Gas conversion

hoganpoly

Thinking of converting a Bmw diesel to lpg ...anyone know where it can be done..I know they do it up north but prefer closer to home based in midlands ...also does it affect car tax ..any help appreciated thx

Mr.Fred

There's a place in Kilcullen. Google will bring up a few

Kenny Logins

Loads of info here - http://www.boards.ie/search/submit/?query=lpg

who_ru

hoganpoly wrote: »

Thinking of converting a Bmw diesel to lpg ...anyone know where it can be done..I know they do it up north but prefer closer to home based in midlands ...also does it affect car tax ..any help appreciated thx

no effect on car tax. still based on petrol emissions.

Dardania

Doesn't LPG require spark plugs?

afaik converting a diesel is only really good for HGV's as they use far more.

With diesel conversions you mix gas with the Diesel but you burn mainly diesel so the pay back is much much longer.

Best thing would be to sell the diesel and buy a petrol with far lower miles.

A petrol at 30 mpg would almost be the same as a 60 mpg diesel to run on LPG at 80 C/L

Running a Prius especially the MK III would be the 2nd cheapest way to drive, electric being much cheaper then even LPG.

Of course there are all sorts of scare stories as to why you shouldn't convert but there are also many success stories.

Its a gamble, that's why the best thing would be to convert the cheapest car you'd be prepared to drive because if you get engine damage, then you loose far less + buying the cheapest car in the first place means you save far more through purchase price and depreciation being probably the greatest sting of all.

hoganpoly

Thanks for replies lads will spin over to kilcullen I think I know the garage waiting on a quote from up north so will post that here if anyone is interested ...

I really wouldn't convert the diesel, as the savings just wouldn't be worth it considering you'll be running mainly on diesel, as I said it would really only benefit those with fleets of trucks that use a lot more diesel.

You could probably sell it and buy a far nicer petrol, just remember there is always a risk, try see if you can get some kind of warranty in writing.

What year and model is the BMW ?

Matt Simis

Id be surprised is any of the installers here do Diesel-LPG.

John T Carroll

Deleted User wrote: »

afaik converting a diesel is only really good for HGV's as they use far more.

With diesel conversions you mix gas with the Diesel but you burn mainly diesel so the pay back is much much longer.

Best thing would be to sell the diesel and buy a petrol with far lower miles.

A petrol at 30 mpg would almost be the same as a 60 mpg diesel to run on LPG at 80 C/L

Running a Prius especially the MK III would be the 2nd cheapest way to drive, electric being much cheaper then even LPG.

Of course there are all sorts of scare stories as to why you shouldn't convert but there are also many success stories.

Its a gamble, that's why the best thing would be to convert the cheapest car you'd be prepared to drive because if you get engine damage, then you loose far less + buying the cheapest car in the first place means you save far more through purchase price and depreciation being probably the greatest sting of all.

LPG has approx only 75% of the energy content of petrol per LITRE, modern petrol engines are very efficient these days with their injection systems, the modern gas conversions also use (gas) injectors, these systems,I think, do not allow change over from petrol to gas until the engine coolant reaches a certain minimum temperature so I wouldnt imagine that there would be any real difference in the combustion efficiencies. If one accepts this then the simple calculation is....LPG % (of petrol) Fuel Cost = (LPG cost per Ltr)/(Petrol cost per Ltr) X 133. (133 is 100/0.75). For example assuming Petrol at €1.6/Ltr & LPG at €0.8/Ltr; then the LPG running cost is 0.8/1.6X133 or 66.5% of the Petrol Fuel Cost. If one motors 12000 miles/year at 30 MPG and €1.6/Ltr(petrol), the fuel cost is, 12000/30X1.6*4.546, €2909 per year, the LPG cost at €0.8/Ltr works out at, €2909x66.5%, €1934 per year which gives a saving of €975 per year. There are plenty of LPG "calculators" out there that give far greater savings than the above, see link below, but a word of caution about this one at least, they only allow for a total "penalty" of 10% overall for using LPG, in other words they are assuming that the LPG combustion efficiency is 15% to 20% greater than on Petrol. Hopefully one can see "both sides of the coin" here.

http://www.mylpg.eu/autogas-calculator

If using the above link and if happier using MPG etc then to convert the units to use the calculator...Ltrs/100Km=282.481/MPG and KMs=milesX1.6093. JTC

ted1

the energy content is down to 70% of diesel.
http://www.appropedia.org/Energy_content_of_fuels

factor in more trips to the forecourt as you'll get less distance in the tank, if your one to impulse buy in a garage add on some extra euro for unwanted purchases.

Add on extra milage required to find a garage that sells LPG and the stress involved in finding one when your tank is low.

also factor in a lower resale value to your car, in that few people want a LPG car.

don't forget insurance and maintenance is higher than a standard petrol or diesel

John T Carroll

John T Carroll wrote: »

LPG has approx only 75% of the energy content of petrol per LITRE, modern petrol engines are very efficient these days with their injection systems, the modern gas conversions also use (gas) injectors, these systems,I think, do not allow change over from petrol to gas until the engine coolant reaches a certain minimum temperature so I wouldnt imagine that there would be any real difference in the combustion efficiencies. If one accepts this then the simple calculation is....LPG % (of petrol) Fuel Cost = (LPG cost per Ltr)/(Petrol cost per Ltr) X 133. (133 is 100/0.75). For example assuming Petrol at €1.6/Ltr & LPG at €0.8/Ltr; then the LPG running cost is 0.8/1.6X133 or 66.5% of the Petrol Fuel Cost. If one motors 12000 miles/year at 30 MPG and €1.6/Ltr(petrol), the fuel cost is, 12000/30X1.6*4.546, €2909 per year, the LPG cost at €0.8/Ltr works out at, €2909x66.5%, €1934 per year which gives a saving of €975 per year. There are plenty of LPG "calculators" out there that give far greater savings than the above, see link below, but a word of caution about this one at least, they only allow for a total "penalty" of 10% overall for using LPG, in other words they are assuming that the LPG combustion efficiency is 15% to 20% greater than on Petrol. hopefully one can see "both sides of the coin" here. JTC
PS Will edit this in a few minutes when I retrieve the Link.
http://www.mylpg.eu/autogas-calculator
If using the above link and if happier using MPG etc then to convert the units to use the calculator...Ltrs/100Km=282.481/MPG and KMs=milesX1.6093

John no offence, maybe you could tidy up your post a bit ?

