My 2000 Mercedes 230SLK kompressor says I have to feed it premium. So does my mechanic. BUT i’VE HEARD ON Catalk & several other places that regular is OK in most cars that say to use premium. WHAT’S UP? Can I use premium every 5th tank full or something?
Who cares? You have a supercharged sports car. It is supposed to be turned to make the most most power for weight that lots of money can buy. If you don’t want to run premium, sell it and buy a 2000 Escort.
If the owner’s manual says REQUIRED and not RECOMMENDED, your failure to heed that information is done at your car’s peril. The few bucks you would save on each tank would be small potatoes compared to the major engine work needed to repair the potential damage from using improper fuel. Your choice. That’s one of the prices you pay for driving a high performance vehicle.
Yes, you can. And your next post to us will be “why did my car burn holes in its piston?”.
Your manual says you need premium. Your mechanic says you need premium. We have numerous recent threads on the subject, and they all say that if your manual says you need premium that means you need premium. If you ask enough people if it’s okay to use regular, eventually somebody will tell you it’s okay and you’ll go use regular. I figure I might as well save you the effort. If you insist on using regular, go ahead with my blessing. After all, it isn’t my money…it’s yours!
And to all the rest of you folks out there that spend large cash on fancy cars with turbochargers and/or superchargers or with high compression ratios and then want to use regular gas despite what the owner’s manual says, feel free to do so with my blessing. You’ll keep more mechanics employed and keep the aftermarket parts manufacturers in business. You’re good for the economy.
Drive carefully.
I believe all benz gasoline engines require (not recommend) premium. Cartalk is very entertaining, but not the best place to get real advice.
If you use the search function at the top of the page, you can access the 1,293 threads on this exact same topic.
Or, I can save you the time that it would take to read all of the good advice that has already been given on this topic. Yes, you should use premium gas. But, if you can afford to pay for a major engine overhaul on your Mercedes (probably at least $7,000.00), then feel free to use regular gas. Somehow, I think that the use of premium would be more thrifty in the long run, but the decision is yours.
what is a “benz gasoline engines”? You mean otto cycle?
Yes, benz engines that run on gasoline (otto cycle), as opposed to diesels.
Lots of people don’t know what premium fuel is for and they ask questions like that all the time. If it has to have premium fuel, you should use it or engine damage will result. If fuel type is optional, you should not use regular unless there is no premium or you are at a gas station that really overcharges for premium and you can’t stand thieves.
Cars come in three colors: Must use premium, needs premium for maximum performance and regular.
If you have #1 failure to use premium can cause damage and will cause reduced power and likely reduced mileage as well
#2 will show reduced performance if you don’t use premium, but there is no risk of damage from doing so.
#3 means you should use regular. Using premium WILL NOT increase performance and in a few cars can damage it.
I believe yours needs premium, but you should double check the one and only authority is your Owner’s Manual.
Why do so many people pay a premium for a performance car that requires premium and then objects to paying for the right fuel?
Let’s say you drive 15,000 miles each year, you get 22 MPG on average, and the difference in cost between regular and premium is 30-cents. You will save $200 each year, but at what cost? If there are any problems with your engine, it will set you back thousands. Since it’s a Benz, I’d say many thousands. It ain’t worth it. Use premium and enjoy your car the way MB intended for you to enjoy it.
What’s your long term plan for the car? If its a year or two it likely won’t matter. You will very likely get less performance and likely less MPG but feel good when you save the $3 per tank getting instant gratification I guess.