Recommend a Car Suitable for LPG Conversion

SachaJ

So I'm looking at getting a car soon that I'll use for the 20,000 mile a year commute, Drogheda into Heuston Station. So main N road, then M1, M50, N4 into town.

I could get a diesel but reckon I might get more for my money these days with a petrol and converting it.

So I'm thinking......
€4,000 budget not including the LPG conversion
2.5L engine or less so the road tax is not too bad

Something nice and comfortable.

Assuming I could get something like a BMW 525 that might do around 25mpg, with petrol at €1.60 and LPG at say €0.80, if my math is correct the car should cost €3600 in LPG per year (also assuming I'm only getting 20mpg from the LPG) against €5760 in petrol.

Sobanek

Audi A6 1.8T?
BMW 525i E39?
Volkswagen Passat 1.8T?
Volvo S80 2.0T?

Idbatterim

that might work alright, the bmw given most of it is motorway, might not be that bad. would you not come off at the n3 and cross the bridge at heuston to save the toll? your doing quite a bit of motorway driving, I have an E46 325 and have recently started doing quite a bit of motorway driving and not having a 6th gear is really starting to piss me off. I would maybe pay slightly more, get an E60 520 or 525 and convert to lpg...

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/bmw-5-series-525-e60/5696420
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/bmw-525d-02/5312059

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/2005-bmw-525-m-sport-nct-tax-2014/5587180
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/04-bmw-525i-nct-tax/5687178

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/bmw-5-series-diesel/5683853
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/bmw-525-dse-2005/5644556

bigroad

Volvo s60/s80/v70 2.0t.or you might scrape a bmw e60 520i or 523/525i.Or a saab if your into them.Basically something european .I have heard the japs arent great with lpg .But i have no direct experience.Good luck with the search.

SachaJ

Idbatterim wrote: »

that might work alright, the bmw given most of it is motorway, might not be that bad. would you not come off at the n3 and cross the bridge at heuston to save the toll? your doing quite a bit of motorway driving, I have an E46 325 and have recently started doing quite a bit of motorway driving and not having a 6th gear is really starting to piss me off. I would maybe pay slightly more, get an E60 520 or 525 and convert to lpg...

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/bmw-5-series-525-e60/5696420
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/bmw-525d-02/5312059

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/2005-bmw-525-m-sport-nct-tax-2014/5587180
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/04-bmw-525i-nct-tax/5687178

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/bmw-5-series-diesel/5683853
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/bmw-525-dse-2005/5644556

I can expense the tolls so I'm only really concerned with getting into the city ASAP.

SachaJ

The E60's look great but how to they compare to older BMW's reliability wise?

vibe666

i'm pretty sure you lose a tiny bit of performance as well as economy with LPG so i'd be hesitant to go with anything less than a 2L of whatever you choose.

you could always do it in style and get a petrol range rover and convert that, they love LPG.

Sobanek

vibe666 wrote: »

i'm pretty sure you lose a tiny bit of performance as well as economy with LPG so i'd be hesitant to go with anything less than a 2L of whatever you choose.

you could always do it in style and get a petrol range rover and convert that, they love LPG.

As long as it's a BMW engine. Jaguar engines don't like LPG too much.

bmstuff

SachaJ wrote: »

The E60's look great but how to they compare to older BMW's reliability wise?

With a significant increase of electronic modules in those compared to previous models and the amount of failures on many modules, mpm, bluetooth, airbags etc it is very hard to compare.
In fairness most car manufacturers suffer the same fate with all those modules.
And the usual stuffs on some models with swirl flaps etc...

KwackerJack

I had a 02 525 auto and now I have a 02 Volvo S80 2.0 Turbo.

Much prefer the Volvo. A good bit bigger inside, extremely comfortable, 90% have cruise control and heated seats, traction control, practically no noise on the motorway, very quick for the size(180hp) handles great on twisty roads for its weight.

I've had saabs, mercs ,bmw, maxima but i cant fault the Volvo for comfort and cruising.

As for lpg i cant give much insight but for a motorway commuter the S80 is superb

SachaJ

Thanks for all that. How would a 728i work out around a 2000 or 2001 vintage?

Sobanek

Quite slow to be honest. Most people will be happy with the performance though.

9.4 seconds to 100KPH (automatic) and Top Speed of about 230 km/h.

Fuel consumption is the worst part, as you're looking at 14l/100km of LPG combined.

SachaJ

Sobanek wrote: »

Quite slow to be honest. Most people will be happy with the performance though.

9.4 seconds to 100KPH (automatic) and Top Speed of about 230 km/h.

Fuel consumption is the worst part, as you're looking at 14l/100km of LPG combined.

Fair enough so.... Maybe a 525 might be the best option economy wise

Sobanek

SachaJ wrote: »

Fair enough so.... Maybe a 525 might be the best option economy wise

For our petrol / lpg prices + tax, the 525i is the best call.

Funny part is that the E60 525i uses more fuel than the E39 525i. About 1.7l/100km difference in LPG consumption between the two.

SachaJ

Sobanek wrote: »

For our petrol / lpg prices + tax, the 525i is the best call.

Funny part is that the E60 525i uses more fuel than the E39 525i. About 1.7l/100km difference in LPG consumption between the two.

That's brilliant, thanks. I'll keep an eye out for an E39 525.

Would the 525 be one of the better suited to LPG cars? How to the Merc's fair?

Sobanek

SachaJ wrote: »

That's brilliant, thanks. I'll keep an eye out for an E39 525.

Would the 525 be one of the better suited to LPG cars? How to the Merc's fair?

Mercs are alright (especially the V6 models), but you'll need the more expensive HANA injectors.
525i's construction has been running on LPG for over a decade now and it's been proven to bbea very good choice for an LPG conversion.

SachaJ

Great info, thanks.

How does the 520i compare?

http://www.usedcarsni.com/97567953

Sobanek

While the difference in power isn't large (22hp) and the 525i is a bit more thirsty (less than 1l/100km of LPG anyway), the 525i has a lot of low-rev torque, and overall feels much better than the 520i.

Tax on 520i is stupid as well since it's a 2.2 litre. If you're paying every three months, the difference between tax on the two will be 37 quid. 12 quid a month.

I'd go for a 525i myself.

WitAce

Another one worth considering would be E200 Kompressor as it is cheaper to tax, cheaper to convert and would return a better fuel economy. After having few Volvos recently (XC90, S60, S40) I'd go for under priced S60/80 with beautiful 5cyl engine and low pressure turbo setup. Cheaper to tax than beemer and very comfy to drive with lot of extras. Cruise control is a must in my opinion.

SachaJ

WitAce wrote: »

Another one worth considering would be E200 Kompressor as it is cheaper to tax, cheaper to convert and would return a better fuel economy. After having few Volvos recently (XC90, S60, S40) I'd go for under priced S60/80 with beautiful 5cyl engine and low pressure turbo setup. Cheaper to tax than beemer and very comfy to drive with lot of extras. Cruise control is a must in my opinion.

Great - thanks. Certainly are cheaper to tax than a 525i (€636 vs €1080) but would cost a little more initially to get a nice one. Lovely looking cars too