onthewall01

Ok, we all know to run premium in our premium cars. However, does the brand matter? ARCO vs. Safeway vs. Shell vs. Texaco? I know this has been a long argument but do the cents on the dollar per gallon really matter in terms of quality?

Untertürkheim

I use whichever has the least ethanol to prevent damage to my car.

K-A

Just use Premium people. It's only .20c a Gallon more, the car says it requires it, and it may void your Warranty if a messy situation comes up, plus, take care of the poor sap who's buying your car after you.

Paying for Premium Gas is like anything else you have to pay extra for on an M-B, such as service, repairs, etc. If you don't like it, there are cheaper to maintain cars out there.

mrvette

My E500, 2003, specifies premium only but I run regular. A quarter mile run on premium versus regular shows no difference in ET. Driving in the city shows no difference in mileage or performance measured over 500 miles between 87 and 91 octane. Sparkplugs look fine and so far, the insides of the cylinders look okay (you can use a bore-scope to look things over).

The Chemist at Flying J Refinery indicated that specifications for octane are at sea level and every 1,000 ft elevation you can decrease the octane rating by 1 point. So here in Vegas, with only 91 octane (premium) generally available, at about 2,500 ft, I use 87 octane.

Each end-point distributor specifies what additives are to be blended in their gas. By law, all gasolines must have cleaners so 87 or 91 have the same cleaning additives. The higher octanes have, of course, retardants to control knock and/or pre-detonation. It's not uncommon for gasoline to have up 200 additives. Guess it comes down to personal choice. If I ran the car hard, let's say 80 + mph to LA, I would use a higher grade gas. Since my wife drives the car in the city, 87 octane works fine.

Untertürkheim

The Flying J guy is only correct in the case that the car does not have MAF and oxygen sensors that compensate for sea level change, which may apply to cars 50 years ago, but not to yours, or any MB driven today.

Like has been said before, if $2-4 per tank is too much to protect the engine, this is the wrong car for you.

dvmak

LOL... I can't believe this thread is still going! Most people will probably never put on enough miles to realize any damage to their engines or they will trade it in and let the next guy buy those issues! Maybe then the pre-owned owners will be writing on these same boards in 8 years hoe crappy the engines are!!!!

MB doesn't make money from gas sales and if the engines ran JUST as well without any potential 'damage' they would just as soon use that as a selling point!

Since they DO recommend premium .. there must be some serious research behind that decision!

Untertürkheim

+1

MercedesFTW

Man some people are cheap...really calculate the difference between using premium and regular over the course of a year and it's not that much money, especially considering the loss of MPG when using regular. That is for the Benz's that have been tuned for 91+ Octane.

Taimoor

With all do respect, Japanese cars are not "Junk."

Not by a long shot. They might be cheap but certainly not Junk.

Untertürkheim

I have seen a MB and Toyota get in to an accident, I say the latter is junk,

steveberde

No offense but the car states precisely what grade fuel you should use - why would you use anything else?

If it says to use premium use premium it is says nothing use 87 if it knocks change to a higher grade - I've read repeatedly by what I consider authoriative auto engineers you should use the lowest grade the vehicle will run on without knocking or pinging -

MB always states either on the dash, at the fuel filler or in the manual or all three what grade fuel to use - I doubt it's vague.

Steve

Polar Bear

It's all relative. I personally would not want one.

alejotrujillo

I only use 94 octane 100% stupid Ethanol free!!!

Quadcammer

and I've seen a camry absolutely destroy an E class.

Anecdotal BS proves absolutely nothing.

I'd feel very safe in any modern car, save for the extremely small group (honda fit, smart car, etc.)

Its not the 1970s anymore.

K-A

Could you provide any details? Not denying or "calling you out" at all, just genuinely curious as someone who's pretty **** about the Safety my car provides me.

Untertürkheim

What exactly is anecdotal BS? Of course a camry can destroy an E class, but I would always bet the E would protect its occupents better.

MB have always been the safest cars on the road, and I would rather be in one than any other car during an accident.

