several of this dealer's service vehicles--the end result being that MB will not sell you a diesel vehicle in Illinois unless you sign an acknowledgement that either a) you are taking the vehicle out of state, or b) any engine problem caused by the fuel will not be covered by the warranty.

I understand that VW and Audi have no such draconian requirements, and maybe their engines aren't as fragile as MB's, but it's one thing to have the warranty cover such problems and another to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with a gummed up engine. I bought a 2.0t.

Q5 TDI

FWIW - and you should check this yourself, when purchasing my TDI, my Audi dealership confirmed that MB does indeed have a problem with bio diesel, and indicated Audi has no issues with bio diesel as Mercedes does.

Mrchntmarine

as long as bio-diesel has 5% or less concentration, right??

soonerfan

I checked my 2014 owner's manual and found on page 224:

"Diesel fuel with a higher concentration than USLD-Diesel No. 2 ASTM D975 and Bio-diesel with a higher concentration of 5% like B11, B20 or B100 are strictly prohibited."

And the above was in bold type face. I have yet to encounter any bio-diesel here in Oklahoma at retail outlets. Tulsa had a little start-up bio-diesel enterprise for a short time, but it wasn't viable. We have three major refineries here and also very large fuel gathering facilities and pipeline transmission. We enjoy having some of the freshest diesel fuel available, along with the rest of the motor fuels. Very few E85 outlets that I am aware of....and only at the newest retail fuel sites. Demand for that stuff must be very limited.

Mrchntmarine

just awaited to make sure I wasn't missing something. all this fuel additive, bio, what's allowed and not allowed makes me paranoid. when looking at the new cars, the porsche dealer told me specifically about the "mid-west diesel thing" and that being one of the reasons porsche requires service(oil and filter change) every 5000 miles on their diesels. true or not i do not know - just what he told me.

redherring

That's exactly the problem in Illinois--due to the corn lobby/subsidies we have biodiesel in formulations up to 20% bio content, which is fine for trucks and the like but not so much for higher performance auto use. You can find stations with lower content, but with diesel already less available than gas I for one don't want to be out hunting when it's time to fill up.

skl1

I've told my wife when she drives it, if she ever has to fill it up, which station to go to make sure she's not getting the bio crap. Luckily the mileage is good enough, I usually fill it up when it needs it so she doesn't have to screw with it. It's tough enough having her fill up her TTS roadster with non alcohol premium. Used to get all her gas at Costco since she almost lives there, but now their premium has 10% ethanol...