02glider

Anyone using inferior or discount brands of gasoline like (Arco, Costco) or using a non-premium grade? If so what’s the result?

aggst1

I often use Costco premium gas. There is no difference whatsoever. Don't know about Arco.
You never want to use lesser octane grade gas in your MB. The motor is designed to use premium as it is designed for high compression rates.
The 10-20 cents per gallon you will save will end up shortening the life of the motor. Ask anyone that knows and they will tell you the same.

F18BEN

I have 2 cars with the 350 engine. One is leased (E350) and the other I own(GLK). I use regular in the leased vehicle and high test in my owned GLK. Besides a slight hesitation, I can honestly say there is no difference in performance or MPG.

glkbeige

I have run 87-93 octane and not noticed any difference in engine performance. I have noticed a minor drop in mpg's but that could be due to winter temps and warm up time. Ironically l was told leaving the dealership by 3 salesman and a manager that using regular gas was ok and that was what they used. There's still alot of discussion on octane grades and luxury car engines such in the BMW, Lexus, and MB vehicles.

NYCGLK

BP ultimate is all I use.
If you own MB you should be able to afford 10-20 cents for good gas and have your engine last.

Also it's not just about perfomance of the enginr now, it's about its long term perfromance.

Tate

Right. No offence. If you can afford an MB, gas price delta should not be your concern. If you are concerned about the $ delta between regular and premium, you should not have gotten an MB in the first place

EnigmaAW

i mainly use shell v-power.

Kamen

I only use Shell V-Power.

02glider

Hold on—I am not thinking of a steady diet of cheep gas but the occasional oop’s the wife was being “nice” and filled it up with regular (like last week) or if you out in unfamiliar territory and it’s low on gas, do you use the first gas you find, be it cheep or push it and hope to find Shell.

aggst1

If I remember correctly the owner's manual of my R500 states that if premium gas is unavailable then use the highest octane possible in lesser quantities and fuel up with proper fuel later on when you get to another station. With that said, I think if someone uses regular gas by accident or need is ok, but don't make it a habit.

Last summer I was on vacation in the Carolinas and I was in a remote location and coming close to running out of gas. I went to a mom and pap service station that looked like it was built in the 1930s (the pumps looked like the kind you see in restaurants used as a decor) and they were out of Premium. I got 5 gallons of regular and looked for another station where I could fill up with premium.

TXGLK

I like to use top tier gas companies.
For around here, quicktrip is top tier and thier prices are always good.

here is a list and more info:
http://www.toptiergas.com/



TOP TIER Detergent Gasoline Retailers
Gasoline retailers must meet the high TOP TIER standards with all grades of gasoline to be approved by the automakers as providing TOP TIER Detergent Gasoline.
In addition, all gasoline outlets carrying the brand of the approved retailer must meet the TOP TIER standards.
Additional gasoline retailers are added to the TOP TIER list as they meet the standards. The retailers known to be on the TOP TIER list are shown below.
TOP TIER Gasoline Retailers:
QuikTrip
Chevron
Texaco
MFA Oil Co.
Conoco
Phillips 66
76
Entec Stations
Shell
The Somerset Refinery, Inc.
Kwik Trip / Kwik Star
Aloha Petroleum
Tri-Par Oil Co.
Turkey Hill Minit Markets
Mileage Stations
Road Ranger
CountryMark
Chevron Canada
Shell Canada
Petro-Canada
Sunoco Canada