B5 Availability in DC Metro Area

Hi,
I thought I would share some information that I just found out about B5 in my area.
I have to go out to Leesburg, VA this weekend and I remembered that the Liberty Station there has B5. I called the supplier (Holtzman Oil) a moment ago as I wanted to see if they supplied B5 closer to where I live (Silver Spring MD).
They informed me that the Liberty station no longer has any form of Biodiesel, and any other of the stations in the area that they supply now only have B2.
Its a shame as I think this means that anyone in the DC Metro area has to travel pretty far to find B2 or B5.
Does anyone know of anywhere remotely close to DC or MD that has B2/B5? I believe the closest ones are in Winchester, VA or Frederick, MD.

There used to be bio-d at the Pentagon fuel station (near Henderson Hall, and not on a military base, bio-d available to the public). I believe the bio-d pump at the NEX in Annapolis closed, as is the pump at Sunoco? near Taylorsville MD (near Frederick). The indy shop on the main drag in Frederick used to have bio-d (Rosemont Service?). Check the East coast threads for more updated info!

Pentagon no longer has bio, which was 5-20% anyway.
AFAIK, there's no bio of any kind in the DC area.
I use OptiLube XPD, always combined with BP/Amoco 47 cetane.
I've had no problems with 57k miles and 13k miles on my CR TDIs. Soot load, the last time I checked, was in line with others that have posted...IIRC, about 1g/1k miles.

For what it's worth, Stohlman VW (Tyson's) is still insisting they've only replace 1 (one) (uno) HPFP, and the parts manager showed me the Czech pump before it was installed. He says he had never seen one before they ordered this one. I have no reason to question them, as I've grilled several advisors, as well as the Service Director, and they all passed my BS radar. They seem genuinely baffled by the HPFP failure issues, and speculate that the DC area just might be getting better quality diesel fuel than other regions.

I did find it interesting that, upon my advice, they recommend to their customers the BP/Amoco 47 that exists near them, and use it exclusively when they "first-fill" their diesels.

Thanks tdiatlast- Is that the BP on route 7, by 123?

I wish there was a station closer to me that had 47 Cetane- all of the Shell stations near me which I understand usually have 46 Cetane don't even have Diesel!

It is good to know that the fuel in this area "may" be better than in some areas of the country.

Shell at route 50 at Graham has 45 cetane. New, clean renovation, probably old tanks. Most Shell in our area only say 40.

BP/Amoco 47: yes on route 7, by 123, $3.79 last week. Also at Wilson and Roosevelt (near the black hole called 7-Corners), but $3.97.

I've never seen 46, I'm mostly in No. Va, where everyone seems to post 40, calling it premuim.

You didn't ask, but I'll recommend Marten's in Bethesda for service. Kenny and Jeff are true techs that know these cars as well as anyone. My service advisor there is Larry. Nice guy, who is willing to learn from me what I've learned on this site!!

Good luck.

@tdiatlast Thanks again! I will be over in NOVA tomorrow so I think I will stop by that BP. Its good to know about Martens- I was planning to take her there when the time comes as I was not too sure about the service department at Darcars in Silver Spring. They are a Jeep/Chrysler dealer that just opened as a VW there and VW seems to be an "Afterthought"!

I think I will ask for Larry when I go- its always good to have a recommendation!

Baltimore BioDiesel has a station with B100 downtown and one at the Merriweather Post Pavillion with B20 available. You can simply drive up to the pump with a credit card and establish a membership at that time. I have a "trial membership", meaning I pay a $0.75/gallon premium as opposed to a yearly membership. You can find out more here:

http://www.baltimorebiodiesel.org/

Dave



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tdiatlast said:

Shell at route 50 at Graham has 45 cetane. New, clean renovation, probably old tanks. Most Shell in our area only say 40.
BP/Amoco 47: yes on route 7, by 123, $3.79 last week. Also at Wilson and Roosevelt (near the black hole called 7-Corners), but $3.97.
I've never seen 46, I'm mostly in No. Va, where everyone seems to post 40, calling it premuim.
You didn't ask, but I'll recommend Marten's in Bethesda for service. Kenny and Jeff are true techs that know these cars as well as anyone. My service advisor there is Larry. Nice guy, who is willing to learn from me what I've learned on this site!!
Good luck.

Click to expand...

X2 Kenny and Jeff are outstanding and Larry is great!

I wonder if it is possible, or even worth my time to try and see if I can encourage some of the suppliers to bring B5 to the area?