# Diesel fuel requirement



## bayarea2019 (Jan 23, 2019)

Anyone having experience using Propel's Diesel HPR fuel? They claim it exceeds ASTM D975 specification. My 2009 335d manual calls for ASTM D975-07a. I assume it's a variant of the ultra low sulfur diesel.


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## Doug Huffman (Apr 25, 2015)

bayarea2019 said:


> Anyone having experience using Propel's Diesel HPR fuel? They claim it exceeds ASTM D975 specification. My 2009 335d manual calls for ASTM D975-07a. I assume it's a variant of the ultra low sulfur diesel.


Never ass*u*me.

Propel is recycled kitchen grease. My TDI guru refused to work on grease-cars.

It will cost you $65 to look inside ASTM D975 to see if they***8217;re lying.
https://www.astm.org/DATABASE.CART/HISTORICAL/D975-07A.htm


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## bayarea2019 (Jan 23, 2019)

Thanks.

I googled ASTM D975-07a, the 07a means year of publication of the spec.
Here is the link for Propel
https://propelfuels.com/our_fuels?active=diesel


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## FredoinSF (Nov 29, 2009)

I've used it semi regularly back when I lived in the Oakland Hills and drove down to a gym downtown Oakland regularly. There was a station that sold it along the way. That was during the first three to four years I had the X5d. I will soon be coming up to the six year mark with that car. I used it mostly because it was cheaper and the convenience aspect of not having to drive out of the way for diesel. I liked the plant based aspect of it, but was not convinced regarding the clean burning marketing fairy dust.

What I can say is:
1. Having driven 10-12k miles with it, there seems to have been zero adverse effect to the mechanical, fuel delivery, fuel injection, and emissions components. The car now has 92k miles and its last tank of Propel was around the 60k mile mark. I have had no NOx sensor, injector, fuel pump, or DPF issues to date which was my concern. There are plenty of reported injector and NOx sensor failures at lower miles, so while I will never know if it helped I feel like it has not made anything worse.
2. Fuel mileage was typically lower by about 1 - 2 MPG with Propel.
3. I stopped using it when we moved out of Oakland. There are no convenient stations where I live today.
4. That being said there are a couple stations along my regular route from Healdsburg to Reno and back in the Sacramento area. I have not stopped for Propel because for a long time it was at the same price or higher as standard diesel. Not willing to pay more for it, plus I like to do the drive in one shot.
5. Ironically I stopped for coffee near one of those West Sac stations last Saturday and noticed Propel was quite a bit cheaper than D2. Made a mental note of it and will keep it as an option if I need to fill up during that drive. 

So in summary I have nothing bad to say about it, it does not seem to have hurt the car, but wouldn't go out of my way or pay more for it.


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## bayarea2019 (Jan 23, 2019)

Thanks for the detailed summary. I'm within 1mile to both Propel and a Shell station with #2 diesel. I always thought Propel was old bio-diesel so I never stopped by. It looks like they are doing marketing push these days as I received coupons in mail with free gallons and discounts. Sounds like it's safe to try it out.


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## FaRKle! (Jun 18, 2016)

I've used it a few times. The last time I used it I noticed a decent drop in range (which makes sense since the energy density of Propel HPR is less than D2). I only fill up with it when it's the same/cheaper than D2, but it's usually about $0.10-0.15 per gallon more expensive in Fremont.


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## wxmanCCM (Feb 17, 2010)

I have no experience with it personally, but at least one company claims to have seen several benefits from switching to renewable diesel.

https://www.greencarcongress.com/2018/06/20180616-neste.html


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## SoCalOC (Oct 10, 2019)

bayarea2019 said:


> Anyone having experience using Propel's Diesel HPR fuel? They claim it exceeds ASTM D975 specification. My 2009 335d manual calls for ASTM D975-07a. I assume it's a variant of the ultra low sulfur diesel.


Ummm I actually have heard it matter of fact I pass by it all the time near my [email protected] the shell station. I've read in forums about it and how it's from Finland and how it has high cetane ratings and all. It's almost a year now that I owned this 335d and I always stare at the HPR fuel every time I'm getting the D2 @ that diesel. ***128514;
I think I'm up for it. Finally got the guts to do it but I will wait until my tank is low and the light comes on then I'll fill it up with the HPR. ***128077;


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## capt_slow (Sep 3, 2013)

My F31 ran 14K on Propel's HPR without any issues. That said, I've heard that while HPR has higher cetane and lubricity, it has less energy content than normal D2. My mileage seems to support that statement:

Diesel HPR (33.36MPG over 14,556 miles)
Costco D2 (35.74MPG over 8,329 miles)

Also note HPR is no biodiesel. From what I understand, the fuel is derived from plant-based sources and is refined in a chemical process similar to regular diesel. Probably explains why it meets the ASTM spec. I stopped filling up with HPR since my local Costco sold D2 and the closest Propel station is 15 miles away.


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