John T Carroll

ted1 wrote: »

the energy content is down to 70% of diesel.
http://www.appropedia.org/Energy_content_of_fuels

factor in more trips to the forecourt as you'll get less distance in the tank, if your one to impulse buy in a garage add on some extra euro for unwanted purchases.

Add on extra milage required to find a garage that sells LPG and the stress involved in finding one when your tank is low.

also factor in a lower resale value to your car, in that few people want a LPG car.

don't forget insurance and maintenance is higher than a standard petrol or diesel

I bought a new Landi Hartog kit from a friend of mine for a nominal sum in 1979, he originally intended to fit it in a VW Golf but went abroad. I self installed it in a VW Derby with all stainless steel pipework and had it assessed/passed by my insurance company. These were in carburettor times, the L.Hartog used a "Spud" injector which required a drilling in the carburettor body, I didnt fancy this so I machined a distribution ring to L.Hartog specifications who were extremely helpful with any queries of mine. There was a simple selector switch, I used to switch over to LPG almost immediately after Petrol Start Up. The savings were more or less in line with the calculations, the only notable thing that I remember is that it gave almost identical fuel consumptions on both long and shortish runs. It gave absolutely no trouble in the 4 years/75K miles that I owned it and subsequently went on to do another 100K miles with its next owner. There was no shortage of LPG stations in Cork, even today one doesnt have to travel too far to see one.
I am very slow to shout the merits/demerits of any systems, just to make a few observations mainly from my own experiences. I most certainly enjoyed my LPG days. JTC

hoganpoly

http://www.lpg.ie/new-special-offer

ian duggan

i have just recently bought a converted subaru forester and its returning 160 miles too 30 euro worth of gas,only 3 filling stations in cork cheapest being 84cent a litre and dearest being 91,was in Newbridge yesterday and got gas in McLoughlins and was shocked too find that its 1.39 a litre there so not a whole lot of difference between that and petrol so for anyone up that direction too get it done I'd say no just get yourself a diesel,oh and as that last person said they do return the same mileage for short and long,i thought i would have gotten a bit more going form cork too Newbridge but no it still averaged 90kms too 10 euro

allinthehead

ian duggan wrote: »

i have just recently bought a converted subaru forester and its returning 160 miles too 30 euro worth of gas,only 3 filling stations in cork cheapest being 84cent a litre and dearest being 91,was in Newbridge yesterday and got gas in McLoughlins and was shocked too find that its 1.39 a litre there so not a whole lot of difference between that and petrol so for anyone up that direction too get it done I'd say no just get yourself a diesel,oh and as that last person said they do return the same mileage for short and long,i thought i would have gotten a bit more going form cork too Newbridge but no it still averaged 90kms too 10 euro

looking to get conversion done on a4 1.8t manual currently getting 30 mpg. in cork also. anyone have any experience with crowd on tramore road for conversion. i'm in east cork and garage in carrigtwohill selling for 83c a litre. what engine is in that forrester also manual or auto

John T Carroll

John T Carroll wrote: »

I bought a new Landi Hartog kit from a friend of mine for a nominal sum in 1979, he originally intended to fit it in a VW Golf but went abroad. I self installed it in a VW Derby with all stainless steel pipework and had it assessed/passed by my insurance company. These were in carburettor times, the L.Hartog used a "Spud" injector which required a drilling in the carburettor body, I didnt fancy this so I machined a distribution ring to L.Hartog specifications who were extremely helpful with any queries of mine. There was a simple selector switch, I used to switch over to LPG almost immediately after Petrol Start Up. The savings were more or less in line with the calculations, the only notable thing that I remember is that it gave almost identical fuel consumptions on both long and shortish runs. It gave absolutely no trouble in the 4 years/75K miles that I owned it and subsequently went on to do another 100K miles with its next owner. There was no shortage of LPG stations in Cork, even today one doesnt have to travel too far to see one.
I am very slow to shout the merits/demerits of any systems, just to make a few observations mainly from my own experiences. I most certainly enjoyed my LPG days. JTC

Just came across a few consumption numbers in my "Jacobs" (cloud storage) Biscuit Tin. The Derby averaged 29 to 31 MPG on LPG, I never used any petrol except for start-up but I would imagine it should average 35 to 37 MPG on Petrol. The last LPG cost I have on record was 0.38 PUNTS/Ltr...say €0.483/Ltr, I have no idea what the petrol cost was in those days, it would be interesting to compare them for that time?
Should have said this was in March 1983....a friend of mine has just informed me that he was paying 0.456Punts/Ltr in 1985 vvs 0.658Punts/Ltr for Petrol. This means that, relatively speaking, LPG was more expensive then, 69.3% of Petrol cost as against ~~ 58.3% (91/156) now. There was a big "fad" for LPG in the early 1980s, now that we have very clever gas injection systems then it would seem that the LPG route isnt a bad one. Does anyone know if the LPG is cut off to the engine on over run like it is on petrol injection systems?. JTC

oneD

I have converted my car with LPGain. I'm happy about it so far. They have very good prices now,it's much better than I paid