Hi I am about to put an Ethanol (E85) kit onto my 4.4 V8.

I am curious to know if this engine is fitted with a knock sensor that allows greater levels of ignition advance with higher octane fuel? For example, can it adjust to benefit from 98RON rather than 95RON?

Anybody know?

Just curious really.... could help the MPG on Ethanol a bit if the ECU can advance the ignition a bit as E85 has a RON above 100 I think.

Also, it is likely that the check engine light will come on when the car is first used with the kit intalled as it relearns its parameters - will this reset itself once everything comes back into line, or will I need a tool to reset it? Can a generic OBDII tool be used just to reset the CEL??

Cheers,

Jerry
ps all the kit does is lengthen the duration of the injector open cycle by a fixed amount to richen the mixture, relying on the standard ECU to make all of the fine adjustments using Lambda info etc. So it cannot alter ignition timing. It's pretty crude really....

Why?

Hi Gaz

Here in France you can buy E85 for around €0.95 per litre, so around 83p per litre. Unleaded is around €1.60 per litre at the moment, so similar to the UK.

Even allowing for the increased consumption when using E85, this represents a useful saving....

It is an experiment however, there are very mixed reviews on the forums over here in France about how much you can really save and even if it is worth fitting the E85 kits at all - so some experimentation is required. For example consumption with a 50:50 mix can be only slightly higher than pure 95, so the savings can be similar to running pure E85 with poorer mpg.

The more I know about how the BMW EMS works on the 4.4V8, the more likely I am to find the ideal solution quickly

Hope that makes some sense....

Cheers

Jerry

Have you checked to see if any french BMW owners have come across issues if already converted?

Im sure the engine is fitted to the 540/740 and X5 as well  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

Just remember, it's not just the engine that has to accept E85, the whole fuel system must be capable. I hear of various hoses and other rubber bits that don't react well to ethanol. If the new kit sorts all that out, then

Jerry

I think you will find that the 4.4 V8 is fine to run on E85 without alteration or any kit. I looked into it when I bought the car and it was listed as suitable and I have not had any problems to date. Do a search online there are lists of engines that are suitable for this fuel. I run three different cars on it. Apparently very unsuitable for two stroke engines though eg mowers and chainsaws etc

Hope this helps

Regards

Mandu 2002 L322 4.4 V8 Vogue

Thanks everybody for the very helpful input

Mandu - are you running 100% E85 in your car with no issues?

RR2008 - I think any car from 2000 onwards should be fine wrt hoses etc.


Cheers

Jerry

Jerry

100% E85 with no issues. It is approved by BMW. Check it out online to satisfy yourself. It was a while ago and so I do not have a link for you.

Mandu 2002 L322 4.4 V8 Vogue

Hi Mandu, I cannot find anything on the web or on BMW's sites about this

I do wonder though if the Autralian market cars may be set up differently, perhap with an E85 compatible map as standard?

I have the kit now anyway, I will fit it and see what happens....


Cheers,

Jerry

Hi Jerry

I must apologise I have got totally mixed up and was talking about E10 not E85 !!!!!!!????

E10 is suitable for all Land Rover and BMW vehicles (petrol of course) post 1986 manufacture and it was this I was referring to.

E85 apparently is suitable for very few at this point in time.


Cheers

Mandu 2002 L322 4.4 V8 Vogue

If you break down at least you'll have something to drink to console yourself.

Mandu that makes much more sense

I will fit the kit and see what happens.....

Cheers

Jerry