# Can I put regular gas in a BMW? **URL:** \ **Category:** Power/Fuel\ **Tags:** bmw, gasoline, 325\ **Created:** [May 1, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/can-i-put-regular-gas-in-a-bmw/64290 "2011-05-01T13:47:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![avilleneuve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@avilleneuve](https://community.cartalk.com/u/avilleneuve)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/can-i-put-regular-gas-in-a-bmw/64290/1 "2011-05-01T13:47:29Z")
Will it hurt my engine if I put regular gas in my 6 year old BMW? ---
**Author:** ![chaissos](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/chaissos/32/2347_2.png) [@chaissos](https://community.cartalk.com/u/chaissos)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 1:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/can-i-put-regular-gas-in-a-bmw/64290/2 "2011-05-01T13:50:27Z")
While it may not be what you want to hear, have a read of [this thread](http://community.cartalk.com/posts/list/2274793.page). Chase ---
**Author:** ![andrew\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@andrew\_j](https://community.cartalk.com/u/andrew_j)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/can-i-put-regular-gas-in-a-bmw/64290/3 "2011-05-01T13:52:54Z")
Possibly. You will lose MPG and some power of the engine. ---
**Author:** ![JoeMario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JoeMario](https://community.cartalk.com/u/JoeMario)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/can-i-put-regular-gas-in-a-bmw/64290/4 "2011-05-01T14:31:45Z")
Two questions: 1: Your owners manual will either say “premium required” or “premium recommended”. Which is it? 2: What do you hope to achieve by putting regular in vs premium? ---
**Author:** ![chaissos](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/chaissos/32/2347_2.png) [@chaissos](https://community.cartalk.com/u/chaissos)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/can-i-put-regular-gas-in-a-bmw/64290/5 "2011-05-01T14:37:21Z")
Question 2 is perhaps the most important. IF you can run it on regular without damaging it (re Q1), then the mileage will drop. If it drops enough to make up for the cost difference between regular and premium (which isn’t really all that much), then you’ve saved nothing, and lost the fun factor at the same time. There’s some math involved. If you can do regular, give it a shot and see what it gets you. ---
**Author:** ![lion9car](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/59ef9b/32.png) [@lion9car](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lion9car)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/can-i-put-regular-gas-in-a-bmw/64290/6 "2011-05-01T15:21:59Z")
Please search for the hundreds of existing threads asking this same question. The answer is the same for you. ---
**Author:** ![oldschool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e19adc/32.png) [@oldschool](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldschool)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/can-i-put-regular-gas-in-a-bmw/64290/7 "2011-05-01T18:19:23Z")
I have found that either fuel nozzel fits quite well,so fill her up with what ever you chose, (M cars excluded) ---
**Author:** ![UncleTurbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9a140/32.png) [@UncleTurbo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/UncleTurbo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 11:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/can-i-put-regular-gas-in-a-bmw/64290/8 "2011-05-01T23:30:38Z")
You bought an expensive performance car. BMW designs its cars to use premium fuel, it also recommends top tier gas. Using cheap brands of fuel and low octane fuel means you are willing to accept the risk of damage to your expensive car. Your car has a knock sensor to protect it from damage due to low octane gas. But, you are depending on that knock sensor to work and in extreme conditions even the knock sensor cannot fully protect the motor from pre-ignition. Holes in pistons can lead to an expensive motor repair. If you are willing to risk an expensive repair to your expensive car you can use all the regular gas you like. ---
**Author:** ![bscar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bscar/32/34_2.png) [@bscar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bscar)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/can-i-put-regular-gas-in-a-bmw/64290/9 "2011-05-02T00:36:14Z")
So you can save, what, $4 at the most each fill up?