pamiboy

My brand new E350 came with a full tank of gas and during the drive I was getting an economy reading of 19.0 mpg. After it was near empty I filled it up from premium fuel from local grocery (Krogers). I was worried to find the fuel economy was dropping to 16 and 14 mpg at times. Also the "eco" light on console was lit in Yellow (instead of the normal Green).
I contacted the dealer who advised me to use "Shell" premium gas. As soon as I did that, my fuel economy read 22mpg. What a difference between the premium fuels??? I'm amazed.

JoelE55

You can use pretty much what you want on fuel. I've used shell, chevron and most of the time I've used 76 depend where I'm at or who has cheaper prices. The ECO light can change automatically depend on the condition of your driving. You can either switch it on or off on the lower section above the ac switch.

Arrie

If you have any Citgo stations around try it. To my experience best fuel for gas mileage.
I have learned that in many name brand gas stations including all of them gas can be really low quality and for sure not at the octane rating it says on the pump. For some reason every time I fill up at a Citgo station my gas mileage is the best.

telemakhos

My independent mechanic told me that it is best to avoid fuels with ethanol mixed in as it is corrosive. I now fill up with Shell as it does not have ethanol in the premium grade. I'm guessing that that might have some effect but I would not think to the extent you stated. Dropping at times, of course, depends on driving conditions. Did you check the long term average over the full tank?

Arrie

All Shell gas that I have seen contains up to 10% ethanol. I have not seen any Shell pump that would indicate their premium gas has no ethanol.
Where is this Shell that has non-alcohol blended premium gas?

Munich77

In Canada, they don't have to have stupid ethanol in the fuel. I would be willing to pay $1 extra a gallon not to have that crap in my fuel. I usually use Shell 93 octane.

MVDESQ

Maybe in Canada or some other place. In CT I cannot find gas without ethanol of any grade or brand. In fact the winter gas is terrible for gas mileage in any brand of 93 octane.

I use whatever 93 octane (91 is very rare in NYC area) is the cheapest with a credit card (some jokers charge a $0.10 swing on credit card purchases). I've been buying 93 octane BP gas in Yonkers, NY for 3.939 for the past few weeks. 93 in CT near me is 4.259 up to about 4.909.

Arrie

I would also like fuel without ethanol in it but it is very hard to find. But in winter time I would always look for ethanol blend as ethanol takes care of the water in the fuel that could be a big problem if it freezes in the fuel system. And 10% ethanol is not that corrosive. E85 is another story.

TheKandyman

You probably can't avoid the 10% ethanol in most of the US, but that is OK per the 'Fuel requirements' section of the manual.

The 'Additives in gasoline' section goes on to say:
"One of the main problems of poor fuel quality is the forming of deposits that are caused during the gasoline combustion process. Mercedes-Benz recommends that you use fuel brands that have the additives. If you use fuels without these additives for an extended period of time, there may be a buildup of carbon deposits, especially on the inlet valves and in the combustion chamber."

So I always use Top Tier Gasoline (http://www.toptiergas.com/index.html) retailers.

pamiboy

Other than the full tank of gas it came with I have filled it up only twice and it was around the 700 miles mark immediately before the last fill up. Assuming (19 + 19 ) 38 gallons and total 700 miles it comes to 18.42 miles / gallon.

adelprado

How about COSTCO gas? Does it qualify as a Top Tier Gasoline?
Has any member on this forum experienced any issues using it?
Is it safe to use on a new e 350?

samkimg

I have used Costco and Chevron with my past two MB 's with no issues that I have seen. The drivers that deliver to Costco are unmarked, but a worker I know mention that they normally use Chevron, 76 or Tesoro, whatever the distributor prices the best.

Now at my local Costco they are adding a additive called "Clean Power" at many of their stations. More details at http://www.costco.com/gasoline.html

El Cid

Used to use BP, but their prices for premium have gotten out of control. Now generally use QT premium. Just a little variation in driving style, route, traffic condtions, etc. can greatly influence MPG of "E" Class cars. Hard to really accurately determine true MPG.
I do add a bottle of Chevron Techron injector cleaner about twice per year and this is actually recommended by MB. Some dealers do it as part of their service.
If you don't want ethanol, contact your US House and Senate legislators. However, you are fighting a hugely profitable coalition of agri-business, transportation and distributors.
All gas sold in US has at least 10% ethanol, no matter the grade. You can find non-ethanol gas at some independent stations, but it usually costs quite a bit more. Then again, it is also from independent stations.
The very powerful ethanol industry is pushing hard for all stations to primarily sell 15% ethanol. Unless Congress stops it, they will succeed.
I spoke with the manager of a distribution center I know. Most people refer to these as "tank farms" that are located along the pipelines. The fuels that go into the trucks are primarily differentiated by the additives that are added to each truck before it leaves the tank farm.

GoBlando

The website has a list of retailers that qualify and it changes over time. A year ago BP wasn't on the list, but they are back on now. If you have a direct-injected engine (all gas 2012+), you do not want to use anything but top-tier. It is going to happen no matter what, the question is just how severe and how quickly it builds up. The manual clearly recommends it as well.

This is a problem that creeps up on you. With cheap gas you can start having rough starting idles at 15k miles.

mikeyle

i remember reading on a car forum that all gas comes from the same place, the only difference is in the additives that add to it, and that costco gas is the same as arco gas which has additives that dont qualify for top tier gasoline status.

sleewell

I just get the 93 at my local Meijer gas station since its on my way to work. I get pretty good mileage.

El Cid

Thanks for post on Top Tier gas. I googled it and read some other articles about it. Appears that a lot of brands are "certified." I use Quik Trip because premium is 25 cents per gal. cheaper than "name brands" such as BP and it is Top Tier classified.
Of course, who knows what the base gasoline is when it comes out of the pipeline and what additives the distributors add or subtract periodically.

JoelE55

It pretty rare to find a 93 in SoCal. I usually pump at 76er, and of course most of time I've use Costco course it a bit cheaper but do well..

KEY08

Costco is all I have used in my V8 Mercedes Cars. Never an issue in many thousands of miles.

GoBlando

You do not have a direct injected engine. Direct Injected engines are the cars most severely impacted by the missing additives. Your next car will have a problem.

telemakhos

Drive up to Canada! It is printed right on the stickers at the Shell pumps that the premium grade has no ethanol in it.

theref

At http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=WA
click on your state and you should find outlets for non-ethanol.

I have never read anything definitive on this topic but there has been enough chatter about the impact of ethanol on various fuel system components that I use nothing but non-ethanol. Don't forget that E350 W212 cars with the M278 engine are direct injection and use those extremely expensive piezoelectric injectors. I sure do not want those babies to get fouled by ethanol or other junk in the fuel. That Chevron fuel additive is also a good idea.

ghstudio

I wonder if there is a difference in gas recommendations for E350's that are E85 capable...I know some are and some aren't....looking at the labels on the gas cap. I have an e85 car but personally would never put the stuff in my gas tank. I burn sunoco 93 which for some unknown reason is a good buy in my area (SW Florida).

pdjv

They also sell Imperial gallons - great way to inflate gas mileage.

Arrie

I wish I had the E85 capable car. Running a tankful every now and then cleans the engine quite nicely. I know the gas mileage is really bad but the engine runs better with normal fuel after the tank of E85. At least my Tahoe did.