Quadcammer

sure. Offset head on collision. Combined impact speed of about 60mph or so (the camry was accelerating, the mb was braking). Looked to be a pre-face lift 211. The camry was one of the newer ones, couldn't tell you what year range. The MB snapped the control arm, doors wouldn't open, crumple zones did their job but the car was absolutely totalled. Front subframe appeared to be buckled (best I could tell from a quick walkaround) and the engine shifted on the cradle (most likely broken motor mounts).

The camry on the other hand could open the doors, all bags went off, but the cabin was fine. It also suffered some minor subframe buckling, but was driveable.

The point is not that the camry is safer or built better than an E-class. The point is simply that when people call Japanese cars "junk" or "tin cans", they appear ignorant. While an MB may be safer, the difference is marginal.

A japanese car of similar size is not an unsafe or dangerous vehicle. It is also not junk. The japanese build very good cars, hence why they have been selling a ton of them.

see above.

If you really care about safety, I'll take something like a Ford Excursion.

Polar Bear

They are selling a ton of them because people buy appliances. They are junk compared to MB.

Untertürkheim

I would still rather be driving my MB than an excursion, at least I will not roll over...

When I was still driving my first car, a 1982 300D, a woman rear ended me on the freeway driving none other than our now famous camry. My rear bumper went through her grill and took out her cooling system, front lights, and who knows what else, her car was dead in its tracks, while my car had not a scratch or dent, not even the chrome bumper trim was damaged. I asked her if she was okay, and she was, so I drove off to school.

Untertürkheim

They are nice as far as appliances go, although I still think Gaggenau and Miele have them beat by a mile.

K-A

Wow, that's nuts. So I take it in scientifics, the Camry had more momentum going into the E, giving it an "edge" per-se in the crash battle?

All new cars perform pretty damn excellent in crash Tests. I still always feel comfortable in an M-B because I trust they have put more effort into providing the most extensive "real world crash" protection.

I looked at Crash Test Ratings like a fiend for a while, and from the looks of them, the '03-09 E-Class seemed to perform better than almost any car in terms of frontal collisions, but the Side Impact Tests on only the IIHS Tests (5-Stars on Gov. Tests) didn't perform completely up to what one would expect.

Then I also saw some data that showed the E has the lowest fatalities and was ranked as the "Safest Mid-Size Sedan" out there, which is assuring.

http://www.iihs.org/externaldata/srdata/docs/sr4204.pdf

Quadcammer

whens the last time a camry appliance had brakes that suddenly fail without warning, or have a faulty radiator that leaks coolant into the ATF, or any of the hundreds of other problems that plagued the 211?

An appliance it may be, but is is not junk. We all like MB here, but you are just being ignorant.

KA and underturkheim, MB builds a safe car, we all agree. My point was simply that in no way are japanese cars like the camry junk. Its simply not true.

Polar Bear

We are getting off topic to the original post so I prefer not to hijack the thread. Our personal experience obviously differs greatly on this topic.

I will say they are not perhaps "junk" but there is a substantial difference in engineering and craftsmanship between the two. Door panels, dash panels, door handles, controls, etc. And I was not singling out the Camry - I was referring to Japanese vehicles as a whole. I went with my ex-fiancee to look at a Camry Hybrid. We drove her CLK to the dealer and were amazed at the difference. You get what you pay for.

Taimoor

All ture, but i believe people are most likely mixing respected japanese brands with "Korean" Junk.
Japanese cars live up to their standards, no matter what you say. Compared to a MB they might not be up to the challenge but that doesnt make them bad.
On the other hand, brands like hyundai, kia are turely tin cans.

loubapache

That is not unusual and it really does not prove anything.

My daughter rear ended her 91 300E into a Dodge Caravan. The Dodge rear bumper went through the 300E's grill, radiator, all front lights, fan and fan clutch, bent the hood and driver side fender.

The Dodge had a little scratch on the bumper and she did not even report to insurance and drove away.

We had to tow the 300E home and I sold it afterward for little money considering it just got a new set of tires and went with an extra set of wheels with snow tires.